cka-sim/weak-spots-cka.md

11 KiB

CKA weak spots

Generated by exam from 2 attempt(s); regenerated on every end.

Domain scores (latest full exam, 2026-09-08T19:59, 14.3%)

  • ARCH 12/221 — Cluster Architecture, Installation & Configuration (25%)
  • WORK 1/151 — Workloads & Scheduling (15%)
  • NET 0/142 — Services & Networking (20%)
  • STOR 0/66 — Storage (10%)
  • TSHOOT 2/128 — Troubleshooting (30%)

Drill next (./exam drill weak)

Q01 · ARCH · RBAC for a deployment bot (1/1 failed, last 2/6 pts, 2026-09-06T22:07)

  • ✗ ServiceAccount rbac-app/deploy-bot exists
  • ✗ Role deploy-manager and RoleBinding deploy-bot-binding exist
  • ✗ deploy-bot can get/list/watch/create/update/patch/delete deployments

Q03 · ARCH · Kustomize overlay (1/1 failed, last 0/5 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ overlay kustomization.yaml exists
  • ✗ resources deployed into namespace store-prod
  • ✗ store-api has 3 replicas
  • ✗ Deployment and Service carry label env=prod

Q05 · ARCH · Static pod (1/1 failed, last 0/5 pts, 2026-09-06T22:07)

  • ✗ manifest containing static-web is in /etc/kubernetes/manifests on the node
  • ✗ mirror pod static-web- is Running
  • ✗ image is nginx:1.27

Q06 · ARCH · Certificates: expiry check and user CSR (1/1 failed, last 0/6 pts, 2026-09-06T22:07)

  • ✗ apiserver-expiry.txt records the real expiry month and year
  • ✗ CSR jane exists with signer kubernetes.io/kube-apiserver-client
  • ✗ CSR jane approved and certificate issued
  • ✗ jane can list pods in default (view) but not delete them

Q08 · WORK · Multi-container pod with shared volume (1/1 failed, last 0/4 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ pod log-shipper Running with containers app and shipper
  • ✗ volume logs is an emptyDir mounted at /var/log in both containers
  • ✗ shipper's logs show lines written by app

Q12 · NET · NodePort Service (1/1 failed, last 0/4 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ Service shop-svc is NodePort, port 80 -> targetPort 80
  • ✗ nodePort is 30080
  • ✗ Service has endpoints

Q13 · NET · Ingress routing (1/1 failed, last 0/5 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ ingressClassName nginx and host shop.example.com
  • ✗ /api (Prefix) -> api:8080
  • ✗ / (Prefix) -> web:80

Q15 · STOR · PersistentVolume, claim and pod (1/1 failed, last 0/6 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ PV pv-data: 1Gi hostPath /mnt/data, RWO, Retain, class manual
  • ✗ PVC pvc-data Bound to pv-data
  • ✗ data-pod Running with claim mounted at /usr/share/data

Q16 · STOR · Default StorageClass and dynamic provisioning (1/1 failed, last 0/5 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ StorageClass fast-local: local-path, WaitForFirstConsumer, Delete
  • ✗ fast-local is default and standard is not
  • ✗ fast-claim picked up fast-local and is Bound
  • ✗ fast-pod Running with claim at /data

Q17 · TSHOOT · Node NotReady (1/1 failed, last 0/8 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ node is Ready
  • ✗ kubelet is active
  • ✗ kubelet is enabled (survives reboot)

Q18 · TSHOOT · Broken deployment and service (1/1 failed, last 0/7 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ all payments replicas available
  • ✗ Service payments has endpoints (selector fixed)
  • ✗ Service targetPort matches container port 80

Q19 · TSHOOT · CrashLoopBackOff diagnosis (1/1 failed, last 1/6 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ crasher.log captured and contains the DB_HOST failure
  • ✗ pod crasher Running with DB_HOST set

Q20 · TSHOOT · Control plane component failure (1/1 failed, last 0/8 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ kube-scheduler static pod manifest repaired
  • ✗ new pods get scheduled

Q25 · WORK · Taints and tolerations (1/1 failed, last 0/4 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ cka-sim-worker carries workload=batch:NoSchedule
  • ✗ deployment tolerates the taint
  • ✗ both pods Running on cka-sim-worker

Q28 · WORK · Init container prepares content (1/1 failed, last 0/4 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ pod Running, init container named setup completed
  • ✗ emptyDir 'content' shared by both containers
  • ✗ nginx serves the init-written content

Q29 · WORK · Immutable ConfigMap rotation (1/1 failed, last 1/4 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ deployment now references a different ConfigMap
  • ✗ all pods available and see mode=new

Q30 · NET · Named ports (1/1 failed, last 0/4 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ container port 80 named app-port
  • ✗ Service port 8080 -> targetPort app-port (by name)
  • ✗ readiness probe uses the named port; endpoints ready

Q33 · ARCH · Aggregated ClusterRole (1/1 failed, last 1/5 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ ops-44 has an aggregationRule with the right label
  • ✗ aggregation populated rules from the two labelled roles
  • ✗ lee can list pods and services cluster-wide

Q34 · ARCH · Discover a CRD field with kubectl explain (1/1 failed, last 0/4 pts, 2026-09-06T22:07)

  • ✗ path.txt has the correct field path
  • ✗ Gadget/sample created with the field = 4

Q37 · TSHOOT · Cluster DNS is broken (1/1 failed, last 1/6 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ CoreDNS Corefile forwards to the node resolver again
  • ✗ in-cluster and external names resolve from a pod

Q40 · ARCH · kubeadm join token (1/1 failed, last 0/5 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ join.sh contains a kubeadm join with token and CA hash
  • ✗ the token in the file exists in the cluster with TTL ~2h

