This PCD practice question tests your understanding of deploying applications. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A team is deploying a new version of an application on GKE using a rolling update. They want to ensure that the update proceeds only if the new pods are healthy. Which two steps should they include? (Choose two.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Set the minReadySeconds field in the deployment.
Option A is correct because setting `minReadySeconds` in a Deployment ensures that a newly created Pod is considered ready only after it has been stable for that duration, preventing the rolling update from proceeding if the Pod fails shortly after startup. Option B is correct because a readiness probe determines whether a Pod is ready to serve traffic; during a rolling update, the Deployment controller waits for the new Pod's readiness probe to succeed before scaling down old Pods, ensuring the update only continues when new Pods are healthy.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Set the minReadySeconds field in the deployment.
Why this is correct
minReadySeconds ensures the pod is ready for that duration before being considered available.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Define a readiness probe for the container.
Why this is correct
Readiness probe determines if the pod is ready to receive traffic.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Define a liveness probe for the container.
Why it's wrong here
Liveness probe restarts unhealthy pods but does not gate the rolling update.
✗
Set the revisionHistoryLimit to 10.
Why it's wrong here
revisionHistoryLimit controls how many old ReplicaSets are kept, not update health.
✗
Use a postStart lifecycle hook to test health.
Why it's wrong here
postStart runs after container start but does not influence update progression.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Cisco often tests the distinction between readiness and liveness probes, and the trap here is that candidates confuse liveness probes (which restart containers) with readiness probes (which control traffic and rolling update progression), leading them to incorrectly select a liveness probe as a health gate for the update.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The rolling update strategy in Kubernetes uses the Deployment controller to incrementally replace Pods, and it relies on the readiness probe (not liveness) to decide when a new Pod is healthy enough to receive traffic. The `minReadySeconds` field adds a delay after the readiness probe succeeds, ensuring the Pod remains stable under load before the controller considers it ready; this is critical in scenarios where applications experience transient failures or slow warm-up times after initial readiness. Without these two settings, the update could proceed even if new Pods are not actually serving traffic correctly, leading to downtime.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Deploying applications — This question tests Deploying applications — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Set the minReadySeconds field in the deployment. — Option A is correct because setting `minReadySeconds` in a Deployment ensures that a newly created Pod is considered ready only after it has been stable for that duration, preventing the rolling update from proceeding if the Pod fails shortly after startup. Option B is correct because a readiness probe determines whether a Pod is ready to serve traffic; during a rolling update, the Deployment controller waits for the new Pod's readiness probe to succeed before scaling down old Pods, ensuring the update only continues when new Pods are healthy.
What should I do if I get this PCD question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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