CKAD · domain
Application Environment, Configuration and Security
Practise Certified Kubernetes Application Developer CKAD Application Environment, Configuration and Security practice questions — original exam-style scenarios with answer choices, explanations, and analysis of common mistakes.
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What to know about Application Environment, Configuration and Security
Application Environment, Configuration and Security questions test whether you can apply the concept in context, not just recognise a definition.
How the topic appears in realistic exam-style scenarios.
Which detail in the question changes the correct answer.
How to eliminate plausible but wrong options.
How to connect the question back to the wider exam objective.
Watch out for
Common Application Environment, Configuration and Security exam traps
- ▸Answering from memory before reading the full scenario.
- ▸Missing a constraint such as cost, availability, security, scope or command context.
- ▸Choosing a broad answer when the question asks for the most specific fix.
- ▸Ignoring why the wrong options are tempting.
Question index
All Application Environment, Configuration and Security questions (42)
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A pod is running with the following SecurityContext: securityContext: runAsUser: 1000 runAsGroup: 2000 fsGroup: 3000 What UID and GID does the process inside the container use?
Medium2A pod uses a ServiceAccount 'my-sa' with a RoleBinding that grants get and list on pods. The pod makes an API call to list pods in its own namespace. Which RBAC resource is necessary?
Medium3A pod's container needs to run as non-root user with UID 1000 and ensure its filesystem is read-only. Which SecurityContext settings achieve this?
Medium4A pod needs to run as a non-root user with UID 1000. Which SecurityContext field should be set?
Easy5Which kubectl command creates a ConfigMap named 'app-config' from a file called 'config.properties'?
Easy6You need to create a TLS secret for an ingress with certificate and key. Which command correctly creates the secret?
Hard7A Pod is configured with securityContext: { runAsUser: 1000, runAsGroup: 2000, fsGroup: 3000 }. The container's image runs a process that must listen on a TCP port below 1024 (e.g., port 80). The process is currently failing to start. What should you modify to allow the process to bind to a privileged port?
Hard8A container image requires running as UID 0 but you need to comply with a 'restricted' Pod Security Admission policy. Which SecurityContext setting allows this while still passing the policy?
Hard9A developer wants to inject database credentials into a pod as environment variables. The credentials are stored in a Kubernetes Secret named 'db-creds' with keys 'username' and 'password'. Which pod spec snippet correctly injects both values as environment variables?
Easy10Which TWO commands can be used to create a Secret from a file? (Select 2)
Easy11Which TWO of the following are valid ways to consume a ConfigMap in a pod? (Select 2)
Medium12Which TWO of the following are valid ways to create a ConfigMap from a file named 'app.properties'? (Select two.)
Medium13A developer created a Role named 'pod-reader' in namespace 'ns1' that allows 'get', 'list', and 'watch' on pods. They created a RoleBinding binding this Role to a ServiceAccount 'sa1' in the same namespace. However, a pod using 'sa1' cannot list pods in namespace 'ns2'. What is the most likely cause?
Medium14A developer wants to ensure that a pod runs with a non-root user and cannot gain root privileges. Which SecurityContext settings should be used?
Medium15A pod's container has securityContext with runAsNonRoot: true but no runAsUser set. The container image has a user 'appuser' with UID 1001. Will the pod run successfully?
Hard16A pod is running with a service account that has been granted a Role to get pods. The pod's code uses the Kubernetes API from within the container. However, the API call fails with a 403 Forbidden error. Which file should the pod read to obtain the authentication token?
Hard17You are a Kubernetes administrator responsible for a production cluster. A development team has deployed a Pod named 'app-pod' that runs a container with a PostgreSQL database. The team reports that the Pod is failing to start with an error: 'Error: container has runAsNonRoot and image will run as root (runtime error)'. The Pod YAML is as follows: ```yaml apiVersion: v1 kind: Pod metadata: name: app-pod spec: containers: - name: db image: postgres:latest securityContext: runAsNonRoot: true ``` The team wants to ensure the container runs securely without running as root. What is the BEST course of action?
Easy18Which THREE configurations are part of Pod Security Admission's 'restricted' profile? (Select THREE.)
