CKAD Application Deployment Practice Question
A Deployment has replicas: 5. During a rolling update, the developer sets maxSurge: 2 and maxUnavailable: 1. What is the maximum number of pods that can be running during the update?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse maxSurge and maxUnavailable, mistakenly adding both to the desired replicas or thinking maxUnavailable increases the maximum running pods, when in fact maxSurge alone determines the upper limit of running pods during the update.
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
✓
7
During a rolling update, the total number of pods running is the sum of the desired replicas (5) plus the maxSurge (2), which equals 7. The maxUnavailable setting (1) controls how many pods can be down, not the upper limit of running pods. Kubernetes ensures that the number of pods above the desired count does not exceed maxSurge, so the maximum running pods is 5 + 2 = 7.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
7
Why this is correct
With maxSurge=2, the Deployment controller may temporarily create up to 2 extra pods beyond the desired replica count of 5. This means the total number of pods running simultaneously during a rolling update can reach 7. The controller enforces this ceiling to maintain availability while rolling out changes, and 7 is therefore the absolute maximum possible.
- ✗
5
Why it's wrong here
The value 5 represents the desired steady-state replica count, not the upper limit during a rolling update. Because maxSurge=2 explicitly allows the controller to spin up additional pods beyond that target (up to 2 extra) to speed up the rollout, the actual pod count can temporarily exceed 5. Thus, answering 5 confuses the normal operating level with the surge-allowed maximum.
- ✗
8
Why it's wrong here
A total of 8 pods would require a maxSurge of at least 3, since the desired replicas is 5 and 5 + 3 = 8. In this deployment, maxSurge is set to 2, which caps the total pod count at 5 + 2 = 7. Therefore, 8 is an impossible number because it exceeds the configured surge limit and the controller would never allow such an over-provisioned state.
- ✗
6
Why it's wrong here
While 6 is a possible intermediate value during the rolling update—for example, when one new pod is created before any old pod is terminated—it is not the maximum. The surge configuration permits up to 2 extra pods, not just 1, so the controller can transiently run 7 pods in total. Choosing 6 underestimates the surge allowance and ignores the full extent of the 2-pod buffer.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CKAD 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 CKAD exam.