EX294 Implement advanced Ansible automation Practice Test 3 — 15 Questions

Question 1

An administrator wants to reuse a set of tasks across multiple playbooks. Which Ansible approach is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Creating a role with tasks in tasks/main.yml.. Roles are the standard Ansible mechanism for packaging and reusing tasks, variables, handlers, and other automation content across multiple playbooks. By placing tasks in a role's `tasks/main.yml`, the administrator can reference that role in any playbook using the `roles:` directive, enabling clean, modular reuse without duplication.

Answer

Encrypting the tasks with Ansible Vault.

Answer

Using ansible-doc to document the tasks.

Answer

Writing a custom module in Python.

Question 2

A playbook uses 'vars_prompt' to ask for a confirmation before proceeding with destructive changes. However, when the playbook is run from a CI/CD pipeline, it hangs indefinitely. What is the best way to handle this?

Accepted Answer

Pass the variable via --extra-vars and modify the prompt to be conditional with 'when: variable is not defined'.. Passing the variable via --extra-vars and making the prompt conditional with 'when: variable is not defined' allows the pipeline to provide the variable non-interactively. Option A is unsafe. Option B's --check mode does not solve prompts. Option C is unrelated. Option D encrypts data but does not handle prompts. Therefore, E is best.

Answer

Remove the prompt and always proceed.

Answer

Set ANSIBLE_STDOUT_CALLBACK=unixy to avoid interactive prompts.

Answer

Encrypt the confirmation in vault and include it.

Answer

Use --check mode to simulate.

Question 3

A playbook uses the 'block' feature to group tasks and includes a 'rescue' section. If a task inside the block fails, what happens?

Accepted Answer

The rescue tasks run, and the play continues with the next task after the block.. In Ansible, when a task inside a `block` fails, the `rescue` section is executed to handle the failure. After the rescue tasks complete successfully, the play continues with the next task after the block, not from the beginning of the block. This behavior allows for error recovery without terminating the entire play.

Answer

The rescue tasks run, and then the entire playbook fails.

Answer

The rescue tasks are ignored and the play fails immediately.

Answer

The block is re-executed after rescue.

Question 4

An Ansible role has multiple dependencies defined in meta/main.yml. One of the dependent roles should be executed before the role's own tasks, but only if a certain condition is met. How can this be implemented?

Accepted Answer

The dependency cannot be conditional; use 'include_role' with 'when' in the tasks.. Ansible role dependencies defined in meta/main.yml do not support conditional execution; the 'dependencies' field only accepts role names or a dictionary with 'role' and optional 'vars'. To conditionally execute a role, you must use 'include_role' with a 'when' clause in the playbook or tasks, not in the metadata. This is by design because dependency resolution happens at playbook parsing time, not at runtime.

Answer

Use 'condition' field in the dependencies list.

Answer

Use 'when' condition in the role's tasks to include the dependency.

Answer

Use 'pre_tasks' in the playbook to run the conditional dependency.

Question 5

A playbook uses 'delegate_to: localhost' for a task that modifies a local file. The playbook runs against multiple servers. The administrator notices that the local file is overwritten by each parallel execution, causing corruption. Which strategy should be used to prevent this?

Accepted Answer

Use 'run_once: true' along with 'delegate_to'.. `run_once: true` ensures that the task executes only once across the entire batch of hosts, even when `delegate_to: localhost` is used. This prevents the local file from being overwritten by multiple parallel executions, as the task runs on a single host (the first in the inventory) and delegates the file modification to localhost once.

Answer

Increase 'forks: 1' to serialize execution.

Answer

Use 'throttle: 1' on the task.

Answer

Use 'serial: 1' at the play level.

Question 6

An Ansible playbook uses 'async' and 'poll' to run a long-running task. The task returns a changed status and the playbook continues. However, the remote server reports that the task failed after the playbook finished. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The task's return code was not checked; 'async_status' module should be used to explicitly check the job result.. When a task is launched with `async` and `poll: 0`, Ansible does not wait for the task to complete; it immediately continues the playbook. The task runs in the background on the remote host, and its final result (including failure) is not automatically captured by the playbook. To retrieve the actual exit status and output, you must explicitly use the `async_status` module with the job ID to poll the task until it finishes. Without this explicit check, the playbook may report success even if the background task ultimately fails.

Answer

The 'async' timeout was set too high.

Answer

The 'poll' interval was set too low.

Answer

The playbook used 'ignore_errors: true' on the async task.

Question 7

An administrator wants to ensure that Ansible facts gathered from a host are consistent across multiple playbook runs. Which two actions can help achieve this? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Enable fact caching using 'ansible_cache' plugin with a persistent backend like Redis.. Enabling fact caching with a persistent backend like Redis stores gathered facts between playbook runs, ensuring consistency without re-gathering. Option E is correct because setting 'ANSIBLE_GATHERING=smart' with a configured cache_timeout allows Ansible to reuse cached facts within the timeout period, providing consistent data across runs.

Answer

Use 'gather_facts: no' and manually run 'setup' module with specific filter.

Answer

Use 'tags' to only gather facts on selective runs.

Answer

Disable fact caching and gather facts every time.

