Top 25 Ansible Interview Questions & Answers [For Freshers & Experienced] Must Know

Ansible Interview Questions are essentially the most researched topic on the internet nowadays owing to the recognition gained by Ansible in recent times. Automation is gaining a lot of reputation nowadays in almost every IT process because it reduces the necessity for handbook intervention and the necessity for extra resources, and Ansible helps the industry achieve it.

Ansible makes each automation in addition to Configuration Management easy. Ansible can also be new within the IT industry and has gained reputation in a very short time. It’s because it helps in automating many of the duties, saving each resources and time. 

Furthermore, it’s straightforward to study and understand. The recognition of Ansible makes extra demand for Ansible within the industry. And to satisfy that demand, extra individuals are being hired, having good information of Ansible in order that candidates can implement the identical within the projects and show it useful for the industry.

Listed below are the Ansible Interview Questions that it’s essential prepare to your next interview. The questions are for each fresher in addition to experience levels. These Ansible Interview Questions and Answers will certainly provide help to in cracking your Interview.

Ansible Interview Questions and Answers

Q1. What are the benefits of Ansible?

Ansible has a number of benefits and strengths that embrace:

• It has no brokers however wants only SSH service working on the target machines.
• It doesn’t want many resources. Therefore, there’s a low overhead.
• The one dependency of Ansible is Python, which is pre-installed in many of the systems.
• Ansible is kind of easy to understand.

Q2. What’s CD/CI in Ansible?

CI and CD are practices followed in software program development. CD abbreviates for Continuous Delivery whereas CI stands for Continuous Integration.

In CD, the software program is constructed and delivered into production whereas in CI, completely different builders engaged on completely different modules upload the integrations every day. Ansible is the perfect tool for each CD and CI because it gives a secure infrastructure for setting the required atmosphere and eventually deploying the application.

Q3. How does Ansible work?

Ansible will get often divided into two forms of servers referred to as Controlling Machines and Nodes. It’s present on the controlling machines, which additional connects to different nodes. A playbook will get run by Ansible on controlling machines that execute the Ansible modules with SSH and removes these modules when execution completes. The controlling Machines handle all of the nodes; therefore no third party tool is required.

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Q4. What’s an Ansible Playbook?

The playbook is a file where code for Ansible will get written. The Playbook follows the YAML format and is an essential function of Ansible. The files contained within the Playbook run sequentially. Overall, the Playbook is the building block of Ansible.

Q5. What’s Ansible Tower? What are its features?

Ansible Tower is a web-based solution that makes it simply accessible by IT teams. The principle function of Ansible is to behave as the hub for all automation duties. The tower can be utilized without cost for as much as 10 nodes.

Below are some of the primary features of Ansible tower:

1. Job Scheduling. 
2. It helps to schedule the roles to run later and set options for repetition.
3. Roll Based mostly Action Control: You may simply arrange different roles and supply entry to specific roles utilizing Ansible tower.
4. Totally Documented REST API: Utilizing REST API, you’ll be able to simply combine Ansible together with your already existing environment.
5. Portal Mode: Ansible Tower provides an easy to make use of UI, which is beneficial for each beginner and experienced customers.
6. Cloud Integration: Ansible Tower has compatibility with many of the Cloud Environments corresponding to Azure, RackSpace, and Amazon EC2.

Q6. What’s Idempotency?

Idempotency is an essential characteristic of Ansible, which ensures solely the required changes happen. For example, any activity could be executed a number of times on the server, however it won’t change the part, which is already working accurately. It may be applied in Ansible utilizing the attribute created.

Q7. What’s Ansible Galaxy?

Ansible Galaxy is a storehouse of various Ansible roles via which you’ll be able to share the content securely. It will get done by way of the Galaxy website, which lets the users find and share the content as per the role entry. Ansible-Galaxy is the command that you should utilize to put in the role, create a brand new role, take away the already present role, and carry out different tasks on the Galaxy website.

Q8. Tips on how to create encrypted files utilizing Ansible?

The principle command to handle the encrypted content is Ansible-vault. With this command, files could be encrypted and are used to edit, view, and decrypt the data. The brand new encrypted file is created by utilizing Ansible-vault to create a command by simply passing the file name. For example; to create Hello.yml use below command:

$ Ansible-Vault create Hello.yml

Q9. What is an ask_pass module?

ask_pass is required when password-based authentication is required to connect with the nodes. Merely add—an ask-pass possibility with Ansible command. When this selection is used, Ansible will prompt for a password from the user to attach.

Q10. What are tags?

When there’s a massive Ansible playbook, and also you need to execute part of it, it’s possible utilizing tags. Tags can be utilized on completely different structures in Ansible, however essentially the most primary use of tags is with individual tasks. Tags could be utilized to a number of tasks. That is achieved by utilizing the –tags within the command line option. So all of the tasks having this tag will get executed.

