CKAD Application Observability and Maintenance Practice Question
A pod with a liveness probe using 'httpGet' is restarting repeatedly. The probe checks '/healthz' on port 8080. The application is healthy and responds with HTTP 200. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently assume a healthy application always responds instantly, but Kubernetes probes have strict timeouts; a low timeoutSeconds can cause restarts even when the app is functioning correctly.
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
✓
The timeoutSeconds value is too low
The liveness probe is restarting the pod despite the application returning HTTP 200 on /healthz. A timeoutSeconds value that is too low can cause the probe to fail if the application takes longer than the timeout to respond, even though it is healthy. Kubernetes will restart the container when the probe fails, leading to repeated restarts.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The initialDelaySeconds is too high
Why it's wrong here
A high initialDelaySeconds only postpones the first liveness probe; it does not affect probe behavior after the container has started. Since the container is already restarting after startup, the delay period has passed and probes are actively running. The symptom of repeated restarts points to ongoing probe failures, not a delayed initial check, so this option cannot be the cause.
- ✓
The timeoutSeconds value is too low
Why this is correct
When timeoutSeconds is set too low, the kubelet gives the HTTP GET request insufficient time to receive a response. If the application's health endpoint occasionally takes longer than the timeout, the probe is marked failed, and after exceeding failureThreshold the container is restarted. This matches the observed behavior of a container that restarts repeatedly even though the app itself is functional, making this the correct explanation.
- ✗
The liveness probe is checking the wrong port
Why it's wrong here
The liveness probe is configured to send an HTTP GET to port 8080, which is the exact port where the application is listening. If the port were incorrect, the probe would receive a connection refused error and fail consistently, but the scenario indicates the port matches the app. Since the port aligns with the application's exposed endpoint, this option is not the reason for the restarts.
- ✗
The readiness probe is misconfigured
Why it's wrong here
A readiness probe controls whether a pod receives traffic by removing its IP from Service endpoints; it does not affect container lifecycle or cause restarts. Even if the readiness probe were misconfigured, the container would continue running and simply be marked not ready. The issue described is container restarts, which are governed solely by liveness probe failures, so the readiness probe is irrelevant to this problem.
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JA
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.