Q41 · ARCH · Component versions (1/1 failed, last 0/4 pts, 2026-09-06T22:07)

  • ✗ apiserver and kubelet versions correct
  • ✗ etcd and runtime versions correct

Q42 · NET · Egress-only NetworkPolicy (1/1 failed, last 0/4 pts, 2026-09-08T19:59)

  • ✗ applies to app=client-47, Egress only
  • ✗ DNS rule: kube-system namespace + k8s-app=kube-dns, ports 53 UDP and TCP
  • ✗ TCP 443 to 192.168.100.0/24 only

Attempt matrix

Q Domain Title D1 E2
1 ARCH RBAC for a deployment bot 2/6 ·
2 ARCH etcd snapshot · ✓
3 ARCH Kustomize overlay · 0/5
4 ARCH CustomResourceDefinition · ✓
5 ARCH Static pod 0/5 ·
6 ARCH Certificates: expiry check and user CSR 0/6 ·
7 WORK Rolling update & scaling · ·
8 WORK Multi-container pod with shared volume · 0/4
9 WORK Scheduling with node affinity and resources · ·
10 WORK ConfigMap and Secret consumption · ·
11 NET NetworkPolicy · ·
12 NET NodePort Service · 0/4
13 NET Ingress routing · 0/5
14 NET Cluster DNS · ·
15 STOR PersistentVolume, claim and pod · 0/6
16 STOR Default StorageClass and dynamic provisioning · 0/5
17 TSHOOT Node NotReady · 0/8
18 TSHOOT Broken deployment and service · 0/7
19 TSHOOT CrashLoopBackOff diagnosis · 1/6
20 TSHOOT Control plane component failure · 0/8
21 ARCH Helm release install and upgrade · ·
22 NET Gateway API HTTPRoute · ·
23 WORK metrics-server repair and HPA · ·
24 WORK PriorityClass · ·
25 WORK Taints and tolerations · 0/4
26 WORK DaemonSet on every node · ·
27 WORK CronJob with a manual run · ·
28 WORK Init container prepares content · 0/4
29 WORK Immutable ConfigMap rotation · 1/4
30 NET Named ports · 0/4
31 WORK Parallel Job · ·
32 WORK ResourceQuota and LimitRange · ·
33 ARCH Aggregated ClusterRole · 1/5
34 ARCH Discover a CRD field with kubectl explain 0/4 ·
35 STOR Re-bind a Released PersistentVolume · ·
36 STOR Data survives the pod · ·
37 TSHOOT Cluster DNS is broken · 1/6
38 TSHOOT Deployments never create pods · ·
39 TSHOOT kubelet misconfiguration · ·
40 ARCH kubeadm join token · 0/5
41 ARCH Component versions 0/4 ·
42 NET Egress-only NetworkPolicy · 0/4
43 NET Headless and ExternalName services · ·
101 ARCH Exact RBAC with an existing over-grant · ·
102 ARCH etcd restore · ·
103 ARCH Static pod on a relocated manifest path · ·
104 ARCH User onboarding to a working kubeconfig · ·
105 ARCH Kustomize with generators and patches · ·
106 ARCH CRD with validation and defaults · ·
107 WORK Spread, tolerate, prioritise — under a quota · ·
108 WORK Rollback to a specific revision, then pause · ·
109 WORK Native sidecar with probes and an exact report · ·
110 WORK Cluster audit to exact files · ·
111 NET Zero-trust namespace · ·
112 NET TLS Ingress with a generated certificate · ·
113 NET Gateway API canary with header match · ·
114 NET DNS down: three faults · ·
115 STOR Bind the right local volume · ·
116 STOR Migrate data between claims · ·
117 TSHOOT Worker node: three things wrong · ·
118 TSHOOT Two control-plane components down · ·
119 TSHOOT Application down for four reasons · ·
120 TSHOOT Cluster facts, exactly · ·
121 WORK The context's namespace · ·
122 ARCH Renew control-plane certificates · ·
201 ARCH kubeconfig forensics · ·
202 ARCH Helm chart with CRDs, then a custom resource · ·
203 WORK Find the controller, then scale it · ·
204 WORK Which Pods get evicted first · ·
205 ARCH Kustomize: drop a ConfigMap, add an HPA, override in prod · ·
206 STOR PV, PVC and a Deployment that mounts it · ·
207 TSHOOT Resource usage scripts · ·
208 ARCH Drain a node for maintenance · ·
209 ARCH Query the API from inside a Pod · ·
210 ARCH ServiceAccount limited to two resources · ·
211 WORK DaemonSet on every node · ·
212 WORK One Pod per node, on purpose · ·
213 NET Convert an Ingress to Gateway API, then split on a header · ·
214 ARCH Certificate expiry, two ways · ·
215 NET Egress policy with paired destinations · ·
216 NET CoreDNS: back up, extend, verify · ·
217 TSHOOT Inspect a container with crictl · ·
301 ARCH etcd configuration facts · ·
302 NET Service rules on the node · ·
303 NET A second Service CIDR · ·
304 ARCH Bound tokens versus legacy tokens · ·
305 WORK Schedule without the scheduler · ·
306 STOR Grow a volume in place · ·
307 TSHOOT Node accepts nothing new · ·
308 ARCH API resource reference card · ·
309 WORK A PodDisruptionBudget that blocks maintenance · ·
310 NET Route to something outside the cluster · ·
311 ARCH Image inventory across the cluster · ·
312 WORK A Job that fails, then one that doesn't · ·
313 NET Two hosts, TLS, and a default backend · ·
314 TSHOOT A static pod that never starts · ·
315 STOR Keep the data when the claim goes · ·
316 ARCH Plan a control-plane upgrade · ·
317 TSHOOT Certificates stop being issued · ·

E = full exam, D = drill, · = not in that session, n/m = partial credit.