EX294 Deploy Ansible Automation Platform Practice Test 3 — 15 Questions

Question 1

An organization is deploying a containerized Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 on a single RHEL 9 host using the installer bundle. The administrator must ensure the deployment uses an external PostgreSQL database instead of the bundled one. Which TWO inventory variables must be defined to direct the installer to the external database? (Choose two.)

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

`pg_host`. Directing the installer to an external PostgreSQL database requires specifying the database host and database name, along with credentials such as `pg_username` and `pg_password`. The host variable points AAP at the external server, and the database variable identifies the prepared schema. Port and Receptor variables are optional or unrelated, and the bundled-database admin variable does not apply to external deployments.

Answer

`pg_port`

Answer

`postgresql_admin_username`

Answer

`receptor_port`

Question 2

An administrator is preparing to install Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 on a RHEL 9 server. They need to ensure that the system meets the minimum requirements. Which action should they take before running the installer?

Accepted Answer

Ensure that the server has at least 4 GB of RAM and 20 GB of free disk space.. Before installing AAP, the administrator must verify that the server meets the minimum hardware requirements, including at least 4 GB of RAM and 20 GB of free disk space. These resources are necessary for the installation and operation of the automation controller and other components. Other options are either unnecessary or incorrect practices.

Answer

Configure a static IP address and set the hostname to `localhost`.

Answer

Install the `ansible-core` package from the RHEL 9 AppStream repository.

Answer

Disable the firewall and SELinux to avoid installation conflicts.

Question 3

An administrator deploys Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 using the containerized installer on a single RHEL 9 host. After installation, they need to back up the platform configuration before applying an update. Which command should they run to create a backup of the automation controller and its associated services?

Accepted Answer

ansible-playbook -i inventory backup.yml from the setup directory of the installer bundle.. The containerized installer ships a backup playbook that, when invoked with the same inventory used for installation, archives the controller database, configuration, and secrets in a restorable form. This is the supported method for capturing platform state before applying updates, unlike ad hoc volume exports or nonexistent management commands.

Answer

podman volume export aap_postgres_data > /var/backups/aap.tar executed on the host.

Answer

ansible-playbook -i inventory install.yml --tags backup from the installer setup directory.

Answer

awx-manage backup --cluster --output /var/backups/aap.tar.gz executed on the controller container.

Question 4

A systems administrator has downloaded the Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 installer bundle to a RHEL 9 server. Before running the installation, the administrator must customize the deployment by editing the inventory file. Which command should the administrator run first to create a working inventory file from the provided example?

Accepted Answer

`./setup.sh` and then select the option to generate an inventory file. The supported workflow is to run `setup.sh` and choose the inventory-generation option, which produces a minimal inventory tailored to the deployment. The administrator edits that file to set hostnames, credentials, and topology, then runs the installer. Copying the example file or invoking the playbook directly skips validation and produces placeholder-driven failures.

Answer

`./setup.sh -i inventory`

Answer

`ansible-playbook -i inventory setup.yml`

Answer

`cp inventory.example inventory`

Question 5

An administrator is deploying Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 on RHEL 9. They want to ensure that the automation controller can communicate with the automation hub and that collections can be installed from the hub. Which two configuration steps are required? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Generate an API token in the automation hub and configure the controller to use it for Galaxy server authentication.. To enable the automation controller to install collections from the automation hub, you must configure the controller to use the hub as a Galaxy server by providing the hub's API URL and an API token. The token is generated in the hub and then added to the controller's Galaxy server settings. These two steps allow the controller to authenticate and retrieve collections from the hub.

Answer

Configure the automation hub to sync collections from Ansible Galaxy by default.

Answer

Enable the `automationcontroller_use_automationhub` variable in the installer inventory.

Answer

Set `automationhub_main_url` in the installer inventory to the hub's URL.

Question 6

An administrator is deploying Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 in a production environment with an external PostgreSQL database. They need to ensure that the database is properly configured for AAP. Which TWO actions should the administrator take? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Set the `pg_password` variable in the installer inventory to a strong password.. To configure an external PostgreSQL database for AAP, the administrator must set the `pg_password` variable for authentication and grant the `CREATEDB` privilege to the database user. These are mandatory for the installer to create the necessary databases and schemas. Other options are either insecure or optional.

Answer

Ensure the database user has the `SUPERUSER` privilege for the installation.

Answer

Disable SSL encryption between the AAP nodes and the database to improve performance.

Answer

Set `pg_sslmode` to `require` in the inventory to enforce encrypted connections.

