CKAD Application Observability and Maintenance Practice Question
Which TWO actions can you perform using 'kubectl describe'? (Select two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse `kubectl describe` with `kubectl get -o yaml` (option E) or `kubectl logs` (option C), but `kubectl describe` is specifically for human-readable summaries and event inspection, not raw output or log streaming.
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
✓
View the conditions and status of a node
`kubectl describe node <node-name>` displays detailed information about a node, including its conditions (e.g., Ready, DiskPressure, MemoryPressure) and status (e.g., capacity, allocatable resources). This command is essential for debugging node-level issues.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
View the conditions and status of a node
Why this is correct
Running `kubectl describe node <name>` is a core diagnostic action: it renders a human-readable summary that includes the node's addresses, allocatable resources, and a Conditions table (e.g., Ready, MemoryPressure, DiskPressure, PIDPressure). The command also surfaces operational events such as reboots or kubelet failures, making it the standard first look when a node is NotReady or under-resourced.
- ✗
Execute a command inside a container
Why it's wrong here
Executing a command inside a container is accomplished with `kubectl exec <pod> -c <container> -- <command>`, not `kubectl describe`. The describe command only reads and formats metadata about the resource; it provides no mechanism to spawn processes or open an interactive session. Even if describe displays the container's `command` and `args` from the pod spec, that is purely informational and does not execute anything.
- ✗
View the logs of a container
Why it's wrong here
Container logs are retrieved via `kubectl logs <pod> -c <container>`, which streams the stdout/stderr written by the container's main process. `kubectl describe` does not fetch or display log data; it focuses on the resource's spec, status, and lifecycle events. While describe can show the container's image and restart count, it omits the application's actual output and any error messages that the process has logged.
- ✓
View the events associated with a pod
Why this is correct
This is correct: `kubectl describe pod <name>` includes a dedicated Events section that lists recent lifecycle events in chronological order, such as Scheduled, Pulled, Created, Started, and any Warning events with reasons and messages. These events are pulled from the cluster's event log and are often critical for troubleshooting why a pod is pending, crashing, or failing image pulls.
- ✗
View the YAML manifest of a resource
Why it's wrong here
The raw YAML manifest of a resource is viewed with `kubectl get <resource> <name> -o yaml`, which outputs the complete object including `metadata`, `spec`, and `status` as stored in etcd. `kubectl describe` instead provides a formatted, condensed view that omits many API fields and adds human-oriented summaries. Attempting to use describe to fetch YAML would fail because describe never emits a machine-readable manifest and does not preserve the original resource definition.
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