KCNA Cloud Native Architecture Practice Question
Which THREE of the following are components of the GitOps workflow? (Choose three.)
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
✓
A CI/CD pipeline that validates changes before merging
GitOps relies on a Git repository as single source of truth, a CI/CD pipeline to validate changes, and an operator to sync the cluster.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
A CI/CD pipeline that validates changes before merging
Why this is correct
The CI/CD pipeline validates declarative changes before they merge, enforcing review and automated testing so only verified manifests reach the Git repository. This gate satisfies the workflow's requirement that proposed configuration is checked prior to becoming the desired state the operator later reconciles.
- ✗
A configuration management database (CMDB)
Why it's wrong here
A CMDB records configuration items and their relationships; GitOps derives desired state from Git commits, with an agent such as Argo CD or Flux reconciling the cluster. A CMDB is tempting because it also tracks deployed infrastructure, but it stores inventory rather than acting as the declarative source of truth.
- ✓
A Git repository containing declarative configuration
Why this is correct
The Git repository stores the declarative configuration that defines desired cluster state, acting as the single source of truth. Every change is versioned and auditable, providing the immutable reference the operator reconciles against, which satisfies the workflow's requirement for Git-hosted desired state.
- ✗
A manual approval process for every change
Why it's wrong here
GitOps automates reconciliation from Git, so every change merges through pull requests and deploys without a per-change human gate; mandatory manual approval breaks that continuous reconciliation loop. It is tempting because pull-request review is a legitimate control, but approval applies at merge time, not to each deployment.
- ✓
An operator (e.g., ArgoCD) that syncs the cluster state with Git
Why this is correct
The operator continuously reconciles live cluster state against the declarative configuration stored in Git, pulling and applying any drift. This closed-loop sync is the mechanism that makes Git the single source of truth, satisfying the workflow's requirement for automated convergence.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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