OTCA Mock Exam Simulator

Free OpenTelemetry Certified Associate practice questions with full explanations on every option. Distributed tracing and observability with OpenTelemetry.

Format
multi-choice
Duration
90 min
Pass mark
75%
Study time
2–8 wks

OTCA exam domains

A free OTCA sample question

The OpenTelemetry API and SDK

Q1. Which OpenTelemetry instrument is best suited for counting the number of HTTP requests handled by a service?

Answer options for question 1

  • Incorrect. A Histogram records distributions of values such as request latency, not monotonically increasing counts.

  • Incorrect. UpDownCounter is for values that go up and down (e.g., active connections), not monotonic request counts.

  • Correct. A Counter is the correct instrument for monotonically increasing values such as the total number of requests handled.

  • Incorrect. ObservableGauge reports an instantaneous measured value via a callback, not a count of events.

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Prerequisites and background knowledge

Basic observability concepts (metrics, traces, logs). Familiarity with Prometheus helps. Understanding of microservices architecture.

Official reference: cncf.io/training/certification/otca.

More OTCA practice resources

OTCA exam tips

Where to go after OTCA

Once you pass OTCA, these certs are natural next steps on the Golden Kubestronaut path:

PCA — Prometheus Certified AssociateCNPA — Certified Cloud Native Platform Engineering Associate

Frequently asked questions about OTCA

What is the passing score for OTCA?

75%.

How long is the OTCA exam?

90 minutes, multi-choice format. See the official CNCF page for the current question count.

How difficult is the OTCA exam?

Rated intermediate. Plan 2–8 weeks depending on your background.

How much does the OTCA exam cost?

Pricing changes periodically — check the official CNCF OTCA page at https://www.cncf.io/training/certification/otca/.

Are these OTCA mock exams free?

The sample question on this page is free with no account. Full timed OTCA mocks require a paid plan.

How is this mock exam different from the real OTCA exam?

Original questions written against the official CNCF curriculum — not scraped dumps. Format mirrors the real exam; the real one is proctored, these are self-paced.

What is the best way to study for OTCA?

Work through the official curriculum in order of domain weight (heaviest first), then run full timed mocks until you hit 85%+ consistently.