Question 8

Which three of the following are valid methods to pass variables to an Ansible playbook at runtime? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

Using '--extra-vars' command line option.. The `--extra-vars` (or `-e`) command-line option allows you to pass variables directly to an Ansible playbook at runtime. This overrides any previously defined variables and can accept key=value pairs or load from JSON/YAML files, making it the primary method for runtime variable injection.

Answer

Using '--ask-vault-pass' and storing variables in encrypted files.

Answer

Using 'environment' directive in the playbook.

Question 9

An Ansible playbook repeatedly uses the same pattern: check if a service is running, if not start it, and then verify it's running. Which three Ansible features can be used to reduce code duplication? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

Using a role with multiple tasks and handlers.. Options B and E are correct because roles (with tasks and handlers) and include_tasks with loops are the proper mechanisms for reusing task patterns in Ansible. Option D is incorrect: custom filter plugins are used for data transformation in templates, not for encapsulating task execution logic. include_vars (A) only reuses variables, and debug (C) only outputs messages; neither reduces code duplication for the described check-start-verify pattern.

Answer

Using 'include_vars' to reuse variable files.

Answer

Using 'debug' module to output the status.

Answer

Creating a custom filter plugin to encapsulate the logic.

Question 10

Refer to the exhibit. What is the purpose of the 'failed_when' condition?

Accepted Answer

It fails the task only if the return code is non-zero and the error does not indicate 'not installed'.. The 'failed_when' condition in Ansible allows you to define custom failure criteria for a task. In the exhibit, the condition 'failed_when: result.rc != 0 and "not installed" not in result.stderr' means the task will only be marked as failed if the return code is non-zero AND the error message does not contain the string 'not installed'. This is useful when a command returns a non-zero exit code for expected reasons (e.g., package not found), and you want to treat that as a non-failure.

Answer

It ensures the task never fails regardless of return code.

Answer

It fails the task only if the package is installed.

Answer

It fails the task if the package is not installed.

Question 11

Refer to the exhibit. Which of the following is the most likely cause of this error?

Accepted Answer

The 'ask_become_pass' is set to 'false' and no become password is provided.. The error message indicates that Ansible is unable to authenticate with the remote host, which occurs when `ask_become_pass` is set to `false` (or defaults to `false` in some configurations) and no become password is provided via `--ask-become-pass` or an `ansible_become_password` variable. Without a password, the privilege escalation attempt fails, resulting in a permission denied error.

Answer

The playbook is running without '--become' flag.

Answer

The 'become_method' is set to 'su' instead of 'sudo'.

Answer

The 'ansible_become_password' was provided but incorrect.

Answer

The remote user is not in the sudoers file.

Question 12

Refer to the exhibit. A playbook targeting the 'webservers' group uses '{{ http_port }}'. What will be the value of 'http_port' on 'web2'?

Accepted Answer

8080. In Ansible, host variables take precedence over group variables. The inventory defines 'web2' with 'http_port: 8080' as a host variable, while the 'webservers' group defines 'http_port: 80' as a group variable. Since host variables override group variables, the value of 'http_port' on 'web2' is 8080.

Answer

80

Answer

80, because the group variable overrides host variable.

Answer

Undefined, causing an error

Question 13

A developer reports that a role's behavior is not as expected. They set a variable in the playbook's vars section, but the role still uses the value from its vars/main.yml. Which of the following explains this issue?

Accepted Answer

vars defined in roles/vars/main.yml have higher precedence than those in the playbook's vars section. In Ansible, variable precedence is hierarchical, and role defaults (roles/role_name/defaults/main.yml) have the lowest precedence, while role vars (roles/role_name/vars/main.yml) have a higher precedence than playbook-level vars. Since the developer set the variable in the playbook's vars section, but the role still uses the value from its vars/main.yml, this indicates that vars defined in roles/vars/main.yml override those in the playbook's vars section, making option D correct.

Answer

vars defined in the playbook have higher precedence than those in roles/vars/main.yml

Answer

vars defined in group_vars override both play and role vars

Answer

the playbook must use include_vars after the role to override

Question 14

An Ansible playbook uses async and poll to run a long-running task. The task reports 'async task did not complete within the requested time'. Which of the following is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

the async timeout value is set too short for the task duration. The error 'async task did not complete within the requested time' indicates that the async timeout value (set via the async parameter) is too short for the actual task duration. The poll interval does not affect the timeout; it only controls how often Ansible checks the task status. Option B is correct because increasing the async value allows the task more time to complete.

Answer

the poll interval is set too long

Answer

the async task requires become: yes

Answer

the host is unreachable

Question 15

An Ansible playbook uses a rolling update strategy with serial: 1. After the first host is updated, the playbook stops and shows 'PLAY RECAP' with only one host. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

the inventory contains only one host. The `serial: 1` directive in Ansible limits concurrency to one host at a time, but the playbook will still process all hosts in the inventory. If the playbook stops after the first host and shows PLAY RECAP with only one host, the most likely reason is that the inventory contains only one host. With a single host, the play executes on that host and then finishes. Option B accurately identifies this scenario.

Answer

the playbook has a 'failed_when' condition that stops execution

Answer

the play uses 'delegate_to' incorrectly

Answer

the playbook does not have any task that triggers the next batch, and 'serial' only controls concurrency, not retry