305-300 Practice Questions

Both Vagrant and Docker can share directories from the host file system to a guest. This allows the guest to access files and folders from the host without copying them. Vagrant uses the config.vm.synced_folder option in the Vagrantfile to specify the shared folders1. Docker uses the -v or --volume flag in the docker run command to mount a host directory as a data volume in the container2.

Both Vagrant and Docker can download required base images. Base images are the starting point for creating a guest environment. Vagrant uses the config.vm.box option in the Vagrantfile to specify the base image to use1. Docker uses the FROM instruction in the Dockerfile to specify the base image to use2. Both Vagrant and Docker can download base images from public repositories or local sources.

Both Vagrant and Docker can apply changes to a base image. Changes are modifications or additions to the base image that customize the guest environment. Vagrant uses provisioners to run scripts or commands on the guest after it is booted1. Docker uses instructions in the Dockerfile to execute commands on the baseimage and create a new image2. Both Vagrant and Docker can save the changes to a new image or discard them after the guest is destroyed.

Vagrant and Docker differ in how they start system images. Vagrant starts system images as virtual machines by default, using a provider such as VirtualBox, VMware, or Hyper-V1. Docker starts system images as containers by default, using the native containerization functionality on macOS, Linux, and Windows2. Containers are generally more lightweight and faster than virtual machines, but less secure and flexible. References: 1: Vagrant vs. Docker | Vagrant | HashiCorp Developer 2: Vagrant vs Docker: Which Is Right for You? (Could Be Both) - Kinsta® Web Development Tools

Cloud-init is a tool that allows users to customize the configuration and behavior of cloud instances during the boot process. Cloud-init can process different kinds of data that are passed to the instance via user-data, which is a mechanism provided by various cloud providers to inject data into the instance. Among the kinds of data that cloud-init can process directly from user-data are:

Shell scripts to execute: Cloud-init can execute user-data that is formatted as a shell script, starting with the #!/bin/sh or #!/bin/bash shebang. The script can contain any commands that are valid in the shell environment of the instance. The script is executed as the root user during the boot process12.

Lists of URLs to import: Cloud-init can import user-data that is formatted as a list of URLs, separated by newlines. The URLs can point to any valid data source that cloud-init supports, such as shell scripts, cloud-config files, or include files. The URLs are fetched and processed by cloud-init in the order they appear in the list13.

cloud-config declarations in YAML: Cloud-init can process user-data that is formatted as a cloud-config file, which is a YAML document that contains declarations for various cloud-init modules. The cloud-config file can specify various aspects of the instance configuration, such as hostname, users, packages, commands, services, and more. The cloud-config file must start with the #cloud-config header14.

The other kinds of data listed in the question are not directly processed by cloud-init from user-data. They are either not supported, not recommended, or require additional steps to be processed. These kinds of data are:

ISO images to boot from: Cloud-init does not support booting from ISO images that are passed as user-data. ISO images are typically used to install an operating system on a physical or virtual machine, not to customize an existing cloud instance. To boot from an ISO image, the user would need to attach it as a secondary disk to the instance and configure the boot order accordingly5.

Base64-encoded binary files to execute: Cloud-init does not recommend passing binary files as user-data, as they may not be compatible with the instance’s architecture or operating system. Base64-encoding does not change this fact, as it only converts the binary data into ASCII characters. To execute a binary file, the user would need to decode it and make it executable on the instance6.

References:

User-Data Formats — cloud-init 22.1 documentation

User-Data Scripts

Include File

Cloud Config

How to Boot From ISO Image File Directly in Windows

How to run a binary file as a command in the terminal?.

 A Pod in Kubernetes is a collection of one or more containers that share the same network and storage resources, and a specification for how to run the containers. A Pod is the smallest unit of workload Kubernetes can run, meaning that it cannot be divided into smaller units. Therefore, option C is correct. All containers of a Pod run on the same node, which is the smallest unit of computing hardware in Kubernetes. A node is a physical or virtual machine that hosts one or more Pods. Therefore, option A is also correct. Pods are not always created automatically and cannot be explicitly configured. Pods can be created manually using YAML or JSON files, or using commands like kubectl run or kubectl create. Pods can also be created automatically by higher-level controllers, such as Deployment, ReplicaSet, or StatefulSet. Therefore, option B is incorrect. When a Pod fails, Kubernetes does not restart the Pod on another node by default. Pods are ephemeral by nature, meaning that they can be terminated or deleted at any time. If a Pod is managed by a controller, the controller will create a new Pod to replace the failed one, but it may not be on the same node. Therefore, option D is incorrect. systemd is not used to manage individual Pods on the Kubernetes nodes. systemd is a system and service manager for Linux operating systems that can start and stop services, such as docker or kubelet. However, systemd does not interact with Podsdirectly. Pods are managed by the kubelet service, which is an agent that runs on each node and communicates with the Kubernetes control plane. Therefore, option E is incorrect. References:

Pods | Kubernetes

What is a Kubernetes pod? - Red Hat

What’s the difference between a pod, a cluster, and a container?

What are Kubernetes Pods? | VMware Glossary

Kubernetes Node Vs. Pod Vs.Cluster: Key Differences - CloudZero

LXC (Linux Containers) is a lightweight virtualization technology that allows multiple isolated Linux systems (containers) to run on the same host. LXC uses Linux kernel features such as namespaces, cgroups, and AppArmor to create and manage containers. Each container has its own file system, network interfaces, process tree, and resource limits. However, containers share the same kernel and hardware with the host, which makes them more efficient and faster than full virtualization.

By default, an LXC container has a minimal set of devices that are needed for its operation. These devices are created by the LXC library when the container is started, and are removed when the container is stopped. The default devices are:

/dev/log: This is a Unix domain socket that connects to the syslog daemon on the host. It allows the container to send log messages to the host’s system log1.

/dev/console: This is a character device that provides access to the container’s console. It is usually connected to the host’s terminal or a file. It allows the container to interact with the user or the host’s init system12.

/dev/urandom: This is a character device that provides an unlimited source of pseudo-random numbers. It is used by various applications and libraries that need randomness, such as cryptography, UUID generation, and hashing13.

The other devices listed in the question do not exist by default in an LXC container. They are either not needed, not allowed, or not supported by the container’s namespace or cgroup configuration. These devices are:

/dev/kmem: This is a character device that provides access to the kernel’s virtual memory. It is not needed by the container, as it can access its own memory through the /proc filesystem. It isalso not allowed by the container, as it would expose the host’s kernel memory and compromise its security4.

/dev/root: This is a symbolic link that points to the root device of the system. It is not supported by the container, as it does not have a separate root device from the host. The container’s root file system is mounted from a directory, an image file, or a loop device on the host5.

References:

Linux Containers - LXC - Manpages - lxc.container.conf.5

Linux Containers - LXC - Getting started

Random number generation - Wikipedia

/dev/kmem - Wikipedia

Linux Containers - LXC - Manpages - lxc.container.conf.5