Ansible Inventory & Configuration Management Flashcards

Which file is Ansible's primary configuration file?

Answer: ansible.cfg

ansible.cfg is the primary configuration file Ansible reads for settings like inventory path, remote user, and SSH options.

What is the order of precedence Ansible uses when searching for ansible.cfg?

Answer: ANSIBLE_CONFIG env var → ./ansible.cfg → ~/.ansible.cfg → /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg

Ansible checks for configuration in this order: ANSIBLE_CONFIG env var, then ./ansible.cfg, then ~/.ansible.cfg, then /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg.

Which ansible.cfg setting disables SSH host key checking?

Answer: host_key_checking = False

Setting host_key_checking = False in ansible.cfg disables SSH known_hosts verification, useful in dynamic environments.

Which ansible.cfg directive sets the default number of parallel host connections?

Answer: forks

The 'forks' setting in ansible.cfg (default 5) controls how many hosts Ansible connects to simultaneously.

What command shows the current Ansible configuration with effective values and their source?

Answer: ansible-config dump

ansible-config dump outputs all configuration settings with their current values and the source file they came from.

Which setting in ansible.cfg controls the default remote user Ansible connects as?

Answer: remote_user

The remote_user directive in ansible.cfg sets the default SSH user Ansible uses when connecting to managed hosts.