EX294 Practice Question: Create content collections and execution environments
Which directory is the default location for installed Ansible collections on a control node for a regular user?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse the system-wide default (`/usr/share/ansible/collections`) with the user-level default, forgetting that regular users lack write permissions to system directories and that Ansible defaults to the home directory for non-root installations.
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/collections
For a regular (non-root) user on an Ansible control node, the default location for installed collections is `~/.ansible/collections`. This is defined by Ansible's default collection search path, which includes the user's home directory under `~/.ansible/collections` for user-level installations. When a user runs `ansible-galaxy collection install` without specifying a custom path, the collection is placed in this directory by default.
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/collections
Why this is correct
Ansible installs collections into `~/.ansible/collections` when a regular user runs `ansible-galaxy collection install`, satisfying the stem's non-root constraint. The system-wide path `/usr/share/ansible/collections` applies only to root installs, so the per-user default is the correct location here.
- ✗
/usr/share/ansible/collections
Why it's wrong here
/usr/share/ansible/collections is searched for collections installed by RPM packages, not for those a regular user installs with ansible-galaxy. It is tempting because /usr/share/ansible holds packaged content, so it would be the correct choice when a distribution package ships the collection.
- ✗
/etc/ansible/collections
Why it's wrong here
Collections installed by a regular user land under ~/.ansible/collections, so /etc/ansible/collections is not consulted for that user. It is tempting because /etc/ansible is the system-wide configuration directory, and it would be the right location for collections installed by root for all users.
- ✗
/opt/ansible/collections
Why it's wrong here
A regular user's collections go to ~/.ansible/collections, not /opt/ansible/collections, which Ansible never searches by default. It is tempting because /opt is conventionally used for add-on software packages, so it would be the correct choice only if a third-party package placed collections there.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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