EX294 Coordinate rolling updates Practice Question
This EX294 practice question tests your understanding of coordinate rolling updates. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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.
An organization uses Ansible Tower (AWX) for rolling updates. They have a job template that runs a playbook with serial: 5. The inventory contains 50 hosts. The update fails after the first batch due to a syntax error in a playbook. After fixing the error, the administrator wants to resume updating from where it left off without updating already successful hosts. Which approach achieves this?
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.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use the job template survey to input a list of hosts to skip, and pass it as --limit.
Option A is correct because Ansible Tower's job template survey can collect a list of hosts to skip, which is then passed as the `--limit` option to the playbook. This allows the administrator to resume the rolling update from the next batch by excluding the first five already-successful hosts, avoiding re-running the playbook on them.
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 job template survey to input a list of hosts to skip, and pass it as --limit.
Why this is correct
Correct. A survey variable can be used in the extra variables or limit field to exclude specific hosts.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Create a new job template with a dynamic inventory subset excluding the first batch hosts.
Why it's wrong here
Dynamic subsets require inventory plugin logic, not straightforward for resuming.
✗
Modify the playbook to check if a host has already been updated using a fact and skip it.
Why it's wrong here
Complex and requires careful fact management; not built-in.
✗
Rerun the entire playbook; Ansible will skip hosts that are already in the desired state.
Why it's wrong here
Idempotency may not guarantee that tasks are skipped if the state is not perfectly checked.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume Ansible's idempotency will automatically skip already-updated hosts, but in practice, idempotency depends on task design and does not prevent re-execution on successful hosts, which can cause unnecessary load or side effects in rolling updates.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The `--limit` option in Ansible restricts execution to a subset of hosts, and when combined with a job template survey, it allows dynamic exclusion of hosts at runtime. In rolling updates, the `serial` keyword controls batch size, but after a failure, the playbook run state is lost; using a survey to pass a comma-separated list of hosts to skip (e.g., `!host1:!host2`) effectively resumes from the next batch without re-running on successful hosts. This approach is preferred over inventory manipulation because it maintains the original inventory and avoids manual edits.
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.
Coordinate rolling updates — This question tests Coordinate rolling updates — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use the job template survey to input a list of hosts to skip, and pass it as --limit. — Option A is correct because Ansible Tower's job template survey can collect a list of hosts to skip, which is then passed as the `--limit` option to the playbook. This allows the administrator to resume the rolling update from the next batch by excluding the first five already-successful hosts, avoiding re-running the playbook on them.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
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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