Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) Interview Questions and Answers – 2026 Complete Guide
Introduction: Why GKE Skills Are in High Demand in 2026
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is one of the most powerful managed Kubernetes platforms used by enterprises worldwide. With growing adoption of microservices, DevOps, and cloud-native architectures, GKE professionals are in high demand.
This article provides 25+ real-world GKE interview questions with clear answers, designed for:
- Cloud Engineers
- DevOps Engineers
- Site Reliability Engineers (SREs)
- Kubernetes Administrators
1. What is Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)?
Answer:
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is a managed Kubernetes service provided by Google Cloud Platform (GCP) that helps deploy, manage, and scale containerized applications using Kubernetes.
Key Benefits:
- Fully managed control plane
- Auto-scaling and auto-repair
- Deep integration with GCP services
- Enterprise-grade security
2. What are the main components of GKE architecture?
Answer:
GKE architecture consists of:
- Control Plane (Managed by Google)
- API Server
- Scheduler
- Controller Manager
- etcd
- Worker Nodes
- kubelet
- kube-proxy
- Container runtime (containerd)
- Node Pools
- Group of nodes with same configuration
3. What is the difference between GKE Standard and GKE Autopilot?
Answer:
| Feature | GKE Standard | GKE Autopilot |
|---|---|---|
| Node Management | User-managed | Fully managed |
| Pricing | VM-based | Pod-based |
| Control | Full control | Limited |
| Best For | Advanced workloads | Simplified operations |
4. What is a Node Pool in GKE?
Answer:
A Node Pool is a group of nodes within a GKE cluster that share the same configuration, such as:
- Machine type
- OS image
- Disk size
- Labels and taints
Node pools help manage workloads efficiently.
5. How does GKE handle cluster autoscaling?
Answer:
GKE uses Cluster Autoscaler to automatically:
- Add nodes when pods cannot be scheduled
- Remove underutilized nodes
Autoscaling is based on:
- CPU usage
- Memory requests
- Pod scheduling requirements
6. What is Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) in GKE?
Answer:
HPA automatically scales the number of pod replicas based on:
- CPU utilization
- Memory utilization
- Custom metrics (via Stackdriver / Cloud Monitoring)
7. What networking model does GKE use?
Answer:
GKE uses VPC-native (alias IP) networking:
- Each Pod gets a unique IP from VPC
- Better network isolation
- No NAT required
8. What is a GKE Ingress?
Answer:
Ingress is a Kubernetes object that manages external HTTP/HTTPS traffic to services.
In GKE:
- Uses Google Cloud Load Balancer
- Supports SSL, path-based routing, and global IPs
9. How does GKE ensure high availability?
Answer:
GKE ensures high availability by:
- Multi-zone or regional clusters
- Auto-repair of nodes
- Replicated control plane
- Pod replication across zones
10. What is a Regional GKE Cluster?
Answer:
A Regional GKE cluster spreads:
- Control plane across multiple zones
- Worker nodes across zones
This improves fault tolerance and uptime.
11. What is GKE Autorepair?
Answer:
Autorepair automatically:
- Detects unhealthy nodes
- Recreates or replaces them
This improves cluster stability and reduces downtime.
12. How does GKE handle security?
Answer:
GKE security features include:
- IAM-based access control
- RBAC
- Shielded nodes
- Workload Identity
- Private clusters
13. What is Workload Identity in GKE?
Answer:
Workload Identity allows Kubernetes pods to securely access GCP services without service account keys, using:
- Kubernetes Service Accounts
- Google IAM Service Accounts
14. What is a Private GKE Cluster?
Answer:
In a Private GKE cluster:
- Nodes do not have public IPs
- Control plane access is restricted
- Increased security and compliance
15. What logging and monitoring tools are used in GKE?
Answer:
GKE integrates with:
- Cloud Logging (formerly Stackdriver)
- Cloud Monitoring
- Prometheus (optional)
- Grafana (custom dashboards)
16. What is a GKE Service Account?
Answer:
A GKE service account is used by:
- Nodes to access GCP APIs
- Pods (via Workload Identity)
Best practice: Use least-privilege IAM roles.
17. How do you deploy applications to GKE?
Answer:
Applications are deployed using:
kubectl apply- YAML manifests
- Helm charts
- CI/CD pipelines (Cloud Build, Jenkins, GitHub Actions)
18. What is Helm in GKE?
Answer:
Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes that:
- Simplifies deployments
- Supports versioning
- Enables reusable templates
19. How does GKE support CI/CD?
Answer:
GKE integrates with:
- Google Cloud Build
- Artifact Registry
- Jenkins
- GitHub Actions
Enables automated build, test, and deploy pipelines.
20. What is a GKE Add-on?
Answer:
GKE add-ons provide additional functionality, such as:
- HTTP Load Balancing
- DNS Cache
- Istio Service Mesh
- Cloud Run for Anthos
21. What is Istio in GKE?
Answer:
Istio is a service mesh that provides:
- Traffic management
- Security (mTLS)
- Observability
GKE supports managed Istio deployments.
22. How does GKE handle upgrades?
Answer:
GKE supports:
- Automatic node upgrades
- Surge upgrades (zero downtime)
- Release channels (Rapid, Regular, Stable)
23. What are GKE release channels?
Answer:
- Rapid: Latest features
- Regular: Balanced updates
- Stable: Enterprise stability
24. What is a GKE Pod Disruption Budget (PDB)?
Answer:
PDB ensures a minimum number of pods remain available during:
- Node upgrades
- Maintenance
- Scaling events
25. How do you troubleshoot issues in GKE?
Answer:
Common tools include:
kubectl logskubectl describe- Cloud Logging
- Cloud Monitoring
- Events and metrics
26. What are best practices for GKE?
Answer:
- Use regional clusters
- Enable Workload Identity
- Use autoscaling
- Apply resource limits
- Secure with RBAC and IAM
Conclusion
Mastering Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is essential for modern cloud and DevOps roles. These 25+ GKE interview questions and answers will help you confidently face interviews in 2026 and beyond.
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