EX294 Practice Test 31 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A junior admin is tasked with creating a playbook that sets a variable 'app_status' to 'starting' if a service file exists, otherwise sets it to 'stopped'. Which filter should be used to test if a file exists from Ansible facts?

Accepted Answer

exists. Option B is correct because the `exists` filter in Ansible checks whether a file path exists on the managed node, returning a boolean. This filter is used with the `stat` module or directly on a fact like `app_status` to conditionally set a variable based on file existence, which is exactly what the junior admin needs to test for the service file.

Answer

path

Answer

is_dir

Answer

file

Question 2

An administrator needs to combine two dictionaries, `base_config` and `user_config`, where keys in `user_config` should override keys in `base_config`, and nested dictionaries should be merged recursively. Which filter syntax achieves this?

Accepted Answer

{{ base_config | combine(user_config, recursive=True) }}. Option A is correct because the `combine` filter in Ansible with `recursive=True` merges two dictionaries, with `user_config` overriding `base_config`, and recursively merges nested dictionaries. This matches the requirement exactly, as `recursive=True` ensures that nested structures are combined rather than replaced outright.

Answer

Answer

Answer

Question 3

Which TWO filters are commonly used to transform strings in Ansible? (Select exactly two.)

Accepted Answer

regex_replace. Option A is correct because `regex_replace` is a built-in Jinja2 filter in Ansible that allows you to transform strings by replacing substrings that match a regular expression pattern. This is commonly used for string manipulation tasks such as sanitizing user input or formatting output.

Answer

items2dict

Answer

flatten

Answer

dict2items

Question 4

A senior engineer needs to debug an Ansible playbook that uses lookups. Which TWO plugins can be used to retrieve data from a file on the control node? (Select exactly two.)

Accepted Answer

file. Option D is correct because the `file` lookup plugin reads the content of a file from the control node's filesystem and returns it as a string. This is the standard way to retrieve file data directly from the Ansible control node without transferring the file to the managed host.

Answer

ini

Answer

password

Answer

csvfile

Question 5

Refer to the exhibit. Assuming the managed node is RHEL 7.9, what is the output of the debug task?

Accepted Answer

True. The debug task uses the `debug` module with `msg: "{{ ansible_distribution_version is version('7.9', '>=') }}"`. The `version` filter compares the string `'7.9'` (from `ansible_distribution_version`) against the string `'7.9'` using the `>=` operator. Since the managed node is RHEL 7.9, the comparison evaluates to `True`, so the debug module outputs `True`.

Answer

7.9

Answer

An error

Answer

False

Question 6

An Ansible playbook needs to parse a JSON output from a REST API and extract the value of a nested key "data.settings.timeout". The output is stored in the variable "api_result". Which filter should be used to safely extract the value, with a default of 30 if the key is missing or the JSON is malformed?

Accepted Answer

{{ api_result | json_query('data.settings.timeout') | default(30) }}. Option C is correct because `json_query` uses JMESPath syntax to query nested JSON structures, and `data.settings.timeout` is a valid JMESPath expression for extracting the value at that nested key. The `default(30)` filter provides a fallback if the key is missing or the JSON is malformed, ensuring safe extraction.

Answer

{{ api_result | combine({'data.settings.timeout': 30}) }}

Answer

{{ api_result | selectattr('data.settings.timeout') | first | default(30) }}

Answer

{{ api_result | dict2items | selectattr('key', 'equalto', 'data.settings.timeout') | map(attribute='value') | first | default(30) }}

Question 7

Which TWO filters are commonly used to manipulate JSON data in Ansible? (Select exactly two.)

Accepted Answer

from_json. Option B (from_json) is correct because it converts a JSON string into an Ansible data structure (dict or list), enabling further manipulation with filters like json_query. This is essential when parsing API responses or configuration files that return JSON-formatted strings.

Answer

flatten

Answer

regex_replace

Answer

to_json

Question 8

An Ansible playbook uses the `fetch` module to retrieve files from managed hosts. Which TWO inventory variables are commonly used to construct unique destination paths for each host?

Accepted Answer

inventory_hostname. The `fetch` module retrieves files from managed hosts and stores them locally. To avoid overwriting files from different hosts, you must use unique destination paths. `inventory_hostname` provides the hostname as defined in the inventory, and `ansible_host` provides the actual IP or FQDN used to connect, both of which are commonly used to create distinct per-host directories or filenames.

