EX294 Coordinate rolling updates Practice Question
This EX294 practice question tests your understanding of coordinate rolling updates. 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.
Which THREE statements correctly describe the behavior of the 'serial' keyword in Ansible? (Choose exactly three.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
It can be set as a percentage of the total hosts.
Option A is correct because the 'serial' keyword in Ansible can be specified as a percentage (e.g., 'serial: 50%'), which tells Ansible to run the play on that percentage of hosts in the batch at a time. This is useful for controlling the rollout pace across a dynamic inventory where the exact host count may vary.
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.
✓
It can be set as a percentage of the total hosts.
Why this is correct
Correct. serial: 10% is valid.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
It causes the playbook to run on a subset of hosts at a time.
Why this is correct
Correct. Serial defines the batch size.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
It can be combined with max_fail_percentage to control failure thresholds.
Why this is correct
Correct. They work together to abort if too many failures.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
It guarantees that only one task runs across all hosts at any time.
Why it's wrong here
serial controls host batches, not task concurrency. Tasks run in parallel within a batch.
✗
It applies globally to all plays in the playbook.
Why it's wrong here
serial is per-play, not global.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse 'serial' with a task-level concurrency control or assume it applies globally across all plays, when in fact it is a per-play batch size setting that controls how many hosts execute the entire play simultaneously.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Ansible's 'serial' keyword works by dividing the inventory into batches and running the entire play (all tasks) on each batch sequentially. This is critical for rolling updates where you want to minimize downtime—for example, setting 'serial: 1' ensures one host updates at a time, while 'serial: 30%' adapts to inventory size changes. A subtle behavior is that 'serial' interacts with 'max_fail_percentage' to determine when to abort the play if too many hosts fail in a batch.
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: It can be set as a percentage of the total hosts. — Option A is correct because the 'serial' keyword in Ansible can be specified as a percentage (e.g., 'serial: 50%'), which tells Ansible to run the play on that percentage of hosts in the batch at a time. This is useful for controlling the rollout pace across a dynamic inventory where the exact host count may vary.
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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