CKA Storage Practice Test 5 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Which reclaim policy will cause the underlying storage to be deleted when the associated PersistentVolume is released from a PersistentVolumeClaim?

Accepted Answer

Delete. The Delete reclaim policy instructs the system to remove the underlying storage asset (e.g., an AWS EBS volume, GCE Persistent Disk, or NFS export) when the PersistentVolume is released from a PersistentVolumeClaim. This is the only policy that automatically cleans up the physical storage, ensuring no orphaned resources remain.

Answer

Recycle

Answer

Retain

Answer

Archive

Question 2

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 3

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 4

Which of the following volume types is designed to store sensitive information such as passwords or tokens?

Accepted Answer

secret. The Secret volume type is specifically designed to store sensitive data such as passwords, tokens, or SSH keys. Secrets are stored in the cluster's etcd (optionally encrypted at rest) and are injected into pods as files or environment variables, with in-memory (tmpfs) mounting to avoid writing sensitive data to disk.

Answer

emptyDir

Answer

hostPath

Answer

configMap

Question 5

A user creates a PersistentVolumeClaim with a storage class 'ssd' that does not exist in the cluster. What will happen when the PVC is created?

Accepted Answer

The PVC will remain in Pending state.. When a PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) references a StorageClass that does not exist in the cluster, the PVC cannot be dynamically provisioned because the provisioner associated with that StorageClass is missing. Without a matching StorageClass, the system cannot create a new PersistentVolume (PV) for the PVC, and since no existing PV matches the claim (or the PVC is set to use dynamic provisioning), the PVC will remain in a Pending state indefinitely until the StorageClass is created or the PVC is deleted.

Answer

The PVC will be deleted automatically after a timeout.

Answer

The PVC will be automatically bound to any available PV.

Answer

The cluster will create the storage class automatically.

Question 6

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.

Question 7

Which of the following commands will list all PersistentVolumeClaims in a cluster?

Accepted Answer

kubectl get pvc. `kubectl get pvc` is the correct command to list PersistentVolumeClaims using the official short name. Option A lists PersistentVolumes (`pv`). Option C (`claims`) and Option D (`persistent-volume-claims` with hyphens) are invalid resource names and will result in an error.

Answer

kubectl get pv

Answer

kubectl get claims

Answer

kubectl get persistent-volume-claims

Question 8

Which TWO of the following are valid access modes for a PersistentVolume in Kubernetes? (Select two.)

Accepted Answer

ReadWriteOnce. ReadWriteOnce (C) is a valid PersistentVolume access mode, meaning the volume can be mounted as read-write by a single node at a time. ReadWriteMany (D) is also valid, allowing the volume to be mounted as read-write by many nodes simultaneously. These are two of the four standard Kubernetes access modes, alongside ReadOnlyMany and ReadWriteOncePod. WriteMany (A) is not a valid mode because the read/write distinction is missing. ReadOnlySingle (B) is invalid since the correct read-only mode is ReadOnlyMany. ReadWriteOncePerNode (E) is not a real access mode; the per-node semantics are already covered by ReadWriteOnce.

Answer

WriteMany

Answer

ReadOnlySingle

Answer

ReadWriteOncePerNode

Question 9

Which TWO of the following statements about StorageClass are correct? (Select two.)

Accepted Answer

A StorageClass can be used for dynamic provisioning of PersistentVolumes.. Option D is correct because a StorageClass defines a provisioner (for example, kubernetes.io/aws-ebs or a CSI driver) that Kubernetes uses to dynamically provision PersistentVolumes when a PersistentVolumeClaim requests that class, so it is the standard mechanism for dynamic provisioning. Option E is correct because StorageClass supports the volumeBindingMode field, whose valid values are Immediate and WaitForFirstConsumer; WaitForFirstConsumer delays binding until a Pod using the PVC is scheduled, which is essential for topology-aware volumes. Option A is wrong because 'kubernetes.io/no-provisioner' is only used for the special case of local static volumes, not a general requirement for static provisioning, and static PVs are typically matched to PVCs by capacity, access modes, and selector rather than by a no-provisioner StorageClass. Option B is wrong because StorageClass is a cluster-scoped resource, not namespaced. Option C is wrong because the default reclaimPolicy for a dynamically provisioned volume is Delete, not Retain.

Answer

A StorageClass must have a provisioner field set to 'kubernetes.io/no-provisioner' to use static provisioning.

Answer

A StorageClass is a namespaced resource.

Answer

The reclaimPolicy in a StorageClass defaults to Retain.

