The labs
What is The Cloud Panda Labs?
Hands-on practice for cloud and DevOps certifications, starting with the CKA. Each lab gives you a live environment (for the CKA, a real kubeadm cluster with a control plane and a worker node), puts it into a specific state, often a broken one, and gives you a task. You solve it in a terminal, and an automatic check grades the live environment and shows which parts passed.
Which certifications do you cover?
The CKA first: every competency in the public curriculum already has at least one lab, and there are timed full and domain mock exams. The CKAD is next, then the CKS. After that we plan the other Kubernetes and cloud-native certifications and the AWS, HashiCorp (Terraform and Vault) and Linux ones, one track at a time. The Labs pages list every certification and where each one stands. Multiple-choice exams get timed practice quizzes as well as labs.
Are these real exam questions?
No. Every task is original and written from the public curriculum and the official Kubernetes documentation. Candidates agree not to share exam content, and we never use or reconstruct it.
Are you affiliated with The Linux Foundation, the CNCF, AWS, HashiCorp or Red Hat?
No. The Cloud Panda is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any certification provider. Certification names such as CKA, CKAD, CKS, KCNA and KCSA, the AWS Certifications, the HashiCorp certifications and the RHCSA and RHCE are trademarks of their owners.
Will the labs guarantee that I pass?
No one can honestly promise that. The labs train the skills the exam tests, on the kind of cluster it uses, and the mock exams show your score per domain so you know where to focus. We aim to make the mocks a little harder than the real exam.
What do I need to take a lab?
A modern browser. The terminal will run in the browser and connect to your lab environment, so there is nothing to install. A desktop or laptop screen works best, as it does in the exam.
How are labs graded?
Each lab has a set of checks that read the state of the live cluster: is the node Ready, does the Service have endpoints, does the Role allow exactly what was asked. You see every check as passed or failed, so you know what is left to fix. There is no answer text to match.
Can I see the solution?
Yes. Every lab has a reference solution, and before a lab goes live we prove on a real cluster that its checks fail before the solution and pass after it. The solution will unlock once you pass, or earlier if you choose to reveal it.
How are mock exams different from labs?
A mock exam is a timed two-hour set of tasks. Full mocks are weighted by domain like the real exam; domain mocks drill one domain. You get one score at the end with a breakdown per domain. Labs are untimed and you can check your work as often as you like.
Which Kubernetes version do the labs use?
The version the current exam uses. When the exam moves to a new Kubernetes version, every lab is tested again on the new version before we switch.
Can I start now?
Yes, with the CKA. Create a free account at labs.thecloudpanda.com with your email address; there is no password to set, and the starter labs are free. The other certifications follow one track at a time and appear in your account as they open.
Plans and prices
How much do the labs cost?
The starter CKA labs are free, with no card needed. We plan paid plans too: a monthly or yearly subscription, a one-time pass for a single certification, and a Teams plan. They are not on sale yet; their prices go on our pricing page before they are, and we take no payments or pre-orders until then.
What does the free account include?
5 starter CKA labs, one in each exam domain, on real kubeadm clusters with the same automatic grading as every other lab. No card needed. Timed mock exams are part of the paid plans.
Can my company buy seats for a team?
That is what the Teams plan is for: seats managed by one admin, progress reports per engineer and one invoice for the company. Email teams@thecloudpanda.com with the number of engineers and the certifications, and we will contact you.
Privacy and security
Does this website track me?
No. This website sets no cookies and uses no analytics, advertising or social-media trackers. Fonts and images come from our own website, so your browser loads nothing from anyone else.
What happens to my email address when I sign up?
We use it to sign you in and to email you about your account. It is never sold or shared, and you can delete your account at any time. Our privacy policy lists every service provider we use.
How is my lab isolated from other students?
Each lab cluster will run in its own microVMs, each with its own kernel, on a private network that reaches only its own nodes and our package mirror. Lab environments are deleted when the session ends.
How do I report a security problem?
Email security@thecloudpanda.com. Our security page describes what is in scope, what we promise in return, and our safe-harbour terms for good-faith research.
Still curious? Try a lab.
The quickest answer is a real cluster: the starter CKA labs are free.