KCNA Cloud Native Application Delivery Practice Question
This KCNA practice question tests your understanding of cloud native application delivery. 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.
Refer to the exhibit. The deployment above is created, but the pods are not receiving traffic from the associated Service. The Service selector matches 'app: web'. The Service endpoints list is empty. 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.
The Service selector does not match the pod labels
Why wrong: The Service selector 'app: web' matches the pod labels 'app: web' from the deployment template.
B
The containerPort is set to 80, but the Service targetPort is 8080
Why wrong: There is no information about the Service in the exhibit; assuming targetPort matches containerPort is standard; if it didn't, endpoints might still exist but not work.
C
The readiness probe endpoint /health does not exist in the nginx container
The readiness probe is configured to GET /health on port 80, but the default nginx image does not serve a /health page. The probe fails, so the pod is not ready and is removed from Service endpoints.
D
The nginx:1.21 image is not available in the container registry
Why wrong: The image nginx:1.21 is a valid public image; if it were unavailable, the pod would have ImagePullBackOff, not a missing endpoint.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The readiness probe endpoint /health does not exist in the nginx container
The correct answer is C because a readiness probe that fails (e.g., the /health endpoint does not exist in the nginx container) will cause the pod to be marked as not ready. Kubernetes removes pods with failing readiness probes from the Service's endpoints list, resulting in an empty endpoints list even though the Service selector matches the pod labels. This is a common misconfiguration where the probe endpoint is not actually served by the container.
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 Service selector does not match the pod labels
Why it's wrong here
The Service selector 'app: web' matches the pod labels 'app: web' from the deployment template.
✗
The containerPort is set to 80, but the Service targetPort is 8080
Why it's wrong here
There is no information about the Service in the exhibit; assuming targetPort matches containerPort is standard; if it didn't, endpoints might still exist but not work.
✓
The readiness probe endpoint /health does not exist in the nginx container
Why this is correct
The readiness probe is configured to GET /health on port 80, but the default nginx image does not serve a /health page. The probe fails, so the pod is not ready and is removed from Service endpoints.
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 nginx:1.21 image is not available in the container registry
Why it's wrong here
The image nginx:1.21 is a valid public image; if it were unavailable, the pod would have ImagePullBackOff, not a missing endpoint.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
CNCF often tests the distinction between readiness probes and liveness probes, and the trap here is that candidates assume a missing endpoint only affects liveness (causing restarts) rather than readiness (causing removal from Service endpoints).
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Readiness probes are used by kubelet to determine when a container is ready to accept traffic. If the probe fails, the pod's Ready condition is set to False, and the endpoint controller removes the pod's IP from the Service's Endpoints object. This is distinct from liveness probes, which restart the container. In real-world scenarios, a common mistake is defining a readiness probe for an endpoint that the application does not expose (e.g., /health on nginx without a custom config), causing the pod to never become ready and thus never receive traffic from the Service.
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 KCNA 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 KCNA question in full detail.
Cloud Native Application Delivery — This question tests Cloud Native Application Delivery — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The readiness probe endpoint /health does not exist in the nginx container — The correct answer is C because a readiness probe that fails (e.g., the /health endpoint does not exist in the nginx container) will cause the pod to be marked as not ready. Kubernetes removes pods with failing readiness probes from the Service's endpoints list, resulting in an empty endpoints list even though the Service selector matches the pod labels. This is a common misconfiguration where the probe endpoint is not actually served by the container.
What should I do if I get this KCNA 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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.