EX294 Manage inventories and credentials Practice Question
An administrator needs to provide a set of credentials to a job template that requires a machine credential for SSH and a source control credential for the project. What is the correct way to associate these credentials?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to think a single credential must contain all authentication data, but Ansible Tower explicitly separates credential types by function, and a job template can accept multiple credentials of different types simultaneously.
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
✓
Assign both a machine credential and a source control credential to the job template
Ansible Tower/AWX allows multiple credentials of different types to be assigned to a single job template. A machine credential handles SSH authentication for target hosts, while a source control credential manages authentication for the project repository (e.g., Git). This separation follows Ansible's modular credential design, where each credential type serves a distinct purpose and can be independently managed.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Define the source control token in the playbook using the 'set_fact' module
Why it's wrong here
set_fact runs during playbook execution, after the project has already been checked out, so it cannot supply the token needed to clone the repository. Defining variables in a playbook is tempting for reusable values, but source control authentication must occur before the playbook runs, via a source control credential on the job template.
- ✗
Create a single credential that includes both SSH key and source control token
Why it's wrong here
Automation Controller credential types are distinct: machine credentials hold SSH keys, source control credentials hold tokens, and a single credential cannot contain both. Combining them is tempting to reduce objects, but the job template must reference two separate credentials, each matching its required type.
- ✗
Store the source control token as an extra variable in the job template
Why it's wrong here
Extra variables are passed to the playbook at runtime and are never used by Automation Controller to authenticate to the Git repository, so the project cannot be fetched. Storing secrets as extra variables is tempting because it is quick, but source control credentials belong in a dedicated source control credential attached to the job template.
- ✓
Assign both a machine credential and a source control credential to the job template
Why this is correct
A job template accepts multiple credentials of different types simultaneously, so attaching both a machine credential for SSH and a source control credential for the project satisfies both authentication needs. Each credential type is matched to its corresponding function during job execution.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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