CNPA & CBA: Passing Two CNCF Certs While Building an IDP

#idp #certification #learning #opensource

I took the Certified Cloud Native Platform Engineering Associate (CNPA) on May 25th and the **Certified Backstage Associate (CBA) on May 29th.

Since late April, I'd been building an Internal Developer Platform (IDP) and studying Platform Engineering beyond just exam prep. I'd also been working hands-on with Backstage—adding plugins and templates—so I took CNPA and CBA mainly to validate what I already knew.

https://training.linuxfoundation.org/certification/certified-cloud-native-platform-engineering-associate-cnpa/

https://training.linuxfoundation.org/certification/certified-backstage-associate-cba/

Results

I passed CNPA with 89% and CBA with 78% (passing score: 75%).

Exam dates: May 25, 2026 (CNPA) / May 29, 2026 (CBA)
Location: A coworking space
Device: MacBook Air (2022, M2, 13.6")

Impressions and Difficulty

I went into CNPA expecting purely conceptual Platform Engineering questions, but a wide range of CNCF ecosystem services showed up. I happened to have researched tools like Crossplane while making technical decisions for our IDP at work, which got me through—but just solving KodeKloud questions wouldn't have been enough.

I expected CBA to be a natural extension of my hands-on plugin and template work, but I got a rude awakening. There were a lot of memorization-heavy questions on CLI commands and the fine details of manifest syntax—the kind you can't reason your way through—which threw me off. Like CNPA, KodeKloud alone wasn't sufficient; you really need to study CLI and manifest syntax in the official docs.

I finished both exams with about 20 minutes to spare.

Study Materials

I used KodeKloud, a staple for CNCF cert candidates.

KodeKloud

For CNPA, I did the mock exams three times through. For CBA, I watched all the videos and then went through the mock exams three times each.

For CNPA, I'd recommend separately researching CNCF projects related to Platform Engineering (like Crossplane). CBA has few CLI-focused questions in the mocks, so it's worth covering that ground in the official docs as well.

https://learn.kodekloud.com/user/courses/certified-cloud-native-platform-engineering-associate-cnpa

https://learn.kodekloud.com/user/courses/certified-backstage-associate-cba