EX294 Transform data with filters and plugins Practice Test 2 — 15 Questions

Question 1

When using the 'uri' module to interact with a REST API in Ansible, which TWO of the following statements about error handling and response parsing are correct?

Accepted Answer

To access the response body, use the 'body' key of the registered variable and then parse it with a filter like 'json_query'.. When you register the result of an `uri` module call, the response body is stored under the `body` key of the registered variable. To extract or filter data from that JSON body, you can use the `json_query` filter (which relies on jmespath) to parse and query the JSON structure. This is the standard approach for accessing and manipulating API response data in Ansible.

Answer

The 'follow_redirects' parameter must be set to 'all' to handle HTTP 4xx and 5xx errors gracefully.

Answer

The 'failed_when' condition can inspect the HTTP response before the request is sent.

Answer

The 'register' keyword automatically parses JSON responses into Ansible variables.

Question 2

Refer to the exhibit. After running the playbook, the 'content' field contains an HTML page. The team wants to extract the text inside the

tags using Ansible filters. Which of the following tasks correctly extracts the content of the

element?

Accepted Answer

set_fact: heading="{{ result.content | regex_replace('.*

(.*)

.*', '\1') }}". It uses `regex_replace` with a pattern that matches the entire string (`.*

(.*)

.*`) and replaces it with the captured group `\1`, effectively extracting only the heading text. Option B, while it uses `regex_replace`, only matches the `

...

` portion; if the page contains any content outside the `

` tags, that content remains, so it does not reliably extract just the heading text. Options C and D return the full match including the tags, not just the inner text.

Answer

set_fact: heading="{{ result.content | regex_replace('

(.*)

', '\1') }}"

Answer

set_fact: heading="{{ result.content | regex_search('

(.*)

') }}"

Answer

set_fact: heading="{{ result.content | regex_findall('

(.*)

') | first }}"

Question 3

You are managing a fleet of 200 RHEL 8 servers with Ansible Tower. A playbook uses the 'seboolean' module to enable httpd_can_network_connect for a web application. Recently, the playbook has been failing on 10 servers with the error: 'Failed to set SELinux boolean: Unable to communicate with SELinux policy'. Other servers succeed. The playbook runs as the 'ansible' user with passwordless sudo. The failing servers have identical SELinux configuration (enforcing mode, targeted policy) and the same package versions as working servers. You suspect the issue is related to the 'python3-libselinux' package. Which of the following is the most likely cause and the correct fix?

Accepted Answer

The 'python3-libselinux' package is missing on the failing servers. Install it with 'dnf install python3-libselinux'.. The error 'Failed to set SELinux boolean: Unable to communicate with SELinux policy' indicates that the Python bindings required to interact with the SELinux policy are missing. The 'seboolean' module in Ansible relies on the 'python3-libselinux' package to communicate with the SELinux subsystem. Since the playbook runs as the 'ansible' user with passwordless sudo, and the failing servers have identical SELinux configuration and package versions except for this missing dependency, installing 'python3-libselinux' resolves the issue.

Answer

The 'python2-libselinux' package is required because Ansible uses Python 2. Install it with 'dnf install python2-libselinux'.

Answer

The 'ansible' user lacks sudo access to the 'seboolean' command. Add a sudoers entry to allow it.

Answer

The 'libsemanage' package is missing. Install it with 'dnf install libsemanage'.

Question 4

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 5

Match each SELinux context component to its meaning.

Accepted Answer

user: The SELinux user identity that defines which roles a user can enter.. The SELinux security context consists of user:role:type:level. User identifies the SELinux user, role defines allowed types via RBAC, type is for Type Enforcement, and level for MLS/MCS. Common confusions include mistaking user for process attributes or role for hardware.

Answer

user: The component that specifies the process's current working directory.

Answer

role: The component that defines the hardware architecture.

Question 6

A playbook uses `{{ my_var | default('fallback') }}`. What is the effect?

Accepted Answer

If `my_var` is undefined, the expression evaluates to 'fallback'.. The `default` filter in Ansible (also known as `d()`) returns the specified fallback value only when the variable is undefined. If `my_var` is defined but empty or None, the filter returns the variable's value (empty string or None), not the fallback. This behavior is specific to the `default` filter's default mode; to also catch empty or None values, you must use `default('fallback', true)`.

Answer

If `my_var` is defined but empty, the expression evaluates to 'fallback'.

Answer

If `my_var` is defined but equal to None, the expression evaluates to 'fallback'.

Answer

The filter raises an error because 'default' is not a valid filter.

