Interview Questions/Phone Screen/K8s Readiness vs Liveness Probes
IntermediatePhone
2 min

K8s Readiness vs Liveness Probes

KubernetesReliabilityTroubleshooting
Advertisement
Interview Question

What is the difference between readiness and liveness probes in Kubernetes?

Key Points to Cover
  • Readiness gates traffic until pod is ready; failing removes from endpoints
  • Liveness restarts the container when it gets unhealthy
  • Probes: HTTP/TCP/exec with initialDelay, period, thresholds
Evaluation Rubric
Explains readiness behavior34% weight
Explains liveness restart semantics33% weight
Mentions probe types and tuning33% weight
Hints
  • 💡A startup probe can protect slow apps from restarts.
Potential Follow-up Questions
  • When to use startup probes?
  • Common pitfalls causing restart loops?
Advertisement