Dynatrace Associate Certification Exam – Practical Section

[prasanth1]

I am currently preparing for the Dynatrace Associate Certification exam and have recently completed the Dynatrace Associate Beginner learning path through Dynatrace University.

I am writing to seek clarification regarding the practical section of the certification exam. A colleague of mine appeared for the exam recently, and during the practical portion, he encountered several questions related to Dynatrace Query Language (DQL), which were not extensively covered in the learning path. Additionally, he mentioned that there were fewer hands-on scenario-based questions aligned with the exercises provided in the course.

To better prepare for the exam, I would like to understand the following:

1. What types of practical questions can candidates expect in the certification exam?
2. To what extent is DQL included in the practical section?
3. Which areas or topics should be prioritized for hands-on preparation?
4. Are the practical questions directly based on the “call to action” exercises from the learning modules, or should we expect broader scenarios?

This clarification will help me focus my preparation more effectively and ensure I meet the expected standards for the certification.

Thank you for your time and support. I look forward to your guidance.

[t_pawlak · Accepted solution]

Hi,

If you want to get more comfortable with DQL, I strongly recommend using the official playground:
 https://www.dynatrace.com/signup/playground/learn-dql/

It’s a great way to practice DQL hands-on in a real environment.

Regarding the exam. Yes, there are a few questions related to DQL in the practical section. These are usually not super advanced, but you should be comfortable with the basics.

Typical examples of what you might encounter:

• Creating a query/dashboard/notebook showing some metrics for a service
• Writing DQL based on business events or logs
• Simple aggregations and filtering

It's worth to know how using filters, fieldsAdd, summarize, count, timeseries, fetch logs, bizevents, avg, percentiles, sum etc. and ofcourse basic visualizations in notebooks/dashboards.

don’t forget to review:

Frontend / RUM settings (e.g. application configuration, user/session setup) and general navigation and common use cases in Dynatrace

That should give you a solid preparation baseline

[MaximilianoML]

Hello @prasanth1 

1. In my last exam I had two questions types in the Practical Part:

• Type "Look for the answer": Be ready to find the answer directly in the platform. You should be comfortable navigating the tenant and its apps to locate information efficiently. This may include questions about specific Synthetic monitor settings, such as location and scheduling, identifying which table a query uses, or finding a particular user action. These tasks can look difficult at first, but they are usually simple if you know how to navigate the platform.”
• Type "Hands-on for real": Expect genuinely hands-on tasks. You should be able to create DQL queries for dashboards, particularly the newer dashboards, and also for Notebooks. A very helpful tip is to use these interfaces to assist you in building queries. For example, in Notebooks, click the “+” button and select “Metric.” Since many questions involve metrics, searching for the metric there can make it much easier to build and understand the query, so you use the generated DQL query and adapt to your subject.

2. It's essential to understand how to use DQL, how to fetch stuff, filter, rename fields, remove fields, add fields. You don't need to be the Master but at least need to have the knowledge to understand the (basic) commands.

3. This point is good, in my exam I got Synthetics (most of them), Kubernetes, Geolocations (But they gave the query, not copy and paste). But it depends on what you'll got in yours, so it's a good shot to discover how to query "Everything", that tip I said is a life saver when you have a blank.

4. Of course it'll not be the same, but it's great to have a taste of the questions. I would suggest to go to the Playground and "Do stuff", query metrics and put in some Viz, get familiar with the UI and Apps, you should be ready for the Associate Exam.

I hope this can help you, wish you a great study and break a leg! 

[tracegazer]

Hi,

Congratulations on completing the learning path! I'd like to share some insights from our team's experience with the Associate Certification exam that might help you prepare more effectively.

Be extremely precise with instructions

This is probably the most important piece of advice I can give you: follow the exam instructions exactly as written. The practical section is validated with strict matching, so naming conventions matter down to the character. For example, if the instructions ask you to name a dashboard ax-dashboard, submitting ax-Dashboard (with a capital D) will be marked as incorrect. Several teammates of ours lost full points on the dashboard section due to this kind of subtle mismatch. Read every instruction twice before executing.

What to expect and prioritize

Regarding your specific questions:

• DQL is definitely part of the practical section. You should be comfortable writing queries in a latest-version tenant. Practice things like fetching CPU limits of pods by namespace, working with logs, and filtering/aggregating data. The DQL coverage in the learning path may feel light compared to what the exam expects, so I'd recommend spending extra time practicing in a real environment.
• Dashboard creation: Know how to build dashboards from scratch, including creating and using variables, adding different tile types, and configuring them properly.
• Navigation and configuration: Be familiar with where to find and configure different settings across the platform — things like log ingestion rules, business events (bizevents), and other configuration areas. The exam may ask you to set up or locate configurations that go beyond what the exercises explicitly covered.
• Broader than the call-to-action exercises: While the learning path exercises are a good foundation, expect the practical section to present broader scenarios that require you to combine multiple skills. Don't just memorize the exercises — make sure you understand the underlying concepts well enough to apply them in different contexts.

My recommendation

If you have access to a Dynatrace trial or playground environment, spend time practicing hands-on beyond the learning path exercises. Get comfortable navigating the UI, writing DQL queries from scratch, and building dashboards with variables and proper naming. That real-world fluency will make a big difference on exam day.

Good luck with your preparation!