EX294 Implement advanced Ansible automation Practice Question
This EX294 practice question tests your understanding of implement advanced ansible automation. 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 large enterprise manages its infrastructure with Ansible Automation Platform. The operations team reports that job runs are taking longer than expected, especially for playbooks that include role dependencies. After investigation, they notice that the control node has high CPU and memory usage during job execution. The inventory contains 500 hosts, and the playbooks use several roles that include dynamic includes (include_tasks) based on conditional variables. The team wants to reduce the load on the control node without changing the playbook logic or reducing functionality. Which action should the team take?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Enable pipelining in ansible.cfg by setting pipelining = True.
Enabling pipelining reduces the number of SSH connections Ansible makes to each host by combining multiple task operations into a single SSH session. This drastically lowers the overhead on the control node's CPU and memory, especially when executing many tasks with dynamic includes across a large inventory, without altering playbook logic.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Use the --limit flag to run the playbook against a subset of hosts.
Why it's wrong here
This does not address the control node load issue; it only reduces the scope.
✗
Increase the forks value in ansible.cfg to 100 to speed up execution.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing forks increases control node resource usage, making the problem worse.
✓
Enable pipelining in ansible.cfg by setting pipelining = True.
Why this is correct
Pipelining reduces the number of SSH operations, decreasing control node load.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Migrate to AWX to distribute job execution across multiple nodes.
Why it's wrong here
AWX is already part of AAP; migration does not directly reduce control node load.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse increasing forks (Option B) as a performance fix, but it actually increases control node load, while pipelining reduces connection overhead without changing parallelism.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Pipelining works by setting `pipelining = True` in ansible.cfg, which causes Ansible to send multiple module commands over a single SSH connection using the SSH ControlPersist feature. Without pipelining, Ansible creates separate SSH sessions for each task's module execution and file transfer, multiplying the number of connections by the number of tasks and hosts. In environments with many dynamic includes, the control node must manage these connections, leading to high CPU and memory usage; pipelining reduces this to one connection per host per batch of tasks.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
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
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Implement advanced Ansible automation — This question tests Implement advanced Ansible automation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Enable pipelining in ansible.cfg by setting pipelining = True. — Enabling pipelining reduces the number of SSH connections Ansible makes to each host by combining multiple task operations into a single SSH session. This drastically lowers the overhead on the control node's CPU and memory, especially when executing many tasks with dynamic includes across a large inventory, without altering playbook logic.
What should I do if I get this EX294 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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