Practice CKA Troubleshooting questions with full explanations on every answer.
Start practicing
Troubleshooting — choose a session length
Free · No account required
Click any question to see the full explanation and answer options, or start a focused practice session above.
Based on the exhibit, the pod is in CrashLoopBackOff. Which command should you run NEXT to identify the root cause?
2You are a CKA managing a production cluster with 5 worker nodes. A developer reports that a new deployment 'payment-service' is not accessible from other pods via its Service 'payment-svc' in the 'default' namespace. The Service is of type ClusterIP with selector 'app: payment'. The deployment has 3 replicas, all showing 'Running' status. From a test pod, you run 'curl http://payment-svc:8080' and get 'Connection refused'. You verify that the pods are listening on port 8080 and the container's readiness probe passes. 'kubectl get endpoints payment-svc' shows no endpoints. 'kubectl describe svc payment-svc' shows the selector 'app=payment'. What is the most likely cause?
3Based on the exhibit, what is the most likely cause of the pod not running?
4A pod has status 'Init:Error'. What does this indicate?
5A pod is running but cannot be accessed via its ClusterIP service from another pod in the same namespace. The service endpoints list shows the pod's IP. What is the most likely cause?
6A ClusterIP Service is not reachable from within the cluster. You verify that the Service has endpoints. Which of the following could be the cause? (Select two.)
7Drag and drop the steps to back up and restore etcd data for a Kubernetes cluster into the correct order.
8A pod is stuck in 'Pending' state. Which command would you run FIRST to diagnose the issue?
9You have a multi-node cluster. One node shows 'NotReady'. You run 'journalctl -u kubelet' on that node and see 'network plugin is not ready'. What is the most likely cause?
10You want to check the logs of a container that previously crashed. Which command should you use?
11You are troubleshooting a DNS issue. From within a pod, you run 'nslookup kubernetes.default.svc.cluster.local' and get 'connection timed out; no servers could be reached'. What is the most likely cause?
12You run 'kubectl get pods' and see a pod in 'CrashLoopBackOff'. What command would you run to see the reason for the crash?
13A Deployment's pod is stuck in Pending state. 'kubectl describe pod' shows Events: '0/4 nodes are available: 1 node(s) had taint {node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane: }, that the pod didn't tolerate, 3 Insufficient memory'. What is the likely fix?
14A pod runs but you cannot connect to its container port from another pod in the same namespace. 'kubectl exec' into the pod and 'curl localhost:8080' works. What is the MOST likely cause?
15A pod is stuck in Pending state. 'kubectl describe pod' shows the event: '0/3 nodes are available: 3 node(s) didn't match pod anti-affinity rules'. What is the most likely cause?
16A pod is in ImagePullBackOff state. Which command can you run to get more details about the underlying error?
17You want to view the resource usage of all pods in the cluster. What command should you run?
18A pod has been in Pending state for a long time. 'kubectl describe pod' shows the event: '0/3 nodes are available: 1 node(s) had taint {node.kubernetes.io/not-ready: }, that the pod didn't tolerate, 2 node(s) had taint {node.kubernetes.io/unreachable: }, that the pod didn't tolerate.' What is the most likely cause?
19Which command shows all events in the cluster sorted by timestamp?
20A pod in the 'production' namespace is in a CrashLoopBackOff state. The pod has been running successfully for several days. You run 'kubectl describe pod app-pod -n production' and see the message: 'OOMKilled'. What is the MOST appropriate action to resolve this issue?
21You run 'kubectl get nodes' and see that one node is in the 'NotReady' state. Which command would you use FIRST to investigate the kubelet status on that node?
22You want to check the current resource usage (CPU and memory) of pods in the 'default' namespace. Which kubectl command should you use?
23You are debugging a DNS issue from within a pod. The pod is running 'busybox'. Which command would you use to test DNS resolution for 'kubernetes.default.svc.cluster.local'?
24A pod is not able to communicate with another pod in the same namespace. Both pods are running and have IP addresses. Which command can you use to test connectivity from the first pod to the second pod's IP?
25You run 'kubectl get nodes' and see that a node is 'NotReady'. You SSH into the node and run 'systemctl status kubelet'. The output shows 'Active: inactive (dead)'. What is the most likely cause?
26A pod is stuck in 'Pending' state. Which TWO of the following are common causes?
27Which TWO of the following are valid commands to check the status of control plane components?
28A pod in the 'production' namespace is in a CrashLoopBackOff state. The pod has been running successfully for several days. You run 'kubectl describe pod app-pod -n production' and see the message: 'OOMKilled'. What is the MOST appropriate action to resolve this issue?
29Which kubectl command is used to view the logs of a container that has previously crashed in a pod?
30You are troubleshooting a pod that cannot start. Running 'kubectl describe pod' shows the event: 'Failed to pull image "myregistry.io/myapp:1.0": rpc error: code = Unknown desc = Error response from daemon: manifest for myregistry.io/myapp:1.0 not found'. What is the MOST likely cause?
