EX294 Manage task execution and roles Practice Question
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?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse `forks` (which controls connection parallelism) with `serial` (which controls play-level batch execution), leading candidates to incorrectly choose `forks` when they need to limit simultaneous host execution per play.
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
✓
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 analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
poll
Why it's wrong here
poll controls how often Ansible checks an asynchronous task for completion; poll: 0 fires and forgets. It has no bearing on how many hosts run concurrently. Polling would be relevant when running long tasks asynchronously, not when capping parallel host execution at five.
- ✓
serial
Why this is correct
The serial directive controls how many hosts Ansible targets per play iteration, so setting serial: 5 runs tasks across at most five hosts simultaneously. It bounds parallelism while still completing all hosts in successive batches.
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throttle
Why it's wrong here
throttle limits how many hosts a single task runs on at one time, not the overall play parallelism. It is used when one task must not hit too many hosts simultaneously, for example rolling restarts. Limiting simultaneous hosts across the play is controlled by forks, which sets the number of parallel workers.
- ✗
forks
Why it's wrong here
forks sets the number of parallel processes Ansible uses, defaulting to five, but the question asks for a directive that limits simultaneous hosts to five. Setting forks is a configuration or command-line parameter, not a play or task directive. The directive applied to a task or play for this purpose is throttle.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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