Advanced Ansible Interview Questions

31. How Does The Ansible Synchronize Module Work?

The synchronize module of Ansible is used for efficiently copying files between the local and remote systems. It ensures that only the changes between the source and destination are transferred, optimizing the file synchronization process.

32. How Does The Ansible firewalld Module Work?

The firewalld module in Ansible is used for design and management of firewall rules on Linux systems on using firewalld daemon. It allows in addition or removal of rules and services providing a flexible way of controlling the configuration of firewall.

33. How Is The Ansible set_fact Module Different From vars, vars_file, Or include_var?

While vars, vars_file, or include_var are used for static variable assignments, the set_fact module in Ansible dynamically sets variables during playbook execution. This dynamic nature provides flexibility by allowing the creation of variables based on the playbook’s state.

34. How Can We Delegate tasks In Ansible?

Delegating tasks in Ansible involves using the `delegate_to` parameter within a task. This allows specific tasks to be executed on a different host than the one defined in the play. It’s useful for scenarios where certain tasks need to run on a designated host.

35. What Is Ansible Registry?

Ansible registry is a mechanism to store variables persistently, enabling data to be passed between different parts of a playbook or even between plays. It provides a way to share data without the need for complex variable passing, enhancing the playbook’s modularity.

36. What Features Does The Ansible Tower Provide?

Ansible Tower offers a web-based user interface with providing functionalites such as role-based access control, job scheduling, and a centralized dashboard for visualization of playbooks run. It provides an enterprise-level solution for monitoring and management of Ansible workflows.

37. How Is Ansible Used In a Continuous Delivery Pipeline? Explain.

Ansible plays role in integration of Continuous Delivery pipeline on automating various stages including testing, deployment, and provisioning of infrastructure. Playbooks can also be used for triggering at different points in the pipeline for ensuring consistency and efficiency in the delivery process.

38. How Can You Create a LAMP stack And Deploy a Webpage By Using Ansible?

In the creation of a LAMP stack and deploy a webpage, Ansible playbooks are used for the installation and configurations of softwares such as Apache, MySQL, PHP and deploy their webpage files. Each component will be configured with assignment of specific tasks, resulting in a fully functional LAMP stack.

39. How Can You Speed Up The Management Process Inside EC2?

Management inside EC2 can be accelerated by utilizing dynamic EC2 inventory scripts. These scripts automatically fetch information about EC2 instances, allowing for dynamic and efficient management of hosts in an Ansible environment.

40. Is It Possible To Increase The Ansible Reboot Module Timeout?

Yes, the Ansible reboot module timeout can be adjusted using the `reboot_timeout` parameter. This parameter allows users to specify a longer timeout if hosts require more time to complete the reboot process.

Ansible is a configuration management tool and an open-source product from Redhat company. Before moving into the details of Ansible, let’s explore the evolution of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). The demand for an agile nature led to the rapid rise of the DevOps culture, aiming to accelerate the time-to-market for new services or features and stay ahead of competitors. Ansible has emerged as a leading configuration management and orchestration tool in the domain of DevOps, renowned for its simplicity, flexibility, and scalability. It’s widely adopted by top companies such as Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Spotify, and more, due to its robust features and seamless automation capabilities.

Here, we have curated a list of the Top 50 Ansible interview questions and answers. These questions span various aspects of Ansible, from fundamental concepts to advanced topics like playbook development, role creation, and Ansible Tower integration. Whether you are a beginner who just starting with Ansible or you are an experienced professional (5 or 10 years of experience) gearing up for an upcoming interview, this guide provides a valuable resource to enhance your understanding and confidently tackle Ansible-related questions in your upcoming Technical interview.

Initially, automation was done through scripting to replace the manual mode of workflow. However, scripting brought out challenges such as the requirement of writing different scripts on various platforms. For example, a script written for Linux wouldn’t support Windows, and separate scripts had to be provided for different Linux distributions like Red Hat, Ubuntu, Fedora, etc. The imperative nature of scripting involved specifying detailed guidelines for performing the actions making it cumbersome.

To address these challenges, configuration management tools like Ansible, Puppet and Chef have emerged. Among these such as Ansible vs Puppet, and Ansible vs Chef, Ansible gained wide popularity due to its declarative nature and its use of a push mechanism with an agentless approach. Because of the declarative nature of Ansible, Users only need to specify where to act and what action to perform through its intelligence ansible determines how to execute the action using its inbuilt callback plugins for fetching information. This approach enhances efficiency and simplifies the management of different infrastructure environments. Refer to this Terraform vs Ansible to understand the difference between configuration and Infrastructure management. The below figure illustrates the Ansible Architecture.