This CKAD practice question tests your understanding of application observability and maintenance. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 pod named 'web' is in a CrashLoopBackOff state. You suspect the application is failing due to a configuration error. You want to see the logs from the previous instance of the container. Which command should you use?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "which command"
Why it matters: Tests specific CLI syntax. Recall the exact command and its required context — near-synonyms and partial matches are common distractors.
kubectl logs web
Why wrong: This shows logs from the current (possibly empty) container.
kubectl logs -f web
Why wrong: This follows logs from the current container.
kubectl logs web --previous
This shows logs from the previous instance of the container, which is useful for debugging crashes.
kubectl describe pod web
Why wrong: This shows pod details but not logs.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
kubectl logs web --previous
The `--previous` flag in `kubectl logs` retrieves logs from the previous instance of a container in a pod that has restarted. Since the pod is in CrashLoopBackOff, the current container has likely crashed and a new one has started; `--previous` shows the logs from the terminated container that caused the crash, helping diagnose the configuration error.
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.
kubectl logs web
Why it's wrong here
This shows logs from the current (possibly empty) container.
kubectl logs -f web
Why it's wrong here
This follows logs from the current container.
kubectl logs web --previous
Why this is correct
This shows logs from the previous instance of the container, which is useful for debugging crashes.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "which command" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
kubectl describe pod web
Why it's wrong here
This shows pod details but not logs.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates assume `kubectl logs` alone shows all logs, but they forget that a crashed container's logs are only accessible with `--previous`, and they may mistakenly choose `kubectl describe pod` thinking it includes logs.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
This shows logs from the current (possibly empty) container.
Detailed technical explanation
The `--previous` flag works by reading the log file from the terminated container, which is retained by the kubelet until the pod is deleted or the log rotation policy removes it. In a CrashLoopBackOff scenario, the container may restart multiple times; `--previous` only retrieves logs from the immediately preceding instance, not all historical restarts. For deeper debugging, you can combine `--previous` with `-c <container-name>` if the pod has multiple containers.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
What to study next
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Application Observability and Maintenance — This question tests Application Observability and Maintenance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: kubectl logs web --previous — The `--previous` flag in `kubectl logs` retrieves logs from the previous instance of a container in a pod that has restarted. Since the pod is in CrashLoopBackOff, the current container has likely crashed and a new one has started; `--previous` shows the logs from the terminated container that caused the crash, helping diagnose the configuration error.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Yes — watch for: "which command". Tests specific CLI syntax. Recall the exact command and its required context — near-synonyms and partial matches are common distractors.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 25, 2026
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