Learning path
Kubernetes learning path: everything to study, topic by topic
Comprehensive Kubernetes assessment covering core concepts, workload management, networking, cluster operations, advanced patterns, and expert-level internals.
Short answer
To learn Kubernetes, work through 6 modules and 30 topics in the order they build on each other. It starts with Core Concepts, then moves on to Workload Management and Networking & Security. Use the map as a checklist, or measure your level and study only what is missing.
What you will study
Topics are grouped by module. Open one to see its objectives and key concepts.
1 · Core Concepts4 topics
Pods & Containers
Pod lifecycle, multi-container patterns, init containers, and container runtimes
Objectives
- Explain the pod lifecycle and restart policies
- Describe multi-container pod patterns
Key concepts
- pod lifecycle
- multi-container pods
- init containers
- sidecar pattern
- container runtime
- restart policies
Services & Networking
ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer, DNS resolution, and endpoints
Objectives
- Choose the correct service type for a use case
- Explain Kubernetes DNS resolution
Key concepts
- ClusterIP
- NodePort
- LoadBalancer
- kube-dns
- endpoints
- service discovery
Deployments & ReplicaSets
Rolling updates, rollbacks, scaling strategies, and revision history
Objectives
- Configure rolling update parameters
- Perform rollbacks using revision history
Key concepts
- Deployment
- ReplicaSet
- rolling update
- rollback
- maxSurge
- maxUnavailable
- revision history
Namespaces & Labels
Namespace isolation, label selectors, annotations, and resource organization
Objectives
- Organize resources with namespaces and labels
- Write label selectors for filtering
Key concepts
- namespaces
- labels
- selectors
- annotations
- resource quotas per namespace
2 · Workload Management4 topics
ConfigMaps & Secrets
External configuration, secret management, volume mounts vs env vars, and encryption at rest
Objectives
- Inject configuration into pods safely
- Explain Secret encryption at rest
Key concepts
- ConfigMap
- Secret
- env vars
- volume mounts
- encryption at rest
- immutable ConfigMaps
Persistent Volumes
PV, PVC, StorageClasses, access modes, dynamic provisioning, and reclaim policies
Objectives
- Configure dynamic volume provisioning
- Choose correct access modes for workloads
Key concepts
- PersistentVolume
- PersistentVolumeClaim
- StorageClass
- access modes
- dynamic provisioning
- reclaim policy
StatefulSets
Ordered deployment, stable network identities, persistent storage, and headless services
Objectives
- Decide when StatefulSets are needed vs Deployments
- Configure headless services for StatefulSets
Key concepts
- StatefulSet
- ordinal index
- stable hostname
- headless service
- volumeClaimTemplates
- ordered rolling updates
Jobs & CronJobs
Batch processing, completion modes, backoff limits, concurrency policies, and scheduling
Objectives
- Configure Jobs for batch workloads
- Set up CronJob schedules with concurrency policies
Key concepts
- Job
- CronJob
- completions
- parallelism
- backoffLimit
- concurrencyPolicy
- ttlSecondsAfterFinished
3 · Networking & Security4 topics
Ingress
Ingress controllers, routing rules, TLS termination, and path-based routing
Objectives
- Configure Ingress rules for multi-service routing
- Set up TLS termination
Key concepts
- Ingress
- IngressClass
- nginx-ingress
- TLS termination
- path-based routing
- host-based routing
Network Policies
Pod-to-pod traffic control, ingress/egress rules, and CNI plugin requirements
Objectives
- Write NetworkPolicies to restrict pod traffic
- Implement default-deny with selective allow
Key concepts
- NetworkPolicy
- ingress rules
- egress rules
- podSelector
- namespaceSelector
- CNI plugins
- default deny
RBAC
Roles, ClusterRoles, RoleBindings, service accounts, and least-privilege access
Objectives
- Design RBAC policies following least privilege
- Bind roles to service accounts correctly
Key concepts
- Role
- ClusterRole
- RoleBinding
- ClusterRoleBinding
