Nutanix NCP-CN Nutanix Certified Professional - Cloud Native (NCP-CN-6.10) Exam Practice Test

According to the NKPA 6.10 documentation and Nutanix licensing details, NKP Starter is bundled with the NCI Starter entitlement. This basic licensing tier includes essential capabilities for deploying and managing Kubernetes clusters within a Nutanix environment.

Key reference:

“NKP Starter is included with NCI Starter, providing foundational Kubernetes cluster lifecycle management features for small-scale or starter deployments.”

The documentation confirms that when a new license is activated to upgrade to a higher tier, users must log out and log back in for the license changes to take effect. This ensures that updated entitlements are loaded into the UI and CLI environment.

Exact extract from documentation:

“After applying a new license for a higher-tier product, log out and log back in to see and activate the newly available features.”

In an air-gapped NKP installation, the engineer starts with the NKP Air-Gapped Bundle, a tarball containing all necessary components (e.g., container images, binaries, configuration files) for deployment without Internet access. The NKPA course specifies that the first step is to extract this bundle on the bastion host to make its contents available for the installation process. The correct command is tar -xzvf nkp-air-gapped-bundle_v2.12.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz, which extracts the bundle into a directory, revealing the container images, CLI tools, and other resources needed for the deployment.

The Nutanix Cloud Native (NCP-CN) 6.10 Study Guide states: “To begin an air-gapped NKP installation, first extract the NKP Air-Gapped Bundle using tar -xzvf .tar.gz on the bastion host to access the installation artifacts.” After extraction, the engineer can proceed with loading container images (e.g., using docker load) and running NKP CLI commands to deploy the cluster, ensuring all dependencies are available locally.

Incorrect Options:

A. nkp push bundle --bundle: This is not a valid command. The bundle must be extracted before its contents can be used.

B. docker load -i konvoy-bootstrap-image-v2.12.0.tar: Loading the bootstrap image is a subsequent step after extracting the bundle, which contains this image tarball.

D. nkp create cluster nutanix: This command creates a cluster but cannot be run until the bundle is extracted and its images are loaded.

As per the NKPA 6.10 documentation, the correct approach for deleting an entire NKP-managed cluster (including nodes and deployed applications) is to use the nkp delete cluster command with the cluster name and --kubeconfig parameter. The --self-managed flag ensures the deletion of resources provisioned by the cluster.

Exact extract:

“Use nkp delete cluster --cluster-name= --self-managed --kubeconfig= to delete a cluster and its associated resources.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

The correct procedure for deleting an NKP cluster involves using the nkp delete cluster command with the appropriate cluster name and namespace. This ensures that not only the Kubernetes resources but also the corresponding NKP resources (e.g., nodepools, Kommander integration) are deleted cleanly and consistently. Simply deleting the VMs does not clean up the associated NKP management objects. This approach is detailed in the NKP documentation for cluster lifecycle management, emphasizing the need to use the provided CLI commands for full removal.

The Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) is designed to simplify the deployment and management of Kubernetes clusters on Nutanix infrastructure, including on-premises AHV-based clusters in dark site environments with no Internet connectivity. The requirements specified in the question—dark site, Nutanix-provided Rocky Linux VM image, and AHV-based cluster—point to a deployment scenario where the environment must be self-contained and rely on Nutanix-specific tools and resources to meet the air-gapped constraints.

According to the Nutanix Kubernetes Platform Administration (NKPA) course, deploying NKP in a dark site environment requires specific prerequisites to ensure all necessary components, such as container images, dependencies, and configuration files, are available without Internet access. The course emphasizes the use of an Air-Gapped Bundle and an existing local container registry as critical components for such deployments.

Air-Gapped Bundle (Option B):

The NKPA course explains that for dark site deployments, Nutanix provides an Air-Gapped Bundle, which is a comprehensive package containing all the software components, container images, and dependencies required to deploy and manage an NKP cluster without Internet connectivity. This bundle includes the Kubernetes binaries, NKP platform applications (e.g., Rook Ceph, monitoring tools), and other necessary artifacts.

The Nutanix Cloud Native (NCP-CN) 6.10 Study Guide specifically states: “For air-gapped environments, the Nutanix Air-Gapped Bundle is required to provide all dependencies, including container images and installation files, to deploy NKP clusters.” This bundle is typically downloaded from the Nutanix Support Portal in an Internet-connected environment and then transferred to the dark site for deployment.

