CKAD Sample Practice Questions¶

Disclaimer: These are sample practice questions created for study purposes only. They are NOT actual exam questions and are designed to help you test your understanding of CKAD concepts. Real exam questions may differ in format and content.

Practice Resources¶

Before attempting these questions, we highly recommend practicing on:

Killercoda CKAD Scenarios ⭐ Free hands-on practice environments
killer.sh CKAD Simulator - Included with exam registration

Instructions¶

The CKAD exam is performance-based (hands-on), not multiple choice
Practice these scenarios in a real Kubernetes cluster
Time yourself - aim for efficiency
Use imperative commands when possible to save time

Section 1: Application Design and Build (20%)¶

Question 1.1 - Create a Job¶

Create a Job named pi-calculator that: - Uses the image perl:5.34 - Runs the command perl -Mbignum=bpi -wle 'print bpi(2000)' - Completes 3 times successfully - Runs 2 pods in parallel - Has a backoff limit of 4

Show Solution

# Generate base YAML
kubectl create job pi-calculator --image=perl:5.34 --dry-run=client -o yaml -- perl -Mbignum=bpi -wle 'print bpi(2000)' > job.yaml

# Edit to add completions, parallelism, backoffLimit

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: Job
metadata:
  name: pi-calculator
spec:
  completions: 3
  parallelism: 2
  backoffLimit: 4
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: pi-calculator
        image: perl:5.34
        command: ["perl", "-Mbignum=bpi", "-wle", "print bpi(2000)"]
      restartPolicy: Never

kubectl apply -f job.yaml

Question 1.2 - Create a CronJob¶

Create a CronJob named backup-job that: - Runs every day at 2:30 AM - Uses image busybox:1.36 - Runs command echo "Backup completed at $(date)" - Keeps 3 successful job history - Keeps 1 failed job history

Show Solution

kubectl create cronjob backup-job --image=busybox:1.36 --schedule="30 2 * * *" -- /bin/sh -c 'echo "Backup completed at $(date)"'

# Or with YAML for history limits:

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: backup-job
spec:
  schedule: "30 2 * * *"
  successfulJobsHistoryLimit: 3
  failedJobsHistoryLimit: 1
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          containers:
          - name: backup
            image: busybox:1.36
            command: ["/bin/sh", "-c", "echo \"Backup completed at $(date)\""]
          restartPolicy: OnFailure

Question 1.3 - Multi-Container Pod¶

Create a Pod named app-with-sidecar with: - Main container: nginx:1.21 named main-app - Sidecar container: busybox:1.36 named log-agent that runs tail -f /var/log/nginx/access.log - Both containers share a volume mounted at /var/log/nginx

Show Solution

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: app-with-sidecar
spec:
  containers:
  - name: main-app
    image: nginx:1.21
    volumeMounts:
    - name: logs
      mountPath: /var/log/nginx
  - name: log-agent
    image: busybox:1.36
    command: ["tail", "-f", "/var/log/nginx/access.log"]
    volumeMounts:
    - name: logs
      mountPath: /var/log/nginx
  volumes:
  - name: logs
    emptyDir: {}

Section 2: Application Deployment (20%)¶

Question 2.1 - Create and Scale Deployment¶

Create a Deployment named web-app with image nginx:1.21 and 3 replicas
Update the image to nginx:1.22
Check the rollout status
Rollback to the previous version

Show Solution

# Create deployment
kubectl create deployment web-app --image=nginx:1.21 --replicas=3

# Update image
kubectl set image deployment/web-app nginx=nginx:1.22

# Check rollout status
kubectl rollout status deployment/web-app

# View history
kubectl rollout history deployment/web-app

# Rollback
kubectl rollout undo deployment/web-app

Question 2.2 - Deployment Strategy¶

Create a Deployment named rolling-app with: - Image: nginx:1.21 - 4 replicas - Rolling update strategy with maxSurge=1 and maxUnavailable=1

Show Solution

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: rolling-app
spec:
  replicas: 4
  strategy:
    type: RollingUpdate
    rollingUpdate:
      maxSurge: 1
      maxUnavailable: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: rolling-app
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: rolling-app
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: nginx
        image: nginx:1.21

Question 2.3 - Helm Operations¶

Add the bitnami repository
Search for nginx chart
Install nginx chart with release name my-nginx
List all releases
Uninstall the release

Show Solution

# Add repository
helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
helm repo update

# Search
helm search repo nginx

# Install
helm install my-nginx bitnami/nginx

# List releases
helm list

# Uninstall
helm uninstall my-nginx

Section 3: Application Observability and Maintenance (15%)¶

Question 3.1 - Configure Probes¶

Create a Pod named health-check-pod with: - Image: nginx:1.21 - Liveness probe: HTTP GET on path / port 80, initial delay 10s, period 5s - Readiness probe: HTTP GET on path / port 80, initial delay 5s, period 3s

Show Solution

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: health-check-pod
spec:
  containers:
  - name: nginx
    image: nginx:1.21
    ports:
    - containerPort: 80
    livenessProbe:
      httpGet:
        path: /
        port: 80
      initialDelaySeconds: 10
      periodSeconds: 5
    readinessProbe:
      httpGet:
        path: /
        port: 80
      initialDelaySeconds: 5
      periodSeconds: 3

Question 3.2 - Debugging¶

A Pod named broken-pod is not running correctly. Debug and fix it.

