Ansible Automation Ansible Playbook Structure and Variables 3

Question 1

What Ansible keyword allows you to iterate over a list of items in a task?

Accepted Answer

loop

Answer

The 'loop' keyword (introduced in Ansible 2.5) is the modern way to iterate over a list in a task, replacing older 'with_*' constructs.

Question 2

How do you register the output of a task into a variable in Ansible?

Accepted Answer

Use the 'register' keyword followed by the variable name

Answer

The 'register' keyword captures a task's return value into a named variable for use in subsequent tasks.

Question 3

What is the function of 'block', 'rescue', and 'always' in an Ansible playbook?

Accepted Answer

They provide structured error handling—block runs tasks, rescue handles failures, always runs regardless of outcome

Answer

'block/rescue/always' implements try/catch/finally style error handling in Ansible playbooks.

Question 4

In Ansible, what is the difference between 'import_tasks' and 'include_tasks'?

Accepted Answer

import_tasks is static (parsed upfront) enabling full tag/check-mode support; include_tasks is dynamic allowing variable-based file names

Answer

Static imports are processed at parse time (full feature support), while dynamic includes are processed at runtime (conditional file selection).

Question 5

What does the 'notify' directive do in an Ansible task, and when does the notified handler execute?

Accepted Answer

It triggers a named handler to run at the end of the play, but only if the notifying task reported a change

Answer

Handlers are triggered by 'notify' and run once at the end of the play, only when the notifying task made a change.

Ansible Automation Practice Test