Question 7

Which filter converts a string like 'hello' into a list of characters ['h','e','l','l','o']?

Accepted Answer

`list`. The `list` filter in Ansible converts a string into a list of its individual characters by iterating over the string and creating a list where each element is a single character. This is a built-in Jinja2 filter that works directly on strings, making option A correct for transforming 'hello' into ['h','e','l','l','o'].

Answer

`split`

Answer

`join`

Answer

`map`

Question 8

What does the `| quote` filter do in an Ansible task?

Accepted Answer

It escapes shell metacharacters to prevent shell injection.. The `| quote` filter in Ansible is designed to escape shell metacharacters (e.g., spaces, semicolons, backticks, dollar signs) in a string, ensuring that the value is safely passed to a shell command without risk of shell injection. This is critical when using variables in `command` or `shell` modules where user-supplied data could otherwise break the command or introduce security vulnerabilities.

Answer

It converts the string to uppercase.

Answer

It returns the string wrapped in double quotes.

Answer

It encodes the string for use in URLs.

Question 9

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 10

Consider the task: `- debug: msg={{ item | upper }}` with `loop: "{{ ['a','b'] }}"`. What will be the output?

Accepted Answer

Two debug messages: 'A' and 'B'. The `upper` filter in Ansible converts each string item in the loop to uppercase. The `loop` directive iterates over the list `['a','b']`, and for each iteration, the `{{ item | upper }}` expression applies the `upper` filter to the current item, resulting in `'A'` and `'B'`. The `debug` module then prints each transformed value as a separate message.

Answer

An error because upper expects a string, not a loop variable.

Answer

Two debug messages: 'a' and 'b'

Answer

One debug message with the list ['A','B']

Question 11

Which lookup plugin is used to retrieve values from an AWS SSM Parameter Store?

Accepted Answer

`aws_ssm`. The `aws_ssm` lookup plugin is the correct choice because it is the official Ansible lookup plugin designed to retrieve values from the AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store. It is part of the `amazon.aws` collection and is invoked via `lookup('aws_ssm', 'parameter_name')` in playbooks.

Answer

`ssm`

Answer

`amazon_ssm`

Answer

`ssm_parameter`

Question 12

Given `{{ ['1', '2', '3'] | map('int') | list }}`, what is the result?

Accepted Answer

`[1, 2, 3]`. The `map('int')` filter in Ansible/Jinja2 converts each string element in the list to an integer. The `list` filter then materializes the generator into a list, resulting in `[1, 2, 3]`. Option B is correct because this is the standard behavior of the `map` filter with the `int` function.

Answer

An error because 'int' is not a valid filter name.

Answer

`['1', '2', '3']` as integers, but stored as strings.

Answer

`['1', '2', '3']`

Question 13

You run a playbook with `msg: "{{ 'mypassword' | password_hash('sha512') }}"`. What is the output?

Accepted Answer

A hashed representation of the password using SHA-512.. The `password_hash` filter in Ansible uses the `passlib` library (when available) to generate a cryptographically hashed representation of the input string. When the hash type is specified as `'sha512'`, it produces a SHA-512 crypt hash (typically starting with `$6$`), not the original plaintext. This is a standard Ansible filter for securely transforming passwords into hashed formats for use in user modules or configuration files.

Answer

An error because password_hash requires the `passlib` library.

Answer

A random alphanumeric string.

Answer

The string 'mypassword' unchanged.

Question 14

You have two dictionaries: `dict1: {a: 1, b: 2}` and `dict2: {b: 3, c: 4}`. You want a new dict that combines both, with `dict2` values taking precedence for overlapping keys. Which filter chain achieves this?

Accepted Answer

`dict2 | combine(dict1, recursive=True)`. With recursive=True, the combine filter performs a deep merge where the left-hand operand (dict2) retains its values for overlapping keys when combined with dict1. This satisfies the requirement that dict2 values take precedence for the overlapping key 'b', resulting in {a: 1, b: 3, c: 4}.

Answer

`dict2 | combine(dict1)`

Answer

`[dict1, dict2] | combine`

Answer

`dict1 | combine(dict2)`

Question 15

Which TWO filters are commonly used for list manipulation in Ansible? (Select exactly two.)

Accepted Answer

`map`. The `map` filter is specifically designed for list manipulation in Ansible, allowing you to apply a transformation (such as extracting a specific attribute) to every element in a list. Option D is correct because the `select` filter is used to filter list items based on a condition, returning only those elements that match. Both are core Jinja2 filters commonly used in Ansible playbooks for processing lists.

Answer

`default`

Answer

`ternary`

Answer

`regex_replace`