This CKAD practice question tests your understanding of application deployment. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
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?
7
With maxSurge=2 up to 7 pods can be running simultaneously.
5
Why wrong: 5 is the desired number, but maxSurge allows extra.
8
Why wrong: 8 would exceed the allowed surge.
6
Why wrong: 6 is possible but not the maximum; max is 7.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
7
Option A is correct because 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.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
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 up to 7 pods can be running simultaneously.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
5
Why it's wrong here
5 is the desired number, but maxSurge allows extra.
8
Why it's wrong here
8 would exceed the allowed surge.
6
Why it's wrong here
6 is possible but not the maximum; max is 7.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that 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.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, the Deployment controller uses a ReplicaSet to manage pods during rolling updates. The maxSurge value is a percentage or absolute number that defines how many extra pods can be created above the desired replicas, while maxUnavailable defines how many pods can be unavailable relative to the desired count. In this scenario, with maxSurge=2, the controller can create up to 2 additional pods before terminating old ones, ensuring the total running pods never exceeds 7. A real-world scenario is when you need to maintain capacity during an update; setting maxSurge too high can overwhelm cluster resources, while setting it too low can slow the rollout.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A practitioner preparing for the CKAD exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
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FAQ
Application Deployment — This question tests Application Deployment — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: 7 — Option A is correct because 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.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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