CKA Storage Practice Question
A pod uses a PersistentVolumeClaim named 'claim-log'. The PVC is pending. You run 'kubectl describe pvc claim-log' and see the event: 'waiting for a volume to be created, either by external provisioner or manually'. The StorageClass 'standard' has provisioner: 'kubernetes.io/no-provisioner'. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common pitfall in the CKA exam is assuming that a StorageClass with 'kubernetes.io/no-provisioner' can automatically provision volumes. This provisioner indicates static provisioning only; a PersistentVolume must be created manually or by an external provisioner. Candidates often overlook this and expect dynamic provisioning to occur.
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
✓
The StorageClass 'standard' does not have a dynamic provisioner configured
The StorageClass 'standard' has provisioner: 'kubernetes.io/no-provisioner', which is a static provisioner that does not automatically create volumes. Since the PVC is pending with the event 'waiting for a volume to be created, either by external provisioner or manually', it indicates that no dynamic provisioner is available to automatically provision a PersistentVolume (PV) for the PVC. The most likely cause is that the StorageClass lacks a dynamic provisioner, so a PV must be manually created or an external provisioner must be configured.
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 StorageClass 'standard' does not have a dynamic provisioner configured
Why this is correct
When a StorageClass uses 'kubernetes.io/no-provisioner' as its provisioner, Kubernetes cannot automatically create a backing PersistentVolume (PV) when a PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) is submitted. This requires an administrator to manually pre-create a matching PV with the correct storage capacity, access modes, and storageClassName before the PVC can transition from Pending to Bound.
- ✗
The StorageClass is missing the volumeBindingMode
Why it's wrong here
While the volumeBindingMode parameter controls when volume binding and dynamic provisioning should occur, omitting it simply defaults the behavior to Immediate. This default setting does not cause the binding process to fail on its own; rather, the lack of an active dynamic provisioner is the root blocker preventing the volume from being created.
- ✗
The PVC's access mode is incompatible with the StorageClass
Why it's wrong here
StorageClasses themselves do not enforce or restrict specific access modes like ReadWriteOnce or ReadWriteMany; instead, access modes are validated against actual PersistentVolumes during the binding phase. The pending status in this scenario is driven by the absolute absence of a provisioner capable of generating a PV, not an incompatibility with the StorageClass configuration.
- ✗
The PVC requires a larger storage size than any available PV
Why it's wrong here
If the issue were a size mismatch with existing PVs, the PVC events would typically indicate a failure to find a matching volume or show that it is waiting for a compatible PV to be manually created. However, the core error points directly to the system waiting for an external provisioner to run, which is impossible because no dynamic provisioner is defined in the StorageClass.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Configuring Storage Classes and Dynamic Provisioning
Key term
Persistent Volumes
A Persistent Volume is a piece of storage in a Kubernetes cluster that has been provisioned by an administrator and exists independently of any single pod that uses it.
Key term
Volumes
In Kubernetes, a volume is a storage resource that outlives the pod it belongs to, enabling data to persist across container restarts and be shared between containers in the same pod.
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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.