The bundle ensures that the Nutanix-provided Rocky Linux VM image, which serves as the base operating system for the Kubernetes nodes, can be provisioned with all required software components. The NKPA course further notes that the Air-Gapped Bundle is tailored for AHV-based clusters, ensuring compatibility with the Nutanix hypervisor.

Existing Local Container Registry (Option C):

In a dark site environment, a local container registry is a prerequisite to store and distribute container images required by the NKP cluster. The NKPA course highlights that NKP relies on container images for Kubernetes components, platform applications, and user workloads. In an air-gapped setup, these images cannot be pulled from public registries like Docker Hub or Quay.io.

The course instructs administrators to set up a local container registry (e.g., Harbor, Nexus, or a Nutanix-managed registry) and populate it with the container images included in the Air-Gapped Bundle. The Nutanix Cloud Bible reinforces this, stating: “In air-gapped deployments, a local container registry must be pre-configured to host all required images, which are provided as part of the Nutanix Air-Gapped Bundle.”

The local container registry ensures that the Kubernetes nodes, running on the Nutanix-provided Rocky Linux VM image, can access the necessary images during cluster bootstrapping and operation. The NKPA course provides guidance on configuring the registry and integrating it with the NKP deployment process.

Incorrect Options:

Konvoy Image Builder (Option A):

Konvoy Image Builder is a tool associated with D2iQ’s Konvoy platform, used to create custom machine images for Kubernetes deployments. While it can be used to build images for Kubernetes nodes, it is not a Nutanix-specific tool nor a prerequisite for NKP deployments. The NKPA course and NCP-CN 6.10 Study Guide do not mention Konvoy Image Builder, as NKP uses the Nutanix-provided Rocky Linux VM image, which is pre-configured for AHV-based clusters. This option is irrelevant to the Nutanix ecosystem.

Self-managed AWS cluster (Option D):

A self-managed AWS cluster is unrelated to the requirements of deploying NKP on an AHV-based cluster in a dark site. The question specifies an AHV-based cluster, which is Nutanix’s Acropolis Hypervisor running on-premises, not a cloud-based AWS environment. The NKPA course focuses on Nutanix infrastructure (AHV, Prism Central) for NKP deployments and does not include AWS as a supported platform for this scenario. This option is incorrect as it contradicts the deployment environment.

Deployment Context:

The Nutanix-provided Rocky Linux VM image is a pre-configured operating system image optimized for NKP deployments on AHV. The NKPA course notes that this image includes the necessary kernel settings, drivers, and configurations to run Kubernetes nodes efficiently on Nutanix infrastructure.

The AHV-based cluster requirement indicates that the deployment leverages Nutanix’s hypervisor, managed through Prism Central, to provision and manage the Kubernetes nodes. The Air-Gapped Bundle and local container registry ensure that all software components are available in the dark site, aligning with the NKPA course’s guidelines for air-gapped deployments.

As per the NKPA 6.10 documentation and cluster autoscaler behavior, when nodes are scaled down in NKP (or any CAPI-managed environment), the node is deleted from the infrastructure provider (vSphere, AWS, Nutanix, etc.). This effectively removes it from both the cluster and the underlying hypervisor or cloud provider, thus freeing up resources and reducing costs.

The NKPA course explains that NKP’s monitoring stack includes Prometheus for metrics collection and storage, and Fluent Bit for log collection and forwarding. To retain system resource utilization data over several months, the company must focus on Prometheus, as it is responsible for storing time-series metrics data, such as CPU, memory, and network utilization, which are critical for long-term trend analysis.

To handle the increased workload from the online retail application, the Platform Engineer should adjust Prometheus by increasing its container resource limits and memory settings to ensure it can process and store more metrics, and increasing its storage to retain data for several months. The Nutanix Cloud Native (NCP-CN) 6.10 Study Guide states: “For long-term metrics retention in NKP, scale the Prometheus deployment by increasing its resource limits (CPU and memory) and expanding its persistent storage to accommodate larger time-series data.” This involves editing the Prometheus deployment’s resource settings (e.g., via kubectl edit deployment) and updating the PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) to allocate more storage.

Incorrect Options:

A. Adjust the number of replicas for Fluent Bit: Fluent Bit handles logs, not metrics. Increasing replicas does not address long-term metrics storage.

