KCNA Kubernetes Fundamentals Practice Question
Exhibit
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
name: nginx-pod
spec:
containers:
- name: nginx
image: nginx:latest
ports:
- containerPort: 80
livenessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /healthz
port: 80
initialDelaySeconds: 5
periodSeconds: 10
readinessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /
port: 80
initialDelaySeconds: 3
periodSeconds: 5Refer to the exhibit. The nginx Pod is created, but the Pod never becomes Ready. The container starts and runs. What is the most likely reason?
⚠ Common exam trap
The KCNA exam often tests the distinction between liveness and readiness probes, and the trap here is that candidates assume a failing liveness probe only affects health checks, not the Pod's Ready status, when in fact repeated restarts prevent the Pod from ever becoming Ready.
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
✓
The liveness probe is failing because /healthz endpoint does not exist, causing the container to restart.
The liveness probe is configured to check the /healthz endpoint, but the default nginx container does not serve a /healthz endpoint. This causes the liveness probe to fail, and Kubernetes restarts the container according to the probe's failure threshold. Since the container keeps restarting, it never reaches the Ready state, even though the container starts and runs initially.
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 nginx:latest image does not exist.
Why it's wrong here
nginx:latest is a valid public image.
- ✗
The containerPort is not matching the actual port nginx listens on.
Why it's wrong here
containerPort is informational; nginx defaults to 80, so it matches.
- ✓
The liveness probe is failing because /healthz endpoint does not exist, causing the container to restart.
Why this is correct
The liveness probe expects /healthz to return 200, but nginx does not serve that path by default, so the probe fails and the container is restarted. This prevents the readiness probe from ever succeeding.
- ✗
The readiness probe is failing because the root path is not returning 200.
Why it's wrong here
The root path typically returns 200 from nginx, so readiness should pass.
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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.