KCNA Kubernetes Fundamentals Practice Question
You have a Service of type ClusterIP named 'my-svc' in the 'default' namespace. A Pod in the same cluster wants to reach this Service using DNS. What is the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) that resolves to the Service's cluster IP?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often forget the `svc` subdomain or mix up the order of service name and namespace, leading them to choose options that omit `svc` or reverse the components, which Cisco tests to see if you know the exact DNS format for Kubernetes Services.
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
✓
my-svc.default.svc.cluster.local
The standard DNS naming convention for a Kubernetes Service is `<service-name>.<namespace>.svc.cluster.local`. This FQDN resolves to the ClusterIP of the Service, allowing Pods to discover and communicate with the Service using DNS. The `svc` subdomain is a fixed part of the cluster domain, and `cluster.local` is the default cluster domain suffix.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
my-svc.default.svc.cluster.local
Why this is correct
Correct format: <service>.<namespace>.svc.cluster.local.
- ✗
my-svc.default.cluster.local
Why it's wrong here
Missing 'svc' component.
- ✗
default.my-svc.svc.cluster.local
Why it's wrong here
Namespace comes before service name incorrectly.
- ✗
my-svc.svc.default.cluster.local
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect order.
Visual reference
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Kubernetes Overview and Core Components
Key term
ReplicaSet and Replication
A ReplicaSet ensures a specified number of identical pod instances are running at all times in Kubernetes, using replication to maintain availability and stability.
Key term
Kubernetes API Primitives
Kubernetes API Primitives are the basic building blocks that the Kubernetes API uses to represent and manage the state of a cluster, such as Pods, Services, Deployments, and Namespaces.
About these practice questions
This KCNA question is part of Courseiva's 833-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on KCNA
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A ClusterIP Service named 'db-service' in namespace 'prod' selects pods with label 'app: database'. A pod in the same cluster needs to reach this service using DNS. What is the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the service?
hard- A.db-service.cluster.local
- ✓ B.db-service.prod.svc.cluster.local
- C.db-service.svc.cluster.local
- D.db-service.prod.cluster.local
Why B: The correct FQDN for a Kubernetes Service follows the pattern <service-name>.<namespace>.svc.cluster.local. Since the 'db-service' ClusterIP Service is in the 'prod' namespace, the FQDN is 'db-service.prod.svc.cluster.local'. This allows any pod in the cluster to resolve the service's cluster IP via DNS, using the cluster domain 'cluster.local' by default.
JA
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.