CKAD Application Observability and Maintenance Practice Question
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 have a Deployment with a liveness probe using an exec command. The probe currently runs 'cat /tmp/healthy' and fails after 3 failures. You notice the pod is being restarted even though the application is healthy. What is the most likely cause?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The file /tmp/healthy does not exist or is not being updated by the application
Option C is correct because the liveness probe executes 'cat /tmp/healthy' and fails after 3 consecutive failures. If the file /tmp/healthy does not exist or is not being updated by the application, the command returns a non-zero exit code, causing the probe to fail and Kubernetes to restart the container even though the application process itself is running and healthy.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
The readiness probe is misconfigured and is shutting down the pod
Why it's wrong here
Readiness probes do not shut down pods; they only control service traffic.
✗
The liveness probe is using the wrong HTTP endpoint
Why it's wrong here
The probe is exec, not HTTP. The endpoint is irrelevant.
✓
The file /tmp/healthy does not exist or is not being updated by the application
Why this is correct
The exec probe runs 'cat /tmp/healthy'. If the file is missing, the command fails, causing the probe to fail and restart the container.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The probe timeoutSeconds is set too low, causing the probe to fail before the command completes
Why it's wrong here
If the command times out, the probe fails, but the most likely issue is the missing file.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse the liveness probe's exec command with an HTTP probe or assume the probe is failing due to timing, when the real issue is the command's exit code reflecting the absence or staleness of the file.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
If the command times out, the probe fails, but the most likely issue is the missing file.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the kubelet runs the exec command inside the container's namespace and checks the exit code: zero means success, non-zero means failure. The liveness probe's failureThreshold (default 3) determines how many consecutive failures trigger a restart. A common real-world scenario is an application that creates /tmp/healthy on startup but does not periodically update it, so the file remains stale and the probe eventually fails after the initial grace period.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
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.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this CKAD question in full detail.
Application Observability and Maintenance — This question tests Application Observability and Maintenance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The file /tmp/healthy does not exist or is not being updated by the application — Option C is correct because the liveness probe executes 'cat /tmp/healthy' and fails after 3 consecutive failures. If the file /tmp/healthy does not exist or is not being updated by the application, the command returns a non-zero exit code, causing the probe to fail and Kubernetes to restart the container even though the application process itself is running and healthy.
What should I do if I get this CKAD question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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