Ansible Automation Ansible Testing with Molecule 3

Question 1

What Python package must be installed to use Molecule with the Docker driver in modern versions?

Accepted Answer

molecule-plugins[docker] (the molecule-docker package from the molecule-plugins collection)

Answer

molecule-docker (standalone package)

Answer

docker-molecule (reverse naming convention)

Answer

molecule[docker] (extras dependency)

Question 2

How do you configure Molecule to test a role on a container that uses systemd as its init system?

Accepted Answer

Use a systemd-enabled container image (e.g., geerlingguy/docker-centos8-ansible) and set privileged: true with /sys/fs/cgroup volume mount

Answer

Enable systemd in molecule.yml with 'init: systemd: true'

Answer

Use 'molecule init --systemd' when creating the scenario

Answer

Systemd testing requires the Vagrant driver—it's impossible with Docker

Question 3

What does 'ansible-lint' do in the context of Molecule testing?

Accepted Answer

It statically analyzes Ansible playbooks and roles for best practice violations, style issues, and potential bugs before running tests

Answer

It validates Ansible's YAML syntax for parsability

Answer

It runs playbooks in dry-run mode to check for logical errors

Answer

It compares role output against expected values defined in lint rules

Question 4

How do you pass variables to the role under test in a Molecule converge.yml?

Accepted Answer

Define variables in the 'vars' section of the play in converge.yml, or use a separate molecule/default/group_vars/ directory

Answer

Variables must be defined in the role's defaults/main.yml and cannot be overridden in Molecule

Answer

Use molecule.yml's 'provisioner.inventory.vars' section only

Answer

Create a .env file in the molecule/default/ directory

Question 5

What is the 'verify' phase in Molecule and what are the two main verifier options?

Accepted Answer

The verify phase runs post-role assertions to confirm correct configuration; main verifiers are 'ansible' (using Ansible tasks) and 'testinfra' (using Python pytest)

Answer

The verify phase validates the molecule.yml configuration; options are 'strict' and 'lenient'

Answer

The verify phase checks idempotency; options are 'task-level' and 'play-level'

Answer

The verify phase runs the role in check mode; options are 'diff' and 'nodiff'

Question 6

How do you run Molecule tests for all roles in an Ansible collection simultaneously?

Accepted Answer

Use 'molecule test --all' within each role directory, or configure a CI matrix job that iterates over all roles and runs 'molecule test' in each

Answer

Run 'molecule test --collection' from the collection root

Answer

Use 'ansible-test sanity' which runs Molecule automatically for collections

Answer

Collections cannot use Molecule—only standalone roles can