Metrics Server installation in Kubernetes - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Check Metrics Server pods status after installation

You installed Metrics Server in your Kubernetes cluster. What is the output of the command kubectl get pods -n kube-system -l k8s-app=metrics-server if the installation was successful and pods are running?

Kubernetes

kubectl get pods -n kube-system -l k8s-app=metrics-server

A Error from server (NotFound): pods "metrics-server" not found

B No resources found in kube-system namespace.

C

NAME                            READY   STATUS           RESTARTS   AGE
metrics-server-abcdef123-xyz12  0/1     CrashLoopBackOff 3          5m

D

NAME                            READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
metrics-server-abcdef123-xyz12  1/1     Running   0          5m

💡 Hint

Look for pods labeled with k8s-app=metrics-server in the kube-system namespace and check their status.

When Metrics Server is installed correctly, its pod should be in Running status with all containers ready.

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Purpose of Metrics Server in Kubernetes

What is the primary purpose of the Metrics Server in a Kubernetes cluster?

A To collect resource usage data like CPU and memory from nodes and pods for autoscaling and monitoring.

B To store persistent logs of all cluster events for auditing purposes.

C To manage network policies and firewall rules between pods.

D To schedule pods onto nodes based on resource availability.

💡 Hint

Think about what data autoscalers need to function.

Metrics Server collects resource usage metrics such as CPU and memory from nodes and pods, enabling features like Horizontal Pod Autoscaler.

❓ Troubleshoot

advanced

Diagnosing Metrics Server API access failure

After installing Metrics Server, you run kubectl top nodes but get the error: error: metrics API not available. Which of the following is the most likely cause?

A Metrics Server pod is not running or crashed.

B kubectl client version is outdated and incompatible.

C The kubelet service on nodes is disabled.

D The cluster has no nodes registered.

💡 Hint

Check the status of Metrics Server pods first.

If Metrics Server pods are not running, the metrics API will not be available, causing this error.

❓ Configuration

advanced

Correct flag to enable insecure TLS for Metrics Server

You want to deploy Metrics Server but your cluster uses self-signed certificates causing TLS errors. Which flag should you add to the Metrics Server deployment args to allow insecure TLS communication?

A --allow-insecure-connections

B --disable-tls-verification

C --kubelet-insecure-tls

D --skip-tls-check

💡 Hint

Look for the official flag documented for kubelet TLS issues.

The official flag to allow Metrics Server to skip TLS verification when connecting to kubelets is --kubelet-insecure-tls.

🔀 Workflow

expert

Order the steps to install Metrics Server correctly

Arrange the following steps in the correct order to install Metrics Server on a Kubernetes cluster:

A 3,1,2,4

B 1,2,3,4

C 1,3,2,4

D 2,1,3,4

💡 Hint

Think about the logical order: get files, apply, check pods, then test metrics.

First download the manifest, then apply it to create resources, check pods are running, and finally test metrics API.