Hard19A Pod in a namespace with a ResourceQuota that sets 'limits.cpu: 4' and 'limits.memory: 8Gi' is being created with the following container resources: requests: cpu: 2, memory: 4Gi; limits: cpu: 4, memory: 8Gi. The namespace also has a LimitRange with default limits of cpu: 500m, memory: 512Mi. Which statement is true about this resource configuration?
Hard20Which THREE of the following are valid fields in a PodSecurityContext?
Hard21A container runs as root (UID 0) but the security policy requires the container to run as non-root user 1000. Which pod security context setting should be added?
Easy22A pod needs to mount a Secret named 'db-secret' as a volume at /etc/secret. Which volume mount definition is correct?
Easy23Match each Kubernetes concept to its definition.
Medium24A pod is using a Secret to authenticate to a private registry. The Secret type must be 'kubernetes.io/dockerconfigjson'. Which of the following is the correct way to create such a Secret using kubectl?
Medium25You have a ConfigMap named 'app-config' with key 'database.url'. Which environment variable definition correctly injects this value into a pod using a configMapKeyRef?
Easy26A pod in a namespace with a ResourceQuota that sets 'requests.cpu: 2' is failing to schedule. The pod manifest specifies 'resources: { requests: { cpu: "500m" } }'. What is the likely cause?
Hard27A pod fails to start with a 'CreateContainerConfigError'. Running 'kubectl describe pod my-pod' reveals: 'Error: container has runAsNonRoot and image will run as root'. The pod definition includes 'securityContext.runAsNonRoot: true'. What is the most likely cause?
Medium28A Role named 'pod-reader' in namespace 'ns1' grants get, list, and watch on pods. Which RoleBinding correctly binds this role to a ServiceAccount 'sa1' in the same namespace?
Medium29An administrator wants to implement Pod Security Admission (PSA) to enforce the 'restricted' policy for pods in the 'secure' namespace, but allow certain pods to use privileged containers by applying an exemption label. Which three steps are required? (Choose three.)
Hard30Which TWO of the following are valid fields in a container's SecurityContext to restrict privilege escalation? (Select two.)
Medium31Which TWO of the following are valid Kubernetes Secret types? (Select two.)
Easy32Which command creates a Docker registry secret from an existing Docker config file?
Easy33Which TWO of the following commands create a ConfigMap named 'my-config' from a file named 'app.properties'? (Choose two.)
Medium34A Secret named 'db-secret' of type Opaque contains a key 'password'. How do you reference this key as an environment variable named 'DB_PASSWORD' in a pod spec?
Easy35Which of the following is the correct way to set an environment variable 'APP_COLOR' from a ConfigMap key 'color'?
Easy36A pod manifest includes the following securityContext: securityContext: { runAsUser: 1000, runAsGroup: 3000, fsGroup: 2000 }. What UID will be used for processes in the container?
Medium37Which kubectl command creates a Secret from literal username and password values?
Easy38You need to create a Secret of type 'kubernetes.io/tls' for ingress. Which command is correct?
Hard39A Pod spec includes 'securityContext' with 'runAsUser: 1000' and 'runAsGroup: 3000'. The container process inside the pod is expected to write to a mounted volume. Which securityContext field should be set to ensure the volume's group ownership is 3000?
Medium40A Pod is running in a namespace with a ResourceQuota that sets 'limits.memory: 2Gi'. The pod's container spec has 'resources.limits.memory: 1Gi' and 'resources.requests.memory: 512Mi'. The pod is in 'Running' state but consumes 1.5Gi of memory. What happens?
Medium41You need to create a Secret of type kubernetes.io/tls for use with an Ingress. Which kubectl command should you use?
Medium42Which THREE of the following are valid fields in a LimitRange resource to enforce resource constraints at the container level? (Choose three.)
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Frequently asked questions
- What does the Application Environment, Configuration and Security domain cover on the CKAD exam?
- Application Environment, Configuration and Security questions test whether you can apply the concept in context, not just recognise a definition.
- How many questions are in this domain?
- This page lists all 42 Application Environment, Configuration and Security questions in the CKAD question bank. The actual exam draws from this domain proportionally to its weighting in the official exam blueprint.
- What is the best way to practise this domain?
- Start with a short focused session (10 questions) to identify gaps, then work through explanations. Repeat with a longer session once the weak areas feel solid.
- Can I practise only Application Environment, Configuration and Security questions?
- Yes — the session launcher on this page filters questions to this domain only. Choose any session length for inline explanations and scoring.