- ServiceAccount
- least privilege
Service Mesh
Istio, Linkerd, sidecar proxies, mTLS, traffic management, and observability
Objectives
- Explain when a service mesh adds value
- Describe mTLS and traffic management features
Key concepts
- service mesh
- Istio
- Linkerd
- sidecar proxy
- mTLS
- traffic splitting
- circuit breaking
4 · Cluster Operations5 topics
Cluster Architecture
Control plane components, etcd, kubelet, kube-proxy, and HA control planes
Objectives
- Explain the role of each control plane component
- Design HA control plane topology
Key concepts
- kube-apiserver
- etcd
- kube-scheduler
- kube-controller-manager
- kubelet
- kube-proxy
- HA control plane
Monitoring & Logging
Prometheus, Grafana, metrics-server, log aggregation, and alerting strategies
Objectives
- Set up Prometheus monitoring for K8s clusters
- Design log aggregation pipelines
Key concepts
- Prometheus
- Grafana
- metrics-server
- Fluentd
- log aggregation
- alerting
- custom metrics
Resource Management
Requests, limits, LimitRanges, ResourceQuotas, HPA, VPA, and QoS classes
Objectives
- Configure resource requests and limits correctly
- Set up HPA for autoscaling
Key concepts
- requests
- limits
- LimitRange
- ResourceQuota
- HPA
- VPA
- QoS classes
- OOMKilled
Node Management
Taints, tolerations, node affinity, cordon/drain, and cluster autoscaler
Objectives
- Use taints and tolerations for workload placement
- Perform graceful node maintenance
Key concepts
- taints
- tolerations
- node affinity
- cordon
- drain
- cluster autoscaler
- node pools
Deployment Patterns
Rolling updates, blue-green deployments, canary releases, A/B testing, and progressive delivery
Objectives
- Choose the right deployment strategy for a given risk profile
- Implement canary and blue-green deployments in Kubernetes
Key concepts
- rolling updates
- blue-green deployment
- canary deployment
- A/B testing with K8s
- maxSurge and maxUnavailable
- deployment strategies
- rollback procedures
- progressive delivery
5 · Advanced Patterns4 topics
Custom Resources & Operators
CRDs, operator pattern, controller-runtime, reconciliation loops, and operator frameworks
Objectives
- Design CRDs for custom domain resources
- Explain the operator reconciliation loop
Key concepts
- CRD
- operator pattern
- reconciliation loop
- controller-runtime
- Operator SDK
- finalizers
Helm Charts
Chart structure, templating, values overrides, chart repositories, and release management
Objectives
- Structure Helm charts for reusable deployments
- Use Helm templating effectively
Key concepts
- Helm chart
- values.yaml
- templates
- release
- chart repository
- helm hooks
- subcharts
GitOps
ArgoCD, Flux, declarative delivery, sync strategies, and drift detection
Objectives
- Design GitOps workflows for K8s delivery
- Compare ArgoCD and Flux approaches
Key concepts
- GitOps
- ArgoCD
- Flux
- declarative delivery
- sync waves
- drift detection
- app-of-apps
Autoscaling
Horizontal and Vertical Pod Autoscalers, cluster autoscaler, KEDA, and scaling policies
Objectives
- Configure HPA with custom metrics for production workloads
- Design autoscaling strategies combining HPA, VPA, and cluster autoscaler
Key concepts
- Horizontal Pod Autoscaler
- Vertical Pod Autoscaler
- cluster autoscaler
- custom metrics scaling
- KEDA event-driven scaling
- scaling policies
- cooldown periods
- resource requests for scaling
6 · Expert K8s9 topics
Scheduler Internals
Scheduling framework, filter/score plugins, preemption, priority classes, and custom schedulers
Objectives
- Explain the scheduler filter-score pipeline
- Configure priority-based preemption
Key concepts
- scheduling framework
- filter plugins
- score plugins
- preemption
- PriorityClass
- custom scheduler
Custom Controllers
Informers, work queues, leader election, webhook admission, and controller testing
Objectives
- Design controllers with informer caching
- Implement admission webhooks
Key concepts
- informers
- work queues
- leader election
- admission webhooks
- mutating webhook
- validating webhook
Performance Tuning
