5 exercises on Docker and Kubernetes vocabulary — building images, spinning up containers, scaling pods, and draining nodes.
Key verb–noun pairs in this set
build / push an image — not “compile” / “upload”
spin up a container — image = template, container = instance
scale pods / replicas — the HPA does it automatically
drain (and cordon) a node before maintenance
schedule a workload & roll out a deployment
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
A developer describes the Docker workflow: "First I ___ the image from the Dockerfile, then I ___ it to the registry." Which pair of verbs is correct?
You build an image from a Dockerfile, then push it to a registry (Docker Hub, ECR, GHCR). These are the canonical Docker verbs. Collocations: build an image, tag an image, push to the registry, pull an image, a base image, a multi-stage build.
compile applies to source code, not container images.
upload / send / publish are understandable but not the idiom — engineers say push and pull.
The full cycle: docker build → docker tag → docker push → (on the host) docker pull → docker run.
2 / 5
From a built image, you want a running, isolated instance. Which collocation describes starting that instance?
You spin up a container — the same idiomatic “spin up” used for any new compute unit (VM, instance, environment). A container is a running instance of an image. Collocations: spin up a container, run a container, start / stop a container, a container exits, an ephemeral container, tear down the container.
inflate, open up, and switch on are not used with containers.
Note the difference: you build an image (the template) but run or spin up a container (the live instance). Confusing the two is a classic beginner error.
3 / 5
In Kubernetes, traffic is rising. The team wants more running copies of the app. Which collocation describes increasing the number of pods?
You scale pods in Kubernetes — specifically you scale the deployment by changing the number of replicas. The Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) does this automatically. Collocations: scale to 10 replicas, scale out the deployment, the HPA scales the pods under load, scale down to zero. A pod is the smallest deployable unit (one or more containers).
inflate, multiply, and extend are not the Kubernetes idiom.
Related k8s terms: a deployment, a replica set, a node, the control plane, the scheduler.
4 / 5
Before taking a Kubernetes node down for maintenance, you want to evict its pods gracefully so they reschedule elsewhere. Which verb is the standard one?
You drain a node (kubectl drain) to safely evict its pods and mark it unschedulable before maintenance — the scheduler then places those pods on other nodes. Collocations: drain the node, cordon the node (mark unschedulable without evicting), uncordon it afterwards, a node goes NotReady.
empty, flush, and clear are not the k8s term.
The sequence for maintenance: cordon → drain → do the work → uncordon. “Drain” also appears in load balancing: you drain connections from an instance before removing it.
5 / 5
A platform engineer summarises the k8s flow. Which sentence uses the natural collocations correctly?
The correct chain is: build and push an image → the scheduler schedules the workload onto a node → you roll out the deployment (a rolling update that replaces pods gradually). These are the real Kubernetes/container collocations.
Option A swaps the nouns (you don’t push pods or drain images).
Option C misuses scaling and silencing.
Option D borrows provisioning and alerting verbs that don’t apply.
Master set: build / push an image, spin up a container, schedule a workload, scale pods, drain a node, roll out a deployment.