EX294 Manage inventories and credentials Practice Question
This EX294 practice question tests your understanding of manage inventories and credentials. 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.
You are an Ansible Tower administrator for a company that uses a dynamic inventory script to pull hosts from AWS. The script has been working for months, but after a recent security update, the job template that uses this inventory fails with the error: 'ERROR! Unable to parse /path/to/inventory/script.py as an inventory source'. The script is executable and the path is correct. What is the most likely cause?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The required Python modules (e.g., boto3) are missing in the Tower virtual environment.
The error 'Unable to parse /path/to/inventory/script.py as an inventory source' typically occurs when the dynamic inventory script fails to execute properly. Since the script is executable and the path is correct, the most likely cause is that the required Python modules (e.g., boto3 for AWS) are missing in the Ansible Tower virtual environment. Tower runs inventory scripts in its own Python virtual environment, and if boto3 is not installed there, the script cannot import it and fails, leading to the parse error.
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.
✓
The required Python modules (e.g., boto3) are missing in the Tower virtual environment.
Why this is correct
Security update may have changed the environment.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The inventory source type has been changed to 'Manual' instead of 'Scraped from project'.
Why it's wrong here
The error indicates it's trying to parse the script.
✗
The script has been deleted from the project directory.
Why it's wrong here
Path is still correct.
✗
The script lacks execute permissions for the Tower service user.
Why it's wrong here
Script is executable.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume the error is due to file permissions or path issues, but the real cause is a missing Python dependency in the Tower virtual environment, which is a common post-update problem.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Ansible Tower uses a dedicated Python virtual environment (typically located at /var/lib/awx/venv/ansible) to run inventory scripts and playbooks. When a dynamic inventory script imports modules like boto3, those modules must be installed in that specific virtual environment, not the system Python. After a security update, the virtual environment may have been recreated or updated, causing previously installed modules to be missing. The error 'Unable to parse' is misleading because the script is syntactically valid Python; it fails at runtime due to import errors, which Tower reports as a parse failure.
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 small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
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.
Manage inventories and credentials — This question tests Manage inventories and credentials — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The required Python modules (e.g., boto3) are missing in the Tower virtual environment. — The error 'Unable to parse /path/to/inventory/script.py as an inventory source' typically occurs when the dynamic inventory script fails to execute properly. Since the script is executable and the path is correct, the most likely cause is that the required Python modules (e.g., boto3 for AWS) are missing in the Ansible Tower virtual environment. Tower runs inventory scripts in its own Python virtual environment, and if boto3 is not installed there, the script cannot import it and fails, leading to the parse error.
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: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
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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