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Part 1 Cumulative Quiz: Cluster Architecture

Lab Progress 0/7 completed

Purpose: Test your retention across all Part 1 modules before moving to Part 2.

Target Score: 80% (20/25) to proceed confidently

Time Limit: 20 minutes

Instructions

Section titled “Instructions”

Answer all 25 questions without referring to the modules. This quiz covers 25% of the CKA exam content.

Questions

Section titled “Questions”

Control Plane (Module 1.1)

Section titled “Control Plane (Module 1.1)”

  1. Which component stores all cluster state?

    Answer etcd - the distributed key-value store

  2. What component decides which node a pod runs on?

    Answer kube-scheduler

  3. Which component creates pods when you create a Deployment?

    Answer kube-controller-manager (specifically the Deployment controller and ReplicaSet controller)

  4. What command checks API server health?

    Answer `kubectl get --raw='/readyz'` or `kubectl get --raw='/healthz'`

Extension Interfaces (Module 1.2)

Section titled “Extension Interfaces (Module 1.2)”

  1. What interface does Calico implement?

    Answer CNI (Container Network Interface)

  2. What interface does containerd implement?

    Answer CRI (Container Runtime Interface)

  3. What command lists containers using CRI?

    Answer `crictl ps` (or `sudo crictl ps`)

  4. Where are CNI configurations typically stored?

    Answer `/etc/cni/net.d/`

Helm (Module 1.3)

Section titled “Helm (Module 1.3)”

  1. What command installs a chart with custom values?

    Answer `helm install -f values.yaml` or `--set key=value`

  2. How do you upgrade a release while keeping existing values?

    Answer `helm upgrade --reuse-values`

  3. What command rolls back to a previous release revision?

    Answer `helm rollback `

  4. How do you see all configurable values for a chart?

    Answer `helm show values `

Kustomize (Module 1.4)

Section titled “Kustomize (Module 1.4)”

  1. What command previews Kustomize output without applying?

    Answer `kubectl kustomize ` or `kustomize build `

  2. What flag applies Kustomize directly with kubectl?

    Answer `-k` (e.g., `kubectl apply -k ./overlay/`)

  3. In Kustomize, what’s the difference between base and overlay?

    Answer Base contains original resources; overlay contains environment-specific modifications that reference the base

CRDs & Operators (Module 1.5)

Section titled “CRDs & Operators (Module 1.5)”

  1. What command lists all Custom Resource Definitions?

    Answer `kubectl get crd`

  2. What must be created before you can create custom resource instances?

    Answer The CRD (CustomResourceDefinition) must exist first

  3. What’s the difference between a CRD and a CR?

    Answer CRD defines the schema/structure; CR (Custom Resource) is an instance of that type

RBAC (Module 1.6)

Section titled “RBAC (Module 1.6)”

  1. What’s the difference between Role and ClusterRole?

    Answer Role is namespaced; ClusterRole is cluster-wide

  2. What command tests if a user can perform an action?

    Answer `kubectl auth can-i --as=`

  3. How do you grant a ServiceAccount permissions in a namespace?

    Answer Create a Role and RoleBinding that references the ServiceAccount

  4. What are the three subject types in RBAC bindings?

    Answer User, Group, ServiceAccount

kubeadm (Module 1.7)

Section titled “kubeadm (Module 1.7)”

  1. What command prevents new pods from being scheduled on a node?

    Answer `kubectl cordon `

  2. What’s the difference between cordon and drain?

    Answer Cordon only prevents new pods; drain also evicts existing pods

  3. What command generates a new join token for worker nodes?

    Answer `kubeadm token create --print-join-command`

Scoring

Section titled “Scoring”

Count your correct answers:

ScoreAssessmentAction
23-25ExcellentReady for Part 2
20-22GoodReview missed topics, then proceed
16-19FairRe-read relevant modules, repeat quiz
<16Needs workComplete all module exercises again

Weak Area Review

Section titled “Weak Area Review”

If you missed questions, review these specific sections:

  • Q1-4: Module 1.1 - Control Plane
  • Q5-8: Module 1.2 - Extension Interfaces
  • Q9-12: Module 1.3 - Helm
  • Q13-15: Module 1.4 - Kustomize
  • Q16-18: Module 1.5 - CRDs & Operators
  • Q19-22: Module 1.6 - RBAC
  • Q23-25: Module 1.7 - kubeadm

Practical Assessment

Section titled “Practical Assessment”

Before proceeding, ensure you can do these without help:

  • Create a complete RBAC setup (SA, Role, RoleBinding) in under 3 minutes
  • Install, upgrade, and rollback a Helm release
  • Create a Kustomize overlay with namespace and patches
  • Create a simple CRD and custom resource
  • Cordon, drain, and uncordon a node
  • Generate YAML for any resource using kubectl ... $do

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”

When you score 20/25 or higher and complete the practical assessment:

→ Continue to Part 2: Workloads & Scheduling

This covers 15% of the exam and builds directly on cluster architecture concepts.