EX294 Practice Test 19 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Refer to the exhibit. The playbook uses serial: 1 (one host at a time). The update failed on web3.example.com. Based on the output, what is the most likely reason the play did not abort the rollout and how should the playbook be modified to stop on failure?

Accepted Answer

Add max_fail_percentage: 0 to the play to abort on any failure.. Option C is correct because the play uses `serial: 1` to update one host at a time, but by default Ansible continues to the next host even if a task fails on the current host. Setting `max_fail_percentage: 0` at the play level tells Ansible to abort the entire play immediately if any host fails, which is the intended behavior for a rolling update where a single failure should stop the rollout.

Answer

Add retries: 3 to the 'Update Apache config' task.

Answer

Set ignore_errors: yes on the 'Update Apache config' task.

Answer

Increase the serial value to update multiple hosts at once.

Question 2

A team is migrating from static inventory to dynamic inventory using a custom script. The script returns JSON with a group 'webservers' containing hosts. However, the playbook targeting 'webservers' fails with 'no hosts matched'. Which filter or plugin issue is most likely?

Accepted Answer

The script output is missing the '_meta' key with 'hostvars'.. Dynamic inventory scripts must include a `_meta` key with `hostvars` in their JSON output for Ansible to properly resolve host variables and match hosts to groups. Without `_meta`, Ansible cannot associate host-specific variables (like `ansible_host`) with the hosts listed under `webservers`, causing the playbook to see no matched hosts even though the group exists.

Answer

The playbook uses 'hosts: all' but should use 'hosts: webservers'.

Answer

The script is not executable.

Answer

The 'ansible_host' variable is not set in hostvars.

Question 3

Refer to the exhibit. A user runs a playbook that creates hosts and then attempts to use a constructed inventory plugin. However, the constructed inventory does not group hosts by OS distribution. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The constructed inventory runs before add_host tasks, so the hosts are not yet created.. The constructed inventory plugin processes inventory sources and applies Jinja2 conditions to group hosts based on variables. However, when used in a playbook alongside the `add_host` module, the constructed inventory is evaluated at the start of the play, before any tasks (including `add_host`) run. Therefore, hosts added dynamically via `add_host` do not exist when the constructed plugin attempts to group them, causing the groups to be empty. Option C correctly identifies this ordering issue.

Answer

The constructed plugin cannot be used with the add_host module.

Answer

The 'strict: false' setting ignores missing variables, causing the group to be empty.

Answer

The variable ansible_distribution is not defined because gather_facts is set to no.

Question 4

An admin wants to build an execution environment using ansible-builder. Which file is required to define the base image and additional Python dependencies?

Accepted Answer

execution-environment.yml. Option A is correct because `execution-environment.yml` is the required file for `ansible-builder` to define the base image (via the `base_image` field) and additional Python dependencies (via the `python` section under `dependencies`). This YAML file serves as the build definition that `ansible-builder` reads to construct the container image, making it essential for creating custom execution environments.

Answer

requirements.yml

Answer

galaxy.yml

Answer

Dockerfile

Question 5

An Ansible playbook uses 'become: yes' to install packages. The playbook works when run manually by the administrator but fails when run from automation controller with 'Missing sudo password'. The administrator has configured a machine credential with the SSH key and the 'Become password' field is blank. What is the most likely issue?

Accepted Answer

The machine credential does not include the become password.. The playbook uses 'become: yes' to escalate privileges, which requires a become password when the remote user's sudo configuration demands password authentication. Since the machine credential's 'Become password' field is blank, Automation Controller cannot supply the password during the privilege escalation step, causing the 'Missing sudo password' error. The administrator's manual run succeeds because the SSH session can prompt interactively for the password, but Automation Controller's non-interactive execution requires the password to be pre-configured in the credential.

Answer

The become method is set to 'su' instead of 'sudo'.

Answer

The remote user is not in the sudoers file.

Answer

The SSH private key is not loaded into the automation controller.

Question 6

Which TWO statements about Ansible collections are correct?

Accepted Answer

Collections provide a way to package and distribute Ansible content.. Ansible collections are a distribution format for Ansible content that allows packaging and distributing playbooks, roles, modules, and plugins. They enable users to bundle related automation content into a single, versioned package that can be shared via Ansible Galaxy or Automation Hub. This makes option B correct because collections are explicitly designed for packaging and distribution.

Answer

Collections cannot be versioned.

Answer

Collections replace the need for inventory files.

Answer

Collections can only contain modules and roles.

Question 7

Which THREE files are commonly used when building an execution environment with ansible-builder?

Accepted Answer

bindep.txt. Option A is correct because `bindep.txt` is one of the three files that `ansible-builder` uses by default to define system-level package dependencies (e.g., `libffi-devel`, `python3-devel`) that must be installed in the execution environment image. Along with `execution-environment.yml` (the main recipe file) and `requirements.txt` (Python package dependencies), `bindep.txt` is automatically consumed during the build process to ensure the container has the necessary OS packages.

