Kubernetes maintenance

Maintenance is a critical aspect of managing any Kubernetes environment, whether in development, testing, or production. In a Kubernetes tech interview, you’ll often need to explain how to maintain a cluster, handle upgrades, manage nodes, and follow best practices. Mastering these concepts not only improves your knowledge but also prepares you to respond effectively to complex interview questions.

Version policy and safe upgrade order

Keeping versions within supported skew prevents subtle API and scheduling issues during upgrades:

• Order matters: Upgrade the control plane first, then the node kubelet and kubectl
• Version skew: Keep a kubelet within N or N-1 of the API server to avoid incompatibilities
• One node at a time: For each node, use the same sequence: cordon → drain (respect PDBs) → upgrade → uncordon
• Practice in staging first: Rehearse the plan against a staging cluster to surface add-on...