CKA Storage Practice Test 5 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A StatefulSet named 'web' uses volumeClaimTemplates to create PVCs for each replica. You scale the StatefulSet from 3 to 5 replicas. What happens to the PVCs?

Accepted Answer

New PVCs are created for the new replicas (web-3 and web-4).. When a StatefulSet is scaled up, each new replica (e.g., web-3, web-4) automatically gets a new PVC created from the volumeClaimTemplate. The PVC name follows the pattern --, and the new PVCs are bound to newly provisioned PersistentVolumes. This ensures each pod has its own dedicated storage, preserving the identity and state of each replica.

Answer

All PVCs are deleted and recreated.

Answer

The PVCs are not created; you must create them manually.

Answer

Existing PVCs are reused for the new replicas.

Question 2

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 3

A cluster has a CSI driver installed. A pod using a CSI volume is in CrashLoopBackOff. 'kubectl describe pod' shows: 'failed to mount volume: rpc error: code = DeadlineExceeded desc = context deadline exceeded'. What is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The CSI driver is failing to respond in time.. The error 'context deadline exceeded' indicates that the CSI driver's gRPC call to mount the volume did not complete within the default timeout (typically 30 seconds). This is most commonly caused by the CSI driver being unresponsive due to resource starvation, network issues, or a bug in the driver itself. Since the CSI driver is installed and the pod is attempting to mount, the failure is in the driver's response time, not in the PVC binding or volume mode.

Answer

The PVC is not bound.

Answer

The CSI driver is not installed.

Answer

The volume mode is Block but the pod expects Filesystem.

Question 4

Which of the following is a required field when defining a PersistentVolume?

Accepted Answer

capacity. In Kubernetes, a PersistentVolume (PV) must define its storage capacity using the `capacity` field, which specifies the amount of storage the PV provides (e.g., `storage: 10Gi`). This is a required field because the PV represents a piece of storage in the cluster, and the scheduler and PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) binding logic need to know the available size to match claims. Without `capacity`, the PV definition is invalid and will be rejected by the API server.

Answer

storageClassName

Answer

nodeAffinity

Answer

persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy

Question 5

What is the default reclaim policy for a PersistentVolume?

Accepted Answer

Retain. The default reclaim policy for a PersistentVolume (PV) in Kubernetes is 'Retain'. This means that when a PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) bound to the PV is deleted, the PV will not be automatically deleted or recycled; instead, it remains in a 'Released' state, preserving the underlying storage and data for manual administrator intervention. This is defined in the PV's spec.persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy field, which defaults to 'Retain' if not explicitly set.

Answer

Recycle

Answer

None

Answer

Delete

Question 6

You have a PVC that is bound to a PV with a filesystem volume mode. You want to use the volume as a block device in a pod. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Create a new PVC with volumeMode: Block and bind it to a new PV.. A PVC with `volumeMode: Block` must be created and bound to a PV that also has `volumeMode: Block` to use the volume as a block device in a pod. The existing PVC is bound to a PV with `volumeMode: Filesystem`, which cannot be used as a block device without recreating the underlying storage. You cannot change the volume mode of an existing PV or PVC; you must provision new resources with the correct mode.

Answer

Use a hostPath volume instead.

Answer

Set volumeDevices in the pod spec instead of volumeMounts.

Answer

Modify the PV's volumeMode to Block.

Question 7

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

Accepted Answer

ReadOnlyMany (ROX). PersistentVolumes in Kubernetes support four valid access modes: ReadWriteOnce (RWO), ReadOnlyMany (ROX), ReadWriteMany (RWX), and ReadWriteOncePod (RWOP). To make this a valid 'select two' question, the remaining three options must be completely invalid access modes.

Answer

ReadWriteOnce (RWO)

Answer

WriteOnce (WO)

Answer

ReadWriteOncePod (RWOP)

Question 8

Which THREE of the following are true about expanding a PersistentVolumeClaim?

