Suggested Certification for Ansible

Red Hat Training and Certification for Ansible
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Interview Questions and Answers

Ansible can be used to deploy applications by creating playbooks that perform tasks such as: copying application files, installing dependencies, configuring databases, and starting application servers. Roles are commonly used to structure the deployment process.

You can contribute to Ansible by reporting bugs, submitting feature requests, writing documentation, or contributing code to the Ansible modules or core codebase. The Ansible project is hosted on GitHub.

Use the `-v`, `-vv`, `-vvv`, or `-vvvv` options to increase verbosity and see more details about the execution of the playbook. Also, use the `debug` module to print variables and facts to the console. You can also use `--step` to step through each task.

The `become` keyword allows you to execute tasks with elevated privileges (e.g., root or another user). It typically uses `sudo` to escalate privileges.

Ansible Facts are system information collected from managed hosts during playbook execution. They provide details about the operating system, hardware, network configuration, and other system attributes. Facts are stored as variables that can be used in playbooks.

Ansible provides the `loop` keyword to iterate over a list of items and execute a task for each item. This is useful for performing the same action on multiple files, packages, or users.

Ansible Handlers are special tasks that are only executed when notified by another task. They are typically used to restart services or perform other actions that should only be done once after multiple changes have been made.

Use Ansible Vault to encrypt sensitive data in playbooks and roles. Ansible Vault encrypts files or variables, requiring a password to decrypt and use them during playbook execution.

You can create conditional tasks using the `when` clause in a task definition. The `when` clause specifies a condition that must be true for the task to be executed. You can use variables, facts, and logical operators in the condition.

You execute an Ansible Playbook using the `ansible-playbook` command followed by the playbooks filename (e.g., `ansible-playbook my_playbook.yml`). You can also specify the inventory file using the `-i` option.

Idempotency means that running an Ansible task multiple times will have the same result as running it once. If the desired state is already achieved, the task will not make any changes. This ensures that playbooks can be run repeatedly without causing unintended side effects.

Variables can be defined in several places, including: in the inventory file (host and group variables), in playbook files (vars section), in role files (vars directory), or using command-line options (`-e`).

Ansible Tower (commercial) and AWX (open-source upstream) are web-based UIs for Ansible that provide features like job scheduling, role-based access control, graphical inventory management, and real-time monitoring of Ansible runs.

The Ansible Inventory is a file (usually `hosts`) that lists the managed hosts, grouped and organized, that Ansible will manage. It can define hostnames, IP addresses, and variables associated with each host or group of hosts.

Ansible Roles are a way to organize and reuse playbooks and related files (tasks, handlers, variables, templates, files, and meta). They promote modularity and reusability in Ansible configurations.

Ansible is agentless (no agent needs to be installed on managed nodes), uses SSH for communication, and has a simpler, more human-readable syntax (YAML). Chef and Puppet generally require agents, and have more complex configurations.

An Ansible Playbook is a YAML file that contains a list of tasks to be executed on managed hosts. It defines the desired state of the systems and orchestrates the execution of modules to achieve that state.

An Ansible Module is a standalone script that performs a specific task on a managed node. Modules are written in Python or other languages and are executed by Ansible via SSH. Examples include copying files, installing packages, or starting services.

Ansible is an open-source automation tool used for configuration management, application deployment, task automation, and IT orchestration. It uses a simple, human-readable language (YAML) and works over SSH, making it agentless.

Key components include: Ansible Playbooks (YAML files containing instructions), Ansible Modules (reusable, standalone scripts executed on managed nodes), Ansible Inventory (list of managed hosts), Ansible Roles (organize playbooks into reusable components), and Ansible Tower/AWX (web UI for managing and monitoring Ansible jobs).