EKS Auto Mode Operations Quiz

Related Document: Operations

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the NodePool Disruption Budget setting to minimize node disruptions during business hours?

• A) nodes: "100%"
• B) nodes: "0" with schedule
• C) consolidateAfter: 0s
• D) consolidationPolicy: Never

Show Answer

Answer: B) nodes: "0" with schedule

Explanation: Setting nodes: "0" together with a schedule in Disruption Budget completely prevents node disruptions during specific time windows.

disruption:
  consolidationPolicy: WhenEmptyOrUnderutilized
  consolidateAfter: 5m
  budgets:
    # Default: Only 10% of total nodes can be disrupted simultaneously
    - nodes: "10%"

    # Business hours: No disruptions
    - nodes: "0"
      schedule: "0 9-18 * * mon-fri"  # Mon-Fri 9-18
      duration: 9h

2. What does minAvailable: 80% mean in a PodDisruptionBudget (PDB)?

• A) Maximum 80% of Pods can run
• B) Minimum 80% of Pods must always be running
• C) 80% probability of Pod retention
• D) Protect Pods for 80 seconds

Show Answer

Answer: B) Minimum 80% of Pods must always be running

Explanation: PDB's minAvailable specifies the minimum number or percentage of Pods that must always be running.

apiVersion: policy/v1
kind: PodDisruptionBudget
metadata:
  name: web-pdb
spec:
  minAvailable: 80%
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: web

Alternatively, you can use maxUnavailable:

spec:
  maxUnavailable: 1  # Only 1 Pod can be disrupted simultaneously

3. What is the first resource to check when diagnosing Auto Mode node issues?

• A) Pod logs
• B) NodeClaim status
• C) EC2 console
• D) CloudWatch metrics

Show Answer

Answer: B) NodeClaim status

Explanation: NodeClaim is the key resource that tracks the node provisioning process and status.

# Check NodeClaim status
kubectl get nodeclaims

# Check details and events
kubectl describe nodeclaim <name>

# Check provisioning failure causes
kubectl get nodeclaims -o yaml | grep -A 10 status

Typical troubleshooting order:

1. Check NodeClaim status
2. Review NodePool configuration
3. Verify IAM roles/policies
4. Validate subnets/security groups

4. What is the correct usage of do-not-disrupt annotation?

• A) kubernetes.io/do-not-disrupt: "true"
• B) karpenter.sh/do-not-disrupt: "true"
• C) eks.amazonaws.com/no-disrupt: "true"
• D) node.kubernetes.io/exclude-disruption: "true"

Show Answer

Answer: B) karpenter.sh/do-not-disrupt: "true"

Explanation: Adding this annotation to a Pod or Node excludes it from Karpenter's consolidation or drift replacement.

# Apply to Pod
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: critical-pod
  annotations:
    karpenter.sh/do-not-disrupt: "true"
spec:
  containers:
    - name: app
      image: myapp:latest

# Apply to Node
kubectl annotate node <node-name> karpenter.sh/do-not-disrupt=true

5. What is the recommended tool for monitoring node status in an Auto Mode cluster?

• A) kubectl top nodes only
• B) Container Insights + kubectl combination
• C) Check directly in EC2 console
• D) AWS CLI only

Show Answer

Answer: B) Container Insights + kubectl combination

Explanation: Use a combination of tools for effective monitoring.

# Real-time monitoring
watch -n 5 'echo "=== Pending Pods ===" && \
kubectl get pods -A --field-selector=status.phase=Pending && \
echo "=== Node Status ===" && kubectl get nodes -o wide'

# Check resource usage
kubectl top nodes
kubectl top pods -A

# Check NodePool status
kubectl get nodepools
kubectl describe nodepool <name>

Container Insights metrics:

• Node CPU/memory utilization
• Pod scheduling latency
• Container restart count

6. What NodePool field should be set to automate node updates in Day-2 operations?

• A) autoUpdate: true
• B) expireAfter setting
• C) updatePolicy: Rolling
• D) refreshInterval: 24h

Show Answer

Answer: B) expireAfter setting

Explanation: Setting expireAfter ensures nodes are automatically replaced after the specified time, applying latest AMI and security patches.

spec:
  template:
    spec:
      expireAfter: 168h  # Auto-replace after 7 days

Day-2 operations automation settings:

• expireAfter: Regular node replacement
• consolidationPolicy: Cost optimization
• Disruption Budget: Minimize service impact

7. What is the recommended Disruption Budget setting for rolling updates in production environments?

• A) nodes: "100%" for fast updates
• B) nodes: "10%" or absolute value for gradual updates
• C) Disable Disruption Budget
• D) nodes: "50%" for medium speed

Show Answer

Answer: B) nodes: "10%" or absolute value for gradual updates

Explanation: In production environments, update gradually while minimizing service impact.

disruption:
  consolidationPolicy: WhenEmptyOrUnderutilized
  consolidateAfter: 5m
  budgets:
    # Default: Gradual replacement at 10%
    - nodes: "10%"

    # Peak hours: More conservative
    - nodes: "1"
      schedule: "0 9-18 * * mon-fri"
      duration: 9h

    # Maintenance window: More aggressive
    - nodes: "30%"
      schedule: "0 2-4 * * sun"
      duration: 2h

8. What are the key metrics for Auto Mode node-related CloudWatch alarms?

• A) EC2 instance status only
• B) Pending Pod count, node provisioning time, workload availability
• C) Cost metrics only
• D) Network traffic only

Show Answer

Answer: B) Pending Pod count, node provisioning time, workload availability

Explanation: Key metrics to monitor in Auto Mode operations:

Metric	Normal Range	Alarm Condition
Pending Pod count	0-5	> 10 for 5 min
Node provisioning time	< 90 sec	> 120 sec
Workload availability	> 99.9%	< 99.5%
API response time	< 200ms	> 500ms

Enable CloudWatch Container Insights to automatically collect these metrics.