CKA Practice Question: Cluster Architecture, Installation and Configuration
Which TWO components are part of the Kubernetes control plane? (Select 2)
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse node-level components like kubelet and kube-proxy with control plane components, because they are essential for cluster operation but run on worker nodes, not on the control plane nodes.
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
✓
etcd
etcd is a distributed key-value store that holds the cluster's state and configuration data. It is a core component of the Kubernetes control plane because the kube-apiserver reads from and writes to etcd to maintain cluster consistency, and without it the control plane cannot function.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
etcd
Why this is correct
etcd is the store for cluster state.
- ✗
kubelet
Why it's wrong here
kubelet runs on worker nodes.
- ✗
kube-proxy
Why it's wrong here
kube-proxy runs on worker nodes.
- ✗
container runtime
Why it's wrong here
Container runtime runs on all nodes but is not a control plane component.
- ✓
kube-apiserver
Why this is correct
APIServer exposes the API.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Kubernetes Architecture Overview
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.
Key term
Kubernetes Architecture
Kubernetes architecture is the structural design of a system that automatically deploys, scales, and manages containerized applications across a cluster of machines.
About these practice questions
One of 302 original CKA practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
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.