EX280 · domain
Cluster Installation And Management
This domain covers day-2 OpenShift 4.14 cluster operations: managing Machines and MachineSets on cloud providers, replacing failed nodes, monitoring MachineConfigPool updates, and inspecting cluster health with oc and OpenShift-specific resources. Questions are scenario-based, asking you to choose the correct resource or command to diagnose, scale, or remediate infrastructure and configuration state.
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What to know about Cluster Installation And Management
Be able to manage Machines and MachineSets in openshift-machine-api, safely remove failed nodes, and read MachineConfigPool conditions to judge rollout progress. The key skill is using the correct resource and namespace so remediation actually takes effect.
MachineSet purpose: managing desired replica count of Machines for a role
Removing stale Node objects after physical machine replacement with oc delete node
MachineConfigPool status conditions such as Updating and Updated
Inspecting MachineSets with oc get machinesets -n openshift-machine-api
Watch out for
Common Cluster Installation And Management exam traps
- ▸Deleting the Node object but leaving the Machine, or vice versa, causing the MachineSet to recreate or orphan the node.
- ▸Confusing MachineConfigPool Updating with Degraded; Degraded indicates a failure, not active node updates.
- ▸Running oc get machines in the default namespace instead of openshift-machine-api, returning no results.
Question index
All Cluster Installation And Management questions (65)
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Which component in OpenShift 4.14 manages the creation and deletion of compute machines (VMs or physical servers) on cloud providers or bare metal?
Easy2Which component in OpenShift 4.14 is responsible for orchestrating the upgrade of the entire cluster from one minor version to another?
Easy3An administrator is troubleshooting a custom MachineConfig that failed to apply across a worker MachineConfigPool. Which THREE diagnostic steps or resources should the administrator check? (Choose THREE)
Hard4An administrator wants to check the health and availability status of all core OpenShift 4.14 cluster operators (such as authentication, ingress, and dns). Which command should be used?
Medium5An administrator is investigating why cluster operator upgrades are failing. Which TWO locations or commands provide detailed diagnostic information about cluster operators? (Choose TWO)
Medium6An administrator is troubleshooting an Operator installation issue in OpenShift 4.14. Which TWO resources or logs should the administrator examine to diagnose OLM operator subscription and CSV issues? (Choose TWO)
Medium7An administrator needs to inspect the current update channel and version of an OpenShift 4.14 cluster. Which command provides this status directly?
Medium8An administrator is managing an OpenShift Container Platform 4.14 cluster on AWS. The administrator wants to configure the cluster so that when a worker node is terminated due to a spot instance interruption, the MachineSet automatically replaces it. Which MachineSet configuration parameter should the administrator verify to ensure that new Machines are created to replace terminated ones?
Medium9Which namespace houses the core Cluster Version Operator (CVO) in an OpenShift 4.14 cluster?
Easy10An administrator is troubleshooting a failed cluster upgrade in OpenShift 4.14. The upgrade channel is set to 'stable-4.14', but the cluster refuses to update to the latest target version. The administrator runs 'oc get clusterversion' and notes that a specific ClusterOperator reports 'Degraded=True'. What is the recommended next step?
Medium11What is the primary function of the Machine Config Operator (MCO) in OpenShift 4.14?
Easy12An administrator wants to inspect the ignition configuration generated for worker nodes by the Machine Config Operator. Which command or resource should the administrator examine?
Medium13An administrator has modified a KubeletConfig resource to adjust the pod eviction thresholds on worker nodes. After applying the change, the administrator observes that some worker nodes are updating while others belonging to a custom worker pool are not. What is the most likely reason?
Hard14An administrator wants to verify node configuration application status. Which TWO indicators show that a MachineConfigPool has successfully finished applying a new MachineConfig? (Choose TWO)
Medium15Which TWO commands or tools can an administrator use to inspect cluster logs or events when troubleshooting node or pod issues? (Choose TWO)
Easy16Which TWO namespaces are standard system namespaces in OpenShift 4.14 that contain core cluster operators and platform components? (Choose TWO)
Easy17An administrator wants to view the available recommended upgrade paths for an OpenShift 4.14 cluster from the command line. Which command should the administrator run?
Medium18An administrator is configuring automated node remediation and scaling in OpenShift 4.14. Which THREE objects or custom resources are involved in machine management, autoscaling, and health checking? (Choose THREE)
Hard19An administrator has added a new custom worker MachineConfigPool and wants existing worker nodes to be migrated into this new pool based on specific labels. How does an administrator move a node from the default worker pool to a custom MachineConfigPool?
