On the 23rd of March,
the UK Government announced we would be entering “lock down” for the
foreseeable future, with no real end date given. My role within Microsoft
usually means that I’m travelling at least 3-4 times per month, with no trips
possible due to lock down I decided that it was an opportunity to really study
hard and skill up in some of my weaker areas.
Ref 1: (DOMC questions)
https://sei.caveon.com/take/?launch_token=.eJwNy8ERwCAIBMBefIcZQYxQSyYP4bD_EpL979PuFHEs0PY8pIuTfBdIB2N12eam7Wo1PcKgAoC39akDfOpwZMW_2vsB-YAUaA.Ea20GQ.enU9ox51hKShTHna0DCRpHdhi30
This helped me define my study
plan for the rest of 2020, for me having a study plan aligned to getting
certifications makes sense. The formality of having an exam booked with a
syllabus of content to learn has always helped me keep on track. This is my
justification for chasing certifications instead of “actual skills” even though
the two overlap.
For the rest of 2020 I have set
myself the goal of getting the following certifications:
- Docker Certified Associate (DCA)
- Linux Foundation Certified Systems Administrator (LFCS)
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
- Microsoft Azure Certified DevOps Expert (AZ-400)
The entire Containers and DevOps
ecosystem has always interested me, it is also a critical area for my role as a
Cloud Solution Architect with a focus on applications & infrastructure.
The first step was to get the
Docker Certified Associate out of the way, which is what I am going to cover in
this post. Docker was the obvious choice to start with in the journey to get
deeper skills in the Container and DevOps ecosystem. Docker has become the
industry leading container engine, with it being the default engine which is
shipped with Kubernetes.
The Docker Certified Associate
(DCA) certification is the only professional certification offered to cover
Docker Inc and their technology. It is a multiple-choice exam with some new DOMC questions, delivered
remotely which consists of 55 questions which must be answered in a 90-minute
period. The DOMC questions are weird, I would use the following simulator to get an idea of what to expect before you go into the exam (link at bottom of page). Full details can be found here https://success.docker.com/certification
The following resources are what
I used to get up to speed enough with Docker to pass the certification exam.
Video Training
The courses listed below are the
ones in which I used before the exam. I took them in this order and learned
something new from each of them. Many of the courses have overlapping content
but that is not a bad thing when learning something new.
Pluralsight (Nigel Poulton)
|
Good intro course which covers many of the basics around containers
and container orchestration. If you have some experience with containers you
can probably skip this one, but I found it useful.
|
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Pluralsight (Nigel Poulton)
|
Great course which was key for me to build that first level of formal
knowledge around Docker. Not to be missed unless you have some production
experience with Docker.
|
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Pluralsight (Nigel Poulton)
|
Do this course if you have no other choice from the Pluralsight
library. It is the most complete and well rounded of the courses and will put
you in a good place to go deep with Docker. However, it does not cover all
the areas of the DCA and will not make you exam ready alone.
|
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Pluralsight (Nigel Poulton)
|
Short and sweet but to the point and covers loads of good detail on
how networking in Docker works.
|
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Pluralsight (Elton Stoneman)
|
|
Excellent course if you have some time before the
exam to go deeper with Swarm. I did it to bridge some gaps but after passing
the exam I do not plan to do much with Swarm as Kubernetes is the
orchestrator of choice at work.
|
Udemy (Brett Fisher)
|
|
This is also an excellent course. I only did half of it which covered
the Docker content but intend on going through the Kubernetes sections as
well. This course does assume some knowledge but will help massively in
getting prepared for the DCA. Brett does state this is not an exam prep
course so other study is required to round off the areas this brushes over.
|
Linux Academy (William Boyd)
|
This is unmissable in the weeks before the DCA
exam. It is very exam focused which none of the course above are. It covers
off all the points on the DCA syllabus.
|
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Linux Academy (Travis Thomsen)
|
Again don’t’ go into the exam without having watched this course. I
skipped some of the earlier videos and went to my weak areas to ensure I
filled the gaps. Highlight recommended. It is very fast paced so if you are building
your own study plan do this course towards the end.
|
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Linux Academy
|
Very good resource to help build the hands-on
skills needed to be confident with Docker. I did this two days before the exam.
|
All the video content listed above is worthwhile and
absolutely worth your time if you plan to sit the Docker Certified Associate
(DCA) exam. I must say that Linux Academy stood out from the rest, probably
because they provide hands on labs.
Reading Material
To supplement the video training, I also used the following
resources:
The Docker Deep Dive Book – Nigel Poulton
This is an excellent book not only for study but for general
reference as well. Just buy it and read it. It is on Amazon for less than a
tenner. I also printed the exam blueprint and used it to cross check exam
topics with the contents of this book. Not to be missed. I think the technical
diagrams in this book are what stands out they are could even make it into
design documents in some cases.
Docker Reference Architecture – Docker Inc
I read most of the relevant architectures a couple of times
and did one last scan the day of the exam.
Docker Study Guide – Evgeny Shmarnev
This is a collection of Docker documentation which links to
the exam content. I used it extensively and it was helpful.
Practice Exams
Practice exams are mandatory before sitting a certification
in my experience. I used the following ones.
Linux Academy – offer practice exams as part of the
courses.
Whiz Labs – Docker Certified Associate Practice Tests
Example Questions for DCA
Ref 1: (DOMC questions)
https://sei.caveon.com/take/?launch_token=.eJwNy8ERwCAIBMBefIcZQYxQSyYP4bD_EpL979PuFHEs0PY8pIuTfBdIB2N12eam7Wo1PcKgAoC39akDfOpwZMW_2vsB-YAUaA.Ea20GQ.enU9ox51hKShTHna0DCRpHdhi30