etcd tuning, API server optimization, large cluster scaling, and resource efficiency
Objectives
- Tune etcd for large-scale clusters
- Optimize API server performance
Key concepts
- etcd compaction
- API server cache
- watch bookmarks
- API priority and fairness
- large cluster tuning
Multi-Cluster Management
Federation, KubeFed, cross-cluster networking, fleet management, and multi-cluster service mesh
Objectives
- Design multi-cluster architectures for high availability and geographic distribution
- Evaluate federation tools and cross-cluster networking solutions
Key concepts
- federation concepts
- KubeFed
- Liqo cross-cluster
- Admiralty multicluster
- service mesh across clusters
- cluster API
- fleet management
- multi-cluster networking
Custom Controllers & Operator Pattern
Building Kubernetes operators using controller-runtime and operator-sdk to manage complex stateful applications
Objectives
- Build a Kubernetes operator using controller-runtime with proper reconciliation loop design
- Implement finalizers, owner references, and CRD validation for production-grade operators
Key concepts
- controller-runtime
- operator-sdk
- reconciliation loop
- finalizers
- owner references
- CRD validation
- level vs edge triggering
Kubernetes Internals
Understanding Kubernetes architecture internals: API server request lifecycle, scheduler algorithms, and controller manager
Objectives
- Trace the complete lifecycle of an API server request from client through admission to etcd
- Explain informer/lister patterns and work queues used in controllers
Key concepts
- admission webhooks
- etcd watch
- scheduler predicates/priorities
- informers/listers
- work queues
- API server aggregation
- watch bookmarks
Multi-Cluster Federation
Managing workloads across multiple Kubernetes clusters using Argo CD ApplicationSets, Fleet, or Cluster API
Objectives
- Design multi-cluster federation using Argo CD ApplicationSets or Cluster API
- Implement cross-cluster service discovery and workload distribution policies
Key concepts
- Argo CD ApplicationSets
- Fleet manager
- Cluster API
- cluster fleet
- workload distribution
- cross-cluster networking
- hub-and-spoke
K8s Security Hardening
Hardening Kubernetes clusters with OPA Gatekeeper, Falco runtime security, Pod Security Standards, and network policies
Objectives
- Deploy OPA Gatekeeper with ConstraintTemplates to enforce security policies
- Configure Falco for runtime threat detection and implement Pod Security Standards
Key concepts
- OPA Gatekeeper
- ConstraintTemplates
- Falco rules
- Pod Security Standards
- network policies
- audit logging
- RBAC least-privilege
K8s Performance Tuning
Optimizing Kubernetes cluster performance with VPA, KEDA, topology-aware scheduling, and resource quota tuning
Objectives
- Configure VPA and KEDA for event-driven autoscaling beyond CPU/memory metrics
- Optimize resource requests/limits to eliminate CPU throttling and improve QoS class
Key concepts
- VPA
- KEDA
- topology-aware scheduling
- resource requests/limits
- priority classes
- node affinity
- CPU throttling
- burstable vs guaranteed QoS
Levels: Junior, Mid, Senior, and Expert
Explain it in your own words
Graded by AI · no account · 1 questionNo options to guess from: you write, the AI grades against the topic's rubric and tells you what level your answer reads at.
Already studying Kubernetes?
The assessment measures topic by topic, and your plan skips what you already know.
Open to read. An account is only needed to be measured.
Frequently asked questions
Where should I start studying Kubernetes?
Start with Core Concepts: Pods & Containers, Services & Networking, and Deployments & ReplicaSets. The map orders topics by what they depend on, so each one prepares the next.
How long does a full Kubernetes assessment take?
A full assessment of this path takes about 45 minutes. Study time depends on where you start; a diagnostic shows which topics you can skip.
Do I need an account to use this page?
No. The map, objectives and key concepts are open. You only need an account to be measured, get your gap by topic and receive a plan.