Quick Answer
The answer is a rolling update, which is the correct deployment strategy for achieving zero downtime on GKE with a stateless application. This works because Kubernetes gradually replaces old Pods with new ones while keeping a minimum number of replicas available, ensuring the service remains responsive throughout the update. The strategy is controlled by the `strategy.type: RollingUpdate` field in the Deployment spec, with `maxSurge` and `maxUnavailable` parameters that let you fine-tune the pace of replacement. On the Google Professional Cloud Developer exam, this question tests your understanding of Kubernetes default behaviors and the distinction between rolling updates and recreate strategies—a common trap is choosing a blue/green deployment, which is not the default and requires additional service mesh or load balancer configuration. Remember the mnemonic “Roll for zero, Recreate for reset” to recall that rolling updates keep traffic flowing while recreates cause a full outage.
This PCD practice question tests your understanding of deploying applications. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 company wants to deploy a containerized application on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) with zero downtime during updates. The application is stateless and runs on a Deployment with 5 replicas. Which deployment strategy should be used?
Blue/green deployment
Why wrong: Blue/green can achieve zero downtime but is more complex; rolling update is simpler and sufficient.
Recreate update
Why wrong: Recreate terminates all pods before creating new ones, causing downtime.
Canary deployment
Why wrong: Canary is used for gradual traffic shifting, not the default zero-downtime strategy.
Rolling update
Rolling update replaces pods incrementally, maintaining availability.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Rolling update
A rolling update is the default deployment strategy in Kubernetes and is ideal for stateless applications requiring zero downtime. It gradually replaces old Pods with new ones, ensuring that a minimum number of replicas remain available throughout the update. This strategy is configured via the `strategy.type: RollingUpdate` field in the Deployment spec, with parameters like `maxSurge` and `maxUnavailable` controlling the pace.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Blue/green deployment
Why it's wrong here
Blue/green can achieve zero downtime but is more complex; rolling update is simpler and sufficient.
Recreate update
Why it's wrong here
Recreate terminates all pods before creating new ones, causing downtime.
Canary deployment
Why it's wrong here
Canary is used for gradual traffic shifting, not the default zero-downtime strategy.
Rolling update
Why this is correct
Rolling update replaces pods incrementally, maintaining availability.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Cisco often tests the distinction between built-in Kubernetes strategies (rolling update, recreate) and external deployment patterns (blue/green, canary) that require additional configuration or tools, leading candidates to overcomplicate the answer for a simple stateless workload.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, a rolling update in Kubernetes works by incrementally scaling up the new ReplicaSet and scaling down the old one, using the `maxSurge` (default 25%) and `maxUnavailable` (default 25%) settings to control the number of Pods above or below the desired count. For a 5-replica Deployment, this means at most 1 extra Pod can be created and 1 Pod can be unavailable at a time, ensuring the application remains available. A subtle behavior is that if the new Pod fails its readiness probe, the rolling update pauses automatically, preventing the rollout from proceeding until the issue is resolved.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
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FAQ
Deploying applications — This question tests Deploying applications — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Rolling update — A rolling update is the default deployment strategy in Kubernetes and is ideal for stateless applications requiring zero downtime. It gradually replaces old Pods with new ones, ensuring that a minimum number of replicas remain available throughout the update. This strategy is configured via the `strategy.type: RollingUpdate` field in the Deployment spec, with parameters like `maxSurge` and `maxUnavailable` controlling the pace.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This PCD practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud 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 PCD exam.
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