B. Adjust the number of replicas for Prometheus: Increasing replicas improves availability but does not directly address storage or resource needs for metrics retention.

C. Adjust the resource settings for Fluent Bit: Fluent Bit is for log collection, not metrics storage, and is not relevant for this use case.

The NKPA 6.10 documentation outlines that in air-gapped environments where default pod network CIDR conflicts exist, the cluster manifest (created via the nkp create cluster command) should be updated to specify an alternate, non-conflicting pod CIDR block range before deployment.

According to the NKPA 6.10 documentation under the “Preparing for FIPS Compliance” section, the first step for enabling FIPS in an NKP environment is to ensure that the underlying operating system (OS) or OS images are correctly configured for FIPS mode. The Nutanix Kubernetes Platform can only leverage FIPS-compliant cryptographic modules if the underlying OS is already configured for FIPS operation.

Specifically, the documentation states:

"Before enabling FIPS in NKP, ensure that the OS or OS images are prepared and configured to operate in FIPS mode, following the vendor’s guidelines. Once the OS is in FIPS mode, the NKP cluster components can be provisioned with FIPS support."

This foundational step is critical to ensure cryptographic consistency and compliance throughout the NKP stack.

For deployments in air-gapped environments where there is no external Internet connectivity, the --airgapped parameter is required. This instructs the NKP deployment to rely solely on internal resources, using pre-staged images and local container registries, ensuring that no external network dependencies cause deployment failures.

The NKPA course outlines the default behaviors of NKP when deploying workload clusters within a workspace, regardless of the provisioning environment (e.g., AWS, Nutanix, Azure). When a workload cluster is deployed in AWS, NKP ensures consistency across the workspace by applying the following default behaviors:

The NKP workload cluster will receive all of the GitOps sources that have been assigned to the NKP workspace (Option A): NKP uses GitOps with Flux to manage cluster configurations and applications. The course explains that GitOps sources (e.g., Git repositories) assigned to a workspace are automatically applied to all clusters in that workspace, ensuring consistent configuration and application deployment. The Nutanix Cloud Native (NCP-CN) 6.10 Study Guide states: “New workload clusters inherit all GitOps sources configured for the workspace, enabling Flux to synchronize configurations from the specified repositories.”

The NKP workload cluster will be deployed all of the applications that have been enabled on this NKP workspace (Option D): NKP Platform Applications (e.g., Prometheus, Rook Ceph) enabled in the workspace are automatically deployed to new workload clusters. The NKPA course notes: “When a workload cluster is created, NKP deploys all platform applications enabled in the workspace to ensure consistent functionality across clusters.”

Incorrect Options:

B. The NKP workload cluster will receive all of the NKP RBAC policy: RBAC policies are defined at the workspace or project level and applied to users or groups, not automatically to clusters. Clusters inherit RBAC through user access, not as a default deployment behavior.

C. The NKP workload cluster will also be assigned to all of the NKP projects: Clusters are assigned to specific projects manually, not automatically to all projects in a workspace.

The NKPA course specifies that the Nutanix Image Builder (NIB), used for creating custom machine images for NKP cluster nodes, supports specific Linux distributions that are compatible with Nutanix infrastructure and Kubernetes requirements. For NKP v2.12.x, the supported distributions for NIB are Ubuntu and Rocky Linux, as these are tested and optimized for NKP deployments, ensuring stability and compatibility with Cluster API (CAPI) and Nutanix AHV.

The Nutanix Cloud Native (NCP-CN) 6.10 Study Guide states: “NKP Image Builder (NIB) supports Ubuntu and Rocky Linux as base distributions for creating custom images for NKP cluster nodes, ensuring compatibility with Kubernetes and Nutanix infrastructure.” Ubuntu provides a widely-used, well-supported base with long-term support (LTS) versions, while Rocky Linux is a CentOS replacement that Nutanix has adopted for its reliability and enterprise focus, especially after CentOS 8’s end-of-life in 2021.

Incorrect Options:

B. Fedora: Fedora is not a supported distribution for NIB in NKP, as it is more suited for bleeding-edge development rather than production Kubernetes environments.

D. CentOS: CentOS 8 reached end-of-life in December 2021, and Nutanix has shifted to Rocky Linux as its replacement for NKP image building. The course does not list CentOS as a supported option for NIB in NKP v2.12.x.

