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Scenario #408
Scaling & Load
Kubernetes v1.24, DigitalOcean

Misconfigured Readiness Probe Blocked HPA Scaling

HPA didn’t scale pods because readiness probes failed and metrics were not reported.

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What Happened

Misconfigured probe returned 404, making pods invisible to HPA.

Diagnosis Steps
  • 1kubectl describe pod: readiness failed.
  • 2kubectl get hpa: no metrics available.
Root Cause

Failed readiness probes excluded pods from metrics aggregation.

Fix/Workaround
• Corrected readiness endpoint in manifest.
Lessons Learned

HPA only sees "ready" pods.

How to Avoid
  • 1Validate probe paths before production.
  • 2Monitor readiness failures via alerts.
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