EX294 Manage task execution and roles Practice Test 5 — 15 Questions

Question 1

An administrator wants to run a playbook that executes tasks in parallel across multiple hosts but wants to limit the number of simultaneous hosts to 5. Which directive should be set?

Accepted Answer

serial. The `serial` directive in Ansible controls the number of hosts that execute a play at a time, allowing you to limit concurrency. Setting `serial: 5` ensures that only 5 hosts run tasks simultaneously, with the playbook completing in batches of 5 until all hosts are processed.

Answer

poll

Answer

throttle

Answer

forks

Question 2

An administrator is designing a role that needs to execute a set of tasks conditionally based on whether a package is installed. Which approach is best practice?

Accepted Answer

Use the package_facts module. The `package_facts` module is the best practice for gathering package installation status in Ansible. It populates the `ansible_facts.packages` variable with structured data about installed packages, allowing you to conditionally execute tasks using `when` statements without relying on external commands or file checks. This approach is idempotent, efficient, and aligns with Ansible's declarative philosophy.

Answer

Use the stat module to check package file existence

Answer

Use the command module to check package status

Answer

Use ansible_facts.packages

Question 3

A team has developed several roles that share common variables. They want to organize these variables in a central file. Where should they place this file so it is automatically loaded by all roles?

Accepted Answer

In the playbook directory as group_vars/all.yml. Placing a file in the playbook directory as group_vars/all.yml makes it automatically loaded by all roles. Ansible automatically includes any YAML files in the group_vars directory that match group names, and the special group 'all' applies to every host. This centralizes shared variables without requiring explicit imports in each role.

Answer

In the inventory directory as host_vars/localhost.yml

Answer

In a common role's vars/main.yml

Answer

In a common role's defaults/main.yml

Question 4

Which TWO elements can be used to include external task files in a playbook?

Accepted Answer

import_tasks. Both A. import_tasks and B. include_tasks are the two Ansible directives designed to bring external task files into a playbook, which is exactly what the scenario asks for. import_tasks is processed statically at playbook parse time, so the referenced YAML file's tasks are inserted before execution begins, making it suitable for fixed, always-included task lists. include_tasks is processed dynamically at runtime, allowing the included file to be chosen conditionally or looped over, which is useful when the task file depends on variables or facts. The other options do not belong: include_vars loads variables from an external file rather than tasks, add_host dynamically adds a host to the in-memory inventory, and include_role imports a role (which may contain tasks) but is not the directive for including a standalone external task file.

Answer

include_vars

Answer

add_host

Answer

include_role

Question 5

Which TWO statements about Ansible role defaults are true?

Accepted Answer

Defaults are loaded from the defaults/main.yml file.. Option B is correct because Ansible automatically loads role default variables from the defaults/main.yml file inside the role's directory structure, making it the standard location for defining fallback values. Option E is correct because defaults have the lowest precedence in Ansible's variable priority hierarchy, meaning nearly any other variable source (inventory vars, play vars, host vars, extra vars, etc.) will override them. Option A is incorrect because defaults are always loaded, not conditionally based on whether other vars exist; they simply get overridden when higher-priority variables are present. Option C is incorrect because defaults have lower priority than playbook vars, not higher. Option D is incorrect because defaults are specifically designed to be easily overridden by higher-precedence variable sources.

Answer

Defaults are only loaded if no vars are defined.

Answer

Defaults have higher priority than variables defined in the playbook.

Answer

Defaults cannot be overridden.

Question 6

What is the purpose of the 'vars' keyword under the httpd role inclusion?

Accepted Answer

Override default variables for that role. The 'vars' keyword under a role inclusion in Ansible allows you to override the default variables defined within that specific role. This is done at the point of inclusion, providing role-specific variable overrides without affecting other roles or the playbook's global variable scope.

Answer

Set variables for the common role

Answer

Define new variables for the playbook

Answer

Set variables for all roles in the play

Question 7

An administrator wants to define role dependencies. In which file should they place the dependencies declaration?

Accepted Answer

meta/main.yml. Role dependencies in Ansible are declared in the `meta/main.yml` file using the `dependencies` key. This allows you to specify other roles that must be executed before the current role, ensuring prerequisite tasks are run automatically.

Answer

vars/main.yml

Answer

defaults/main.yml

Answer

tasks/main.yml

Question 8

Refer to the exhibit. An Ansible playbook task fails with 'Missing sudo password'. The playbook runs against a server where the remote user 'admin' has sudo privileges but requires a password. Which configuration change would resolve this issue?

Accepted Answer

Set ansible_become_password or use the -K flag when running the playbook.. The error 'Missing sudo password' occurs because Ansible needs the sudo password for the remote user. Option A provides the password either by setting ansible_become_password in inventory or using the -K flag to prompt for it. Option B is incorrect because switching to su does not solve the password issue and is unnecessary. Option C is incorrect because removing become_user doesn't address the password requirement. Option D is incorrect because changing become_user to root doesn't provide the needed password.

Answer

Change become_method to su to avoid password prompts.

Answer

Remove the become_user line and rely on default root.

Answer

Change become_user to root.

Question 9

An administrator has a requirements.yml file specifying roles from multiple sources: a public Galaxy server, a private Git repository, and a local path. They want to install all roles into the roles directory of the current project. Which command will achieve this?

Accepted Answer

ansible-galaxy install -r requirements.yml --roles-path ./roles. The command 'ansible-galaxy install -r requirements.yml --roles-path ./roles' installs roles from a requirements file into the specified roles directory. The '--roles-path' option (or '-p') sets the destination, and '-r' specifies the requirements file. This meets the requirement to install all roles into the roles directory of the current project.

