Certification > Cloud & Containers > Certified Kubernetes Network Engineer (CKNE)
CERTIFICATION

Certified Kubernetes Network Engineer (CKNE)

Demonstrate your ability to design, secure, and troubleshoot networking across production Kubernetes clusters.

✔ Solidify your knowledge of CNI plugins, traffic routing, security, and network observability
✔ Stand out as fluent in the Kubernetes Networking Stack
✔ Earn a credential built for production networking skills

How will CKNE benefit me?

  • Land platform and SRE roles at companies running Kubernetes at scale
  • Prove you can secure service-to-service traffic with mTLS and NetworkPolicies
  • Signal to regulated industries you can be trusted with critical infrastructure
  • Open doors at organizations running multi-cluster or hybrid Kubernetes

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Should I have other certifications?
CKNE assumes CKA-level Kubernetes administration skills, so earning your CKA first, or alongside, builds a strong foundation. Pairing CKNE with CCA or ICA deepens your networking and service mesh specialization. No prior certifications are required for the CKNE exam.
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Essential Kubernetes Networking Resources
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Domains & Competencies
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Core Infrastructure and CNI15%
Installing and Configuring CNI Plugins
Managing IPAM and Pod CIDR Allocation
Using Linux Tools (iptables, ip, tcpdump) for Packet-level Issues
Troubleshooting Pod Connectivity (DNS, pod-to-pod)
Configuring Multi-interface Pods
Service Networking and DNS25%
Configuring L4 Services
Understanding kube-proxy and CNI Alternatives
Customizing coreDNS for Services
Troubleshooting Service Network Traffic
Configuring Pod Endpoint Availability
Managing Traffic with the Gateway API (Gateway, HTTPRoutes)
Advanced Traffic Management20%
Optimizing LLM Traffic
Implementing Routing to Expose Networks
Configuring Egress Gateways for Cluster Exit Traffic
Implementing Cross Cluster Service Discovery and Load Balancing
Network Security and Policy25%
Securing Traffic with Network Policies
Implementing Node and Pod Level Encryption
Managing TLS Certificates for Gateway API
Implementing Pod-level Authentication and Authorization
Observability15%
Analyzing Network Health Using Metrics
Troubleshooting End to End Network Performance with Tracing
Auditing Traffic with Logs
Exam Details & Resources
This exam is an online, proctored, performance-based test that requires solving multiple tasks from within a Linux-based remote desktop using the terminal and web-based interfaces. Candidates have 2 hours to complete the tasks. Please review The Linux Foundation certification Policies and FAQ below.
About the CKNE
The CKNE validates hands-on skill in Kubernetes networking, security, and troubleshooting for platform engineers, network engineers, and SREs.

Once you pass the exam, be sure to add your new badge to your LinkedIn, LFX, GitHub & other profiles to help you better connect with the open source community an distinguish yourself as certified for prospective employers.

Prerequisites
There are no pre-requisites for this exam.
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The beta is now closed. Please complete this form to be notified when CKNE is available for purchase and scheduling.

Includes
Online Exam Delivery
Duration of Exam 2 Hours
Certification Valid for 2 Years
12 Month Exam Eligibility
One Retake
Performance-Based Exam
PDF Certificate and Digital Badge
Experience Level: Intermediate
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