Hard20An administrator wants to prevent automatic updates for an Operator installed via OLM while still allowing manual installation of new versions when desired. Which TWO actions or configurations should be performed? (Choose TWO)
Medium21An administrator is managing cluster machine configurations and needs to understand how Ignition configuration files are processed. Which THREE statements are correct regarding Ignition and the Machine Config Operator in OpenShift 4.14? (Choose THREE)
Hard22An administrator has successfully installed an Operator via OperatorHub, but the Operator's CSV (ClusterServiceVersion) status is stuck at 'Pending'. Upon investigating, the administrator discovers that the required CustomResourceDefinitions (CRDs) have conflicting versions with a previously deleted Operator. How can the administrator forcefully clean up orphaned CRDs if OLM fails to remove them?
Hard23An administrator needs to configure custom container runtime parameters (such as the maximum pod log size or maximum number of processes per container) across all worker nodes in an OpenShift 4.14 cluster. Which custom resource should the administrator create?
Hard24An administrator is troubleshooting an OpenShift Container Platform 4.14 cluster that is failing to upgrade. The Cluster Version Operator (CVO) reports that the upgrade is blocked due to an unhealthy ClusterOperator. Which TWO commands should the administrator use to identify the specific ClusterOperator and its error condition? (Choose two.)
Hard25An administrator wants to check whether any worker nodes in an OpenShift 4.14 cluster are currently unschedulable (cordoned). Which command provides this information quickly?
Medium26An administrator wants to check the status of all Certificate Signing Requests (CSRs) in an OpenShift 4.14 cluster, specifically looking for pending node certificates. Which command should be used?
Medium27An administrator needs to verify that the cluster autoscaler is successfully scaling worker nodes in response to pending pods. Which custom resource should the administrator inspect to check the autoscaler configuration and status?
Medium28An administrator needs to ensure that if a worker node freezes or becomes unresponsive for more than 5 minutes, the cluster automatically remediates it by deleting and recreating the underlying virtual machine instance. Which OpenShift 4.14 feature should the administrator configure?
Hard29Which TWO commands can an administrator use to check the overall status or health of core OpenShift 4.14 cluster operators? (Choose TWO)
Easy30An administrator needs to perform a graceful maintenance reboot on a worker node named worker-01 in an OpenShift 4.14 cluster without causing application downtime for stateless deployments. Which combination of actions should the administrator perform first?
Medium31What is the primary function of a MachineSet in an OpenShift 4.14 cluster running on a cloud provider?
Easy32An administrator needs to check the status of all MachineSets in an OpenShift 4.14 cluster to see how many worker machines are currently provisioned and running. Which command should be used?
Medium33An 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?
Medium34An administrator wants to verify if the OpenShift cluster upgrade to version 4.14 has successfully completed for all core components. Which status field in the ClusterVersion resource should show 'True' for the progressing and available conditions?
Medium35An administrator wants to modify the default kubelet parameters (such as maximum pods per core or eviction hard thresholds) across worker nodes. Which TWO steps or resources are involved in this process? (Choose TWO)
Medium36An administrator wants to configure automated remediation for worker nodes that become unresponsive or experience hardware failure. Which TWO configurations or resources are required for a MachineHealthCheck to function properly? (Choose TWO)
Medium37An administrator notices that a worker node is in a 'NotReady' state due to a storage failure. The administrator successfully replaces the underlying physical machine and wants to clear the old node object from the OpenShift 4.14 cluster. Which command should be used?
Medium38An administrator is planning an OpenShift 4.14 cluster upgrade and wants to ensure that specific safety checks and conditions are met before proceeding. Which THREE conditions must be true for an upgrade to proceed smoothly? (Choose THREE)
Hard39Which component in OpenShift 4.14 serves as the API entry point for managing MachineAPI resources like Machines and MachineSets?
Easy40Which TWO tasks are typically performed by an OpenShift cluster administrator when managing worker node lifecycles? (Choose TWO)
Easy41An administrator is preparing to perform maintenance on worker nodes in an OpenShift 4.14 cluster. Which TWO commands or actions are part of the standard workflow to safely prepare a node for maintenance? (Choose TWO)
Easy42An administrator is preparing to upgrade an OpenShift Container Platform 4.14 cluster from version 4.13.12 to 4.14.6. Before starting the upgrade, the administrator wants to ensure that all cluster Operators are healthy and that no prerequisites are blocking the upgrade. Which command should the administrator run to view the current upgrade status and any available updates?
