Interview Questions/Troubleshooting Scenarios/Container OOMKilled Repeatedly
IntermediateScenario
10 min

Container OOMKilled Repeatedly

ContainersKubernetesMemory
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Interview Question

A container is consistently OOMKilled under normal workload. How do you debug and fix it?

Key Points to Cover
  • Check kube events and dmesg for OOMKilled
  • Inspect resource requests/limits vs usage
  • Profile memory usage inside container
  • Fix leaks or adjust JVM/GC/heap configs
  • Raise limits or split workload across pods
Evaluation Rubric
Detects OOMKilled via logs/events30% weight
Analyzes memory patterns/configs30% weight
Proposes app/code fixes or limit tuning20% weight
Mentions scaling/splitting workload20% weight
Hints
  • 💡Heap configs often mismatch pod memory limits.
Potential Follow-up Questions
  • How to prevent noisy neighbor OOMs?
  • What about memory QoS in k8s?
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