kubectl get for listing resources in Kubernetes - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Output of kubectl get pods with label filter

What is the output of the command kubectl get pods -l app=web if the cluster has three pods: web-1 (Running), web-2 (Pending), and db-1 (Running)?

Kubernetes

kubectl get pods -l app=web

A

NAME   READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
web-1  1/1     Running   0          5m
web-2  0/1     Pending   0          2m

B

NAME   READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
db-1   1/1     Running   0          10m

C

NAME   READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
web-1  1/1     Running   0          5m
db-1   1/1     Running   0          10m

D No resources found.

💡 Hint

The label selector -l app=web filters pods with label app=web only.

The command lists pods with label app=web. Only web-1 and web-2 match. db-1 is excluded.

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Understanding kubectl get resource types

Which resource type will kubectl get svc list in a Kubernetes cluster?

A Pods

B Services

C Deployments

D Nodes

💡 Hint

The abbreviation svc stands for a common Kubernetes resource that exposes an application.

svc is short for Services, which expose pods to network traffic.

❓ Troubleshoot

advanced

Troubleshooting kubectl get with namespace option

You run kubectl get pods --namespace=dev but get the error: error: the server doesn't have a resource type "pods". What is the most likely cause?

A The cluster does not have any pods in the 'dev' namespace.

B The namespace 'dev' does not exist in the cluster.

C The kubectl version is incompatible with the cluster API.

D The kubectl command is missing the resource type before the namespace flag.

💡 Hint

Check the command syntax and order of arguments.

The error occurs because the resource type 'pods' is not specified before the namespace flag. The correct command is kubectl get pods --namespace=dev or kubectl get pods -n dev.

🔀 Workflow

advanced

Correct order to list all resources in all namespaces

Which command correctly lists all pods in all namespaces with wide output showing node names?

A kubectl get pods -A -o wide

B kubectl get pods -o wide --all-namespaces

C kubectl get pods -A --output=wide

D kubectl get pods --all-namespaces -o wide

💡 Hint

Short flags can be combined and order matters for readability.

Option A uses the short flag -A for all namespaces and -o wide for detailed output. This is the most common and correct usage.

✅ Best Practice

expert

Choosing the best kubectl get command for resource monitoring

You want to monitor the status of all deployments in the 'production' namespace, refreshing every 5 seconds. Which command is best?

A kubectl get deployments -n production --watch --watch-interval=5s

B kubectl get deployments -n production --watch -w 5

C kubectl get deployments -n production --watch --interval=5

D kubectl get deployments -n production --watch-only --interval=5s

💡 Hint

Check the official kubectl flags for watching resources.

The --watch flag enables live updates. The --interval flag sets the refresh rate in seconds. Option C uses correct flags and syntax.