Question 10

A StorageClass named 'fast-ssd' uses the provisioner 'kubernetes.io/gce-pd' and has volumeBindingMode: WaitForFirstConsumer. A PVC 'my-pvc' requests 100Gi storage from this StorageClass. A pod using the PVC is scheduled to a node in zone 'us-central1-a'. When is the PV provisioned?

Accepted Answer

When the pod is scheduled to a node. The StorageClass 'fast-ssd' has volumeBindingMode set to WaitForFirstConsumer. This mode delays volume binding and provisioning until a pod using the PVC is scheduled to a node. When the pod is scheduled to a node in zone 'us-central1-a', the scheduler triggers the provisioning of a PV in that specific zone, ensuring the volume is created in the same zone as the pod.

Answer

Immediately when the PVC is created

Answer

When the pod starts running

Answer

The PV is never provisioned automatically; it must be pre-created

Question 11

A StatefulSet named 'web' uses volumeClaimTemplates to create a PVC named 'data' with storage class 'ssd'. The StatefulSet has 3 replicas. After scaling down to 2 replicas, what happens to the PVC of the third pod (web-2)?

Accepted Answer

The PVC remains and must be manually deleted if not needed. When a StatefulSet is scaled down, the associated pods are terminated, but the PVCs created via volumeClaimTemplates are not automatically deleted. This is by design to prevent accidental data loss, as the PVCs may contain stateful data that should persist even if the pod is removed. Therefore, the PVC for web-2 remains in the cluster and must be manually deleted if it is no longer needed.

Answer

The PVC is detached but not deleted

Answer

The PVC's reclaim policy determines its fate

Answer

The PVC is automatically deleted along with the pod

Question 12

Which access mode allows a PersistentVolume to be mounted as read-write by multiple pods across different nodes?

Accepted Answer

ReadWriteMany (RWX). ReadWriteMany (RWX) is the correct access mode because it allows a PersistentVolume to be mounted as read-write by multiple pods simultaneously, even when those pods are scheduled on different nodes. This is the only access mode that supports concurrent read-write access across nodes, which is essential for shared storage solutions like NFS, GlusterFS, or CephFS.

Answer

ReadWriteOnce (RWO)

Answer

ReadWriteOncePod (RWOP)

Answer

ReadOnlyMany (ROX)

Question 13

An administrator creates a PersistentVolume named 'pv-nfs' with a reclaim policy of 'Retain'. After a user deletes the PVC bound to this PV, what state does the PV enter?

Accepted Answer

Released. When a PVC bound to a PV with a reclaim policy of 'Retain' is deleted, the PV does not automatically become available for reuse. Instead, it enters the 'Released' state, indicating that the volume's data is still intact but the PV is no longer bound to a claim. The administrator must manually intervene to reclaim or delete the underlying storage before the PV can be made available again.

Answer

Available

Answer

Failed

Answer

Bound

Question 14

A pod uses a PersistentVolumeClaim named 'claim-log'. The PVC is pending. You run 'kubectl describe pvc claim-log' and see the event: 'waiting for a volume to be created, either by external provisioner or manually'. The StorageClass 'standard' has provisioner: 'kubernetes.io/no-provisioner'. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The StorageClass 'standard' does not have a dynamic provisioner configured. The StorageClass 'standard' has provisioner: 'kubernetes.io/no-provisioner', which is a static provisioner that does not automatically create volumes. Since the PVC is pending with the event 'waiting for a volume to be created, either by external provisioner or manually', it indicates that no dynamic provisioner is available to automatically provision a PersistentVolume (PV) for the PVC. The most likely cause is that the StorageClass lacks a dynamic provisioner, so a PV must be manually created or an external provisioner must be configured.

Answer

The StorageClass is missing the volumeBindingMode

Answer

The PVC's access mode is incompatible with the StorageClass

Answer

The PVC requires a larger storage size than any available PV

Question 15

Which CSI driver feature must be supported by the driver to allow expanding a PVC while the pod using it is still running?

Accepted Answer

Volume expansion. To allow expanding a PVC while the pod is still running, the CSI driver must support volume expansion (e.g., ControllerExpandVolume and NodeExpandVolume RPCs). The in-use expansion capability is also controlled by the Kubernetes feature gate `ExpandInUsePersistentVolumes`, but that is not a CSI driver feature. Therefore, the correct answer is 'Volume expansion'.

Answer

Volume attach

Answer

Mount options

Answer

ExpandInUsePersistentVolume