Accepted Answer

The StorageClass must have allowVolumeExpansion: true.. The StorageClass must have the `allowVolumeExpansion: true` field set to enable PVC expansion. Without this setting, the volume expansion request will be rejected by the Kubernetes control plane, as the feature is gated at the StorageClass level.

Answer

After expanding the PVC, the pod must be recreated for the new size to take effect.

Answer

You can reduce the size of a PVC after creation.

Question 9

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

Accepted Answer

hostPath. B (hostPath) is correct because it mounts a file or directory from the host node's filesystem into a pod, allowing all containers in that pod to read and write shared data. C (emptyDir) is correct because it creates an initially empty directory that is shared across all containers in the pod, with the lifecycle tied to the pod itself.

Answer

configMap

Answer

nfs

Answer

secret

Question 10

A cluster administrator creates a PersistentVolume with the following YAML:

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolume
metadata:
  name: pv-example
spec:
  capacity:
    storage: 1Gi
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain
  hostPath:
    path: /data/pv

A user creates a PersistentVolumeClaim requesting 500Mi with access mode ReadWriteOnce and no storage class. The PVC remains in Pending state. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The cluster has a default StorageClass defined, causing the PVC to attempt dynamic provisioning instead of binding to this static PV.. When a default StorageClass exists in the cluster, a PVC with no storage class name specified will automatically trigger dynamic provisioning via that default StorageClass, rather than attempting to bind to an existing static PV. This causes the PVC to remain in Pending state if the dynamic provisioner cannot fulfill the request (e.g., due to missing CSI driver or cloud provider configuration). The static PV pv-example is ignored because the PVC's provisioning mechanism is overridden by the default StorageClass.

Answer

The PV's reclaim policy is Retain, so it is in Released state and cannot be bound to a new PVC.

Answer

The hostPath path /data/pv does not exist on any node in the cluster.

Answer

The PVC requests 500Mi, but the PV has 1Gi capacity, which is larger than requested, so the PVC cannot bind to it.

Question 11

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 12

Which of the following is a valid CSI (Container Storage Interface) driver operation in Kubernetes?

Accepted Answer

CreateVolume. The Container Storage Interface (CSI) defines a set of standard operations that storage drivers must implement to provision, attach, mount, and manage volumes in container orchestrators like Kubernetes. `CreateVolume` is a core CSI RPC (Remote Procedure Call) that the CSI driver must support to dynamically create a new storage volume, which is then used by Kubernetes to satisfy a PersistentVolumeClaim. This operation is defined in the CSI specification and is essential for dynamic volume provisioning.

Answer

CreateDeployment

Answer

CreateService

Answer

CreatePod

Question 13

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 14

A Pod is configured with a volume that uses a ConfigMap. The ConfigMap is updated after the Pod is running. How can the Pod access the updated data without restarting?

Accepted Answer

The Pod will automatically see the updated data within minutes.. When a ConfigMap is mounted into a Pod as a volume (without using subPath), updates to the ConfigMap are automatically reflected in the Pod's filesystem after a short delay (typically within minutes, controlled by the kubelet's sync period). However, if the ConfigMap is consumed via environment variables or mounted using subPath, the Pod must be restarted to see the changes. In this question, the volume uses a ConfigMap (presumably without subPath), so the Pod will automatically see the updated data within minutes.

Answer

The ConfigMap must be deleted and recreated.

Answer

The Node must be rebooted.

Answer

The Pod must be deleted and recreated.

Question 15

Which THREE of the following are characteristics of a StatefulSet's volumeClaimTemplates?

Accepted Answer

The PVCs are created in the same namespace as the StatefulSet.. StatefulSet volumeClaimTemplates create PersistentVolumeClaims (PVCs) in the same namespace as the StatefulSet itself. This is inherent to Kubernetes resource scoping—PVCs are namespaced objects, and the StatefulSet controller creates them in the namespace where the StatefulSet is deployed, ensuring proper isolation and access within that namespace.

Answer

When a Pod is deleted, the corresponding PVC is automatically deleted.

Answer

The volumeClaimTemplate must specify a storageClassName.