hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
200-901 Practice Question: A DevOps team is automating network configuration…
A DevOps team is automating network configuration using Ansible. They want to push a new VLAN configuration to a switch but ensure that only one switch is updated at a time to avoid network disruption. Which Ansible strategy or feature should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse `forks` (which controls task-level parallelism) with `serial` (which controls host-level batching), or mistakenly think `throttle` or `strategy: free` can achieve the same serialization effect.
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
✓
Set 'serial: 1' in the playbook.
Setting `serial: 1` in an Ansible playbook forces the play to execute against only one host at a time, even if the play targets multiple switches. This ensures that VLAN configuration is pushed to exactly one switch before moving to the next, preventing network disruption from simultaneous changes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use 'strategy: free' to manage execution order.
Why it's wrong here
Ansible has 'linear' (default) and 'free' strategies, but 'free' does not limit batch size; it allows hosts to finish independently.
- ✗
Set 'forks: 1' in the playbook.
Why it's wrong here
'forks' controls how many hosts are processed simultaneously per task, not per play, but it might still update multiple switches in parallel across tasks.
- ✗
Use 'throttle: 1' on each task.
Why it's wrong here
'throttle' limits concurrent task execution but still allows multiple hosts to proceed in parallel across different tasks.
- ✓
Set 'serial: 1' in the playbook.
Why this is correct
'serial: 1' ensures only one host is updated at a time, preventing disruption.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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