CKAD Application Observability and Maintenance Practice Question
Which command shows resource usage (CPU and memory) for pods?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse `kubectl top pod` with `kubectl top node` (option A) or invent a non-existent command like `kubectl metrics pod` (option D), because the CKAD exam often tests the exact syntax of the `top` subcommand for resource monitoring.
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
✓
kubectl top pod
The `kubectl top pod` command retrieves and displays real-time CPU and memory usage metrics for pods from the metrics server, which aggregates resource usage data from kubelets via the Resource Metrics API. This is the correct command to view per-pod resource consumption in a Kubernetes cluster.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
kubectl top node
Why it's wrong here
The `kubectl top node` command is incorrect because it reports aggregate CPU and memory usage at the node level, summing the usage of all pods running on that node. This does not provide per-pod granularity, which is exactly what the question asks for. Additionally, like all `top` subcommands, it requires metrics-server to be deployed and functioning in the cluster to serve the metrics API.
- ✗
kubectl resource pod
Why it's wrong here
The subcommand `resource` does not exist in kubectl. Valid resource management related sayings include `kubectl get`, `kubectl describe`, and `kubectl top`, but there is no `kubectl resource pod` command. Running it would produce an error such as 'unknown command'. To retrieve pod CPU and memory usage, the correct command is `kubectl top pod`.
- ✓
kubectl top pod
Why this is correct
This is the correct command. `kubectl top pod` retrieves real-time CPU and memory usage metrics from the Metrics API, which is typically backed by metrics-server. It displays per-pod usage and supports flags like `--containers` to drill down into individual container utilization, making it the standard tool for troubleshooting pod resource consumption.
- ✗
kubectl metrics pod
Why it's wrong here
The `kubectl metrics pod` command is not valid because kubectl does not have a 'metrics' subcommand. The Metrics API is accessed through the `kubectl top` command, not through a dedicated 'metrics' verb. Executing this would be rejected by the CLI as an unknown command; the proper alternative is `kubectl top pod`.
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