XK0-006 Automation, Orchestration, and Scripting Practice Question
An administrator is troubleshooting a Pod in a Kubernetes cluster that is not starting. Which TWO kubectl commands are most useful for diagnosing the issue? (Choose TWO.)
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
✓
kubectl logs <pod-name>
kubectl describe pod provides detailed event and status information, and kubectl logs retrieves container logs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
kubectl get nodes
Why it's wrong here
kubectl get nodes reports cluster node health and readiness, not the scheduling, image-pull or configuration events of the failing Pod. It is tempting because node status is a quick cluster-wide sanity check, and would be the right first command if every workload on a node had stopped simultaneously.
- ✗
kubectl apply -f pod.yaml
Why it's wrong here
Applying the manifest re-declares desired state; it does not reveal why the existing Pod is failing, and may simply recreate the same broken spec. It is tempting because apply is the standard deployment action, and would be correct when rolling out a corrected manifest after diagnosis.
- ✗
kubectl delete pod <pod-name>
Why it's wrong here
Deletes the pod, which is not diagnostic.
- ✓
kubectl logs <pod-name>
Why this is correct
`kubectl logs <pod-name>` retrieves stdout/stderr from the Pod's containers, exposing application-level failures such as crash loops, misconfiguration or missing dependencies that block startup. When a Pod is running but not Ready, or restarting repeatedly, container output pinpoints the fault directly, satisfying the need to diagnose why the Pod fails to start.
- ✓
kubectl describe pod <pod-name>
Why this is correct
kubectl describe pod surfaces the Pod's status conditions, events, container states and scheduling failures, revealing why it cannot start. This directly satisfies the diagnostic requirement by exposing image pull errors, resource shortages or failed probes recorded by the kubelet.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This XK0-006 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 XK0-006 exam.