Question 7

A Red Hat Certified Engineer is deploying Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 with an external PostgreSQL database. After running `./setup.sh`, the installation fails with an error that the database user cannot authenticate. The administrator has verified the `postgresql_admin_username` and `postgresql_admin_password` in the inventory. Which additional inventory variable must be set to allow the installer to create the AAP databases?

Accepted Answer

`postgresql_admin_username` and `postgresql_admin_password` must have superuser privileges on the external database.. When using an external PostgreSQL database, the installer requires admin credentials with sufficient privileges to create databases and users. The `postgresql_admin_username` and `postgresql_admin_password` must correspond to a role that has superuser or CREATEDB rights. Without these privileges, the installer cannot create the AAP databases, leading to authentication or permission errors during setup.

Answer

`postgresql_ssl_cert` and `postgresql_ssl_key` must be configured for secure authentication.

Answer

`postgresql_username` and `postgresql_password` for the AAP database user.

Answer

`postgresql_port` must be set to 5432 to match the default PostgreSQL port.

Question 8

A systems administrator is preparing to deploy Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 on a RHEL 9 server. The administrator has downloaded the setup bundle and extracted it. Before running the installer, the administrator needs to ensure the system meets the minimum requirements. Which prerequisite must be satisfied for a successful installation?

Accepted Answer

The server must have a valid Red Hat subscription and the `ansible-automation-platform-2.4-for-rhel-9-x86_64-rpms` repository enabled.. Deploying AAP on RHEL requires a valid Red Hat subscription and access to the correct AAP repository. This ensures the installer can resolve dependencies and install supported packages. Other options either misstate resource requirements, suggest unsupported package sources, or recommend unnecessary security compromises.

Answer

The server must have the `ansible-core` package pre-installed from the EPEL repository.

Answer

The server must have the `firewalld` service disabled to allow the installer to configure ports.

Answer

The server must have at least 4 GB of RAM and 20 GB of free disk space.

Question 9

An administrator is deploying Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 in a production environment with external databases. They want to ensure that the automation controller and automation hub use separate PostgreSQL databases on a dedicated database server. Which inventory configuration is correct?

Accepted Answer

Define a `[database]` group with the database server, and set `automationcontroller_pg_host` and `automationhub_pg_host` to the same host, but use different database names.. To use a dedicated external PostgreSQL server for both automation controller and automation hub, you define a `[database]` group with the server's hostname. Then, you set `automationcontroller_pg_host` and `automationhub_pg_host` to that server, and specify separate database names using `automationcontroller_pg_database` and `automationhub_pg_database`. This ensures each component uses its own database on the shared server, which is a supported production configuration.

Answer

Set `automationcontroller_pg_host` and `automationhub_pg_host` to different hosts, and do not define a `[database]` group.

Answer

Define a `[database]` group with the database server, and set `automationcontroller_pg_host` and `automationhub_pg_host` to the same host, but leave the database names as default.

Answer

Define separate `[automationcontroller_database]` and `[automationhub_database]` groups, each with its own host.

Question 10

An administrator is deploying Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 in a high-availability configuration with multiple automation controller nodes and an external PostgreSQL database. The administrator must ensure that the deployment meets the requirements for a supported HA setup. Which TWO actions are required to achieve a supported high-availability automation controller deployment? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Use an external PostgreSQL database that is separate from the automation controller nodes.. A supported high-availability AAP deployment requires a load balancer to distribute traffic and an external PostgreSQL database to avoid a single point of failure. Other options either introduce unnecessary components, misconfigure services, or describe unsupported practices. These two actions ensure resilience and are documented requirements.

Answer

Ensure that all automation controller nodes share a common NFS mount for project data.

Answer

Configure Redis to run on each automation controller node in a clustered mode.

Answer

Install the automation hub on the same node as the primary automation controller.

Question 11

An administrator is deploying Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 on a RHEL 9 server using the setup bundle. After running `./setup.sh`, the installation fails with the error: `TASK [ansible.automation_platform_installer.preflight : Check if the base directory is writable] fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => {"msg": "The base directory /opt/ansible is not writable"}`. The administrator confirms that the `/opt` directory exists and has 755 permissions owned by root. What is the most likely cause of this error?

Accepted Answer

The installer is being run as a non-root user, and the `/opt/ansible` directory is owned by root with permissions that do not allow writes by the installer user.. The installer requires root privileges to create and write to system directories like `/opt/ansible`. When run as a non-root user, it cannot write to root-owned directories, resulting in the 'not writable' error. Ensuring the installer is executed as root or with sudo resolves the issue.

