KCNA Kubernetes Fundamentals Practice Question
A user reports that a web application is not accessible via its Service. The Service is of type ClusterIP. Which TWO steps should be taken to troubleshoot?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to assume a Service is always reachable if the pods are running, forgetting that kube-proxy must be healthy and that the Service must have endpoints for traffic to be forwarded.
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
✓
Verify that the kube-proxy is running on the node
Kube-proxy is the component responsible for implementing the ClusterIP Service abstraction by managing iptables or IPVS rules on each node. If kube-proxy is not running, traffic destined for the Service's ClusterIP will not be forwarded to the backend pods, making the Service unreachable from within the cluster.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Verify that the kube-proxy is running on the node
Why this is correct
kube-proxy is responsible for implementing the Service abstraction via iptables or IPVS.
- ✗
Check that the container runtime is working
Why it's wrong here
Container runtime issues affect Pods, but the Service connectivity problem is likely at the network layer.
- ✗
Check the kube-apiserver status
Why it's wrong here
The API server is for managing the cluster state, not for forwarding traffic to Services.
- ✓
Check if the Service has any endpoints using 'kubectl get endpoints'
Why this is correct
Endpoints show the Pods that the Service routes to.
- ✗
Restart all nodes in the cluster
Why it's wrong here
This is a drastic measure and not an appropriate first troubleshooting step.
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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.