The error states:

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error upgrading CAPI components: unable to upgrade CAPI components: deployment "capp-controller-manager" is not ready after 10m0s: failed to connect to the management cluster: context deadline exceeded

This clearly points to connectivity issues between the VM (or nodes) and the management cluster, typically caused by registry communication issues in air-gapped or private environments. When the VM cannot connect to the registry to pull required images or configuration, the CAPI (Cluster API) components cannot be initialized, causing a timeout.

Key Reference:

Nutanix Kubernetes Platform Administration (NKPA) 6.10 – “Air-Gapped and Registry Communication Issues”

NCP-CN 6.10 Study Guide – “Cluster API Upgrade Process and Network Prerequisites”

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According to the NKPA 6.10 documentation, the FIPS Compliant Build feature is exclusively available for Enterprise tier licensing. This ensures compliance with NIST security standards and provides hardened cryptographic capabilities throughout the Kubernetes cluster stack.

Exact extract from documentation:

“The FIPS-compliant build feature is included in the NKP Enterprise tier, enabling deployments in environments that require strict security compliance.”

The Secure Tunnel feature in NKP relies on HTTPS (TCP port 443) to establish secure, encrypted connections between the attached cluster and the management cluster, enabling fleet management even in restricted network environments.

Exact extract:

“Secure Tunnel uses TCP/443 (HTTPS) for establishing a secure connection between the attached cluster and NKP.”

The NKPA course specifies that the NKP CLI is the primary tool for deploying NKP clusters with advanced configurations, such as those required for a dark site environment, custom Service and Pod CIDR blocks, and Nutanix AHV clusters. The NKP CLI (nkp) provides granular control over cluster creation, allowing administrators to specify custom networking parameters and air-gapped deployment settings via command-line flags or configuration files.

For a dark site deployment, the NKP CLI uses an Air-Gapped Bundle to provide all necessary dependencies. Custom CIDR blocks are configured using flags like --service-cidr and --pod-cidr during the nkp create cluster command. The Nutanix Cloud Native (NCP-CN) 6.10 Study Guide states: “The NKP CLI is used to deploy clusters with custom configurations, including dark site readiness and custom networking, on Nutanix AHV clusters.” For example: nkp create cluster --air-gapped --service-cidr 10.96.0.0/12 --pod-cidr 192.168.0.0/16 --infrastructure nutanix-ahv.

Incorrect Options:

A. kubectl CLI: kubectl manages Kubernetes resources, not NKP cluster deployment.

B. NKP GUI: The GUI supports basic deployments but lacks the flexibility for custom CIDR and dark site configurations.

D. OCP CLI: OpenShift (OCP) is a separate platform, not used for NKP deployments.

According to the NKPA 6.10 documentation, the Pre-provisioned infrastructure provider (CAPPP) requires the user to provide an inventory file of the servers that will become the cluster nodes. This inventory file contains connection information (IP addresses, credentials, etc.) for each pre-provisioned node, enabling the Cluster API to connect and configure these servers directly during cluster creation.

The NKPA 6.10 documentation clarifies that when creating a workload cluster using the nkp create cluster command, specifying the target workspace (namespace) is critical for properly associating the workload cluster with that workspace in the NKP UI. If the --namespace parameter is omitted, the cluster is provisioned in the default workspace, not in the intended workspace (in this case, code-green).

Key documentation excerpt:

“If you do not specify the workspace (namespace) using the --namespace parameter when creating a cluster, the cluster will be created in the default workspace. It will not appear in custom workspaces until manually assigned.”

In an air-gapped NKP deployment, the Konvoy bootstrap image (used to create the bootstrap cluster) must be available locally on the bastion host or in a private registry. The NKPA course specifies that after extracting the NKP Air-Gapped Bundle, the bootstrap image (e.g., konvoy-bootstrap-image-.tar) is a tarball that needs to be loaded into the Docker daemon on the bastion host before creating the bootstrap cluster.

The most viable command is docker load -i konvoy-bootstrap-image-<version>.tar (Option A). This command loads the tarball into the local Docker daemon on the bastion host, making the image available for the nkp create bootstrap command to use. The Nutanix Cloud Native (NCP-CN) 6.10 Study Guide states: “In an air-gapped environment, load the Konvoy bootstrap image on the bastion host using docker load -i to make it available for creating the bootstrap cluster.” After loading, the engineer can optionally tag and push the image to the private registry if needed, but the question focuses on loading the image on the host, which this command accomplishes.

