Jobs and CronJobs appear in almost every CKAD sitting, and namespace-scoped commands trip up a lot of candidates who forget the -n flag. Let's drill these.
Question 1
What is the correct command to create a Job named backup-job using image busybox that runs the command tar -czf /backup.tar.gz /data?
- A)
kubectl create job backup-job --image=busybox -- tar -czf /backup.tar.gz /data - B)
kubectl run backup-job --image=busybox --job -- tar -czf /backup.tar.gz /data - C)
kubectl create pod backup-job --image=busybox --command tar -czf /backup.tar.gz /data - D)
kubectl job backup-job --image=busybox --run 'tar -czf /backup.tar.gz /data'
Answer: A: kubectl create job backup-job --image=busybox -- tar -czf /backup.tar.gz /data
The -- separator tells kubectl that everything after it is the container command, not a kubectl flag. This is essential when the command contains flags (like -czf). Options B, C, and D are invalid syntax.
Jobs vs bare pods: A Job guarantees the container runs to completion and restarts the pod if it fails. A bare pod does not retry on failure.
# Create a job
kubectl create job backup-job --image=busybox -- tar -czf /backup.tar.gz /data
# Watch job status
kubectl get jobs
kubectl describe job backup-job
# View logs from the job's pod
kubectl logs -l job-name=backup-job
# Delete completed jobs automatically with TTL
# (set in the YAML: spec.ttlSecondsAfterFinished: 100)
Question 2
What is the correct command to create a CronJob named daily-backup that runs every day at 2 AM using image backup:latest?
- A)
kubectl create job daily-backup --cron='0 2 * * *' --image=backup:latest - B)
kubectl cron daily-backup --schedule='0 2 * * *' --image=backup:latest - C)
kubectl create schedule daily-backup --time='0 2 * * *' --image=backup:latest - D)
kubectl create cronjob daily-backup --schedule='0 2 * * *' --image=backup:latest
Answer: D: kubectl create cronjob daily-backup --schedule='0 2 * * *' --image=backup:latest
kubectl create cronjob is the dedicated command. 0 2 * * * is standard cron syntax meaning "minute 0, hour 2, every day". Options A–C use incorrect subcommands or flags.
Cron schedule quick reference:
┌──── minute (0-59)
│ ┌─── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌─ month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌ day of week (0-6, 0=Sunday)
│ │ │ │ │
0 2 * * * → every day at 02:00
*/15 * * * * → every 15 minutes
0 9 * * 1 → every Monday at 09:00
0 0 1 * * → first day of every month at midnight
Trigger a CronJob manually:
kubectl create job --from=cronjob/daily-backup manual-run
Question 3
What is the correct command to edit a deployment named frontend in the production namespace?
- A)
kubectl modify deployment frontend --namespace=production - B)
kubectl edit deployment frontend -n production - C)
kubectl update deployment frontend -n production - D)
kubectl change deployment frontend --namespace=production
Answer: B: kubectl edit deployment frontend -n production
kubectl edit opens the live resource manifest in your default editor ($KUBE_EDITOR or $EDITOR, usually vi). -n is the short form of --namespace. Options A, C, and D don't exist in kubectl.
Namespace tips for the exam:
# Short form -n is faster to type
kubectl get pods -n production
# Set a persistent namespace so you don't have to type -n every time
kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=production
# Verify which namespace you're currently in
kubectl config view --minify | grep namespace
# List resources across all namespaces
kubectl get pods --all-namespaces
kubectl get pods -A # same thing, shorter
Setting the context namespace early in a task saves significant time, so you won't forget the -n flag and risk operating on the wrong namespace.
Key Takeaways
- Use
--to separatekubectlflags from the container command increate job - CronJob syntax is
kubectl create cronjobwith--schedule='cron-expression' -nis the short flag for--namespace; learn to type it fast- Set your context namespace with
kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=<ns>to avoid mistakes