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DCA · Question #44

Which of these swarm manager configurations will cause the cluster to be in a lost quorum state?

The correct answer is A. 4 managers of which 2 are healthy. A Docker Swarm cluster enters a lost quorum state when more than half of its manager nodes become unavailable, preventing the cluster from reaching consensus.

Submitted by takeshi77· Apr 18, 2026Container Orchestration

Question

Which of these swarm manager configurations will cause the cluster to be in a lost quorum state?

Options

  • A4 managers of which 2 are healthy
  • B1 manager of which 1 is healthy
  • C3 managers of which 2 are healthy
  • D5 managers of which 3 are healthy

How the community answered

(44 responses)
  • A
    89% (39)
  • B
    7% (3)
  • D
    5% (2)

Why each option

A Docker Swarm cluster enters a lost quorum state when more than half of its manager nodes become unavailable, preventing the cluster from reaching consensus.

A4 managers of which 2 are healthyCorrect

For a Docker Swarm cluster to maintain a quorum, it requires a strict majority of its manager nodes to be healthy. With 4 managers, the minimum number of healthy managers required for quorum is (4/2) + 1 = 3. If only 2 managers are healthy, the cluster falls below the required quorum, leading to a lost quorum state where it cannot perform management operations.

B1 manager of which 1 is healthy

A single manager node, if healthy, maintains its own quorum (1/2 + 1 = 1).

C3 managers of which 2 are healthy

For 3 managers, the quorum is (3/2) + 1 = 2 (rounding up to the next integer for the majority). With 2 healthy managers, the quorum is maintained.

D5 managers of which 3 are healthy

For 5 managers, the quorum is (5/2) + 1 = 3 (rounding up). With 3 healthy managers, the quorum is maintained.

Concept tested: Docker Swarm quorum requirements

Source: https://docs.docker.com/engine/swarm/admin_guide/#manager-availability

Topics

#Docker Swarm#Swarm Managers#Quorum#High Availability

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