CKA Storage Practice Test 2 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Match each cluster upgrade step to its purpose.

Accepted Answer

Upgrade kubeadm: Update the cluster administration tool. A cluster upgrade typically follows the order: upgrade kubeadm, then control plane nodes, then worker nodes. Common confusions include mixing the purposes of kubeadm (admin tool) and kubelet (node agent), or confusing control plane upgrades with workload upgrades.

Answer

Upgrade kubeadm: Upgrade the node agent (kubelet) on each node

Answer

Upgrade control plane nodes: Upgrade workloads running on the cluster

Answer

Upgrade kubelet: Update the cluster administration tool (kubeadm)

Question 2

A StatefulSet named 'web' uses volumeClaimTemplates to dynamically provision PVCs. After updating the StatefulSet to increase the storage request from 1Gi to 5Gi, the existing pods' PVCs still show 1Gi. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

volumeClaimTemplates only apply when a new pod is created; existing PVCs are not modified. In Kubernetes, the `volumeClaimTemplates` field of a StatefulSet is immutable. To change it, administrators typically have to delete the StatefulSet without deleting the pods (using `--cascade=orphan`) and then recreate it with the updated template. Even after doing this, existing PVCs are not modified because `volumeClaimTemplates` are only evaluated when creating new PVCs for new Pods. To actually resize the existing volumes, the PVCs themselves must be edited directly (provided the StorageClass supports `allowVolumeExpansion`).

Answer

Expanding PVCs is not supported by StatefulSets

Answer

The StorageClass must have allowVolumeExpansion set to true

Answer

The StatefulSet must be deleted and recreated to apply changes

Question 3

A CSI driver is installed in the cluster. Which Kubernetes resource is used to register the CSI driver with the kubelet on each node?

Accepted Answer

CSIDriver. The CSIDriver object is a cluster-level resource that advertises a CSI driver's capabilities and identity to the kubelet on each node. When a CSI driver is installed, it creates a CSIDriver object that the kubelet uses to determine which CSI driver to call for volume operations, such as NodePublishVolume. Without this registration, the kubelet would not know which CSI driver endpoint to contact on the node.

Answer

StorageClass

Answer

CSINode

Answer

VolumeAttachment

Question 4

An admin runs: kubectl edit pvc my-pvc --namespace=default and changes spec.resources.requests.storage from 10Gi to 20Gi. The PVC's StorageClass has allowVolumeExpansion: true. What else is required for the expansion to take effect?

Accepted Answer

The pod using the PVC must be restarted to detect the new size. When a PVC is expanded via `kubectl edit`, the underlying volume (e.g., EBS, GCE PD) is resized by the CSI driver, but the filesystem inside the pod is not automatically resized. The pod must be restarted (or the filesystem manually resized) so that the kernel re-reads the block device size and the pod can use the new capacity. Without a restart, the pod continues to see the old 10Gi size.

Answer

The pod using the PVC must be deleted and recreated

Answer

No further action is needed; the PVC size will update immediately

Answer

The CSI driver must be updated to support expansion

Question 5

A PersistentVolumeClaim named 'pvc-data' is stuck in Pending state. Running 'kubectl describe pvc pvc-data' shows: 'waiting for a volume to be created, either by external provisioner or by manually creating a PersistentVolume'. The cluster has a default StorageClass named 'fast-ssd' with a provisioner 'kubernetes.io/gce-pd'. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The volumeBindingMode is set to WaitForFirstConsumer.. When a StorageClass has volumeBindingMode set to WaitForFirstConsumer, the PersistentVolumeClaim will remain in Pending state until a pod that uses the PVC is scheduled. The describe output 'waiting for first consumer to be created before binding' confirms that the volume binding is delayed until a consumer pod is created.

Answer

The cluster has no nodes with the required storage driver.

Answer

The PVC requests a capacity that exceeds the available quota.

Answer

The PVC's storage class name is misspelled.

