KCNA Kubernetes Fundamentals Practice Question
Which command would you use to view the logs of a container named 'nginx' in a Pod named 'web-pod'?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to assume `kubectl logs` can accept the container name as a positional argument without the `-c` flag, confusing it with `kubectl exec` syntax where the container name can be specified with `-c` but is optional if there's only one container.
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
✓
kubectl logs web-pod -c nginx
The `kubectl logs` command retrieves container logs from a Pod, and when a Pod contains multiple containers, the `-c` flag is required to specify which container's logs to view. Here, `kubectl logs web-pod -c nginx` explicitly targets the 'nginx' container within the 'web-pod' Pod, which is the standard Kubernetes API approach for fetching container stdout/stderr streams.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
kubectl logs web-pod -c nginx
Why this is correct
The -c flag selects a specific container within a multi-container Pod, so kubectl logs web-pod -c nginx retrieves nginx's logs. This satisfies the stem's constraint of targeting the container named nginx rather than every container in web-pod.
- ✗
kubectl logs web-pod nginx
Why it's wrong here
kubectl logs takes the container via -c; a bare second argument is parsed as a second pod name, so the command errors. It would be correct as kubectl logs web-pod -c nginx, which is the actual syntax required.
- ✗
kubectl describe pod web-pod
Why it's wrong here
`kubectl describe pod web-pod` reports the Pod's status, events, and container states, but it does not read the container's stdout/stderr stream, so the nginx application logs never appear. It is tempting because describe is the standard tool for diagnosing scheduling, image-pull, and crash-loop problems — the right choice when you need Pod-level events rather than application output.
- ✗
kubectl exec web-pod -- cat /var/log/nginx/access.log
Why it's wrong here
Reading a file inside the container shows only what nginx writes to that path, not the container's stdout stream that kubectl logs captures. It would fit inspecting a specific file when the process logs there rather than to stdout.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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