Exam format
Prometheus Certified Associate Exam Format
Everything the official exam blueprint specifies: question count, time limit, scoring and the weight each domain carries. The Prometheus Certified Associate (PCA) certification by The Linux Foundation is a foundational credential designed to validate a professional's ability to implement, manage, and query Prometheus in modern cloud-native environments. As the industry standard for Kubernetes monitoring, this exam ensures candidates understand the nuances of time-series data, the intricacies of the PromQL query language, and the operational mechanics of the entire Prometheus ecosystem. It moves beyond simple theoretical knowledge, requiring a deep understanding of how metrics flow from instrumentation through to alerting and visualization. Candidates must demonstrate proficiency in configuring service discovery, managing high-cardinality data, and effectively utilizing Alertmanager to prevent alert fatigue. This certification serves as a critical benchmark for engineers working in DevOps, SRE, and Platform Engineering roles who rely on Prometheus to maintain high availability and performance in distributed systems.
- 60 questions
- 90 min
- 70% to pass
- 5 domains
certilumExam facts at a glance
What we know about this exam, and where the information comes from.
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Questions | 60 |
| Time limit | 90 minutes (90s per question) |
| Passing score | 70% |
| Domains | 5 |
| Level | Associate |
| Question bank here | 60 questions |
| Source | Certilum's own record — the vendor does not publish this figure |
Official domain weights
The percentage of the exam each domain carries. Weight your revision by these numbers, not by what you find hardest.
| Domain | Weight | Topics | Practice Qs |
|---|---|---|---|
| PromQL | 28% |
| 17 |
| Observability Concepts | 18% |
| 11 |
| Alerting & Dashboarding | 18% |
| 11 |
| Prometheus Fundamentals | 20% |
| 12 |
| Instrumentation and Exporters | 16% |
| 9 |
The heaviest domain is PromQL at 28%, and that is where lost points cost you the most. Certilum scores you per domain so you can see the difference between a knowledge gap and a formatting problem.
Note from the vendor record: Official exam price only on Linux Foundation (12 months of eligibility, 1 retake included, valid for 2 years). Bundles: with a THRIVE-ONE subscription $495; with the corresponding course $299. 90-min multiple-choice exam, online proctored. Official exam page
More about the Prometheus Certified Associate exam
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Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about the Prometheus Certified Associate exam.