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Infrastructure as Code · Question Set
Ansible Config Mgmt interview questions for placements and exams.
Questions
13
Included in this set
Subject
Infrastructure as Code
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Difficulty
Mixed
Level of this set
Go through each question and its explanation. Use this set as a focused practice pack for Infrastructure as Code.
Playbooks are YAML-formatted files that describe the automation tasks Ansible performs on hosts. They contain plays, which map groups of hosts to roles, and tasks, which define the steps required to reach the desired system state. Playbooks are human-readable and form the foundation of Ansible automation.
For complete preparation, combine this set with full subject-wise practice for Infrastructure as Code. You can also explore other subjects and sets from the links below.
Ansible provides several mechanisms for error handling, including 'ignore_errors', 'failed_when', and 'block/rescue/always' blocks. You can allow playbooks to continue execution even after a task fails or trigger specific recovery actions. For critical tasks, conditions can be set to define what constitutes failure. These options make Ansible playbooks more resilient and production-ready.
Dynamic inventory allows Ansible to fetch host information directly from external sources like AWS, Azure, or Kubernetes rather than using static files. It uses scripts or plugins that query APIs to retrieve up-to-date lists of instances and their metadata. This is particularly useful in cloud or container environments where servers frequently change, ensuring accurate targeting of hosts during automation runs.
Ansible is an open-source automation tool used for configuration management, software provisioning, and application deployment. It allows teams to define desired infrastructure and system states through YAML-based playbooks, ensuring consistent, repeatable, and error-free operations across multiple servers.
Ansible is agentless because it connects to target systems using standard protocols like SSH or WinRM instead of installing and maintaining separate agents. This simplifies setup, reduces maintenance overhead, and improves security by minimizing running processes on managed nodes.
The inventory file is a key component in Ansible that defines which hosts or groups of hosts the automation will target. It can be static (written in INI or YAML) or dynamic (generated from cloud APIs). Inventory files make it easy to manage servers at scale and apply playbooks selectively.
Idempotency ensures that running the same Ansible task multiple times does not change the system after it reaches the target state. This guarantees predictability and safety, as repeated executions of playbooks will not break or reconfigure systems unnecessarily.
Roles help structure Ansible projects by organizing related automation content. Each role contains tasks, variables, templates, files, and handlers. Roles promote modularity and reusability, allowing teams to share and maintain clean, maintainable code bases across multiple playbooks or environments.
Handlers are special tasks in Ansible that run only when notified by other tasks. They are typically used to restart or reload services after a configuration change. This mechanism ensures that updates happen only when necessary, improving efficiency and reliability of deployments.
Ansible Galaxy is a public repository and command-line tool for discovering and sharing roles and collections. It allows teams to reuse trusted community content, saving time and ensuring consistent automation standards. Developers can publish or download reusable automation modules through the Galaxy hub.
Templates in Ansible are files that use the Jinja2 templating engine to dynamically generate configuration files based on variables and logic. They allow inserting variables, loops, and conditional statements into files before deployment. For example, you can use templates to create Nginx configuration files dynamically for different environments. This makes playbooks flexible and environment-aware while maintaining automation consistency.
Ansible Vault is a security feature that allows you to encrypt sensitive data such as passwords, keys, or API tokens. It ensures that confidential information is protected even when stored in version control. Vault files can be decrypted only with a password or key at runtime. This helps organizations maintain security compliance while automating infrastructure.
A common real-world example is automating configuration management for hundreds of web servers using Ansible. Before automation, teams manually applied patches and configuration updates, which was error-prone and time-consuming. Using Ansible playbooks, updates were applied consistently across environments within minutes. Combined with Ansible Tower, this enabled centralized control, role-based access, and automated rollback, drastically improving reliability and deployment speed in production systems.