Incorrect Options:

B. docker image tag: This command is syntactically incorrect (version appears twice, and .tar is not part of a tag). Tagging is a subsequent step after loading, not the primary action to load the image.

C. nkp push bundle: This is not a valid command for loading an image; it’s closer to a bundle management action, but the syntax is incorrect.

D. nkp load image: There is no nkp load image command in NKP; loading images is done via docker load.

The NKPA course emphasizes that NKP supports multi-tenancy through workspaces, each of which can be configured with its own Identity Provider (IdP) for authentication. In this scenario, each group (Fin VD, Fin Insurance, Fin Travel) has its own IdP, and the engineer has created separate workspaces for them. To assign the Tenant Administrators role, the engineer must configure a dedicated IdP for each group’s workspace, enabling users to authenticate via their group-specific IdP and assume the Tenant Administrator role.

The course details that NKP uses Dex as the OIDC provider to integrate with external IdPs. For each workspace, the engineer configures a Dex connector to the group’s IdP, maps the IdP groups to NKP roles (e.g., Tenant Administrator), and assigns permissions via role bindings. The Nutanix Cloud Native (NCP-CN) 6.10 Study Guide states: “To assign Tenant Administrator roles in NKP, configure a dedicated IdP for each workspace using Dex connectors, mapping IdP groups to the appropriate roles for workspace management.” This ensures that each group’s administrators can access only their designated workspace.

Incorrect Options:

B. Create a role named admin-tenant-X: NKP uses predefined roles like Tenant Administrator, not custom roles with specific naming conventions.

C. Create a role binding and assign it: Role bindings are part of the process, but the primary step is configuring the IdP for authentication, as per the NKPA course.

D. Configure the global Active Directory: The scenario specifies separate IdPs per group, not a global Active Directory for all groups.

The NKPA course highlights that NKP Insights is the platform’s integrated solution for observability and analytics, providing predictive analytics to detect current and future anomalies in Kubernetes clusters. NKP Insights leverages machine learning to analyze metrics, logs, and events, identifying performance issues and potential failures proactively. After deploying a new cluster, the administrator can enable NKP Insights as a platform application in the workspace to meet the predictive analytics requirement.

The Nutanix Cloud Native (NCP-CN) 6.10 Study Guide states: “NKP Insights provides predictive analytics and anomaly detection for Kubernetes clusters, enabling administrators to monitor and optimize cluster performance.” This is deployed via the NKP UI or CLI by enabling the Insights application in the workspace.

Incorrect Options:

B. NCM Intelligent Ops: Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) Intelligent Ops is for broader infrastructure management, not Kubernetes-specific analytics.

C. Nutanix Pulse: Pulse is a telemetry service for Nutanix support, not for analytics.

D. NKP AI Navigator: This is not a recognized NKP component in the NKPA documentation.

The NKPA course explains that NKP’s fleet management capabilities allow centralized policy federation and management of multiple Kubernetes clusters from a single pane of glass, while workspaces provide isolation for different teams or groups. To meet the requirement of federating policy while separating clusters by group, the IT team needs the NKP Ultimate license, which includes advanced fleet management features.

With NKP Ultimate, the IT team can:

Create three workspaces (one for each group: Fin VD, Fin Insurance, Fin Travel).

Assign the corresponding Kubernetes clusters to each workspace, ensuring isolation between groups.

Use NKP’s fleet management to apply policies (e.g., RBAC, monitoring, logging) across all clusters from a single pane of glass, such as the NKP UI or CLI.

The Nutanix Cloud Native (NCP-CN) 6.10 Study Guide states: “NKP Ultimate provides fleet management for centralized policy federation across multiple clusters, using workspaces to isolate clusters for different teams or groups.” This setup ensures that each group’s clusters are separated while maintaining centralized policy management, aligning with the IT team’s requirements.

Incorrect Options:

B. NKP Starter: The Starter license lacks fleet management and workspace isolation features, making it unsuitable for this scenario.

C. NKP Pro with projects: Projects are sub-divisions within workspaces for resource allocation, not for cluster isolation or fleet management. NKP Pro may not include full fleet management capabilities.

D. NKP Pro with workspaces: While NKP Pro supports workspaces, it may not provide the full fleet management needed for centralized policy federation across all clusters. NKP Ultimate is the better fit.

