CKA Troubleshooting Practice Question
You run 'kubectl get pods' and see a pod in 'CrashLoopBackOff'. What command would you run to see the reason for the crash?
⚠ Common exam trap
The CKA exam often tests your ability to troubleshoot failing pods. Candidates sometimes confuse `kubectl describe pod` (which shows metadata, events, and container exit codes/termination reasons) with `kubectl logs <pod-name> --previous` (which retrieves the actual application logs from the failed container). Both are critical troubleshooting steps, but `describe` is the primary tool for checking the high-level termination reason and exit code.
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 describe pod <pod-name>
B is correct because `kubectl describe pod <pod-name>` provides detailed information about the pod, including the container state, restart count, and the last termination reason (e.g., 'Error' or 'OOMKilled') along with its exit code. To view the actual stdout/stderr logs of the crashed container, you would use `kubectl logs <pod-name> --previous`.
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 top pod <pod-name>
Why it's wrong here
Shows resource usage, not crash reasons.
- ✓
kubectl describe pod <pod-name>
Why this is correct
Describe shows the last container state and exit code, plus events.
- ✗
kubectl rollout status deployment <deployment-name>
Why it's wrong here
Shows rollout status, not pod crash details.
- ✗
kubectl get events --field-selector involvedObject.name=<pod-name>
Why it's wrong here
While events help, describe is the first and most comprehensive command.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Troubleshooting Cluster and Node Issues
Key term
Pod Failure Troubleshooting
Pod failure troubleshooting is the process of identifying and resolving issues that cause Kubernetes pods to crash, restart, or become unavailable.
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.
About these practice questions
This CKA question is part of Courseiva's 302-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. 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.