CKA Troubleshooting Practice Test 19 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A pod is in CrashLoopBackOff. You run 'kubectl logs pod-name' and see nothing. You suspect the app is failing due to a missing environment variable. Which command can you use to verify environment variables inside the container?

Accepted Answer

kubectl exec pod-name -- env. kubectl exec allows running commands inside a container. 'env' will list environment variables.

Answer

kubectl get pod pod-name -o yaml

Answer

kubectl logs pod-name --previous

Answer

kubectl describe pod pod-name

Question 2

Which command would you use to view all events in the cluster sorted by timestamp?

Accepted Answer

kubectl get events. Option D is correct because `kubectl get events` retrieves all cluster events, which are Kubernetes API objects that record state changes and errors. By default, events are sorted by their `lastTimestamp` field, making this the direct command to view events ordered by timestamp.

Answer

kubectl top events

Answer

kubectl logs --events

Answer

kubectl describe events

Question 3

A pod is in ImagePullBackOff. Which TWO of the following are possible causes? (Select 2)

Accepted Answer

The image is in a private registry and no imagePullSecrets are defined. Common causes: invalid image tag (typo) and authentication failure when the image is in a private registry.

Answer

The node has insufficient memory

Answer

The pod has a resource limit that is too low

Answer

The kubelet is not running

Question 4

A pod is stuck in Pending state. Which TWO of the following could be causes? (Select 2)

Accepted Answer

The pod requires a PersistentVolumeClaim that is not bound. Pending pods often lack resources or have unscheduled taints. PVC binding is also a common cause.

Answer

The pod's container image is invalid

Answer

The kube-apiserver is down

Answer

The pod has a taint that no node tolerates

Question 5

Which THREE of the following are valid commands to troubleshoot network connectivity between pods? (Select 3)

Accepted Answer

kubectl exec pod-a -- nslookup service-name. kubectl exec can run networking tools inside a pod. curl is a common tool. nslookup tests DNS. ping tests basic connectivity.

Answer

kubectl describe node | grep Network

Answer

kubectl logs pod-a | grep network

Question 6

You run 'kubectl get pods' and see that a pod is in CrashLoopBackOff. Which THREE of the following are valid next steps? (Select 3)

Accepted Answer

Run 'kubectl describe pod pod-name' to check events. To debug a crash loop, check logs, describe events, and inspect the container exit code via describe.

Answer

Run 'kubectl top pod pod-name'

Answer

Run 'kubectl delete pod pod-name'

Question 7

Which TWO of the following are valid ways to view the status of the kube-apiserver? (Select 2)

Accepted Answer

systemctl status kube-apiserver. On static-pod clusters, kubectl get pods -n kube-system shows apiserver status. On systemd systems, systemctl status kube-apiserver works.

Answer

kubectl describe node

Answer

journalctl -u kubelet

Answer

kubectl logs kube-apiserver

Question 8

You are troubleshooting a node that shows 'NotReady' status. Which TWO commands can help you investigate the kubelet state?

Accepted Answer

journalctl -u kubelet. journalctl -u kubelet (A) shows kubelet logs from systemd journal, and systemctl status kubelet (C) shows current kubelet status. 'kubectl get nodes' shows node status but not kubelet details. 'kubectl describe pod' is for pods. 'journalctl -u docker' shows container runtime logs, not kubelet.

Answer

kubectl get nodes

Answer

journalctl -u docker

Answer

kubectl describe pod

Question 9

A pod is stuck in 'Pending' state. Which THREE are common causes for this?

Accepted Answer

Insufficient CPU or memory resources on any node. Pending pods often indicate resource constraints (A), taint/toleration mismatch (B), or PVC not bound (C). Node not registered (D) would prevent scheduling but is less common. Image pull error (E) leads to ImagePullBackOff, not Pending.

Answer

Node not registered with the cluster

Answer

Container image name is incorrect

Question 10

You run 'kubectl logs pod-name' and get no output. Which TWO steps should you take to troubleshoot further?

Accepted Answer

Run 'kubectl describe pod pod-name' to check container state and events. kubectl logs --previous (A) retrieves logs from the previous container instance, useful if the pod restarted. kubectl describe pod (B) shows container state and events. 'kubectl exec' (C) runs commands but does not show logs. 'kubectl top pod' (D) shows resource usage. 'kubectl get events' (E) shows cluster events; though useful, the two most direct steps for missing logs are --previous and describe.

Answer

Run 'kubectl get events --all-namespaces'

Answer

Run 'kubectl top pod pod-name' to check resource usage

Answer

Run 'kubectl exec pod-name -- cat /var/log/container.log'

Question 11

You suspect a DNS issue within the cluster. Which TWO commands can you run from within a pod to test DNS resolution?

Accepted Answer

dig kubernetes.default.svc.cluster.local. nslookup (A) and dig (C) are standard DNS troubleshooting tools. 'kubectl exec' itself is a command to enter the pod, not a DNS tool. 'curl' (D) tests HTTP connectivity, not DNS directly. 'ping' (E) tests network connectivity but not DNS resolution directly.

Answer

ping kubernetes.default.svc.cluster.local

Answer

kubectl exec -it pod-name -- /bin/sh

Answer

curl http://kubernetes.default.svc.cluster.local

Question 12

A pod is in 'ImagePullBackOff' state. Which TWO are valid first troubleshooting steps?

Accepted Answer

Verify the image exists in the configured registry. Checking the image name spelling (A) and verifying the image exists in the registry (C) are direct causes of ImagePullBackOff. Checking node resources (B) is for Pending pods. Restarting kubelet (D) is not a fix. Checking network policies (E) might help if there is a network issue, but the most common causes are image-related.

Answer

Check for network policies blocking egress to the registry

Answer

Check node CPU/memory resources

Answer

Restart the kubelet on the node

Question 13

You run 'kubectl get pods' and see a pod with status 'CrashLoopBackOff'. Which TWO commands can help you investigate the cause?

Accepted Answer

kubectl logs pod-name. 'kubectl logs pod-name' (C) shows the container logs, and 'kubectl describe pod pod-name' (D) shows events and state. 'kubectl get events' (A) can help but is less direct. 'kubectl top pod' (B) shows resource usage but not crash details. 'kubectl exec' (E) might not work if the pod is crashing.

Answer

kubectl exec pod-name -- /bin/sh

Answer

kubectl get events

Answer

kubectl top pod pod-name

Question 14

A node is 'NotReady'. Which THREE steps should you take to troubleshoot?

Accepted Answer

Check kubelet logs with 'journalctl -u kubelet'. Checking kubelet status (A), kubelet logs (B), and node conditions (D) are direct steps. Restarting the node (C) is drastic. Checking API server logs (E) is not the first step for a node issue.

Answer

Check the kube-apiserver logs on the control plane

Answer

Reboot the node immediately

Question 15

You want to check resource usage of pods and nodes. Which TWO commands should you use?

Accepted Answer

kubectl top pods. kubectl top pods (B) and kubectl top nodes (E) are the correct commands. The other options are incorrect command syntax.

Answer

kubectl top pod

Answer

kubectl resource usage

Answer

kubectl top node