What is the Docker & Kubernetes Associate Artisan exam?
The Docker & Kubernetes Associate Artisan exam - code DO1-001 - is the associate-level certification in Bittnet Training's DevOps Artisan program, a six-exam track covering automation, containers, and CI/CD. Pearson VUE, the program's official global administrator, describes it plainly: the exam validates foundational skills in working with Docker and Kubernetes in a DevOps context, from creating and managing containers and building Docker images to setting up Kubernetes clusters and deploying applications with declarative configurations and CLI tools. It is a 90-minute proctored sitting, bookable at a Pearson test center or online from home through OnVUE - both options verified for this exact exam in Pearson's live registration flow on 2026-10-07. Pearson's official voucher store prices the program's prepaid exam voucher at USD 180.
What does the DO1-001 exam actually validate?
Pearson's definition names four capability blocks: creating and managing containers, building Docker images, setting up Kubernetes clusters, and deploying applications using declarative configurations and CLI tools. Read that as the full daily loop of containerized delivery - not knowing what a container is, but running the tooling end to end.
The vendor's dedicated three-day course - aligned to this certification, per Bittnet - shows the working shape of that skill set. Day one is Docker fundamentals: containers versus virtual machines, Docker architecture and the CE-versus-EE distinction, the Docker CLI, images with layers and tags, Dockerfile builds, registries, bridge and overlay networking, and volumes versus bind mounts. Day two moves into orchestration: Dockerfile best practices, CMD and ENTRYPOINT, Docker Compose and Swarm, then Kubernetes architecture and components, a kubeadm cluster installation, the CRI, CNI, and CSI interfaces, and the imperative-versus-declarative distinction with kubectl. Day three is the declarative core: YAML manifests, Deployments, ReplicaSets, StatefulSets, labels and selectors, Jobs and CronJobs, persistent volume claims, Kubernetes services, kube-proxy and cluster DNS - closing on the Docker-to-Kubernetes transition and CI/CD and GitOps. The course materials are in English.
Two practical reads fall out of that outline. First, cluster setup is inside the scope - kubeadm installation and the networking interfaces are not managed-service abstractions here. Second, the declarative half carries real weight: the exam's own description names declarative configurations as a headline skill, and the course devotes a full day to it. Candidates whose Kubernetes is limited to kubectl one-liners should expect the manifest side to be the gap.
What is the exact DO1-001 exam format?
The published headline is the duration: 90 minutes, at associate level, per Pearson's program page. That is the only format fact either the vendor or Pearson publishes on a public page for this exam - there is no official public item count, no published passing score, and no public content-weight table. This guide deliberately quotes the 90 minutes and states the rest as not published, because the honest answer beats an invented one; treat any third-party site that states a question count or pass mark for DO1-001 as unverified unless it points at a primary document.
What is published is the skill definition and the level. The exam sits at associate tier inside a two-level track, and the professional-tier companion - DO2-001, Certified Docker & Kubernetes Professional Artisan - validates advanced orchestration, centralized logging and monitoring with Prometheus and Grafana, and production-grade container security at the same 90-minute duration. The level boundary is the honest signal of the depth: associate is the foundational craft, professional is the production architecture on top of it.
What does the exam cost, and what rules come with it?
Pearson's official voucher store lists one product for the whole program: the Devops Artisan by BITTNET 100% prepaid voucher at USD 180, with EUR 150, GBP 137, and JPY 18,440 for the matching redemption countries. The same voucher covers all six DevOps Artisan exams, and the registration checkout prices your sitting in your local currency. There is no published member tier, no bundle, and no surcharge for picking OnVUE over a test center.
The bundled alternative is the vendor's course route: Bittnet maps each certification to a dedicated three-day course and includes the certification voucher with it, so candidates who want structured, lab-heavy preparation arrive with the exam already paid. The course is preparation, not a gate - Pearson's registration is open to anyone with a Pearson account, and the published prerequisites are experience: basic Linux or system administration, command-line familiarity, and a general understanding of application development or IT operations.
One rule shapes the long game: the professional-tier DO2-001 requires an active DO1-001 certification before Pearson opens scheduling - Bittnet's DevOps Hub states the gate in plain terms. There is no published retake discount in this program; a new sitting registers at the same published voucher price.
Can you take the DO1-001 exam online from home?
Yes - and the evidence is exam-specific, not program-level hand-waving. Pearson's live BITTNET registration flow lists DO1-001 by name, and its delivery-models step presents both "In-person at a test center" and "Online with OnVUE" - opened and verified in a real browser on 2026-10-07. Underneath sits Pearson's dedicated DevOps Artisan OnVUE page with the full at-home rulebook.
The minimums are strict and mechanical: Windows 10 or macOS 14 or higher; a working webcam, microphone, and speaker with no headphones or headsets; one display screen only - multi-monitor setups are not permitted; at least 6 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up; and every application except OnVUE closed. The prohibited-technology list bars virtual machines, phones, tablets, smart devices, secondary or touchscreen displays, and VPNs, corporate networks, or public or shared networks - the dual-monitor, VPN-connected setup most developers work on is exactly what fails the check. Pearson warns that failing the minimums on exam day can cancel the sitting and forfeit the fee, and the fix is boring: run the system test on the exact machine and network, restart, clear the desk, and be alone in the room.
How booking the DO1-001 exam actually works
The flow runs entirely through Pearson. You create a Pearson VUE account - Pearson is the program's official global administrator - select the DevOps Artisan certification you want from the BITTNET catalog, and schedule the sitting, choosing your date and your delivery method: online with OnVUE or in person at a test center. The public exam list shows all six program exams side by side, so code-checking before payment takes seconds.
Two sequencing notes matter before you click. First, if the professional tier is the goal, the ladder is sequential: DO2-001 scheduling requires the active DO1-001 certification, so the associate result has to exist first. Second, if you take the OnVUE route, the environment pass happens before the appointment, not during it - the system test on the real machine and network, the single display, the closed applications, the ID that matches the registration name. Candidates who treat exam week as the time to discover a prohibited VPN learn the rule at the expensive moment.
Get the Docker & Kubernetes Sitting Handled
If the DO1-001 sitting is the obstacle between you and the associate credential - the cluster-setup depth, the declarative-manifest core, the OnVUE room rules on a developer machine, or simply the calendar - Exam Assist handles the sitting end to end: exam-code confirmation against Pearson's live list, a delivery-route compliance check, scheduling coordination, and the proctored sitting itself. The service fee is due only after the agreed result posts. Send your container background, your delivery preference, and your deadline for an honest feasibility answer.