31You need to check the current resource usage of nodes in your cluster. Which command should you use?
32You run 'kubectl get pods' and see a pod in 'CrashLoopBackOff'. You want to see the logs of the last crashed instance. Which command should you run?
33Which command can you run to see the events related to a specific pod?
34A node in your cluster is reporting 'NotReady' status. You log into the node and run 'systemctl status kubelet'. The kubelet service is not running. Which command should you use to start the kubelet and enable it to start on boot?
35You run 'kubectl get pods' and see a pod in 'ImagePullBackOff' state. Which command would help you determine the exact reason for the image pull failure?
36A Pod is stuck in Pending state. 'kubectl describe pod' shows the event: '0/4 nodes are available: 1 node had taint {node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane: }, that the pod didn't tolerate, 3 Insufficient cpu.' Which of the following is the most likely combination of issues?
37A developer reports that a Pod named 'web-pod' in namespace 'frontend' is crashing repeatedly. You run 'kubectl logs web-pod -n frontend' but see no output. Which command should you run next to see the logs from the previous, crashed container instance?
38You have a Deployment with 3 replicas. One of the pods is in 'Pending' state. 'kubectl describe pod' shows: 'Warning FailedScheduling 0/4 nodes are available: 1 node(s) had taint {key1: value1}, that the pod didn't tolerate, 3 node(s) didn't match pod anti-affinity rules.' Which two issues are preventing the pod from being scheduled?
39You run 'kubectl get pods' and see a pod with status 'Init:CrashLoopBackOff'. What does this indicate?
40Which TWO of the following are valid methods to diagnose why a node is in 'NotReady' state?
41A pod in the 'production' namespace is in a CrashLoopBackOff state. The pod has been running successfully for several days. You run 'kubectl describe pod app-pod -n production' and see the message: 'OOMKilled'. What is the MOST appropriate action to resolve this issue?
42After deploying a new Deployment, you notice that the pods are stuck in ImagePullBackOff. What is the most common cause?
43You have a Pod that is stuck in Pending state. Running 'kubectl describe pod' shows events: '0/4 nodes are available: 1 node(s) had taint {node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane: }, 3 node(s) had taint {key: value}, that the pod didn't tolerate.' How can you resolve this issue?
44Which command should you use to view the logs of a container that has previously crashed in a Pod?
45You have a Deployment with the following resource limits for containers: memory: 256Mi. The pod is repeatedly killed with OOMKilled. You need to change the limit to 512Mi. Which field should you modify in the Deployment YAML?
46A Pod is running but cannot connect to a Service. You have verified that the Service endpoints are correct. Which of the following is the most likely cause if the Pod is using hostNetwork: true?
47Which TWO of the following are valid commands to view cluster events sorted by timestamp?
48You have a pod named 'web-pod' that is in a CrashLoopBackOff state. To examine the logs from the previous instance of the container, which command should you use?
49A pod is in the 'Pending' state for a long time. You run 'kubectl describe pod pending-pod' and see the event: '0/4 nodes are available: 1 node(s) had taint {node.kubernetes.io/not-ready: }, 3 node(s) had taint {node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane: } that the pod didn't tolerate.' What is the MOST likely solution?
50You need to check the resource usage of nodes in your cluster. Which command should you run?
51You suspect a DNS issue inside a pod. Which command can you run to test DNS resolution from within a pod?
52You are troubleshooting a network connectivity issue between two pods in different namespaces. The pods have the following labels: pod-a in namespace 'foo' with labels {app: web}, pod-b in namespace 'bar' with labels {app: db}. You verify that both pods have IP addresses and can ping the Kubernetes service IP. However, pod-a cannot connect to pod-b on port 5432. What should you check first?
53Which command shows all events in the cluster, sorted by timestamp?
54You run 'kubectl get pods' and see a pod with status 'CrashLoopBackOff'. You check the logs with 'kubectl logs <pod> --previous' and see: 'Error: unable to connect to database at db-svc:5432 (connection refused)'. What is the most likely cause?
55Which THREE of the following are valid steps to troubleshoot a node that is in 'NotReady' state?
56A pod is in ImagePullBackOff state. Which command would give you the most information about why the image pull failed?
57A pod is in CrashLoopBackOff. You check the logs with 'kubectl logs my-pod --previous' and see 'Error: cannot connect to database at 10.0.0.1:3306'. The database service is named 'mysql' and runs on port 3306. What is the most likely cause?
58A pod is in Pending state. You run 'kubectl describe pod pending-pod' and see an event: '0/3 nodes are available: 3 Insufficient memory'. However, you believe there is enough memory across the cluster. What could be the issue?
59Which two commands can be used to view the logs of a container that has crashed? (Choose two.)
60You have a pod that is in CrashLoopBackOff. Which two troubleshooting steps should you take first? (Choose two.)
61You are troubleshooting a node that is in 'NotReady' state. Which command should you use to check the kubelet logs for errors?
