KCNA Kubernetes Fundamentals Practice Question
Which component of the control plane is the only one that directly interacts with etcd?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often assume the kube-controller-manager or kube-scheduler directly access etcd because they manage cluster state, but in reality they only interact with etcd indirectly through the kube-apiserver.
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
✓
kube-apiserver
The kube-apiserver is the only component of the Kubernetes control plane that directly interacts with etcd. It acts as the front-end for the control plane, exposing the Kubernetes API, and all reads and writes to the cluster's state stored in etcd must go through the API server. Other components like the kube-controller-manager and kube-scheduler only communicate with etcd indirectly via the kube-apiserver, never directly.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
kube-apiserver
Why this is correct
The API server is the only component that directly reads and writes to etcd.
- ✗
kube-controller-manager
Why it's wrong here
Controllers communicate via the API server.
- ✗
kube-scheduler
Why it's wrong here
The scheduler communicates with the API server, not directly with etcd.
- ✗
kubelet
Why it's wrong here
The kubelet runs on worker nodes and communicates with the API server, not directly with etcd.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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