EX294 serial Practice Question
An Ansible playbook uses a rolling update strategy with serial: 1. After the first host is updated, the playbook stops and shows 'PLAY RECAP' with only one host. What is the most likely reason?
⚠ Common exam trap
In the Red Hat RHCE exam, examinees may overthink the behavior of 'serial' and forget to check the inventory size. The trap is assuming 'serial: 1' somehow stops the playbook, whereas the real cause is often a single-host inventory.
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
✓
the inventory contains only one host
The `serial: 1` directive in Ansible limits concurrency to one host at a time, but the playbook will still process all hosts in the inventory. If the playbook stops after the first host and shows PLAY RECAP with only one host, the most likely reason is that the inventory contains only one host. With a single host, the play executes on that host and then finishes. Option B accurately identifies this scenario.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
the playbook has a 'failed_when' condition that stops execution
Why it's wrong here
A 'failed_when' condition would cause the play to stop on failure, but it would not normally result in PLAY RECAP showing only one host unless all hosts fail. The scenario describes a successful run on one host.
- ✓
the inventory contains only one host
Why this is correct
Correct. If the inventory contains only one host, the playbook will run on that host and then finish, producing a PLAY RECAP with exactly one host. This is the most likely reason given the behavior described.
- ✗
the play uses 'delegate_to' incorrectly
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect delegate_to usage would misdirect a task to another host, not truncate the play after one host; serial: 1 runs the whole play per host, so a failure or unreachable host on the first batch halts the run. It is tempting because delegate_to genuinely causes unexpected host targeting in other scenarios.
- ✗
the playbook does not have any task that triggers the next batch, and 'serial' only controls concurrency, not retry
Why it's wrong here
While 'serial: 1' controls concurrency, it does not stop execution after one batch; Ansible automatically proceeds to the next host after the current batch completes. This option is incorrect because it suggests that 'serial' alone causes the playbook to stop.
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