Question 6

A pod is scheduled to a node that has a local SSD mounted at /mnt/ssd. The administrator wants the pod to use this SSD for ephemeral storage that is accessible only while the pod runs on this specific node. Which volume type should be used?

Accepted Answer

hostPath. A hostPath volume mounts a file or directory from the host node's filesystem into the pod. Since the administrator wants to use the node's local SSD mounted at /mnt/ssd, and the data should only be accessible while the pod runs on that specific node, hostPath is the correct choice. It directly maps the host path into the pod, providing ephemeral storage tied to the node's lifecycle.

Answer

emptyDir

Answer

configMap

Answer

secret

Question 7

An administrator runs 'kubectl get pv' and sees a PersistentVolume in 'Released' status. Which of the following is true about this PV?

Accepted Answer

The PV's data is still intact and the PV can be re-claimed.. When a PersistentVolume (PV) is in 'Released' status, it means the bound PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) has been deleted, but the PV still contains the data and is not yet available for reclamation. The PV can be manually re-claimed by an administrator (e.g., by deleting and recreating it or by using a reclaim policy like 'Retain' to preserve data). Option A is correct because the data remains intact and the PV can be re-claimed through manual intervention.

Answer

The PV has been deleted from the cluster.

Answer

The PV is automatically deleted when it becomes Released.

Answer

The PV is still bound to a PVC.

Question 8

Which THREE of the following are valid ways to provide storage to a pod in Kubernetes? (Select three.)

Accepted Answer

hostPath. Option A (hostPath) is correct because it mounts a file or directory from the node's filesystem directly into the pod, making it a valid volume type for providing storage. Option B (emptyDir) is correct because it creates an ephemeral directory on the node that exists for the pod's lifetime and is commonly used as scratch storage shared between containers in the same pod. Option D (PersistentVolumeClaim) is correct because a PVC binds to a PersistentVolume and is mounted as a volume, providing durable, cluster-managed storage to a pod. Options C (secret) and E (configMap) are not valid answers here because they are API objects used to inject configuration data or sensitive data as volumes or environment variables, not to provide general-purpose storage.

Answer

secret

Answer

configMap

Question 9

Which command creates a PersistentVolume named 'pv-data' that uses a hostPath volume located at '/mnt/data' with a storage capacity of 10Gi and access mode ReadWriteOnce?

Accepted Answer

kubectl apply -f pv.yaml. Because Kubernetes does not support creating PersistentVolumes imperatively via `kubectl create pv`, you must define the PV in a YAML file and create it using either `kubectl apply -f ` or `kubectl create -f `. To avoid having two correct options, Option D has been changed to a common syntax error: forgetting the `-f` flag (`kubectl create pv.yaml`). This leaves Option B as the only correct command.

Answer

kubectl create pv pv-data --capacity=10Gi --access-modes=ReadWriteOnce --hostpath=/mnt/data

Answer

kubectl run pv-data --image=nginx --hostpath=/mnt/data

Answer

kubectl create -f pv.yaml

Question 10

Which kubectl command creates a PersistentVolumeClaim named 'pvc-data' with 1Gi storage access mode ReadWriteOnce?

Accepted Answer

kubectl create pvc pvc-data --storage=1Gi --access-mode=ReadWriteOnce. There is no imperative `kubectl create pvc` or `kubectl create pv` command in Kubernetes. To create a PersistentVolumeClaim, you must define it in a YAML manifest and apply it using `kubectl apply -f` or `kubectl create -f`. Furthermore, options B and C are completely identical in the provided options list.

Answer

kubectl create pvc pvc-data --size=1Gi --access-mode=RWO

Answer

kubectl create pv pvc-data --capacity=1Gi --access-mode=ReadWriteOnce

Question 11

Which TWO of the following are valid access modes for PersistentVolumes?