The output indicates that an AppDeployment resource named grafana-logging was created in the kommander-default-workspace namespace, which corresponds to an NKP workspace. The NKPA course explains that NKP Platform Applications, such as Grafana Logging, are deployed using the nkp create appdeployment command. This command creates an AppDeployment resource that deploys the specified application (e.g., Grafana Logging) across all clusters in a workspace.

The command in Option A, nkp create appdeployment grafana-logging --app grafana-logging-6.57.4 --workspace default-workspace, matches the output:

grafana-logging is the name of the AppDeployment.

--app grafana-logging-6.57.4 specifies the application and version.

--workspace default-workspace targets the workspace, which corresponds to the namespace kommander-default-workspace in the output (the kommander- prefix is a standard NKP namespace convention).

The Nutanix Cloud Native (NCP-CN) 6.10 Study Guide states: “To deploy a platform application like Grafana Logging, use nkp create appdeployment --app - --workspace , which creates an AppDeployment resource in the workspace namespace.” This command aligns with the output provided.

Incorrect Options:

B. export WORKSPACE_NAMESPACE and nkp create package-bundle: There is no nkp create package-bundle command in NKP for deploying applications. The correct command is nkp create appdeployment.

C. kubectl get appdeployment: This retrieves the status of an AppDeployment, not creates it. The output indicates creation, not retrieval.

D. kubectl get helmreleases: This retrieves HelmRelease resources, not AppDeployments, and does not create the Grafana Logging deployment.

To create a FIPS-compliant NKP deployment in an air-gapped environment, the following must be done:

Verify the OS (RHEL) itself is in FIPS mode.

When building the image, include both the offline fips and fips overrides to ensure the image and components are built in compliance.

When deploying the cluster, include FIPS-specific references for both Kubernetes and etcd components.

Exact extract:

“For FIPS deployments, ensure the OS is in FIPS mode, and include both offline fips and fips overrides during image creation to ensure compliant images and deployment.”

The NKPA course explains that upgrading an NKP license to the Ultimate tier unlocks advanced features such as fleet management, air-gapped deployments, and additional platform services (e.g., monitoring, logging, backup/restore). These services are deployed on the Management cluster and require sufficient resources to operate effectively. A key prerequisite is to size the Control Plane nodes appropriately to support the installation of default platform services (Option C).

The Control Plane nodes in the NKP Management cluster run critical components like the API server, controller manager, and Kommander, as well as platform services such as Prometheus, Grafana Loki, and Velero. The Ultimate license increases resource demands due to the expanded functionality, and undersized Control Plane nodes can lead to performance issues or failed deployments. The Nutanix Cloud Native (NCP-CN) 6.10 Study Guide states: “Before upgrading to an NKP Ultimate license, ensure the Control Plane nodes of the Management cluster are sized appropriately (e.g., sufficient CPU, memory, and storage) to support the additional default platform services enabled by the license.” For example, Control Plane nodes might need to be scaled to at least 4 vCPUs and 16 GB RAM, depending on the workload.

Incorrect Options:

A. Size the Sidecar containers appropriately: Sidecar containers are typically used for specific workloads (e.g., logging agents), not for platform services deployment, and are not a licensing prerequisite.

B. Size the ETCD nodes appropriately: While etcd is part of the Control Plane, the course refers to the Control Plane nodes as a whole, not etcd specifically, as the sizing requirement.

D. Size the Worker nodes appropriately: Worker nodes run user workloads, not the platform services, which are deployed on the Control Plane in the Management cluster.

NKP uses Helm and Flux for application deployment, where applications are managed as HelmReleases, a custom resource that defines Helm chart deployments. The NKPA course explains that to validate the status of HelmReleases, administrators can use the kubectl command to query these resources. The correct command is kubectl get helmreleases -n ${PROJECT_NAMESPACE}, which lists all HelmReleases in the specified project namespace, showing their status (e.g., Ready, Failed) and other details like chart version and reconciliation status.

The Nutanix Cloud Native (NCP-CN) 6.10 Study Guide states: “To check the status of HelmReleases in NKP, use kubectl get helmreleases -n to view the current state of application deployments managed by Flux.” This command helps the operations team verify that applications are running correctly and identify any issues in production.

Incorrect Options:

A. kubectl get namespaces: This lists namespaces, not HelmReleases or their status.

C. kubectl edit helmreleases -n ${PROJECT_NAMESPACE}: This edits HelmRelease resources, not displays their status.

D. kubectl apply -f fluent-bit-overrides.yaml: This applies a configuration for Fluent Bit, unrelated to HelmRelease status.

