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  • 10 theory banks available
  • Hands-on labs available

Free Cloud Native Certification Practice Tests

Prepare for Kubestronaut and Golden Kubestronaut with free practice questions, mock exams, explanations and progress tracking. Hands-on labs available for three exams.

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  • No credit card
  • Free account
  • Independent
  • No exam dumps

3,200+ practice questions across 52 official exam domains. All practice tests

Example question

Which Kubernetes component stores the state of the cluster?

  • kube-scheduler
  • etcd
  • kubelet
  • kube-proxy

Correct

etcd is the consistent key-value store that holds all cluster data. Only the API server talks to it directly.

Answer, see the verdict and the explanation straight away.

Theory practice

Theory practice tests

Practice tests are available today for 10 multiple-choice certifications: KCNA, KCSA, PCA, CCA, CAPA, CGOA, CBA, OTCA, KCA, CNPA. Each bank follows the official domains and weights of its exam, serves one question at a time with an immediate verdict, and offers a timed mock exam in the official format. Every question carries an explanation of why the correct option is right and why the closest distractor is not, with a link to the official source; the coverage is measured from the question bank and stated on each certification page rather than assumed. Questions you miss come back on a schedule until you answer them correctly, and your progress is broken down by certification and domain.

All practice tests
Theory question banks with question counts and availability
CertificationQuestionsStatus
KCNAKubernetes and Cloud Native Associate288Available
KCSAKubernetes and Cloud Native Security Associate378Available
PCAPrometheus Certified Associate539Available
CCACilium Certified Associate300Available
CAPACertified Argo Project Associate200Available
CGOACertified GitOps Associate280Available
CBACertified Backstage Associate126Available
OTCAOpenTelemetry Certified Associate364Available
KCAKyverno Certified Associate414Available
CNPACertified Cloud Native Platform Engineering Associate332Available

Hands-on labs

Available

Hands-on labs: a real environment on your own machine

Performance-based exams (CKA, CKAD, CKS, LFCS, ICA and CNPE) are not multiple choice, so GoldenKube does not fake them with quiz questions. The GoldenKube CLI builds a real kubeadm cluster on your own machine (with Istio for ICA, a plain Linux virtual machine for LFCS) and grades your work against it.

Status: available. The GoldenKube CLI (v0.1.0) runs the scenarios on your own machine, macOS or Linux. CKA, CKAD and CKS labs are available; LFCS, ICA and CNPE labs are in preview (installable, not yet verified end to end on a VM).

Browse the labsHow the CLI works
Local, not hosted
Multipass virtual machines on your own Mac or Linux machine. Clusters never leave your computer; goldenkube.dev only handles sign-in, the scenario catalog and your results.
kubeadm and Cilium
Each Kubernetes scenario starts from a fresh kubeadm cluster with Cilium networking, so kubelet failures, certificates, etcd and node-level networking are real, not simulated. LFCS scenarios start from a fresh Ubuntu 24.04 LTS virtual machine.
Deterministic grading
Every scenario ships a fixed list of state checks. The same cluster state always produces the same result; no model, no partial-credit judgement calls.
Results on your dashboard
Graded submissions land in the same free account as your theory practice, so one dashboard shows progress across both.

Roadmaps

One road from first exam to Golden Kubestronaut

Kubestronaut is the CNCF title for holding the five core Kubernetes certifications at the same time. Golden Kubestronaut adds the rest of the program, 16 certifications in all. GoldenKube tracks that road one exam at a time and shows, for each certification, exactly what is available here today.

How it works

How does GoldenKube practice work?

You choose a certification and GoldenKube serves one question at a time. As soon as you answer, you see the verdict and, where one exists, an explanation of the correct option. Questions you miss return after a few other answers, then again after a day and after a few days, until you answer them correctly. The domains where you are weakest come first, so your time goes where it helps most. Reloading the page keeps the verdict on screen, and your progress is broken down by certification and domain so you can see what is mastered and what is not.

  1. 1. Pick a certification

    Choose the exam you are preparing for. Each bank follows the official domains and weights.

  2. 2. Answer, then read why

    The verdict and the explanation appear as soon as you answer, while the question is still fresh.

  3. 3. Weak areas come back

    Missed questions return after a few answers, then after a day, then after a few days, until you get them right.

Read how the review schedule and Focus mode work

What is free today, and what is still coming

Checked 2026-10-30. Every certification page states its own status.

Free today

  • Theory practice for 10 certifications (KCNA, KCSA, PCA, CCA, CAPA, CGOA, CBA, OTCA, KCA, CNPA)
  • Hands-on labs for CKA, CKAD and CKS through the GoldenKube CLI (macOS and Linux)
  • Timed mock exams in the official format for every theory bank
  • A written explanation for every question
  • Spaced review of missed questions and progress by exam and domain
  • Ten guest answers with no signup, then a free account; no paid tier

Still coming

  • Hands-on labs for LFCS, ICA and CNPE: installable now, end-to-end VM verification still pending (preview)

There are no exam dumps here: the questions teach the concepts each exam covers, and where an explanation is missing the verdict still shows the correct option.

Recently passed with GoldenKube

See all

Verified via Credly. Each person chose to publish their profile.

The story behind GoldenKube

Built From a Real Certification Challenge

GoldenKube began as a personal study project by Ibrahim Yesilay, a Senior DevOps and Platform Engineer. During his first certification sprint, he earned six cloud-native certifications in seven calendar days, from 19 Oct 2026 to 25 Oct 2026. Since then he has added CNPA, OTCA, CAPA and CCA by 30 October 2026 (day 12), for ten certifications in total. The challenge continues, and the tools built during his preparation are becoming free resources for other engineers.

Read the Founder's Journey

Follow the challenge on LinkedIn.

Certifications
10
Calendar Days
12
Challenge
Ongoing

Frequently asked questions

Is GoldenKube free?

Yes, completely. Answer your first 10 questions as a guest with no signup. After that a free account is required to continue; there is no paid tier and no credit card.

How many questions come with a written explanation?

Every one of the 3,221 questions has a written explanation (checked 2026-10-28): why the keyed option is right and, usually, why the closest distractor is wrong, with a link to the official source.

Are the hands-on labs available?

Yes. The GoldenKube CLI (v0.1.0, macOS and Linux, installed with one script) builds a real kubeadm cluster (with Istio for ICA; for LFCS, an Ubuntu virtual machine) on your own machine and grades the scenarios locally. CKA, CKAD and CKS labs are available; LFCS, ICA and CNPE labs are in preview: installable, not yet verified end to end on a VM.

Is GoldenKube official?

No. GoldenKube is an independent community learning project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by CNCF or The Linux Foundation.

All questions and answers

Practice. Learn. Pass. Go Golden.

Pick a certification and answer your first question in under a minute. Guest practice for 10 questions, then a free account.

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