CV0-004 Troubleshooting Practice Question
A cloud administrator is troubleshooting a web application that uses a cloud load balancer. Users report intermittent 502 Bad Gateway errors. The administrator checks the load balancer's target group and sees that some targets are marked as unhealthy. The application runs on virtual machines behind the load balancer. Which action should the administrator take to resolve the issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that adding more targets or adjusting timeouts will fix 502 errors, when the real issue is often misconfigured health checks.
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
✓
Verify that the health check path and port are correctly configured for the application.
502 Bad Gateway errors from a load balancer indicate it cannot reach healthy backend targets. If targets are marked unhealthy, the health check configuration is likely incorrect. Verifying the health check path and port ensures the load balancer correctly assesses target health. Increasing timeout, enabling sticky sessions, or adding targets do not fix misconfigured health checks.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the load balancer's idle timeout to match the application's response time.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing idle timeout can help with long-running connections, but 502 errors are typically caused by unhealthy targets or application errors. If targets are already marked unhealthy, the issue is likely health checks or application failures, not idle timeout. Adjusting timeout may not resolve the underlying problem.
- ✗
Add more targets to the target group to distribute the load.
Why it's wrong here
Adding targets can improve capacity, but if existing targets are unhealthy due to misconfigured health checks, new targets may also be marked unhealthy. The issue is not load but health check configuration. Adding targets without fixing health checks will not resolve 502 errors.
- ✓
Verify that the health check path and port are correctly configured for the application.
Why this is correct
502 errors occur when the load balancer cannot establish a connection to a healthy target. If health checks are misconfigured (e.g., wrong path or port), targets are marked unhealthy and removed from rotation. When all targets are unhealthy, the load balancer returns 502. Correcting health check settings ensures only healthy targets receive traffic.
- ✗
Enable sticky sessions on the load balancer to maintain user sessions.
Why it's wrong here
Sticky sessions help with session persistence but do not address 502 errors caused by unhealthy targets. If targets are unhealthy, sticky sessions would still route to them or fail. The root cause is health check configuration or application availability, not session handling.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
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