A cluster administrator needs to perform maintenance on a node and wants to gracefully evict all running pods from it, while ensuring the pods are rescheduled on other active nodes. Which kubectl command should be executed?

Direct Answer (Verified)Reviewed by Sunny (Senior Cloud Engineer)

Correct Answer: kubectl drain <node-name>

'kubectl drain' cordons the node (marks it as unschedulable) and evicts all pods so they can be rescheduled elsewhere. 'kubectl cordon' only marks the node as unschedulable but doe...

Real Exam ScenarioKubernetes Administration

A cluster administrator needs to perform maintenance on a node and wants to gracefully evict all running pods from it, while ensuring the pods are rescheduled on other active nodes. Which kubectl command should be executed?

✓ Correct Answer & ExplanationKubernetes Administration

Correct Answer

kubectl drain <node-name>

Why This Answer Is Correct

'kubectl drain' cordons the node (marks it as unschedulable) and evicts all pods so they can be rescheduled elsewhere. 'kubectl cordon' only marks the node as unschedulable but does not evict existing pods.

📚 What This Question Tests

This question evaluates your knowledge of Kubernetes Administration — a core concept tested in cloud certification exams. Understanding Kubernetes Administration is essential for designing scalable, secure, and cost-effective cloud architectures. Mastery of this topic will help you answer scenario-based questions confidently on exam day.