CKAD Application Deployment Practice Question
Which TWO of the following are valid strategies for updating a Deployment?
⚠ Common exam trap
CNCF often tests the distinction between built-in Kubernetes Deployment strategies (RollingUpdate, Recreate) and external deployment patterns (Canary, Blue/Green, Ramped) that require additional tooling or manual steps.
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
✓
RollingUpdate
RollingUpdate is the default update strategy in Kubernetes Deployments. It gradually replaces old Pods with new ones, ensuring zero downtime by incrementally scaling down old ReplicaSets and scaling up new ones based on configurable parameters like maxSurge and maxUnavailable.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Canary
Why it's wrong here
Canary is a release pattern that routes a small subset of live traffic to a newly deployed version before gradually increasing the percentage. It is not a built-in Deployment strategy field; Kubernetes only offers `RollingUpdate` and `Recreate` for the `strategy.type` setting. To implement canary, you typically combine a Deployment with a Service Mesh, Ingress controller, or a progressive delivery tool like Argo Rollouts.
- ✓
RollingUpdate
Why this is correct
RollingUpdate is the default Deployment strategy, which replaces old pods with new ones incrementally to maintain availability. It uses two parameters: `maxSurge` (number of extra pods allowed above desired count) and `maxUnavailable` (number of pods allowed to be down during update). This strategy is ideal for stateless applications that can tolerate multiple versions running briefly during the rollout.
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Ramped
Why it's wrong here
Ramped is merely an alternative term for the rolling update process, often used in visual deployment strategy diagrams to describe the gradual increase in new pod count. It is not a separate strategy in Kubernetes; the only two `strategy.type` values you can set are `RollingUpdate` and `Recreate`. Selecting 'Ramped' as a strategy would be invalid, as it does not correspond to any Kubernetes API field.
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Blue/Green
Why it's wrong here
Blue/Green is a release pattern that runs two complete environments (older 'blue' and newer 'green') simultaneously, then switches the service selector to the green version to instantly shift all traffic. It is not a built-in Deployment strategy, because the Deployment API itself only supports `RollingUpdate` or `Recreate`. Implementing blue/green requires additional resources like a Service or an ingress to perform the traffic switch, and it can be automated with tools such as Flagger or Argo Rollouts.
- ✓
Recreate
Why this is correct
Recreate is the non-default Deployment strategy that terminates every existing Pod before any new Pod is started, forcing a brief period of unavailability. It is useful for applications that cannot run multiple versions simultaneously, such as those with database schema migrations that do not support backwards compatibility. Because it affects availability, you should only choose `Recreate` when downtime is acceptable or when the update absolutely requires a clean stop/start cycle.
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