Medium43Which namespace contains the Machine Config Operator (MCO) and its associated daemon pods in OpenShift 4.14?
Easy44An administrator installed an Operator via OperatorHub and selected a specific update channel. Later, the administrator wants to switch the Subscription to a different update channel. How should this be performed?
Medium45An administrator is managing operator subscriptions and wants to ensure that an operator is automatically updated when new versions are released in the channel. Which THREE conditions or configuration settings must be satisfied? (Choose THREE)
Hard46Which TWO actions can an administrator perform using the 'oc adm' command set related to cluster management? (Choose TWO)
Easy47An administrator wants to check the status of Machine API provisioning and verify that all machines are in a running state. Which TWO commands or resource inspections should the administrator perform? (Choose TWO)
Medium48An administrator is inspecting an OpenShift 4.14 cluster and notices that the MachineConfigPool for workers is in a degraded state because a MachineConfig failed to apply. Where should the administrator look to find the exact error encountered by the Machine Config Daemon on the affected nodes?
Hard49An administrator needs to identify worker nodes that require attention during an upgrade or maintenance. Which TWO conditions or states on a node object indicate potential issues or special maintenance states? (Choose TWO)
Medium50An administrator wants to check why a specific MachineConfigPool is taking a long time to complete an update. Which status condition on the MachineConfigPool indicates that nodes are currently being updated?
Medium51Which component in OpenShift 4.14 coordinates the creation of certificates for cluster components and worker nodes?
Easy52An OpenShift 4.14 cluster administrator has installed an Operator from OperatorHub into a custom namespace using a Subscription. The administrator notices that the Operator pod is not being created. Upon checking the Subscription, the installation mode is set to AllNamespaces, but the Operator target namespace is restricted. Which Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) object should the administrator inspect to troubleshoot why the CSV (ClusterServiceVersion) is not installing?
Medium53Which OpenShift 4.14 command is used to uncordon a worker node and return it to a schedulable state after maintenance?
Easy54An administrator needs to configure secure access to a private registry for both node image pulls and OLM operator deployments. Which THREE actions or resources are required across the cluster? (Choose THREE)
Hard55An administrator running OpenShift 4.14 wants to configure automatic approval for an Operator subscription updates using the Operator Lifecycle Manager. Which field and value in the Subscription resource must be set?
Hard56An administrator needs to update the global pull secret for an OpenShift 4.14 cluster so that nodes can pull images from a new authenticated private registry. Which resource stores the global pull secret?
Medium57What is the primary role of Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) in OpenShift 4.14?
Easy58An administrator needs to troubleshoot an upgrade failure in OpenShift 4.14. Which TWO actions or diagnostic steps should the administrator take? (Choose TWO)
Medium59An administrator wants to customize worker node behavior in an OpenShift 4.14 cluster using the Machine Config Operator. Which THREE custom resources are natively provided and managed by the MCO for node customization? (Choose THREE)
Hard60Which custom resource defines a group of nodes (such as all worker nodes or a custom compute pool) that share a common MachineConfig in OpenShift 4.14?
Easy61An administrator wants to apply kernel arguments to all worker nodes in an OpenShift 4.14 cluster using the Machine Config Operator. After creating a new MachineConfig object, the administrator notices that the worker nodes are not updating and the MachineConfigPool status shows 'Updating=False'. What is the most likely cause?
Hard62Which TWO files or directories are commonly configured or injected via MachineConfig objects for node customization? (Choose TWO)
Easy63Which OpenShift 4.14 command allows an administrator to gather cluster-wide diagnostic logs and configuration data for support cases?
Easy64Which TWO methods can administrators use to access the OpenShift 4.14 web console or CLI for cluster management? (Choose TWO)
Easy65What is the purpose of the 'oc adm drain' command during cluster maintenance?
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Frequently asked questions
- What does the Cluster Installation And Management domain cover on the EX280 exam?
- Be able to manage Machines and MachineSets in openshift-machine-api, safely remove failed nodes, and read MachineConfigPool conditions to judge rollout progress. The key skill is using the correct resource and namespace so remediation actually takes effect.
- How many questions are in this domain?
- This page lists all 65 Cluster Installation And Management questions in the EX280 question bank. The actual exam draws from this domain proportionally to its weighting in the official exam blueprint.
- What is the best way to practise this domain?
- Start with a short focused session (10 questions) to identify gaps, then work through explanations. Repeat with a longer session once the weak areas feel solid.
- Can I practise only Cluster Installation And Management questions?
- Yes — the session launcher on this page filters questions to this domain only. Choose any session length for inline explanations and scoring.