You are running a stateful pod that performs long-running computations. You want to ensure that the Cluster Autoscaler (CA) does not terminate the node hosting this specific pod during a cluster scale-down event. Which annotation should you apply to the pod?

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

Correct Answer: cluster-autoscaler.kubernetes.io/safe-to-evict: "false"

The Cluster Autoscaler respects the pod annotation cluster-autoscaler.kubernetes.io/safe-to-evict: 'false'. When this annotation is set to false, CA will avoid scaling down or drai...

Real Exam ScenarioKubernetes Autoscaling

You are running a stateful pod that performs long-running computations. You want to ensure that the Cluster Autoscaler (CA) does not terminate the node hosting this specific pod during a cluster scale-down event. Which annotation should you apply to the pod?

✓ Correct Answer & ExplanationKubernetes Autoscaling

Correct Answer

cluster-autoscaler.kubernetes.io/safe-to-evict: "false"

Why This Answer Is Correct

The Cluster Autoscaler respects the pod annotation cluster-autoscaler.kubernetes.io/safe-to-evict: 'false'. When this annotation is set to false, CA will avoid scaling down or draining the node running this pod to prevent interrupting the pod's execution.

📚 What This Question Tests

This question evaluates your knowledge of Kubernetes Autoscaling — a core concept tested in cloud certification exams. Understanding Kubernetes Autoscaling 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.