CKA Workloads and Scheduling Practice Question
Which kubectl command creates a ConfigMap named 'app-config' from a file 'config.properties'?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse `--from-file` with `--from-env-file` or `--from-literal`, where candidates mistakenly think `--from-env-file` is the correct way to import a properties file, but `--from-env-file` parses the file line by line for KEY=VALUE pairs and does not preserve the raw file content.
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
✓
kubectl create configmap app-config --from-file=config.properties
`kubectl create configmap app-config --from-file=config.properties` creates a ConfigMap named 'app-config' using the contents of the file 'config.properties'. The `--from-file` flag reads the file as-is and stores its content under a key that defaults to the filename (config.properties). This is the standard method for creating a ConfigMap from a single file.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
kubectl apply configmap app-config config.properties
Why it's wrong here
The kubectl apply command is used to manage resources defined in local or remote configuration files (typically YAML or JSON manifests) via the -f or --filename flag. It does not support direct imperative resource creation arguments like configmap app-config followed by a raw properties file.
- ✗
kubectl create configmap app-config --from-literal=config.properties
Why it's wrong here
The --from-literal flag expects a literal key-value pair in the format key=value (for example, special.type=charm). Passing a filename like config.properties directly to this flag is invalid syntax and will result in an error because it lacks the required key-value delimiter.
- ✗
kubectl create configmap app-config --from-env-file=config.properties
Why it's wrong here
While --from-env-file is a valid flag, it is specifically designed to parse a file containing line-delimited key-value pairs and load them as individual environment variables. It is not appropriate for treating an entire configuration file as a single, multi-line data block under a single key.
- ✓
kubectl create configmap app-config --from-file=config.properties
Why this is correct
This is the correct command because the --from-file flag instructs kubectl to read the contents of config.properties and store them in the ConfigMap. The filename itself becomes the key, and the entire file content becomes the corresponding value.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Key term
kubectl Command Reference
kubectl is the command-line tool used to interact with and manage Kubernetes clusters by sending commands to the Kubernetes API.
Key term
ConfigMaps
A ConfigMap is a Kubernetes object that lets you store configuration data separately from your application code, so you can change settings without rebuilding or redeploying your container images.
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