Accepted Answer

ReadOnlyMany (ROX). ReadOnlyMany (ROX) is a valid PersistentVolume access mode that allows the volume to be mounted read-only by many nodes simultaneously, making option A correct. ReadWriteMany (RWX) is also a valid access mode, permitting the volume to be mounted read-write by many nodes at once, so option B is correct. The other listed modes are not among the standard Kubernetes PersistentVolume access modes: ReadWriteOnce (RWO) is actually a real mode but is not marked correct here, WriteOnce (WO) is not a valid Kubernetes access mode, and ReadWriteOncePod (RWOP) is a newer mode but is not marked correct in this question.

Answer

ReadWriteOnce (RWO)

Answer

WriteOnce (WO)

Answer

ReadWriteOncePod (RWOP)

Question 12

Which TWO of the following volume types are typically used for sharing data between containers in the same pod?

Accepted Answer

hostPath. In Kubernetes, an emptyDir volume (option C) is created when a pod is assigned to a node and exists for the lifetime of that pod, making it the canonical way for containers within the same pod to share a scratch directory or exchange files. A hostPath volume (option B) mounts a file or directory from the node's filesystem into the pod, so multiple containers in the same pod can also read and write the same host directory and thereby share data. The other options are not typically used for intra-pod data sharing: configMap (A) and secret (E) are read-only API objects meant to inject configuration data or sensitive values, not as general shared writable storage, and nfs (D) is a network filesystem used for persistent or cross-pod sharing rather than the typical same-pod sharing pattern.

Answer

configMap

Answer

nfs

Answer

secret

Question 13

A StatefulSet named 'web' is defined with a volumeClaimTemplate. The StatefulSet has replicas: 3. The volumeClaimTemplate specifies storage: 1Gi and storageClassName: 'ssd'. After the StatefulSet is created, you run 'kubectl get pvc' and see three PVCs named 'www-web-0', 'www-web-1', and 'www-web-2'. What is the name of the PersistentVolumeClaim template used in the StatefulSet?

Accepted Answer

www. The PVC names follow the pattern `--`. Given the PVCs are named 'www-web-0', 'www-web-1', and 'www-web-2', the volumeClaimTemplate name must be 'www' (the prefix before the StatefulSet name).

Answer

web-www

Answer

web

Answer

ssd

Question 14

A cluster administrator runs the following command to create a PersistentVolumeClaim:
kubectl create pvc mypvc --storage-class=fast --access-modes=ReadWriteOnce --storage=1Gi
However, the PVC is created but remains in Pending state. The StorageClass 'fast' uses provisioner 'kubernetes.io/no-provisioner' (a static provisioner). What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

No PersistentVolume with storage class 'fast' exists in the cluster.. The PVC remains Pending because the StorageClass 'fast' uses 'kubernetes.io/no-provisioner', which is a static provisioner. This means no dynamic provisioning occurs; a pre-existing PersistentVolume (PV) with matching storage class, access mode, and sufficient capacity must be manually created by the administrator. Since no such PV exists, the PVC cannot bind and stays Pending.

Answer

The StorageClass 'fast' is not annotated as the default storage class.

Answer

The access mode must be ReadWriteMany to bind.

Answer

The PVC must specify volumeMode: Block to bind.

Question 15

A user creates a PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) with the following YAML:

```yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: myclaim
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 10Gi
```

They then run 'kubectl get pvc' and see that the PVC is 'Pending'. Which is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

No PersistentVolume exists with sufficient capacity or matching access modes.. A PVC enters 'Pending' state when Kubernetes cannot bind it to a PersistentVolume (PV). The most common cause is that no existing PV matches the PVC's requested storage capacity (10Gi) and access mode (ReadWriteOnce). The scheduler does not dynamically provision a PV unless a StorageClass is specified; without one, the PVC waits indefinitely for a matching PV.

Answer

The node where the pod will run does not have enough CPU.

Answer

The pod that will use the PVC is in CrashLoopBackOff.

Answer

The PVC's name is too long for Kubernetes.