Answer

dest

Answer

hostvars

Answer

group_names

Question 9

A systems administrator needs to use a different SSH private key for a group of hosts in an Ansible inventory. Which inventory variable should be set at the group level?

Accepted Answer

ansible_ssh_private_key_file. Option B is correct because `ansible_ssh_private_key_file` is the Ansible inventory variable that specifies the path to the SSH private key file for a host or group. When set at the group level, it applies to all hosts in that group, allowing the administrator to use a different key for authentication without modifying individual host definitions.

Answer

ansible_ssh_key

Answer

ansible_ssh_key_file

Answer

ansible_private_key

Question 10

An Ansible Tower/AWX administrator wants to prevent users from viewing credential passwords in plain text. Which credential type should be used for SSH passwords?

Accepted Answer

Machine credential. Machine credentials in Ansible Tower/AWX are the correct choice for SSH passwords because they are specifically designed to store SSH authentication parameters, including passwords, private keys, and key passphrases. When a machine credential is configured with an SSH password, Tower/AWX encrypts the password at rest and never exposes it in plain text to users through the web interface or API, ensuring that credential secrets remain hidden.

Answer

SSH credential

Answer

Password credential

Answer

Login credential

Question 11

A DevOps engineer is designing a dynamic inventory script for a cloud provider. The script must return host variables in a specific JSON format. According to Ansible best practices, which top-level keys should be present in the script output?

Accepted Answer

Group names as keys, each containing 'hosts' and 'vars'. Ansible dynamic inventory scripts must return JSON with group names as top-level keys, each containing 'hosts' (a list of hostnames) and optionally 'vars' (dictionary of group variables). This structure allows Ansible to map hosts to groups and apply group-level variables, which is essential for inventory organization and playbook targeting. Option A correctly describes this required format per Ansible best practices.

Answer

all, groups, hosts

Answer

List of host objects

Answer

inventory, hosts, vars

Question 12

An Ansible administrator wants to use an encrypted vault file to store sensitive variables. Which command creates a new vault file and prompts for a password?

Accepted Answer

ansible-vault create secrets.yml. Option B is correct because `ansible-vault create secrets.yml` creates a new encrypted vault file and immediately prompts the user to set a password, which is then used to encrypt the file. This command is specifically designed for initial creation of vault files, unlike `edit` which requires an existing file, `view` which only displays content, or `encrypt` which encrypts an existing plaintext file.

Answer

ansible-vault edit secrets.yml

Answer

ansible-vault view secrets.yml

Answer

ansible-vault encrypt secrets.yml

Question 13

An administrator needs to provide a set of credentials to a job template that requires a machine credential for SSH and a source control credential for the project. What is the correct way to associate these credentials?

Accepted Answer

Assign both a machine credential and a source control credential to the job template. Option D is correct because Ansible Tower/AWX allows multiple credentials of different types to be assigned to a single job template. A machine credential handles SSH authentication for target hosts, while a source control credential manages authentication for the project repository (e.g., Git). This separation follows Ansible's modular credential design, where each credential type serves a distinct purpose and can be independently managed.

Answer

Define the source control token in the playbook using the 'set_fact' module

Answer

Create a single credential that includes both SSH key and source control token

Answer

Store the source control token as an extra variable in the job template

Question 14

A team uses Ansible AWX and needs to run a job template that uses a custom credential of type 'OpenStack' to authenticate to an OpenStack cloud. Which field in the job template is used to specify this credential?

Accepted Answer

Credential. In Ansible AWX, the 'Credential' field in a job template is used to specify the primary credential for authentication to external systems. When using a custom credential type like 'OpenStack', selecting it in the 'Credential' field associates the job template with the OpenStack authentication parameters (e.g., auth URL, username, password, project) defined in that credential. This allows the job to authenticate to the OpenStack cloud during execution.

Answer

Custom Credential

Answer

Extra Credentials

Answer

Machine credential

Question 15

Refer to the exhibit. A playbook runs against the `web` group. What username will be used for host web2?

Accepted Answer

deploy. Option A is correct because the playbook runs against the `web` group, and host `web2` inherits the `ansible_user` variable from the group-level inventory definition. In Ansible, the `ansible_user` variable determines the SSH username for the connection. Since the exhibit (not shown here but implied) sets `ansible_user: deploy` for the `web` group, all hosts in that group, including `web2`, will use `deploy` as the SSH username unless overridden at the host level.

Answer

undetermined

Answer

admin

Answer

root