Answer

ansible.cfg

Answer

galaxy.yml

Question 8

A playbook uses the 'uri' module to query an API and registers the result. The API returns a JSON with a nested field 'data.users[0].name'. Which expression correctly extracts that name?

Accepted Answer

{{ result | json_query('data.users[0].name') }}. Option D is correct because the `json_query` filter uses JMESPath syntax, which requires dot-separated indices (e.g., `data.users[0].name`) and the query string must be quoted. The `uri` module registers the JSON response as a dictionary, so `result` is the top-level object. The expression `{{ result | json_query('data.users[0].name') }}` correctly applies the JMESPath query to extract the nested field.

Answer

Answer

Answer

Question 9

What is the most likely cause of the build failure?

Accepted Answer

The base image already includes python3-devel, causing a conflict with the bindep.txt entry.. The build failure is most likely caused by a conflict between the base image's pre-installed python3-devel package and the bindep.txt entry that also specifies python3-devel. In Ansible Builder, bindep.txt lists system packages to install via dnf, but if the base image already includes that package, the build process may fail due to duplicate or conflicting package manager operations, especially if the base image uses a different package version or repository configuration.

Answer

The package_manager_path should be /usr/bin/dnf.

Answer

The version field in execution-environment.yml is incorrect.

Answer

The base image name is misspelled.

Question 10

Which TWO statements about Ansible content collections are correct?

Accepted Answer

Collections can be distributed via Automation Hub or Galaxy.. Option C is correct because Ansible content collections can be distributed via either Red Hat Automation Hub (for certified collections) or Ansible Galaxy (for community collections). This dual distribution model allows organizations to use curated, supported content from Automation Hub while also leveraging community-contributed collections from Galaxy.

Answer

Collections can be installed only from Galaxy.

Answer

The collection name must be a single word without namespace.

Answer

A collection can contain only roles and playbooks.

Question 11

An Ansible playbook includes a role that defines default variables in 'defaults/main.yml' and role variables in 'vars/main.yml'. A playbook sets the same variable in the play's 'vars' section. Which variable value takes precedence?

Accepted Answer

Play vars. In Ansible, variable precedence is hierarchical, and play vars (set directly in the play's `vars` section) have a higher priority than role defaults and role vars. Specifically, play vars override role vars, which in turn override role defaults. Therefore, when the same variable is defined in all three locations, the play vars value takes precedence.

Answer

Role defaults

Answer

Inventory group vars

Answer

Role vars

Question 12

Refer to the exhibit. After running the playbook, what is the value of 'clean_list'?

Accepted Answer

['apple', 'banana', 'cherry']. Option B is correct because the `lower` filter converts all strings to lowercase, and the `map('trim')` filter removes leading and trailing whitespace from each element. The playbook applies these filters sequentially to the `fruits` list, resulting in `['apple', 'banana', 'cherry']`.

Answer

[' apple ', 'BANANA', '  cherry  ']

Answer

[' apple ', 'banana', '  cherry  ']

Answer

['APPLE', 'BANANA', 'CHERRY']

Question 13

Refer to the exhibit. The user ran ansible-navigator without specifying an inventory. What does the warning indicate about the target hosts?

Accepted Answer

The playbook only ran against localhost because no inventory was defined. When `ansible-navigator` runs without a specified inventory, it defaults to using the implicit localhost as the only target host. However, because no inventory is defined, the implicit localhost is not part of the `all` group, so the playbook's `hosts: all` directive matches no hosts, resulting in no tasks being executed. Option C correctly identifies that the playbook only targeted localhost (implicitly) but failed to run tasks due to the group mismatch.

Answer

The playbook ran against all hosts in the default inventory

Answer

The playbook used the implicit localhost but it does not match 'all', causing no tasks to run

Answer

The playbook failed because no hosts matched

Question 14

Refer to the exhibit. A user includes this in the execution-environment.yml. The build process fails because the second collection cannot be resolved. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The source URL is not a valid Galaxy server endpoint.. The correct answer is C because the execution-environment.yml references a Galaxy server endpoint that is not a valid Ansible Galaxy server. Ansible Builder resolves collections from Galaxy servers, and if the URL does not point to a recognized Galaxy API endpoint (e.g., https://galaxy.ansible.com), the build process cannot fetch the collection. The error indicates the second collection cannot be resolved, which directly points to an invalid or unreachable Galaxy server URL.

Answer

The format of the version constraint is invalid.

Answer

The source URL does not include the required endpoint like '/api/v3/'.

Answer

The second collection is not authorized for download.

Question 15

Which THREE components are typically included in an execution environment?

Accepted Answer

Base OS image. An execution environment is a container image that provides a consistent, self-contained runtime for Ansible automation. It must include a base OS image (e.g., Red Hat Universal Base Image) to host the environment, Ansible Core and collections for automation logic, and a Python interpreter with its dependencies to execute modules and manage system interactions. These three components ensure portability and reproducibility across different control nodes.

Answer

Ansible Navigator

Answer

Ansible Tower/AWX

EX294 Practice Test 19 — 15 Questions

Exhibit

EX294 Practice Test 19 — 15 Questions

Exhibit