XK0-006 Automation, Orchestration, and Scripting Practice Question
A Linux administrator needs to automate the deployment of a configuration file to fifty servers. The administrator wants to run a single command from a control node that copies the file to all servers in parallel and reports any failures. Which of the following tools is designed specifically for this task?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that a shell loop with scp or a single rsync invocation provides parallel fan-out and reporting, when only a configuration management tool like Ansible does so natively.
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
✓
Ansible with an ad-hoc command using the copy module and a hosts inventory.
Ansible is purpose-built for agentless automation across many hosts. With an inventory and the copy module, a single ad-hoc command pushes the configuration file to all servers in parallel and returns per-host success or failure, which precisely matches the administrator's need for one command with consolidated reporting.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Ansible with an ad-hoc command using the copy module and a hosts inventory.
Why this is correct
Ansible is an agentless automation tool that uses an inventory of hosts and modules such as copy to push files to many servers simultaneously. An ad-hoc command like ansible all -m copy -a 'src=... dest=...' runs against all inventory hosts in parallel and reports per-host results, matching the requirement exactly.
- ✗
A for loop in a Bash script that calls scp for each hostname in a list.
Why it's wrong here
A shell for loop invoking scp sequentially would copy the file one host at a time, not in parallel, and error handling would need to be written manually. While functional, it does not provide the parallel execution and consolidated reporting that a configuration management tool offers, making it a poorer fit for the stated requirement.
- ✗
A cron job on each target server that pulls the configuration file from a central web server every hour.
Why it's wrong here
A pull-based cron job introduces up to an hour of delay and requires configuring each target independently. It also does not provide a single command from a control node with immediate parallel execution and failure reporting. This approach is better suited to periodic drift correction than to an on-demand deployment.
- ✗
rsync run from the control node with a comma-separated list of remote hosts in a single invocation.
Why it's wrong here
rsync does not accept a list of multiple remote hosts in a single invocation; each invocation targets one source and one destination. Running rsync against fifty servers would require a wrapper loop, and rsync itself does not provide parallel fan-out or consolidated failure reporting across hosts.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
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