Ansible Automation Research & Evidence-Based Practice 3

Question 1

Which Ansible concept supports evidence-based idempotency by ensuring a task only changes the system when the desired state differs from the current state?

Accepted Answer

Idempotent modules

Answer

Idempotent modules check the current state and only make changes if needed, preventing unintended drift.

Question 2

What is the recommended practice when a playbook must run a shell command that has no equivalent Ansible module?

Accepted Answer

Use `command` or `shell` with `changed_when` to control change reporting

Answer

Using `changed_when` with `command` or `shell` prevents false positives in change reporting when running unavoidable shell commands.

Question 3

Which file in an Ansible role is the correct location to declare dependencies on other roles?

Accepted Answer

meta/main.yml

Answer

Role dependencies are declared in `meta/main.yml` under the `dependencies` key.

Question 4

What is the best-practice approach when the same variable needs different values for development vs. production environments?

Accepted Answer

Use separate inventory groups with corresponding group_vars

Answer

Separate inventory groups (`dev`, `prod`) with their own `group_vars/` files is the standard approach for environment-specific variables.

Question 5

According to Ansible documentation, what is the primary advantage of using `ansible-vault encrypt_string` over encrypting an entire variable file?

Accepted Answer

It allows encrypting individual sensitive values within an otherwise readable file

Answer

`encrypt_string` lets you store a single secret inline while keeping the rest of the variable file readable.

Ansible Automation Practice Test

Ansible Automation Practice Test

Ansible Automation Research & Evidence-Based Practice 3