Courseiva provides practice questions to reinforce the Certified Kubernetes Application Developer CKAD concepts tested in the real exam. The real CKAD is hands-on and performance-based — these questions build the knowledge foundation for your lab preparation.
Performance-based exam
The real CKAD exam is entirely performance-based — you deploy and manage applications in a live Kubernetes cluster using kubectl and YAML manifests. There are no multiple-choice questions. Courseiva practice questions cover the underlying concepts, but hands-on lab practice with Deployments, Services, ConfigMaps, and resource limits is still required.
Use these questions as a knowledge check
Answer each question, read the explanation carefully, and connect the concept back to the relevant lab task. These questions build the knowledge foundation for hands-on CKAD lab practice.
This free CKAD mock exam uses the same question distribution as the real Certified Kubernetes Application Developer CKAD exam. Each session draws questions proportionally from all 5 official blueprint domains published by CNCF, so the topic mix you see accurately reflects what you'll face on test day.
CKAD Domain Distribution
Application Environment, Configuration and Security
Application Observability and Maintenance
Services and Networking
Application Design and Build
Application Deployment
Every question is checked against the 2026 CKADexam objectives and published under the editorial oversight of an engineer with 12+ years' experience. These are original practice questions — not dumps — so you build real understanding rather than memorising answers.
Both the mock exam and practice test use the same question bank. The difference is in how you use them — and when to use each during your CKAD study plan.
Practice test — for learning
Use the CKAD practice test when you are studying a domain. Answer questions, read every explanation immediately, and build understanding. Do 10–30 questions per domain per session. This is your primary study tool for the first 4 weeks.
Go to practice test →Concept review — for knowledge check
Use the CKAD concept review sessions to benchmark your knowledge coverage across all topics. Work through a full question set, review every explanation, and use weak areas to guide your hands-on lab practice priorities.
Start 120-question concept review →Try these sample questions from the mock exam bank. Commit to an answer before revealing the explanation.
A pod named 'web-app' is running but has no environment variables. The developer wants to inject a variable 'DB_URL=postgres://db:5432' from a ConfigMap named 'db-config'. Which pod spec snippet correctly achieves this?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation
A deployment runs a container that needs to read a file from a host path '/var/log/app' on the node. The file must be available to all pods on that node. Which volume type should be used?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation
A developer wants to restrict network traffic so that only pods with label 'app: frontend' can communicate with pods labeled 'app: backend' on port 8080. Which Kubernetes resource should be used?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation
A pod named 'web-app' is experiencing high CPU usage. You want to investigate which process inside the container is consuming the most CPU. Which command should you run?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation
A deployment 'api-deploy' has resource limits set but is frequently being OOMKilled. The team suspects the memory limit is too low. Which approach should be taken to confirm this without causing downtime?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation
A developer deploys a set of Pods labeled app=frontend and wants to expose them internally within the cluster on a stable IP. Which resource should be used?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation
A team uses a Service named 'backend' in namespace 'prod' to reach Pods in namespace 'staging'. The Service in 'prod' has no endpoints. What is the most likely cause?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation
A Pod needs to access an external database at db.example.com:3306. Which Service type allows Pods to resolve a cluster-local name to this external address?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation
A team is deploying a microservice that requires initialization of a database schema before the main application starts. The init container must run a script that writes to a shared volume. Which configuration correctly ensures the init container completes before the main container runs?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation
A developer needs to expose a deployment named 'web-app' running on port 8080 to external traffic. The cluster is on-premises with no cloud load balancer. Which service type should be used?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation
A developer creates a Deployment with 3 replicas that uses a ConfigMap mounted as a volume. After updating the ConfigMap, the developer expects the pods to pick up the new configuration immediately, but the old configuration is still in use. What is the most likely reason?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation
A developer wants to deploy a stateless application as a set of identical pods. They need the pods to be distributed across nodes and have stable network identities. Which resource should they use?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation
A team is deploying a microservice that must be reachable within the cluster via a stable DNS name. They also need to distribute traffic among pods. Which Kubernetes resource provides both service discovery and load balancing?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation
A developer needs to run a one-time batch job to process data. After completion, the pod should be retained for logs inspection. Which Job configuration parameter should be set?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation
Answer all 14 questions to see your domain score breakdown
Passing CKAD requires both conceptual understanding and hands-on competency. Use these questions to reinforce concepts, then immediately practise the corresponding lab tasks. Candidates who combine concept review with lab exercises pass at significantly higher rates.
Use these questions to confirm you understand the theory behind each CKAD topic before attempting it in a lab. If you cannot explain why an answer is correct, revisit the concept before moving to the hands-on exercise.
After each concept question block, immediately run the equivalent command or configuration in a lab environment. Theory without practice does not pass performance-based exams.
Note which topics have low accuracy in these questions. Those are also the lab tasks most likely to trip you up. Prioritise additional hands-on practice in those areas.
The real CKAD exam runs 120 minutes. During the exam, read each task description carefully, manage your time across tasks, and move on if stuck — come back rather than losing all remaining time.
Time limit
120 min
Official exam duration
Certified Kubernetes Application Developer CKAD is a performance-based exam. Your score is based on whether tasks are completed correctly in a live environment, not on multiple-choice answers. Strong concept coverage — tested through these questions — is one part of preparation. Hands-on lab practice is still required.
Yes. Courseiva provides free CKAD mock exam questions across all official exam domains. The platform includes timed simulation, per-domain score breakdown, missed-question review, and readiness tracking. No account required — free forever, supported by advertising.
The practice test is optimised for learning: you see explanations after each question immediately. The mock exam is optimised for simulation: you answer all questions under time pressure and review at the end. Use practice tests for studying and mock exams for benchmarking.
These questions test your conceptual knowledge. Aim to fully understand every explanation before attempting the hands-on lab exam. High accuracy here indicates solid concept coverage, but hands-on lab practice is still required to pass CKAD.
Most candidates preparing for CKAD work through these concept questions multiple times while simultaneously doing hands-on lab exercises. Repeat topics where your accuracy is low, then confirm understanding with a lab exercise on the same topic.
No — all Courseiva questions are original, AI-assisted and checked against the public CNCF exam blueprints, with editorial oversight from an experienced network and security engineer. Exam dumps are memorised real exam questions shared illegally. Using dumps violates your CNCF certification agreement and can result in your certification being revoked. Our questions make you genuinely competent, not just test-day lucky.
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