EX294 Coordinate rolling updates Practice Question
Which TWO options are best practices for coordinating rolling updates with Ansible? (Choose exactly two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse `ignore_errors` with error handling for rolling updates, not realizing that it bypasses failure detection, whereas `max_fail_percentage` is the correct way to control abort behavior during batch updates.
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
✓
Use the serial keyword to update hosts in batches.
The `serial` keyword in Ansible controls how many hosts are updated at a time during a rolling update, allowing you to update hosts in batches to maintain service availability. This is a best practice for coordinating rolling updates as it prevents overwhelming the infrastructure and ensures that a subset of hosts remains operational while others are being updated.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Set ignore_errors: yes to ensure the playbook continues even if some hosts fail.
Why it's wrong here
ignore_errors masks failures, leading to potential inconsistency.
- ✓
Use the serial keyword to update hosts in batches.
Why this is correct
serial enables batching, which is the core of rolling updates.
- ✗
Use the default serial setting (all hosts) for simplicity.
Why it's wrong here
Default serial updates all hosts at once, not rolling.
- ✓
Set max_fail_percentage to limit the number of failed hosts before aborting.
Why this is correct
max_fail_percentage provides a safety threshold to abort on excessive failures.
- ✗
Run all hosts in parallel to minimize total update time.
Why it's wrong here
Running all hosts in parallel is the opposite of a rolling update; it risks downtime.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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