EX280 Troubleshooting And Diagnostics Practice Question
An OpenShift cluster administrator notices that API requests are taking an excessively long time to complete. They suspect etcd database bloat due to excessive ConfigMap creations. Which etcd maintenance command can be run inside an etcd pod to reclaim storage space after compaction?
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
✓
etcdctl defrag
Etcd requires defragmentation (etcdctl defrag) after compaction to release free space back to the file system.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
etcdctl prune-storage
Why it's wrong here
Prune-storage is not a valid etcdctl command.
- ✗
oc adm etcd-clean
Why it's wrong here
No such oc adm command exists.
- ✓
etcdctl defrag
Why this is correct
etcdctl defrag reorganizes the etcd database file and frees up disk space on the underlying storage.
- ✗
etcdctl compact --vacuum
Why it's wrong here
Compaction removes historical revisions, but defragmentation is required to reclaim the physical disk space.
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.