ITGSS Certified DevOps Engineer Practice Test

Which entity in Kubernetes uses a service account Secret for API access?

1. Deployment

2. Pod

3. Node

4. ReplicaSet

The correct answer is: Pod

In Kubernetes, the entity that uses a service account Secret for API access is the Pod. Each Pod is associated with a service account, which provides an identity for processes running inside the Pod to connect with the Kubernetes API. When a Pod is created, it is automatically assigned a token associated with its service account, which is stored as a Secret. This token allows the applications running within the Pod to authenticate to the Kubernetes API server securely. The use of service accounts is crucial for controlling access to the Kubernetes API based on the roles assigned to different service accounts, thereby enhancing security and ensuring that applications running in containers have the minimal permissions necessary to perform their functions. While Deployments, Nodes, and ReplicaSets are important components within Kubernetes, they do not directly utilize service account Secrets for API access in the same way that Pods do. Instead, Pods act as the execution environment where the service accounts are automatically utilized to secure API interactions related to the application's needs.