CGOA Gitops Patterns Practice Question
You are troubleshooting a multi-cluster Argo CD deployment where the 'staging' cluster is healthy but 'production' cluster is 'OutOfSync' despite having the same manifest source. Why might this happen?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
A manual 'kubectl apply' was performed on the production cluster.
Argo CD evaluates the state of the cluster against the Git definition. If a manual change or a different controller (like a Helm release) has altered the cluster state, the sync status will reflect a mismatch.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The production cluster has a newer version of the Kubernetes API.
Why it's wrong here
API version differences usually cause 'Invalid' or 'Degraded' status, not 'OutOfSync'.
- ✓
A manual 'kubectl apply' was performed on the production cluster.
Why this is correct
Manual changes cause drift, which Argo CD detects as 'OutOfSync' when it compares Git state to the actual cluster state.
- ✗
The 'staging' cluster is using a different Argo CD instance.
Why it's wrong here
While possible, it doesn't explain the 'OutOfSync' status on production specifically.
- ✗
The Git repo is only cloned to the staging cluster.
Why it's wrong here
Argo CD controller clones the repo from the control plane, not the target clusters.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official CNCF / Linux Foundation exam blueprint
This CGOA practice question is part of Courseiva's free CNCF / Linux Foundation certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CGOA exam.