This EX294 practice question tests your understanding of transform data with filters and plugins. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A DevOps engineer needs to extract the first 10 lines of a log file and store them in a variable for further processing. Which Ansible filter should be used?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "first"
Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
regex
Why wrong: regex filter is for regex matching and replacement, not for extracting lines.
first
Why wrong: first returns the first item of a list, not first lines of a multiline string.
slice
Why wrong: slice is used to extract a portion of a list, not specifically first lines.
head
head filter returns the first N lines of a string or list.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
head
Option D is correct because the `head` filter in Ansible extracts the first N items from a list or string. In this scenario, using `head(10)` on the log file content (read via `lookup('file', ...)`) returns the first 10 lines, which can be stored in a variable for further processing. This filter is specifically designed for such truncation tasks.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
regex
Why it's wrong here
regex filter is for regex matching and replacement, not for extracting lines.
first
Why it's wrong here
first returns the first item of a list, not first lines of a multiline string.
slice
Why it's wrong here
slice is used to extract a portion of a list, not specifically first lines.
head
Why this is correct
head filter returns the first N lines of a string or list.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates may confuse the `head` filter with the Linux `head` command or think a custom filter is needed, but Ansible provides this built-in filter specifically for list/string truncation, and the exam expects familiarity with its name and behavior.
Detailed technical explanation
The `head` filter is part of Ansible's Jinja2 template engine and works by slicing the input sequence: `head(10)` is equivalent to `list[:10]`. When applied to a multiline string (e.g., from `lookup('file', '/var/log/app.log')`), Ansible first splits the string into lines, then applies the filter. This is efficient for large logs because it avoids loading the entire file into memory if used with streaming lookups, though the `file` lookup does read the whole file. In real-world automation, this is often combined with `register` to capture output for conditional processing or alerting.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A practitioner preparing for the EX294 exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
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FAQ
Transform data with filters and plugins — This question tests Transform data with filters and plugins — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: head — Option D is correct because the `head` filter in Ansible extracts the first N items from a list or string. In this scenario, using `head(10)` on the log file content (read via `lookup('file', ...)`) returns the first 10 lines, which can be stored in a variable for further processing. This filter is specifically designed for such truncation tasks.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Yes — watch for: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 25, 2026
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.
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