This CKA practice question tests your understanding of workloads and scheduling. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A Deployment named 'app' has 3 replicas. The rolling update strategy is set with maxSurge=1 and maxUnavailable=1. During an update, a new ReplicaSet is created. How many pods will be in terminating state at the moment when the new ReplicaSet has 2 pods ready?
Why wrong: 3 terminating would mean total running pods = 2 new + 0 old = 2, which is less than desired 3, violating maxUnavailable=1 (only 1 allowed unavailable).
B
0
Why wrong: If 0 terminating, total pods would be 5 (2 new + 3 old), exceeding maxSurge=1.
C
1
Correct. One old pod is terminating to keep total pods at 4 (desired 3 + maxSurge 1) and unavailable count at 1.
D
2
Why wrong: If 2 terminating, total pods would be 3 (2 new + 1 old), but 2 new ready means at least 2 old pods must be terminating to keep maxUnavailable=1? Actually maxUnavailable is 1, so only 1 pod can be unavailable. If 2 old pods are terminating, then 2 are unavailable, violating maxUnavailable=1.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
1
Option C is correct because with maxSurge=1 and maxUnavailable=1, the Deployment controller ensures that during a rolling update, the total number of pods across old and new ReplicaSets does not exceed desiredReplicas + maxSurge (3+1=4). When the new ReplicaSet has 2 pods ready, the controller will begin terminating old pods to bring the total down. At that exact moment, exactly 1 old pod will be in Terminating state, as the controller scales down the old ReplicaSet by 1 to maintain the surge limit.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
3
Why it's wrong here
3 terminating would mean total running pods = 2 new + 0 old = 2, which is less than desired 3, violating maxUnavailable=1 (only 1 allowed unavailable).
✗
0
Why it's wrong here
If 0 terminating, total pods would be 5 (2 new + 3 old), exceeding maxSurge=1.
✓
1
Why this is correct
Correct. One old pod is terminating to keep total pods at 4 (desired 3 + maxSurge 1) and unavailable count at 1.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
2
Why it's wrong here
If 2 terminating, total pods would be 3 (2 new + 1 old), but 2 new ready means at least 2 old pods must be terminating to keep maxUnavailable=1? Actually maxUnavailable is 1, so only 1 pod can be unavailable. If 2 old pods are terminating, then 2 are unavailable, violating maxUnavailable=1.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the number of ready pods with the number of terminating pods, or incorrectly assume that the controller terminates all old pods at once, ignoring the maxSurge and maxUnavailable constraints that limit the scale-down to 1 pod at a time.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The Deployment controller uses a reconciliation loop that calculates the desired state based on the rolling update parameters. When maxSurge=1, the controller can create up to 1 extra pod above the desired count during the update. With maxUnavailable=1, it ensures that at most 1 pod is unavailable at any time. The controller scales down the old ReplicaSet only after new pods become ready, and the number of terminating pods at any point is governed by the surge budget—here, when 2 new pods are ready, the old ReplicaSet is scaled down by 1 to keep total pods at 4 (3 desired + 1 surge), resulting in exactly 1 terminating pod.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this CKA question in full detail.
Workloads and Scheduling — This question tests Workloads and Scheduling — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: 1 — Option C is correct because with maxSurge=1 and maxUnavailable=1, the Deployment controller ensures that during a rolling update, the total number of pods across old and new ReplicaSets does not exceed desiredReplicas + maxSurge (3+1=4). When the new ReplicaSet has 2 pods ready, the controller will begin terminating old pods to bring the total down. At that exact moment, exactly 1 old pod will be in Terminating state, as the controller scales down the old ReplicaSet by 1 to maintain the surge limit.
What should I do if I get this CKA question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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