Answer

ansible-galaxy collection install -r requirements.yml

Answer

ansible-galaxy install -r requirements.yml -p .

Answer

ansible-galaxy role install --force -r requirements.yml

Question 10

A team develops a custom Ansible role 'webserver' that depends on another role 'common'. They want to ensure that when 'webserver' is used, 'common' is automatically installed from the same Galaxy server. Which approach should they use?

Accepted Answer

Add a dependencies: ['common'] to the role's meta/main.yml file.. Ansible roles can declare dependencies in the `meta/main.yml` file using the `dependencies` key. When the 'webserver' role is installed via `ansible-galaxy install`, Ansible automatically resolves and installs all listed dependencies from the same Galaxy server, ensuring 'common' is present without manual intervention.

Answer

Add a requirements.yml file in the role's root directory specifying common.

Answer

Use ansible-galaxy install webserver --with-dependencies to install common separately.

Answer

Include the 'common' role in the playbook before 'webserver'.

Question 11

You need to run an Ansible playbook every hour to update a dynamic inventory file from a CMDB API. The playbook is stored in /opt/ansible/update_inventory.yml. You want to schedule the execution using a cron job on the control node. The control node runs Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9. The playbook uses Ansible Vault to decrypt API credentials, and the vault password is stored in /etc/ansible/.vault_pass. Which cron entry will execute the playbook hourly?

Accepted Answer

0 * * * * /usr/bin/ansible-playbook --vault-password-file /etc/ansible/.vault_pass /opt/ansible/update_inventory.yml. It specifies the correct cron schedule (0 * * * * for hourly), uses the correct command (ansible-playbook), and points to the correct vault password file (/etc/ansible/.vault_pass) as specified in the stem. Option A uses the wrong vault password file path (~/.vault_pass). Option B uses the wrong schedule (every minute). Option C uses the wrong command (ansible instead of ansible-playbook).

Answer

0 * * * * /usr/bin/ansible-playbook --vault-password-file ~/.vault_pass /opt/ansible/update_inventory.yml

Answer

* * * * * /usr/bin/ansible-playbook --vault-password-file /etc/ansible/.vault_pass /opt/ansible/update_inventory.yml

Answer

0 * * * * /usr/bin/ansible --vault-password-file /etc/ansible/.vault_pass /opt/ansible/update_inventory.yml

Question 12

Which TWO of the following statements about Ansible roles are correct?

Accepted Answer

Variables in 'defaults/main.yml' have the lowest precedence and can be overridden by inventory variables.. Option B is correct because variables defined in a role's defaults/main.yml have the lowest precedence in Ansible's variable hierarchy, meaning they can be overridden by inventory variables (host_vars, group_vars), play vars, and virtually any other variable source. Option C is correct because role dependencies are declared in the meta/main.yml file under the 'dependencies' key, which Ansible reads to automatically pull in and execute dependent roles before the current role. Option A is incorrect because the 'ansible-role-' prefix is only a naming convention recommended for Galaxy, not a mandatory requirement. Option D is incorrect because include_role performs dynamic inclusion at runtime, whereas import_role is used for static imports. Option E is incorrect because pre_tasks in a playbook always run before the roles section, not after.

Answer

Role names must be prefixed with 'ansible-role-' when published to Ansible Galaxy.

Answer

The 'include_role' module can only be used for static imports.

Answer

A role's tasks are executed before any 'pre_tasks' defined in the playbook.

Question 13

Refer to the exhibit. An administrator runs the playbook but the wait_for task fails. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The ansible_facts variable may not be available because fact gathering is disabled.. The playbook uses `ansible_facts['ansible_tcpip_socket']['port']` to supply the port number to the `wait_for` module. If fact gathering is disabled (e.g., via `gather_facts: no` at the play level or `ANSIBLE_GATHERING=explicit`), the `ansible_facts` dictionary is empty, so the variable resolves to `None` or an undefined value, causing the task to fail. The error is not a syntax or type issue but a missing fact dependency.

Answer

The http_port variable is misspelled.

Answer

The wait_for module requires the 'port' parameter to be an integer.

Answer

The delegate_to should be set to the remote host.

Question 14

Refer to the exhibit. An administrator runs a playbook in check mode and receives the shown output. What should be done to fix the failure while maintaining idempotency?

Accepted Answer

Add a task in the apache role to create the /var/www/html directory using the file module.. The failure in check mode indicates that the /var/www/html directory does not exist, and the apache role's copy task cannot write to it. The correct fix is to add a task in the apache role that uses the file module to create the directory with the desired state (e.g., state: directory), ensuring idempotency because the task will only create it if absent. This keeps the role self-contained and maintains idempotent behavior.

Answer

Modify the deploy role to use the force parameter when copying files.

Answer

Run the playbook without check mode to force the deployment.

Answer

Add a pre_task in the playbook to create /var/www/html before roles execute.

Question 15

Refer to the exhibit. The administrator wants to run a playbook that installs a package on all webservers. Which command will use the existing configuration and inventory correctly?

Accepted Answer

ansible-playbook site.yml. The command 'ansible-playbook site.yml' uses the default Ansible configuration file (ansible.cfg) and the default inventory location defined there. If the administrator has already configured the inventory and other settings in ansible.cfg, this command will correctly target the webservers group as defined in the playbook. No extra flags are needed because the existing configuration is assumed to be in place.

Answer

ansible-playbook -e 'ansible_python_interpreter=/usr/bin/python3' site.yml

Answer

ansible webservers -m package -a 'name=httpd state=present'

Answer

ansible-playbook -i inventory site.yml