CKA Troubleshooting Practice Question
You run 'kubectl get nodes' and one node shows 'NotReady'. You SSH into the node and run 'systemctl status kubelet'. The output shows 'active (running)'. What should you check NEXT?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume a running service means the kubelet is healthy, but the kubelet can be 'active (running)' while failing to register or sync with the API server, making log inspection essential before any restart or resource check.
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
✓
Check the kubelet logs with 'journalctl -u kubelet' for errors
Since the kubelet is running but the node is NotReady, the issue is likely that the kubelet cannot communicate with the API server or has encountered an error during its operation. Checking the kubelet logs with 'journalctl -u kubelet' is the next logical step to identify specific errors, such as certificate issues, network connectivity problems, or pod lifecycle failures, which would not be visible from the service status alone.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Check if the kubelet is registered with the API server using 'kubectl get cs'
Why it's wrong here
Running 'kubectl get cs' (componentstatuses) reports the health of the control-plane components such as the scheduler, controller-manager, and etcd, not the kubelet's registration status. Node registration is recorded in the cluster as a Node object, and the kubelet's liveness is reflected in the Node's 'Ready' condition. In modern Kubernetes this command is deprecated or removed, so it cannot provide the needed information about why the node is NotReady.
- ✓
Check the kubelet logs with 'journalctl -u kubelet' for errors
Why this is correct
The kubelet is the agent that reports the node's status, so its logs are the authoritative source for why it stopped reporting Ready. 'journalctl -u kubelet' shows systemd-managed kubelet output, including fatal errors such as failure to connect to the container runtime, CNI plugin failures, or authentication problems with the API server. Examining these logs is the first diagnostic step before any corrective action is taken.
- ✗
Restart the kubelet service
Why it's wrong here
Restarting the kubelet service is a reactive action that should only be taken after log inspection, because it can temporarily mask a persistent underlying failure. If the root cause is a broken kubelet configuration, an unhealthy container runtime, or a network issue, a restart will either fail again or merely postpone the crash. Because 'NotReady' is a symptom, not a root cause, restarting before checking journalctl skips the diagnostic process and risks losing transient error messages.
- ✗
Check if the node has sufficient disk space
Why it's wrong here
Checking disk space is relevant only when a node is under 'NodeDiskPressure', which is reported as a separate condition on the node and does not by itself make the node 'NotReady'. A node becomes NotReady when the kubelet fails to report its status, which can be caused by runtime, network, or kubelet process issues, not just storage pressure. This check is too narrow and premature when the immediate task is to find why the kubelet stopped posting status.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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