Free OpenTelemetry Certified Associate practice questions with full explanations on every option. Distributed tracing and observability with OpenTelemetry.
Q1. Which signal is most appropriate for representing a discrete, timestamped record of an event such as an application error message?
Reveal answer and explanations
AA `Histogram` metric
Incorrect. Histograms aggregate distributions of numeric values, not free-form event records.
BA trace span
Incorrect. Spans represent timed operations within a trace, not standalone event messages.
CA log record
Correct. Logs are designed for discrete, timestamped event records with severity and a body, exactly the use case for an error message.
DA resource attribute
Incorrect. Resource attributes describe the entity producing telemetry, not individual events.
The OpenTelemetry API and SDK
Q2. Which of the following is NOT a defined OpenTelemetry span kind?
Reveal answer and explanations
A`SERVER`
Incorrect. `SERVER` is a defined span kind for the receiving side of synchronous calls.
B`CLIENT`
Incorrect. `CLIENT` is a defined span kind for the calling side of synchronous calls.
C`PRODUCER`
Incorrect. `PRODUCER` is a defined span kind for asynchronous messaging producers.
D`SCHEDULER`
Correct. `SCHEDULER` is not a span kind; the defined kinds are `INTERNAL`, `SERVER`, `CLIENT`, `PRODUCER`, and `CONSUMER`.
The OpenTelemetry Collector
Q3. Given the YAML pipeline below, which signal does it process? ```yaml
service:
pipelines:
metrics:
receivers: [otlp]
processors: [batch]
exporters: [prometheusremotewrite]
```
Reveal answer and explanations
ALogs
Incorrect. The pipeline is keyed under `metrics`, not `logs`.
BTraces
Incorrect. The pipeline is keyed under `metrics`, not `traces`.
CMetrics
Correct. The pipeline is declared under `service.pipelines.metrics`, so it processes metrics from the `otlp` receiver to the `prometheusremotewrite` exporter.
DAll three signals
Incorrect. Each entry under `service.pipelines` is a single signal type; this one only handles metrics.
Maintaining and Debugging Observability Pipelines
Q4. Why does each OpenTelemetry telemetry payload include a `schema_url` field?
Reveal answer and explanations
ATo declare the semantic-convention schema version used by the producer
Correct. `schema_url` identifies the version of the semantic conventions that the producer used, letting consumers apply schema transformations or migrate between conventions cleanly.
BTo point consumers to the Collector's runtime configuration file
Incorrect. The Collector's configuration is local; it is not referenced via `schema_url` in telemetry.
CTo advertise the gRPC endpoint that downstream consumers should use
Incorrect. Endpoint selection is configured separately, not via `schema_url`.
DTo act as the OAuth2 token issuer URL the backend uses for client authentication and authorization
Incorrect. Authentication is unrelated to the schema URL.
90 minutes, multi-choice format. See the official CNCF page for the current question count.
How difficult is the OTCA exam?
Rated intermediate. Plan 2–8 weeks depending on your background.
How much does the OTCA exam cost?
Pricing changes periodically — check the official CNCF OTCA page at https://www.cncf.io/training/certification/otca/.
Are these OTCA mock exams free?
Sample questions on this page are free with no account. Full timed OTCA mocks require a paid plan.
How is this mock exam different from the real OTCA exam?
Original questions written against the official CNCF curriculum — not scraped dumps. Format mirrors the real exam; the real one is proctored, these are self-paced.
What is the best way to study for OTCA?
Work through the official curriculum in order of domain weight (heaviest first), then run full timed mocks until you hit 85%+ consistently.