This KCNA practice question tests your understanding of kubernetes fundamentals. 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.
Two pods, 'app-v1' and 'app-v2', both have a label 'app: myapp'. A Service 'my-service' has a selector 'app: myapp'. How many endpoints will the Service initially have?
Both pods have the label 'app: myapp', so both are selected and become endpoints.
B
1
Why wrong: Both pods match, so there are two endpoints.
C
0
Why wrong: Both pods match the selector, so there are endpoints.
D
Depends on pod readiness
Why wrong: While readiness affects traffic routing, the endpoint object includes all pods matching the selector, regardless of readiness (though readiness probes may remove them from service endpoints). The question asks 'initially', so assuming both are ready, 2 endpoints.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
2
Option A is correct because the Service's selector 'app: myapp' matches both pods 'app-v1' and 'app-v2', which both carry the label 'app: myapp'. The Service controller automatically creates endpoints for all pods matching the selector, regardless of their readiness state, unless a headless service or custom endpoint logic is involved. Initially, both pods are considered ready by default (unless a readiness probe fails), so the Service will have two endpoints.
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.
✓
2
Why this is correct
Both pods have the label 'app: myapp', so both are selected and become endpoints.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
1
Why it's wrong here
Both pods match, so there are two endpoints.
✗
0
Why it's wrong here
Both pods match the selector, so there are endpoints.
✗
Depends on pod readiness
Why it's wrong here
While readiness affects traffic routing, the endpoint object includes all pods matching the selector, regardless of readiness (though readiness probes may remove them from service endpoints). The question asks 'initially', so assuming both are ready, 2 endpoints.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the initial endpoint count with the number of ready pods, but Kubernetes creates endpoints for all matching pods immediately, and readiness only affects traffic routing, not the endpoint count itself.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the Service controller uses the Kubernetes API to watch for pods matching the selector and populates the Endpoints object (or EndpointSlice for scalability) with the pod IPs and ports. The default behavior is that all matching pods are added as endpoints, and the kube-proxy on each node uses iptables or IPVS rules to forward traffic to those endpoints; readiness gates only affect the 'not-ready' endpoints subset, which is excluded from service load balancing. In a real-world scenario, if a pod fails its readiness probe, it remains in the Endpoints object but is marked as not ready, so traffic is not sent to it, but the initial count still includes it.
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.
Kubernetes Fundamentals — This question tests Kubernetes Fundamentals — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: 2 — Option A is correct because the Service's selector 'app: myapp' matches both pods 'app-v1' and 'app-v2', which both carry the label 'app: myapp'. The Service controller automatically creates endpoints for all pods matching the selector, regardless of their readiness state, unless a headless service or custom endpoint logic is involved. Initially, both pods are considered ready by default (unless a readiness probe fails), so the Service will have two endpoints.
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.
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.