CKA Storage Practice Test 3 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A PersistentVolume is created with the following spec:
  persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain
  claimRef:
    namespace: default
    name: my-pvc
After the PVC 'my-pvc' is deleted, what happens to the PV?

Accepted Answer

The PV enters Released state and must have its claimRef manually removed to be reused. When a PersistentVolume (PV) has a reclaim policy of 'Retain' and its bound PVC is deleted, the PV enters the 'Released' state. It is not automatically deleted or recycled; instead, its data is preserved but the PV cannot be reused until the `claimRef` field is manually removed by an administrator. This is because the `claimRef` still references the deleted PVC, preventing automatic re-binding.

Answer

The PV is automatically deleted

Answer

The PV remains Available and can be bound to a new PVC

Answer

The PV is recycled and its contents are wiped

Question 2

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 3

Which access mode allows multiple pods running on different nodes to read from and write to a PersistentVolume at the same time?

Accepted Answer

ReadWriteMany. ReadWriteMany (RWM) is the access mode that allows multiple pods running on different nodes to simultaneously read from and write to a PersistentVolume. This is defined in the Kubernetes PersistentVolume specification and is supported by storage backends like NFS, GlusterFS, or CephFS, which provide shared filesystem semantics across network-attached storage.

Answer

ReadOnlyMany

Answer

ReadWriteOnce

Answer

ReadWriteOncePod

Question 4

What does the 'volumeMode: Block' setting in a PersistentVolume spec indicate?

Accepted Answer

The volume will be presented as a raw block device to the pod. Setting 'volumeMode: Block' in a PersistentVolume spec tells Kubernetes to present the volume as a raw block device (e.g., /dev/sdb) inside the pod, rather than mounting a filesystem. This is defined in the Kubernetes PersistentVolume API and is used for applications that need direct access to the underlying storage, such as databases or software that manage their own filesystems.

Answer

The volume will be formatted with a filesystem automatically

Answer

The volume will have encryption enabled by default

Answer

The volume will be mounted using NFS protocol

Question 5

Which TWO of the following are valid reclaim policies for PersistentVolumes?

Accepted Answer

Retain. A is correct because the Retain reclaim policy is a valid PersistentVolume (PV) reclaim policy. When a PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) is deleted, Retain instructs the system to keep the PV and its underlying storage resource intact, allowing manual data recovery or reuse. This policy is defined in the PV's `persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy` field and is one of the three officially supported policies in Kubernetes.

Answer

Recycle

Answer

Archive

Answer

Reuse

Question 6

Which TWO of the following are required for dynamic provisioning of PersistentVolumes using a StorageClass?

Accepted Answer

A PersistentVolumeClaim that references the StorageClass. A PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) that references a StorageClass is required for dynamic provisioning because the PVC acts as the request for storage, and the StorageClass defines the parameters for provisioning. When a PVC specifies a StorageClass, the Kubernetes control plane uses the provisioner defined in that StorageClass to automatically create a PersistentVolume (PV) that matches the PVC's requirements. Without this reference, the PVC would either bind to an existing static PV or remain pending if no matching PV exists.

Answer

A StorageClass with allowVolumeExpansion: true

Answer

A StorageClass with volumeBindingMode: WaitForFirstConsumer

Answer

A default StorageClass must be defined

Question 7

Which THREE of the following are true about the interaction between PersistentVolumeClaims and pods?

Accepted Answer

A PVC is namespace-scoped and can only be used by pods in the same namespace. PersistentVolumeClaims (PVCs) are namespace-scoped Kubernetes resources, meaning they exist within a specific namespace and can only be referenced by pods in that same namespace. This is enforced by the Kubernetes API server, which validates that the PVC's namespace matches the pod's namespace during admission control. Attempting to use a PVC from a different namespace will result in an error.

Answer

A PVC can only be used by a single pod at a time

Answer

When a pod is deleted, its attached PVC is automatically deleted

Question 8

Which of the following is a valid command to create a PersistentVolume named 'pv-demo' using a YAML manifest file named 'pv.yaml'?

Accepted Answer

kubectl apply -f pv.yaml. `kubectl apply -f pv.yaml` is the standard Kubernetes command to create or update resources from a YAML manifest file. It reads the manifest, which defines a PersistentVolume named 'pv-demo', and sends it to the API server for creation. This command works for any resource type defined in the file, including PersistentVolumes.

Answer

kubectl create pv -f pv.yaml

Answer

kubectl create persistentvolume -f pv.yaml

Answer

kubectl run pv-demo --image=pv --restart=Never

Question 9

A cluster administrator wants to provide storage for an application that requires reading and writing by multiple pods simultaneously. The storage backend is an NFS server that supports multiple writers. Which access mode should be specified in the PersistentVolume?

Accepted Answer

ReadWriteMany. The correct access mode is ReadWriteMany (RWX) because the application requires multiple pods to read and write simultaneously, and the NFS server supports multiple writers. RWX allows the PersistentVolume to be mounted as read-write by many nodes, which is the only access mode that satisfies the requirement for concurrent read-write access from multiple pods.

Answer

ReadOnlyMany

Answer

ReadWriteOnce

Answer

ReadWriteOncePod

Question 10

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 11

A StatefulSet named 'web' uses volumeClaimTemplates to dynamically provision PersistentVolumeClaims for each replica. The cluster runs on AWS with the EBS CSI driver. How many PersistentVolumeClaims will be created if the StatefulSet has 3 replicas and the volumeClaimTemplates specify a single template?

Accepted Answer

3. A StatefulSet with 3 replicas and a single volumeClaimTemplate creates one PersistentVolumeClaim per replica, resulting in exactly 3 PVCs. Each replica gets its own PVC based on the template, and the EBS CSI driver provisions a distinct EBS volume for each PVC, independent of the storage class configuration.

Answer

9

Answer

1

Answer

Depends on the storage class

Question 12

An administrator needs to expand a PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) that is currently bound to a PersistentVolume (PV). The PV is provisioned by a storage class that supports volume expansion. What must the administrator do to increase the PVC's storage size?

Accepted Answer

Update the PVC's spec.resources.requests.storage to a larger value.. Kubernetes supports expanding PersistentVolumeClaims (PVCs) if the underlying StorageClass has `allowVolumeExpansion: true`. The administrator only needs to edit the PVC's `spec.resources.requests.storage` field to a larger value; the system automatically triggers the expansion of the bound PersistentVolume (PV) and the actual storage backend, provided the volume driver supports it. No pod deletion or PVC recreation is required.

Answer

Delete the pod that uses the PVC and recreate it with a larger claim.

Answer

Edit the PV's capacity and then the PVC's capacity.

Answer

Delete the PVC and recreate it with a larger size.

Question 13

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 14

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 15

A CSI driver is installed in the cluster, but a PersistentVolumeClaim using a StorageClass that references this driver remains Pending. The administrator checks the logs of the CSI controller pod and sees no errors. What is a possible cause?

Accepted Answer

The StorageClass volumeBindingMode is set to WaitForFirstConsumer.. If the volumeBindingMode is set to WaitForFirstConsumer, the PV will not be provisioned until a pod using the PVC is scheduled. This is a common pitfall. The CSI driver may be working fine, but the binding mode delays provisioning.

Answer

The CSI driver is not registered correctly.

Answer

The StorageClass volumeBindingMode is set to Immediate.

Answer

The PVC requests a size that is not available.