CKAD Application Observability and Maintenance Practice Test 6 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A container in a pod is crashing repeatedly. You want to see the logs from the previous (crashed) instance of the container. Which command should you use?

Accepted Answer

kubectl logs <pod> --previous. The `--previous` flag in `kubectl logs` retrieves logs from the previous instance of a container that has crashed and restarted. This allows you to inspect the logs of the terminated container to diagnose the crash, even though the current container instance is running or has restarted.

Answer

kubectl logs --tail=10 <pod>

Answer

kubectl logs -c

Answer

kubectl logs -f <pod>

Question 2

You need to configure a liveness probe that checks if the container port 8080 is open. Which probe type should you use?

Accepted Answer

tcpSocket. A tcpSocket probe is the correct choice when you need to verify that a container is listening on a specific TCP port, such as port 8080. It works by attempting to open a TCP connection to the specified port; if the connection succeeds, the probe is considered successful. This is ideal for checking basic network-level readiness or liveness without requiring an HTTP endpoint or a custom command.

Answer

grpc

Answer

exec

Answer

httpGet

Question 3

Which command shows resource usage (CPU and memory) for pods?

Accepted Answer

kubectl top pod. The `kubectl top pod` command retrieves and displays real-time CPU and memory usage metrics for pods from the metrics server, which aggregates resource usage data from kubelets via the Resource Metrics API. This is the correct command to view per-pod resource consumption in a Kubernetes cluster.

Answer

kubectl top node

Answer

kubectl resource pod

Answer

kubectl metrics pod

Question 4

You want to ensure your containerized application handles SIGTERM gracefully and shuts down within 30 seconds. Which field should you set in the Pod spec?

Accepted Answer

terminationGracePeriodSeconds. `terminationGracePeriodSeconds` is the Pod spec field that controls the duration Kubernetes waits between sending a SIGTERM signal to the container and forcibly killing it with SIGKILL. Setting this to 30 seconds ensures the application has up to 30 seconds to perform cleanup and shut down gracefully after receiving SIGTERM.

Answer

terminationPeriodSeconds

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shutdownTimeoutSeconds

Answer

gracefulShutdownPeriod

Question 5

You are tasked with debugging a pod that is crashing so quickly that you cannot exec into it. Which approach should you use to gain access to the pod's filesystem?

Accepted Answer

kubectl debug -it --copy-to=-debug --image=busybox. Both options B and D are correct approaches to access the filesystem of a crashing pod. Option B uses `kubectl debug` with `--copy-to` to create a copy of the pod with a debugging container that shares the original pod's filesystem. Option D uses `kubectl debug` without `--copy-to` to add an ephemeral container to the existing pod, which also shares the pod's filesystem and allows shell access even if the original container is crashing. Option A is incorrect because it creates a new standalone pod without access to the target pod's filesystem. Option C is incorrect because `kubectl exec` requires the target container to be running, which it is not in a crashing state.

Answer

kubectl run debug --image=busybox -it --rm

Answer

kubectl exec -it <pod> -- /bin/sh

Answer

kubectl debug -it <pod> --image=busybox

Question 6

Which TWO of the following are valid parameters for configuring probes in Kubernetes? (Select TWO.)

Accepted Answer

initialDelaySeconds. `initialDelaySeconds` is a valid field in a Kubernetes probe configuration (liveness, readiness, or startup probe). It specifies the number of seconds to wait after the container starts before initiating the first probe, allowing the application to initialize before being checked.

Answer

intervalSeconds

Answer

retryCount

Answer

readinessProbe

Question 7

Which THREE of the following are valid reasons to use a startup probe? (Select THREE.)

Accepted Answer

To handle containers that have a variable startup time. A startup probe is specifically designed for containers that have a variable or long initialization time. It allows the kubelet to delay the start of liveness and readiness probes until the application has finished starting up, preventing premature failures.

Answer

To check if the container is healthy after startup

Answer

To remove the pod from service endpoints if it fails

Question 8

Which TWO of the following commands can be used to view events related to a specific pod? (Select TWO.)

Accepted Answer

kubectl get events --field-selector involvedObject.name=. `kubectl get events --field-selector involvedObject.name=` filters events by the `involvedObject.name` field, which directly corresponds to the pod's name. This command retrieves all events where the pod is the involved object, such as scheduling, pulling images, or container restarts. Option C is correct because `kubectl describe pod ` includes a dedicated 'Events' section at the bottom of its output, showing recent events for that specific pod in chronological order.

Answer

kubectl events --pod=<pod>

Answer

kubectl logs <pod>

Answer

kubectl get events

Question 9

You need to view the logs of a container named 'sidecar' in a pod called 'app-pod' running in namespace 'dev'. Which command should you use?

