Certified Cloud Native Platform Engineering Associate (CNPA)

Expand your career horizons by proving you have the skills to create reusable, self-service tools, automation, and infrastructure that empower developers to deploy and manage applications efficiently.

Platform engineers remain highly sought-after as enterprises invest heavily in scalable software development, and earning this certification demonstrates your capacity to integrate and orchestrate a wide range of technical capabilities while opening pathways to senior leadership positions including Platform Architect, Engineering Manager, and CTO.

The CNPA certification validates your skills for sought-after entry-level platform engineering positions, showcases your strategic ability to utilize tools and processes to improve system security, reliability and scalability, and serves as an excellent starting point on your path to IT team leadership roles.

Platform Engineering Core Fundamentals - 36%

Declarative Resource Management

DevOps Practices in Platform Engineering

Application Environments and Infrastructure Concepts

Platform Architecture and Capabilities

Platform Engineering Goals, Objectives, and Approaches

Continuous Integration Fundamentals

Continuous Delivery and GitOps

Platform Observability, Security, and Conformance - 20%

Observability Fundamentals: Traces, Metrics, Logs, and Events

Secure Service Communication

Policy Engines for Platform Governance

Kubernetes Security Essentials

Security in CI/CD Pipelines

Continuous Delivery & Platform Engineering - 16%

Continuous Integration Pipelines Overview

Incident Response in Platform Engineering

CI/CD Relationship Fundamentals

GitOps Basics and Workflows

GitOps for Application Environments

Platform APIs and Provisioning Infrastructure - 12%

Kubernetes Reconciliation Loop

APIs for Self-Service Platforms (CRDs)

Infrastructure Provisioning with Kubernetes

Kubernetes Operator Pattern for Integration

IDPs and Developer Experience - 8%

Simplified Access to Platform Capabilities

API-Driven Service Catalogs

Developer Portals for Platform Adoption

AI/ML in Platform Automation

Measuring your Platform - 8%

Platform Efficiency and Team Productivity

DORA Metrics for Platform Initiatives

CNPA pairs well with other credentials that can help with preparation or deepen your expertise afterward. You can consider: KCNA, KCSA, CBA and OTCA.

How to register & take exam: TBC (Link to FAQ pages of the website)

Linux Foundation Global Certification & Confidentiality Agreement: https://docs.linuxfoundation.org/tc-docs/certification/lf-cert-agreement/

Candidate Handbook: https://training.linuxfoundation.org/go/LFCA-candidate-handbook

Important Instructions: https://docs.linuxfoundation.org/tc-docs/certification/important-instructions-mc

Frequently Asked Questions: https://docs.linuxfoundation.org/tc-docs/certification/faq-mc