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 troubleshooting a service connectivity issue. You have a pod named 'client' and a service named 'server'. You want to check if the service's endpoints are populated. Which command should you run?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "which command"
Why it matters: Tests specific CLI syntax. Recall the exact command and its required context — near-synonyms and partial matches are common distractors.
kubectl describe pod client
Why wrong: This shows details about the client pod, not the service endpoints.
kubectl get pods -l app=server
Why wrong: This lists pods but does not show which ones are endpoints.
kubectl get svc server
Why wrong: This shows service details but not the actual endpoints.
kubectl get endpoints server
This shows the IP addresses of pods backing the service.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
kubectl get endpoints server
Option D is correct because `kubectl get endpoints server` directly retrieves the Endpoints object associated with the service named 'server'. Endpoints are automatically managed by Kubernetes and list the IP addresses and ports of pods that match the service's selector. If the endpoints list is empty, it indicates that no pods are matching the service's selector, which is a common cause of connectivity issues.
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.
kubectl describe pod client
Why it's wrong here
This shows details about the client pod, not the service endpoints.
kubectl get pods -l app=server
Why it's wrong here
This lists pods but does not show which ones are endpoints.
kubectl get svc server
Why it's wrong here
This shows service details but not the actual endpoints.
kubectl get endpoints server
Why this is correct
This shows the IP addresses of pods backing the service.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "which command" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse checking the service itself (which shows the selector) with checking the actual endpoints (which shows the resolved pod IPs), leading them to pick Option C when they need to verify if pods are actually backing the service.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
This shows details about the client pod, not the service endpoints.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, the Endpoints controller in kube-controller-manager continuously watches pods and services, updating the Endpoints object when pod labels match the service's selector and the pod is in the Ready state (as per its readiness probe). If a pod is not ready, it is excluded from the endpoints, even if its labels match. This is crucial for troubleshooting because a service with a valid selector but no ready pods will have an empty endpoints list, causing traffic to be dropped or rejected.
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: kubectl get endpoints server — Option D is correct because `kubectl get endpoints server` directly retrieves the Endpoints object associated with the service named 'server'. Endpoints are automatically managed by Kubernetes and list the IP addresses and ports of pods that match the service's selector. If the endpoints list is empty, it indicates that no pods are matching the service's selector, which is a common cause of connectivity issues.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Yes — watch for: "which command". Tests specific CLI syntax. Recall the exact command and its required context — near-synonyms and partial matches are common distractors.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 25, 2026
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