As per the NKPA 6.10 documentation under “Day 2 Operations: Managing Applications”, the recommended procedure to enable an application (like NKP Insights) involves accessing the cluster’s Application Dashboard. The NKP Insights application does not appear in the general category list if the cluster does not have the correct context or if the application category is not globally enabled.

The specific procedure to enable NKP Insights includes:

Navigate to the Clusters section from the left-side menu.

Select View Details for the target cluster (prod-01 in this case).

In the Application Dashboard of that specific cluster, locate the NKP Insights application.

Click the three-dot menu (ellipsis) for NKP Insights and select Enable.

The Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) uses the Kubernetes Image Builder (KIB) or Nutanix Image Builder (NIB) to create custom machine images for NKP management and worker nodes. These images are tailored to include specific versions of Kubernetes, container runtimes (e.g., containerd), and other dependencies. The NKPA course specifies that KIB relies on Ansible playbooks to configure the image, and the versions of packages like Kubernetes and containerd are defined in Ansible configuration files.

The correct location to verify the package versions is ansible/group_vars/all/defaults.yaml. This file contains the default variables used by Ansible during the image-building process, including the versions of Kubernetes and containerd. For example, it may include entries like kubernetes_version: 1.30.5 and containerd_version: 1.7.22. The Nutanix Cloud Native (NCP-CN) 6.10 Study Guide states: “To ensure the correct versions of Kubernetes and containerd are used in KIB, check the ansible/group_vars/all/defaults.yaml file, which specifies the package versions for the image build.” The engineer can review and modify this file to confirm that the security team’s authorized versions (Kubernetes 1.30.5 and containerd 1.7.22) are being used.

Incorrect Options:

A. config/pulumi/vars/pulumi.kib.config: Pulumi is an infrastructure-as-code tool, but it is not used by KIB for specifying package versions. The NKPA course does not reference this file.

B. terraform/vars/default/terraform.tfvars: Terraform is used for infrastructure provisioning, not for defining software versions in KIB images.

D. The custom image's .env file: KIB does not use a .env file for version configuration; Ansible variables are used instead.

The NKPA 6.10 documentation and Nutanix Best Practices recommend using workspaces to segment cluster deployments and their associated infrastructure providers, as well as to manage access control through RBAC. The typical workflow is:

Create an NKP workspace dedicated to the R&D environment.

Create an infrastructure provider (e.g., vSphere, AHV) scoped to that workspace.

Create an NKP group for the R&D team and assign admin roles to this group within the workspace.

Deploy workload clusters in this workspace, leveraging the scoped infrastructure provider.

This ensures that:

The R&D team has full administrative control over their resources.

Clusters and infrastructure are logically isolated in the R&D workspace.

RBAC policies are applied cleanly within the workspace context.

The NKPA course explains that deleting a workspace in NKP, especially after all associated clusters have been removed, is a straightforward process through the NKP UI. The correct method is to navigate to the Global view in the top menu bar, select Workspaces from the menu, locate the target workspace, click the three-dot button next to it, and select Delete. This action removes the workspace and its associated configurations from NKP, ensuring a clean environment after the project is finished.

The Nutanix Cloud Native (NCP-CN) 6.10 Study Guide states: “To delete an empty workspace in NKP, go to the Global view in the UI, select Workspaces, click the three-dot menu for the workspace, and choose Delete.” The course confirms that a workspace must be empty (no clusters or resources) before it can be deleted, which aligns with the scenario where the three clusters have already been removed.

Incorrect Options:

A & B. Run kubectl delete workspace: Both options are syntactically similar, but kubectl delete workspace is not a valid command in NKP. Workspaces are managed through the NKP UI or CLI (nkp), not directly via kubectl.

D. Ask a workspace user to delete the workspace: Workspace users typically lack permissions to delete workspaces; this action is reserved for administrators via the Global view.

As per the NKPA 6.10 documentation, the standard and supported approach for installing Kommander on an NKP cluster is using the NKP CLI. The CLI provides commands for deploying Kommander and associated platform components as part of the cluster lifecycle management workflow.

Key Reference:

“The recommended approach to deploy Kommander is by using the nkp CLI, which ensures compatibility and streamlined installation with the rest of the Nutanix Kubernetes Platform stack.”