easyMultiple Choice
200-901 Practice Question: A DevOps engineer wants to automate the…
A DevOps engineer wants to automate the configuration of network devices using Ansible. Which file format is commonly used for Ansible playbooks?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between Ansible inventory files (which can use INI or YAML) and playbook files (which exclusively use YAML), causing candidates to incorrectly associate INI with playbooks.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
YAML
Ansible playbooks are written in YAML (YAML Ain't Markup Language) because YAML is human-readable, supports complex data structures like lists and dictionaries, and is designed for configuration files. YAML's indentation-based syntax aligns with Ansible's declarative automation model, making it the default and recommended format for defining tasks, variables, and handlers in playbooks.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
INI
Why it's wrong here
INI files configure Ansible inventory and ansible.cfg, not playbooks, which must be YAML. The stem asks for the playbook format, so INI cannot express tasks, plays or modules. INI would be the right answer if the question asked where hosts and groups are defined.
- ✓
YAML
Why this is correct
Ansible playbooks are written in YAML, a human-readable data-serialisation format using indentation-based structure. This satisfies the stem's requirement for the file format commonly used to define Ansible automation tasks, since YAML's declarative syntax maps directly onto Ansible's task, play and inventory constructs.
- ✗
XML
Why it's wrong here
XML is not parsed as a playbook by Ansible; playbooks require YAML documents. XML appears in NETCONF and vendor configuration payloads, so it would be correct if the question concerned encoding device configuration data rather than defining automation tasks.
- ✗
JSON
Why it's wrong here
JSON is valid YAML-compatible syntax, but Ansible playbooks are conventionally authored in YAML, and JSON cannot carry comments or the readable block structure the tooling documents. JSON suits API payloads and inventory plugins; it would be the answer if the question asked for a machine-generated data interchange format.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 200-901 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 200-901 exam.