Accepted Answer

kubectl logs app-pod --container=sidecar --namespace=dev. Both `kubectl logs app-pod -c sidecar -n dev` (D) and `kubectl logs app-pod --container=sidecar --namespace=dev` (C) are valid and equivalent kubectl commands. The explanation incorrectly dismisses C on the grounds that the CKAD exam prefers shorthand; however, CKAD accepts both short and long flags. Therefore, the question is ambiguous and should be corrected to accept both C and D.

Answer

kubectl logs sidecar -p app-pod -n dev

Answer

kubectl logs app-pod -n dev

Question 10

You want to view the resource usage of all pods running on a node named 'node01'. Which command should you use?

Accepted Answer

kubectl top pods --all-namespaces --field-selector spec.nodeName=node01. `kubectl top pods` retrieves real-time CPU and memory usage metrics for pods, and the `--field-selector spec.nodeName=node01` filter restricts the output to only pods scheduled on the specified node. This directly answers the requirement to view resource usage of all pods on 'node01'.

Answer

kubectl top nodes node01

Answer

kubectl get pods -o wide --all-namespaces --field-selector spec.nodeName=node01

Answer

kubectl describe node node01 | grep -A 10 'Non-terminated Pods'

Question 11

A pod is stuck in the Pending state. You run 'kubectl describe pod pod-name' and see the event: '0/4 nodes are available: 1 node had taint {node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane: }, that the pod didn't tolerate, 3 nodes had taint {node.kubernetes.io/disk-pressure: }, that the pod didn't tolerate.' What is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The nodes have disk pressure and the pod lacks tolerations. The event explicitly states that 1 node had a control-plane taint and 3 nodes had a disk-pressure taint, all of which the pod did not tolerate. The pod remains in Pending state because no node can schedule it until either the taints are removed or the pod includes matching tolerations. This directly matches the condition described in the event.

Answer

The pod has a resource request that exceeds node capacity

Answer

The nodes have insufficient CPU

Answer

The nodes have insufficient memory

Question 12

You need to debug a pod that is crashing immediately upon start. You cannot exec into the container because it exits before you can run commands. Which approach should you use to inspect the container's file system?

Accepted Answer

kubectl debug -it pod-name --image=busybox --target=container-name. The correct approach is to use 'kubectl debug' with an ephemeral container (option A). This command creates a temporary container in the same pod, sharing the same volumes and process namespace (if requested), allowing you to inspect the filesystem even when the original container has crashed and exited. Option B fails because the container exits before 'exec' can run. Option C only retrieves logs from the previous instance, not filesystem access. Option D displays pod metadata and events, not filesystem contents.

Answer

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

Answer

kubectl logs pod-name --previous

Answer

kubectl describe pod pod-name

Question 13

You need to view the logs of the previous (terminated) instance of a container in a pod. Which command should you use?

Accepted Answer

kubectl logs pod-name -p. `kubectl logs pod-name -p` (or `--previous`) retrieves the logs from the previous terminated container instance in the pod. This flag specifically targets the last container that exited, allowing you to debug crashes or restarts without needing to access the current running container.

Answer

kubectl describe pod pod-name | grep -A 10 'Last State'

Answer

kubectl logs pod-name --tail=100

Answer

kubectl logs pod-name -f

Question 14

A pod has a readiness probe configured with httpGet on port 8080. The probe is failing, but the pod is running. What is the immediate effect on the pod?

Accepted Answer

The pod will be removed from the Service's endpoints and will stop receiving traffic. A readiness probe that fails means Kubernetes considers the pod not ready to serve traffic. The pod itself continues running, but the kubelet removes its IP from all matching Service endpoints, so it stops receiving new requests. This is the immediate effect because readiness probes only control traffic routing, not pod lifecycle.

Answer

The pod will be restarted

Answer

The pod will be evicted from the node

Answer

The pod will be deleted

Question 15

You are asked to ensure that a pod with a slow-starting container (requires 60 seconds to initialize) is not prematurely restarted by the liveness probe. The liveness probe should start only after the container is fully initialized. Which probe type should you add to the pod spec?

Accepted Answer

startupProbe. A startupProbe is specifically designed for slow-starting containers. It runs at pod startup and only after it succeeds does the liveness probe begin. This prevents the liveness probe from restarting the container during its 60-second initialization period, as the startupProbe will keep failing until the container is fully ready.

Answer

readinessProbe

Answer

livenessProbe with initialDelaySeconds=60

Answer

lifecycle preStop hook