PCA Instrumentation And Exporters Practice Question
You need to expose metrics from a legacy application that only logs to a file. What should you do?
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
✓
Use the node_exporter textfile collector
The node_exporter textfile collector is designed to read metrics from a specific directory where you can drop files containing Prometheus-formatted data.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Use the node_exporter textfile collector
Why this is correct
This collector reads metrics from files on disk.
- ✗
None of the above
Why it's wrong here
The textfile collector is a standard solution.
- ✗
Use a blackbox exporter
Why it's wrong here
Blackbox exporter is for probing external endpoints.
- ✗
Use Pushgateway
Why it's wrong here
Pushgateway is for active code instrumenting, not parsing log files.
- ✗
Use a custom exporter
Why it's wrong here
While possible, the built-in textfile collector is the standard approach for this scenario.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official CNCF / Linux Foundation exam blueprint
This PCA practice question is part of Courseiva's free CNCF / Linux Foundation 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 PCA exam.