Day 37: MASTER Kubernetes Service Accounts & Authentication | CKA Course 2025

Day 37: MASTER Kubernetes Service Accounts & Authentication | CKA Course 2025
👉 GitHub Repository: github.com/CloudWithVarJosh/CKA-Certification-Cour…
👉 CKA 2025 Playlist:    • CKA Certification Course 2025  

📚 Welcome to Day 37!
In this lecture, we dive deep into Kubernetes Service Accounts and Authentication, a core part of how internal workloads authenticate to the API server.

We start with an overview of Kubernetes authentication mechanisms, then focus on ServiceAccounts — what they are, how they work, and how they’re used by pods. This is especially critical for securing non-human interactions like CI/CD pipelines or controllers talking to the cluster.

You’ll learn about default service accounts, token types, projected tokens, and how to properly authenticate Jenkins using a short-lived token with the TokenRequest API. Everything is explained with practical demos and real-world use cases.

📝 What We’ll Cover:
✅ Authentication flow in Kubernetes
✅ Why ServiceAccounts exist and how pods use them
✅ Auto-mounting behavior and how to disable it
✅ Long-lived vs short-lived tokens
✅ Projected tokens and the TokenRequest API
✅ Creating and binding a ServiceAccount for Jenkins
✅ Demo: Secure Jenkins integration using TokenRequest

💡 By the end of this lecture:
You’ll have complete clarity on how workloads authenticate inside Kubernetes, how to manage service accounts securely, and how to transition away from deprecated token methods.

🔗 Stay Connected:
👉 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/varun-joshi-2b516752
👉 GitHub: github.com/CloudWithVarJosh

💬 Got questions? Drop them in the comments — I’ll reply ASAP!
🔥 Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe to stay updated with the CKA 2025 series!

⏰ Timestamps:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:39 Understanding Authentication in Kubernetes
00:18:53 Cluster Access: Who Authenticates and How?
00:20:22 Service Accounts Deep Dive
00:27:43 Inspecting Default Service Accounts via CLI
00:36:26 How Pods Authenticate Using Service Accounts
00:39:34 Service Account Tokens: Legacy vs Projected
00:48:37 Service Accounts for Automation: Internal vs External Use
00:58:23 Demo: Create and Secure Jenkins Service Account
01:11:12 Outro & Next Steps

🔖 Hashtags:
#Kubernetes #CKA #CloudWithVarJosh #KubernetesRBAC #RBAC #RoleBinding #ClusterRole #CKACourse #CKA2025 #CKAExam #DevOps #KubernetesSecurity #KubernetesAccess #ClusterSecurity #ServiceAccounts #KubernetesAuthorization #KubernetesRoles #AuthorizationFlow #CKALecture #KubernetesTraining #SecureClusters