If kubectl is failing to retrieve information from the cluster, where can you find pod logs to troubleshoot?

The correct answer is A. /var/log/pods/. Pod logs are written directly to /var/log/pods/ on the node's filesystem, making this the go-to location when kubectl logs is unavailable - each subdirectory is named by namespace, pod name, and UID, containing log files per container. Option B (~/.kube/config) is the…

Submitted by ravi_2018· May 4, 2026Kubernetes Fundamentals

Question

Options

A/var/log/pods/
B~/.kube/config
C/var/log/k8s/
D/etc/kubernetes/

How the community answered

(37 responses)

A
86% (32)
B
8% (3)
C
3% (1)
D
3% (1)

Explanation

Pod logs are written directly to /var/log/pods/ on the node's filesystem, making this the go-to location when kubectl logs is unavailable - each subdirectory is named by namespace, pod name, and UID, containing log files per container. Option B (~/.kube/config) is the kubeconfig file that stores cluster credentials and context, not logs. Option C (/var/log/k8s/) does not exist as a standard Kubernetes path. Option D (/etc/kubernetes/) holds cluster configuration and PKI certificates (used by control plane components), not runtime pod logs.

Memory tip: Think of /var/log/pods/ as the "bypass hatch" - when the Kubernetes API is down and kubectl can't reach the cluster, you drop down to the raw node filesystem where the container runtime (containerd/Docker) always writes logs regardless of API health.

Topics

#Pod Logs#Troubleshooting#Node filesystem#Kubernetes logging

Community Discussion

No community discussion yet for this question.

Full KCNA Practice