Question 350
At Northstar finance, in an isolated training cluster during a scheduled maintenance rehearsal: An existing workload invoice-api in namespace ledger requires a ConfigMap invoice-config containing the nonsecret setting MODE=staging. Work only within the stated target and verify before declaring success. Which Kubernetes behavior best explains the required change or diagnosis?
Explanation
Correct Answer
ConfigMaps hold ordinary configuration data; their existence does not automatically inject values into running Pods. This explains the stated condition. The corresponding action is: Run kubectl -n ledger create configmap invoice-config --from-literal=MODE=staging after checking whether it already exists. The direct acceptance evidence is: Run kubectl -n ledger get configmap invoice-config -o jsonpath='{.data.MODE}' and confirm the declared value.
Incorrect Answers
Environment variables are copied into new container processes from ConfigMap values; existing running processes need replacement to pick up changes. That explanation applies to a different technical failure. Here the controlling principle is: ConfigMaps hold ordinary configuration data; their existence does not automatically inject values into running Pods.
The offered statement is true for this other mechanism: Pod templates can reference Secret keys without copying literal secret values into the Deployment spec. It does not explain the facts described here, which follow from: ConfigMaps hold ordinary configuration data; their existence does not automatically inject values into running Pods.
This principle describes a separate cause: Updating a Deployment Pod template triggers a controlled rollout; restarting Pods alone will not change the image reference. The reported condition is governed by: ConfigMaps hold ordinary configuration data; their existence does not automatically inject values into running Pods. The two mechanisms should not be conflated.