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: broken-pod
spec:
  containers:
  - name: app
    image: nginx:latest
    command: ["nginx", "-g", "daemon off;"]
    resources:
      limits:
        memory: "10Mi"

Show Solution

# Check pod status
kubectl get pod broken-pod

# Check events and details
kubectl describe pod broken-pod

# Check logs
kubectl logs broken-pod

# The issue is likely OOMKilled due to low memory limit
# Fix by increasing memory limit:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: broken-pod
spec:
  containers:
  - name: app
    image: nginx:latest
    resources:
      limits:
        memory: "128Mi"

Question 3.3 - View Logs¶

View logs of pod nginx in namespace web
View logs of the previous container instance
Follow logs in real-time
View last 50 lines

Show Solution

# View logs
kubectl logs nginx -n web

# Previous container
kubectl logs nginx -n web --previous

# Follow logs
kubectl logs -f nginx -n web

# Last 50 lines
kubectl logs nginx -n web --tail=50

Section 4: Application Environment, Configuration and Security (25%)¶

Question 4.1 - ConfigMap and Secret¶

Create a ConfigMap named app-config with:
APP_ENV=production
LOG_LEVEL=info
Create a Secret named db-secret with:
DB_USER=admin
DB_PASS=secret123
Create a Pod that uses both as environment variables

Show Solution

# Create ConfigMap
kubectl create configmap app-config --from-literal=APP_ENV=production --from-literal=LOG_LEVEL=info

# Create Secret
kubectl create secret generic db-secret --from-literal=DB_USER=admin --from-literal=DB_PASS=secret123

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: app-pod
spec:
  containers:
  - name: app
    image: nginx:1.21
    envFrom:
    - configMapRef:
        name: app-config
    - secretRef:
        name: db-secret

Question 4.2 - Security Context¶

Create a Pod named secure-pod that: - Runs as user ID 1000 - Runs as group ID 3000 - Has a read-only root filesystem - Cannot escalate privileges

Show Solution

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: secure-pod
spec:
  securityContext:
    runAsUser: 1000
    runAsGroup: 3000
  containers:
  - name: app
    image: nginx:1.21
    securityContext:
      readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
      allowPrivilegeEscalation: false

Question 4.3 - Resource Limits¶

Create a Pod named resource-pod with: - Image: nginx:1.21 - CPU request: 100m, limit: 200m - Memory request: 64Mi, limit: 128Mi

Show Solution

kubectl run resource-pod --image=nginx:1.21 --dry-run=client -o yaml > pod.yaml
# Edit to add resources

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: resource-pod
spec:
  containers:
  - name: nginx
    image: nginx:1.21
    resources:
      requests:
        cpu: "100m"
        memory: "64Mi"
      limits:
        cpu: "200m"
        memory: "128Mi"

Section 5: Services and Networking (20%)¶

Question 5.1 - Create Services¶

Create a Deployment named web with image nginx:1.21 and 3 replicas
Expose it as a ClusterIP Service on port 80
Expose it as a NodePort Service on port 30080

Show Solution

# Create deployment
kubectl create deployment web --image=nginx:1.21 --replicas=3

# ClusterIP service
kubectl expose deployment web --port=80 --target-port=80 --name=web-clusterip

# NodePort service
kubectl expose deployment web --port=80 --target-port=80 --type=NodePort --name=web-nodeport

# Or specify nodePort:
kubectl create service nodeport web-nodeport --tcp=80:80 --node-port=30080

Question 5.2 - Network Policy¶

Create a NetworkPolicy named api-policy in namespace default that: - Applies to pods with label app=api - Allows ingress only from pods with label app=frontend - Allows ingress only on port 8080

Show Solution

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: NetworkPolicy
metadata:
  name: api-policy
  namespace: default
spec:
  podSelector:
    matchLabels:
      app: api
  policyTypes:
  - Ingress
  ingress:
  - from:
    - podSelector:
        matchLabels:
          app: frontend
    ports:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 8080

Question 5.3 - Ingress¶

Create an Ingress named web-ingress that: - Routes app.example.com/api to service api-service port 80 - Routes app.example.com/web to service web-service port 80 - Uses ingress class nginx

Show Solution

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: web-ingress
  annotations:
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/rewrite-target: /
spec:
  ingressClassName: nginx
  rules:
  - host: app.example.com
    http:
      paths:
      - path: /api
        pathType: Prefix
        backend:
          service:
            name: api-service
            port:
              number: 80
      - path: /web
        pathType: Prefix
        backend:
          service:
            name: web-service
            port:
              number: 80

Exam Tips¶

Use aliases: alias k=kubectl
Enable auto-completion: source <(kubectl completion bash)
Use --dry-run=client -o yaml to generate YAML templates
Bookmark important docs before the exam
Practice on Killercoda for free hands-on scenarios
Time management: Don't spend too long on any single question
Use imperative commands when possible to save time

Additional Practice¶

Killercoda CKAD Scenarios - Free interactive scenarios
killer.sh - Exam simulator (included with registration)
Kubernetes Documentation - Allowed during exam

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