This CKAD practice question tests your understanding of application observability and maintenance. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
You are designing a health check strategy for a web application. Which TWO probe types should you configure to ensure that traffic is only sent to pods that are ready to serve?
Readiness probe
Controls whether a pod is included in service endpoints.
TCP socket probe
Why wrong: This is a type of probe handler, not a probe type.
Startup probe
Delays liveness and readiness checks until startup completes, preventing premature traffic.
HTTP GET probe
Why wrong: This is a type of probe handler, not a probe type.
Liveness probe
Why wrong: Restarts unhealthy pods but does not affect traffic routing.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Readiness probe
A Readiness probe (Option A) is specifically designed to determine whether a pod is ready to serve traffic. If the probe fails, the pod is removed from the Service's endpoints, ensuring traffic is only sent to pods that are ready. This directly fulfills the requirement of controlling traffic routing based on pod readiness.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Readiness probe
Why this is correct
Controls whether a pod is included in service endpoints.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
TCP socket probe
Why it's wrong here
This is a type of probe handler, not a probe type.
Startup probe
Why this is correct
Delays liveness and readiness checks until startup completes, preventing premature traffic.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
HTTP GET probe
Why it's wrong here
This is a type of probe handler, not a probe type.
Liveness probe
Why it's wrong here
Restarts unhealthy pods but does not affect traffic routing.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates confuse probe handlers (like HTTP GET or TCP socket) with probe types (like readiness, liveness, startup), leading them to select handlers instead of the correct probe types that control traffic routing.
Detailed technical explanation
Kubernetes defines three probe types: liveness, readiness, and startup. The readiness probe is the only one that directly controls whether a pod receives traffic from a Service; when it fails, the pod's endpoint is removed from the Service's EndpointSlice. The startup probe is useful for slow-starting containers, delaying the start of liveness and readiness probes until the container is fully initialized, but it does not directly manage traffic routing.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A practitioner preparing for the CKAD exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Application Observability and Maintenance — This question tests Application Observability and Maintenance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Readiness probe — A Readiness probe (Option A) is specifically designed to determine whether a pod is ready to serve traffic. If the probe fails, the pod is removed from the Service's endpoints, ensuring traffic is only sent to pods that are ready. This directly fulfills the requirement of controlling traffic routing based on pod readiness.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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