62You are trying to debug a network connectivity issue between two pods. Pod A can reach the internet but cannot reach Pod B's IP address. Which command should you use to test connectivity from within Pod A to Pod B's service?
63You are troubleshooting a pod that is in 'CrashLoopBackOff' state. You run 'kubectl logs mypod' and get no output. You then run 'kubectl logs mypod --previous' and see an error: 'Error: failed to start container: context deadline exceeded'. What is the MOST likely cause?
64Which command can be used to view resource usage of nodes in a cluster?
65You run 'kubectl get events --sort-by=.lastTimestamp' and see the following events for a pod: 'Warning FailedScheduling 0/3 nodes are available: 3 Insufficient cpu'. What is the most likely solution?
66You are troubleshooting DNS resolution from within a pod. You exec into the pod and run 'nslookup kubernetes.default.svc.cluster.local'. The command fails with 'connection timed out; no servers could be reached'. However, 'kubectl get svc -n kube-system' shows the kube-dns service with a ClusterIP. What is the MOST likely cause?
67You want to check the status of the kube-apiserver on a control plane node. Which commands should you use? (Select the best option)
68You are troubleshooting a node that is 'NotReady'. Which THREE of the following are possible causes? (Choose three.)
69A pod is in 'Pending' state. 'kubectl describe pod' shows: '0/3 nodes are available: 1 Insufficient memory, 2 node(s) had taint {node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane: }, that the pod didn't tolerate.' Which THREE actions would resolve the issue? (Choose three)
70A pod has been restarted multiple times. You want to see the logs from the previous (terminated) container instance. Which command should you use?
71A pod is in Pending state. You see the event: '0/2 nodes are available: 2 node(s) had taint {node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane: }, that the pod didn't tolerate'. What should you do to schedule the pod on one of the control-plane nodes?
72A pod in the 'production' namespace is in a CrashLoopBackOff state. The pod has been running successfully for several days. You run 'kubectl describe pod app-pod -n production' and see the message: 'OOMKilled'. What is the MOST appropriate action to resolve this issue?
73You attempt to schedule a pod but it remains 'Pending'. 'kubectl describe pod' shows the event: '0/3 nodes are available: 3 node(s) didn't match node selector.' What is the MOST likely cause?
74A pod is in 'ImagePullBackOff' state. Which of the following is NOT a common cause?
75You need to check the logs of a kubelet on a node. Which command should you run on the node?
76You are troubleshooting a DNS issue in the cluster. You exec into a pod and run 'nslookup kubernetes.default.svc.cluster.local'. The command returns 'server can't find kubernetes.default.svc.cluster.local: NXDOMAIN'. What is the MOST likely cause?
77A pod is in 'Pending' state. Which TWO of the following are possible causes? (Select 2)
78You are troubleshooting a scenario where a pod cannot communicate with another pod in the same namespace via service name. Which THREE steps would you take to diagnose the issue? (Select 3)
79A node is in 'NotReady' state. Which TWO of the following are common causes? (Select 2)
80A pod remains in Pending state. You run 'kubectl describe pod mypod' and see the following event: '0/3 nodes are available: 2 node(s) had taint {node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane: }, that the pod didn't tolerate, 1 node(s) didn't match pod anti-affinity rules.' What is the best action to schedule the pod?
81You are troubleshooting a node that shows 'NotReady' status. Which TWO commands can help you investigate the kubelet state?
82A pod is stuck in 'Pending' state. Which THREE are common causes for this?
83You run 'kubectl logs pod-name' and get no output. Which TWO steps should you take to troubleshoot further?
84You want to check resource usage of pods and nodes. Which TWO commands should you use?
85You are troubleshooting a pod that is in 'Pending' state. 'kubectl describe pod' shows '0/1 nodes are available: 1 Insufficient memory, 1 node(s) had taint {node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane: }, that the pod didn't tolerate'. Which TWO actions can resolve the issue?
86You need to check the status of control plane components. Which TWO commands are appropriate?
The Troubleshooting domain covers the key concepts tested in this area of the CKA exam blueprint published by CNCF. Courseiva provides free domain-focused practice, mock exams, missed-question review, and readiness tracking across all CKA domains — no account required.
The Courseiva CKA question bank contains 86 questions in the Troubleshooting domain, covering the 30% of the exam attributed to this domain in the official CNCF blueprint. Click any question to see the full explanation and answer breakdown.
Start with a 10-question focused session to identify your baseline accuracy in this domain. Read every explanation — even for questions you answer correctly — to understand the reasoning. Once you score consistently above 80%, move to a 20–30 question session to confirm depth before moving to the next domain.
Yes — the session launcher on this page draws questions exclusively from the Troubleshooting domain. Choose 10, 20, 30, or 50 questions for a focused session, or click individual questions to review them one by one.
Save your results, see per-domain analytics, and get readiness scores — free, for every certification.
Sign Up FreeFree forever · Every certification included