CKA Practice Question: Cluster Architecture, Installation and Configuration
Your cluster has three control plane nodes. You suspect the etcd cluster has a leader election issue. Which TWO commands can help diagnose the etcd cluster health and membership? (Choose TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse `etcdctl cluster-status` (which does not exist) with the valid `etcdctl endpoint status` command, or they may think snapshot commands are diagnostic tools rather than backup utilities.
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
✓
etcdctl endpoint health --cluster
`etcdctl endpoint health --cluster` queries the health status of all etcd endpoints in the cluster, which directly reveals if any node is unreachable or unhealthy—a common symptom of leader election issues. Option E is correct because `etcdctl member list` displays the current cluster membership, including each member's ID, name, peer URLs, and client URLs, allowing you to verify that all expected control plane nodes are properly joined and that no split-brain or quorum loss has occurred.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
etcdctl cluster-status
Why it's wrong here
The `etcdctl cluster-status` command does not exist in the etcdctl CLI. The etcdctl command set includes subcommands like `member`, `endpoint`, `snapshot`, and `alarm`, but no `cluster-status`. Health checks are performed with `etcdctl endpoint health`, and membership with `etcdctl member list`, so this command cannot run and therefore cannot diagnose the cluster.
- ✗
etcdctl version
Why it's wrong here
`etcdctl version` only prints the etcd client and server version numbers currently in use. It does not contact the cluster, probe endpoint reachability, or inspect the member set, so it provides no information about quorum or health. While verifying version compatibility is useful, it is not a diagnostic tool for a suspected unhealthy cluster.
- ✓
etcdctl endpoint health --cluster
Why this is correct
`etcdctl endpoint health --cluster` queries every endpoint listed in the cluster's member information and reports each endpoint's health and latency. The `--cluster` flag tells the client to read the member list from an existing endpoint and check all members, not just a single address. A healthy response from all endpoints indicates the cluster is operational and has quorum, making this an effective first diagnostic.
- ✗
etcdctl snapshot save snapshot.db
Why it's wrong here
`etcdctl snapshot save snapshot.db` writes a point-in-time backup of the etcd key-value store to a local file. This command can succeed even when the cluster has lost quorum or has unhealthy members, because it only needs a single responsive endpoint. It neither checks endpoint status nor member membership, so it cannot help you determine why the cluster appears unhealthy.
- ✓
etcdctl member list
Why this is correct
`etcdctl member list` displays the etcd cluster membership, including each member's ID, name, peer client URLs, and whether it is a learner. This lets you verify that all three control plane nodes are present and identify a missing or unstarted member that could break quorum. It is a valid way to diagnose membership-related health issues, distinct from endpoint health checks.
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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.