KCNA Container Orchestration Practice Question
A pod is stuck in the Pending state. Running 'kubectl describe pod <pod-name>' shows the event: '0/3 nodes are available: 1 node had taint {node.kubernetes.io/disk-pressure: }, 2 nodes had taint {node.kubernetes.io/memory-pressure: }'. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
CNCF often tests the distinction between taints/tolerations and resource constraints, where candidates mistakenly attribute a Pending state to resource exhaustion when the actual cause is missing tolerations for node taints.
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
✓
All nodes have taints that the pod does not have tolerations for
The pod is stuck in Pending because the scheduler cannot find a node that satisfies its scheduling constraints. The events show that all three nodes have taints (disk-pressure and memory-pressure), and the pod does not have corresponding tolerations to allow it to be scheduled on those nodes. Without tolerations, the pod is not permitted to run on any of the available nodes, leaving it in the Pending state.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
All nodes have taints that the pod does not have tolerations for
Why this is correct
The event indicates that each node has a taint (disk-pressure or memory-pressure) and the pod lacks corresponding tolerations.
- ✗
The container image is not found in the registry
Why it's wrong here
Image pull issues would result in ErrImagePull or ImagePullBackOff, not Pending with taint events.
- ✗
The pod has a resource request that exceeds available capacity on all nodes
Why it's wrong here
While possible, the specific error message points to taints, not resource requests.
- ✗
The pod's liveness probe is failing
Why it's wrong here
Liveness probe failures occur after the pod is running, not during scheduling (Pending state).
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This KCNA 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 KCNA exam.