CKA Troubleshooting Practice Question
A node in your cluster is reporting 'NotReady' status. You log into the node and run 'systemctl status kubelet'. The kubelet service is not running. Which command should you use to start the kubelet and enable it to start on boot?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse `systemctl start` with `systemctl enable`, or assume that `systemctl start` alone is sufficient, overlooking the requirement to persist the service across reboots, which is a common cause of nodes failing to rejoin after a reboot in production.
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
✓
systemctl enable --now kubelet
`systemctl enable --now kubelet` both starts the kubelet service immediately and creates the necessary symlinks to enable it to start automatically on boot. This is the most efficient way to handle a stopped service that needs to be persistent across reboots, which is critical for a Kubernetes node to rejoin the cluster after a reboot.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
systemctl start --enable kubelet
Why it's wrong here
This command is syntactically incorrect for `systemctl`. The `--enable` flag is not a valid option to be used directly with `systemctl start`. Attempting to execute this command would result in an error, preventing the `kubelet` service from starting and thus failing to bring the node back to a `Ready` state. It neither starts the service nor configures it for automatic startup.
- ✗
systemctl enable kubelet
Why it's wrong here
Executing `systemctl enable kubelet` correctly configures the `kubelet` service to start automatically upon future system reboots. However, this command does not initiate the service immediately in the current running session. The `kubelet` would remain in a stopped state until the node is explicitly restarted, leaving the node reporting `NotReady` in the interim.
- ✓
systemctl enable --now kubelet
Why this is correct
This is the correct command to resolve the `NotReady` status and ensure future stability. The `systemctl enable --now kubelet` command not only configures the `kubelet` service to start automatically during subsequent system boots but also immediately starts the service in the current session. This dual action ensures the `kubelet` is running right away, allowing the node to quickly transition to a `Ready` state without requiring a manual reboot.
- ✗
systemctl start kubelet
Why it's wrong here
While `systemctl start kubelet` would successfully initiate the `kubelet` service in the current running session, thereby resolving the `NotReady` status temporarily, it does not configure the service to persist across reboots. If the node were to restart for any reason, the `kubelet` service would not automatically launch, causing the node to revert to a `NotReady` state again.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Kubernetes Architecture Overview
Key term
Network Policies
A Kubernetes resource that controls how pods communicate with each other and with other network endpoints, acting as a firewall for pod-to-pod traffic.
Key term
Ingress Resources
Ingress Resources are Kubernetes API objects that manage external access to services inside a cluster, typically HTTP and HTTPS traffic, by defining rules for routing requests based on hostnames and paths.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CKA practice question is part of Courseiva's free CNCF 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 CKA exam.