Answer

The `/opt` filesystem is mounted read-only, preventing the creation or modification of `/opt/ansible`.

Answer

The `/opt/ansible` directory does not exist and the installer cannot create it because `/opt` is not writable by the user running the installer.

Answer

SELinux is enforcing and has labeled `/opt/ansible` with the wrong context, preventing writes by the installer.

Question 12

An organization wants to deploy Ansible Automation Platform 2.x in a highly available configuration. Which component must be deployed in an active-active cluster to ensure controller failover?

Accepted Answer

Automation controller. The automation controller is the component that provides the web UI, REST API, and job execution management in Ansible Automation Platform 2.x. For high availability, multiple controller nodes must be deployed in an active-active cluster behind a load balancer, ensuring that if one controller fails, another can immediately take over without service interruption.

Answer

PostgreSQL database

Answer

Private Automation Hub

Answer

Automation mesh

Question 13

Which TWO statements are true about deploying Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform using the automation mesh?

Accepted Answer

Execution nodes can be located in different geographic regions.. Option A is correct because automation mesh is designed to span distributed environments, allowing execution nodes to be placed in different geographic regions and connected through hop nodes or peer relationships rather than requiring a single data center. Option D is correct because automation mesh uses a hierarchical topology in which nodes are organized as parent and child, with control and execution nodes communicating through defined parent/child links. Option B is incorrect because existing Ansible Tower nodes cannot simply be added unchanged; they must be upgraded/reconfigured to run receptor and mesh components. Option C is incorrect because automation mesh does not require two separate ports for control and data plane traffic; it uses a single TCP port, typically 27199, for receptor traffic. Option E is incorrect because execution nodes do not need direct network access to the automation controller; they can communicate through intermediate hop nodes in the mesh.

Answer

Existing Ansible Tower nodes can be added to the mesh without modification.

Answer

Automation mesh requires two separate ports for control and data plane traffic.

Answer

All execution nodes must have direct network access to the automation controller.

Question 14

A company is deploying Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.3 in a hybrid cloud environment. The automation controller is installed on a RHEL 8 server in the on-premises data center. Execution nodes are distributed: four in the same data center, two in a remote branch office connected via VPN, and three in AWS EC2 instances. The VPN connection to the branch office is low-bandwidth and high-latency. The AWS nodes use a direct connect with stable bandwidth. During initial testing, playbooks running on the branch office execution nodes frequently timeout or hang, while on-premises and AWS nodes work fine. The automation mesh topology is configured with all nodes as direct children of the controller. The team wants to minimize latency and ensure reliable execution for the branch office nodes. Which course of action should the administrator take?

Accepted Answer

Deploy an additional automation mesh node in the branch office and make the branch office execution nodes children of that node.. Deploying an additional automation mesh node in the branch office creates a local parent for the branch office execution nodes, reducing the number of high-latency, low-bandwidth VPN hops between the controller and those nodes. In the automation mesh, parent-child relationships allow execution nodes to connect through a closer intermediary, minimizing timeouts and improving reliability by keeping control-plane traffic local.

Answer

Configure the controller to use the AWS execution nodes for all branch office jobs via a proxy.

Answer

Increase the `ansible_timeout` setting in the controller configuration to 120 seconds.

Answer

Reduce the forks value for branch office execution nodes to 1.

Question 15

Which TWO statements are true regarding the deployment of Ansible Automation Platform in a highly available configuration?

Accepted Answer

The automation controller requires a PostgreSQL database that must be configured with replication for high availability.. Option C is correct because in a highly available Ansible Automation Platform deployment, the automation controller (the control plane) relies on an external PostgreSQL database, and HA is achieved by configuring that PostgreSQL instance with replication (e.g., streaming replication or a supported HA topology) so the controller can fail over without losing job data. Option E is correct because the automation mesh (based on receptor) is the component that provides resilient, fault-tolerant execution by routing jobs across hop nodes and execution nodes, allowing execution to continue even if individual nodes become unavailable. Option A is incorrect because automation hub's PostgreSQL database is not strictly required to be external for HA in the way described; hub can be deployed with its own supported database configuration, and the statement overstates the requirement. Option B is incorrect because execution nodes do not need direct network access to the automation controller's database; they communicate with the controller through the mesh/receptor network, not by connecting to PostgreSQL directly. Option D is incorrect because SQLite is not supported for production automation controller deployments; PostgreSQL is required.

Answer

The automation hub requires an external PostgreSQL database to store collections and execution environments.

Answer

Execution nodes must have direct network access to the automation controller database.

Answer

The automation controller can use an embedded SQLite database for production deployments.