EX294 Manage task execution and roles Practice Question
Network Topology
Refer to the exhibit. The administrator runs the playbook with the 'deploy' tag, but all tasks are skipped. What is the most likely reason?
⚠ Common exam trap
EX294 often tests the misconception that tags applied at the play or role-inclusion level automatically propagate to all tasks inside a role — they do not unless 'apply' or explicit task tags are used, leading to silent skips.
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 --tags option filters tasks; only tasks with the 'deploy' tag run, but none of the role tasks have that tag.
Ansible's --tags option filters task execution so that only tasks tagged with the specified tag(s) run. If the playbook is executed with '--tags deploy' but none of the tasks inside the 'database' role have the 'deploy' tag applied, all tasks are skipped. This is the most likely reason given the symptom that all tasks are skipped rather than an error being raised.
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 --tags option filters tasks; only tasks with the 'deploy' tag run, but none of the role tasks have that tag.
Why this is correct
The `--tags deploy` filter runs only tasks carrying that tag, so untagged role tasks are skipped entirely. Since Ansible applies tag filtering at task level and roles do not inherit tags from the play, every task lacking an explicit `deploy` tag is excluded, producing the all-skipped output described in the stem.
- ✗
The role 'database' is not found in the roles_path.
Why it's wrong here
A missing role produces an error about the role not being found, not silently skipped tasks. Tag filtering skips tasks cleanly without role-resolution failures. It is tempting because roles_path misconfiguration does break role loading, but that scenario yields a fatal error rather than the observed skip behaviour.
- ✗
The inventory host db1.example.com is not in the dbservers group.
Why it's wrong here
An absent host in the group means the play targets no managed nodes, so tasks are not skipped but simply never run, and no task output appears. It is tempting because inventory grouping errors do prevent execution, but the symptom would be an empty host list, not skipped tasks.
- ✗
The tags in the role tasks conflict with the play tags, causing a syntax error.
Why it's wrong here
Conflicting tags do not cause a syntax error; Ansible simply matches tasks whose tags intersect the requested ones. A syntax error would abort the run entirely rather than skip tasks. It is tempting because tag mismatches do cause skipping, but the mechanism is non-matching tags, not a parse failure.
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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 Red Hat exam blueprint
This EX294 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Red Hat certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the EX294 exam.