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.
Which CronJob schedule expression runs a job every day at midnight (00:00)?
0 * * * *
Why wrong: Runs at minute 0 of every hour (every hour).
0 0 1 * *
Why wrong: Runs at midnight on the first day of every month.
0 0 * * *
Correct. Exactly midnight daily.
* 0 * * *
Why wrong: Runs every minute of hour 0 (60 times at midnight).
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
0 0 * * *
Option C is correct because the CronJob schedule expression '0 0 * * *' specifies minute 0, hour 0 (midnight), every day of the month, every month, and every day of the week. This matches the requirement to run a job daily at 00:00.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
0 * * * *
Why it's wrong here
Runs at minute 0 of every hour (every hour).
0 0 1 * *
Why it's wrong here
Runs at midnight on the first day of every month.
0 0 * * *
Why this is correct
Correct. Exactly midnight daily.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
* 0 * * *
Why it's wrong here
Runs every minute of hour 0 (60 times at midnight).
Common exam traps
The trap here is confusing the minute and hour fields: candidates often pick Option A ('0 * * * *') thinking it means 'once per day' because they misread the first zero as 'daily', but it actually runs every hour at minute 0.
Detailed technical explanation
Cron expressions in Kubernetes follow the standard POSIX cron format with five fields: minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. The asterisk (*) means 'every possible value' for that field, so '0 0 * * *' sets minute=0 and hour=0, with all other fields wildcarded. A common subtlety is that Kubernetes CronJobs use UTC by default unless a timezone is specified via the `schedule` field with a TZ identifier (e.g., 'TZ=America/New_York 0 0 * * *'), which can affect when midnight actually triggers.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A practitioner preparing for the CKA exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
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FAQ
Workloads and Scheduling — This question tests Workloads and Scheduling — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: 0 0 * * * — Option C is correct because the CronJob schedule expression '0 0 * * *' specifies minute 0, hour 0 (midnight), every day of the month, every month, and every day of the week. This matches the requirement to run a job daily at 00:00.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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.
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