EX294 Practice Test 10 — 10 Questions

Question 1

You have a list `my_list` containing `[0, 1, 2, '', 'hello']`. You want to extract the first truthy element that exists. Which chain achieves this?

Accepted Answer

`my_list | select('truthy') | first | default('')`. `select('truthy')` filters the list to include only elements that evaluate to `true` in Ansible/Jinja2 (non-zero numbers, non-empty strings, etc.), and `first` returns the first such element. The `default('')` provides a fallback if no truthy element exists. This chain correctly extracts `1` from the list `[0, 1, 2, '', 'hello']`.

Answer

`my_list | list | first | default('')`

Answer

`my_list | select('string') | first | default('')`

Answer

`my_list | first | default('')`

Question 2

An Ansible task uses the variable `{{ my_var | default(required=true) }}`. What happens if `my_var` is undefined?

Accepted Answer

The task fails with an error message. The `default(required=true)` filter in Ansible explicitly marks the variable as required. If `my_var` is undefined, the filter raises an error because it enforces that the variable must be provided, causing the task to fail with an error message. This is a deliberate mechanism to catch missing mandatory variables early in playbook execution.

Answer

The task skips the host

Answer

The task uses an empty string

Answer

The task uses the string 'required'

Question 3

Which two statements about ansible-vault are true? (Select exactly 2.)

Accepted Answer

Vault can encrypt entire files or individual variables.. Ansible-vault can encrypt either entire files (e.g., vars files, role defaults) or individual variables within a YAML file using the `!vault` tag. This flexibility allows you to protect sensitive data at the granularity you choose, without requiring separate encrypted files for each secret.

Answer

Vault-encrypted files cannot be used with include_vars.

Answer

Vault uses AES-128 encryption by default.

Answer

Vault passwords can be stored directly in ansible.cfg.

Question 4

An Ansible playbook needs to convert a list of server names into a comma-separated string for an API call. Which filter should be applied to the list variable 'server_list'?

Accepted Answer

join(','). The `join` filter in Ansible is designed to concatenate list elements into a single string using a specified delimiter. Applying `join(',')` to `server_list` will produce a comma-separated string, exactly as required for the API call.

Answer

map('regex_replace', '^', '')

Answer

combine(',')

Answer

regex_replace('
', ',')

Question 5

Refer to the exhibit. The administrator runs the playbook with the 'deploy' tag, but all tasks are skipped. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The --tags option filters tasks; only tasks with the 'deploy' tag run, but none of the role tasks have that tag.. Ansible's --tags option filters task execution so that only tasks tagged with the specified tag(s) run. If the playbook is executed with '--tags deploy' but none of the tasks inside the 'database' role have the 'deploy' tag applied, all tasks are skipped. This is the most likely reason given the symptom that all tasks are skipped rather than an error being raised.

Answer

The role 'database' is not found in the roles_path.

Answer

The inventory host db1.example.com is not in the dbservers group.

Answer

The tags in the role tasks conflict with the play tags, causing a syntax error.

Question 6

Drag and drop the steps to set up a cron job that runs a script every day at 2 AM in the correct order.

Accepted Answer

Prepare script, test script, edit crontab, add entry with correct syntax, verify. Cron setup: prepare script, test, edit crontab, add entry with correct syntax, verify.

Answer

Edit crontab, add entry, prepare script, test, verify

Answer

Prepare script, edit crontab, add entry, test, verify

Answer

Test script, prepare script, edit crontab, add entry, verify

Question 7

A company has a large infrastructure with over 1000 servers. They run a playbook that configures NTP on all servers. The playbook takes over 30 minutes due to sequential execution. The team wants to reduce execution time. Which approach should they take?

Accepted Answer

Set forks: 50 and strategy: free.. Ansible's default forks value is 5, meaning only five hosts are configured concurrently, which explains the 30-minute runtime across 1000 servers. Raising forks to 50 increases parallelism, and the free strategy lets each host proceed through tasks independently without waiting for all hosts to finish each task, further reducing wall-clock time.

Answer

Use serial: 10 to batch hosts.

Answer

Use include_tasks to parallelize tasks.

Answer

Use ansible-pull on each server.

Question 8

An organization uses multiple Satellite servers for inventory. They want to combine data from all satellites into one unified inventory in Ansible Tower. Which approach is best?

Accepted Answer

Create one inventory with multiple inventory sources, each pointing to a different Satellite.. Ansible Tower allows you to create a single inventory with multiple inventory sources, each configured to sync from a different Satellite server. This approach consolidates all host data into one unified inventory without custom scripting or requiring a central aggregator, leveraging Tower's native multi-source inventory capabilities.

Answer

Use a custom script to fetch and merge data from all Satellites into a single inventory source.

Answer

Create a smart inventory that includes all satellites.

Answer

Use a single Satellite server that aggregates data from all other Satellites.

Question 9

A new technician runs a playbook that uses the yum module to install packages. The playbook fails with 'No package matching' for a custom package. The package is available on a third-party repository. Which step should the technician take?

Accepted Answer

Add the repository using the yum_repository module.. The yum module requires that the repository providing the package is already configured on the target system. Since the custom package is on a third-party repository, the technician must first add that repository using the yum_repository module. This module creates the necessary .repo file in /etc/yum.repos.d/, making the package available for installation via the yum module.

Answer

Use the rpm_key module to import the GPG key.

Answer

Use command: yum install directly.

Answer

Update the package cache using yum update.

Question 10

An Ansible playbook needs to dynamically include a set of variables based on the environment (dev/staging/prod). The developer wants to use a variable from a lookup plugin that returns a YAML file path. Which lookup plugin is most appropriate for fetching a file’s contents?

Accepted Answer

file. The `file` lookup plugin is the most appropriate for fetching the contents of a file from the control node, as it reads the entire file and returns its content as a string. This is ideal for dynamically including variable files based on environment (e.g., `{{ lookup('file', 'vars/{{ env }}.yml') }}`), allowing the playbook to load environment-specific YAML data.

Answer

env

Answer

pipe

Answer

template