EX280 Cluster Installation And Management Practice Question
An administrator needs to temporarily prevent the Machine Config Operator from applying pending MachineConfig changes to the worker nodes while performing troubleshooting. How should the administrator accomplish this?
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
✓
Patch the worker MachineConfigPool to set 'spec.paused: true'.
To pause updates on a set of nodes, the administrator can set the 'paused: true' field on the corresponding MachineConfigPool resource.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Patch the worker MachineConfigPool to set 'spec.paused: true'.
Why this is correct
Setting paused to true on a MachineConfigPool stops the MCO from rolling out new configurations to that pool.
- ✗
Delete all pending MachineConfig objects from the cluster.
Why it's wrong here
Deleting MachineConfigs removes the desired configuration entirely rather than temporarily pausing application.
- ✗
Scale down the machine-config-operator deployment in openshift-machine-config-operator to zero replicas.
Why it's wrong here
Scaling down the MCO deployment directly is unsupported and can destabilize cluster node certificate management and core controllers.
- ✗
Annotate all worker nodes with 'machineconfiguration.openshift.io/paused=true'.
Why it's wrong here
Pausing is configured on the MachineConfigPool resource, not via individual node annotations.
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 Red Hat exam blueprint
This EX280 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Red Hat 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 EX280 exam.