Q11. Can you filter the tasks with the help of tags?

Sure, the tasks could be filtered utilizing the Ansible tags. This may be achieved within the following methods:

1. You should use –tags option or –skip-tags option on the command-line tool.
2. You should use TAGS_RUN and TAGS_SKIP options in the Ansible configuration settings.

Q12. What’s a handler?

A Handler is an everyday playbook task, however the difference is that playbook tasks happen sequentially whereas a handler is executed when referred to as by some occasion or activity. Handlers get executed once only once all of the tasks in a selected play get completed. For example, initiating a brand new service when the configuration setting changes or set up completes.

Q13. Tips on how to check Ansible projects?

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Below three strategies can be found to check Ansible initiatives:

Asserts: Asserts matches how the check works in different languages corresponding to Python. It verifies the system has reached the actual place the place the test executes, not as a simulation, which you discover in check mode. Asserts shows that the duty did what it truly needed to do.

Check Mode: The check mode in Ansible allows users to run the playbook with out touching anything else. This means that it’ll let the consumer know what the modules would have modified if the playbook was executed with out check mode. Check mode is sort of a simulation only and is the least used option in Ansible.

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Manual Run: It verifies that the system is within the state you would want for. It’s an easy technique, but risky as a result of the outcomes won’t be as similar as within the production environment.

Q14. Tips on how to upgrade Ansible?

 Upgrading Ansible is an easy task. You are able to do it utilizing the beneath command:

sudo pip install Ansible==

Q15. When do you use {{ }}?

This is among the basic rules of Ansible: “use {{ }} besides when:”

Q16. How do you access shell environment variables?

The prevailing variables of the controlling machine could be accessed by using the “env” lookup plugin. For instance; to get the value of the management machine’s home environment variables, you’ll be able to enter:

Local_home:”{{lookup(‘env’,’HOME’)}}”

Q17. What are the Ansible Server necessities?

You should have a virtual machine where Linux is put in if you use windows. It wants Python 2.6 or above version. If you handle these requirements, then you’ll be able to continue with it.

Q18. What’s the distinction between a variable name and an environment variable?

Q19. Compare Ansible with Chef. 

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Q20. What’s an ad hoc command?

Ad hoc command is a single process and fast command, which isn’t reusable. It’s primarily used with duties that get performed very rarely. For instance, if you wish to shut down all of your computer systems in a lab before holidays, then it can be achieved with a single Ansible ad hoc command. The command will get executed on /usr/bin/Ansible command-line tool. A number of tasks could be carried out utilizing an ad hoc command, corresponding to copy files, reboot servers, manage users, manage packages, etc.

Q21. What’s Configuration Management, and how does it help an organization?

Configuration Management is used to deal with the updates systematically and preserve its integrity. With configuration administration, all of the updates made are maintained and tracked within the system and be sure that the system is updated. Configuration Administration helps organizations within the following methods:

•         It helps to find out what modifications are required with the modifications in user requirements.
•         Reverting again to the earlier version, in case the up to date model is faulty.
•         It replaces the inaccurate element as a result of the user can’t discover out this accurately.
•         It updates an implementation due to changes within the requirements for the reason that earlier implementation.

Q22. What are the different components of Ansible? Explain Ansible architecture.

Ansible Automation Engine is the primary element of Ansible, which straight communicates with the configuration administration database, completely different cloud services, and users writing playbooks.

Ansible Automation Engine has the below elements:

•  Inventories: It comprises the placement of all of the nodes, databases, and servers.
•  APIs: Ansible APIs work like other APIs. The Ansible APIs assist in commuting completely different cloud services and private or public services.
• Modules: The Ansible modules are used for automating the types of tasks. These modules assist in managing libraries, packages, files, system resources, and extra. Ansible has roughly 450 modules, which might automate nearly every thing within the Ansible atmosphere.
• Plugins: Ansible plugins assist to execute Ansible duties. Ansible provides round 100 plugins that assist in executing the task with ease.
• Networking: Ansible helps in automating various networks as well as services by creating a Playbook.
• Playbook: Playbook is the list of tasks that get executed sequentially. They comply with the YAML format and are used for the automation of tasks.
• CMDB: It’s a database containing all of the put in IT assets and the connection between them.
• Cloud: It consists of the distant server hosted on-line and used to store, manage, and process the data, as an alternative of a local server.

Q23. What is the difference between playbook and play?

A playbook comprises a number of plays, and a play comprises a number of tasks.

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Q24. How will you copy files on the target host recursively?

Files could be copied to the host utilizing the copy module. There’s a recursive parameter that copies all of the files present in a directory. The synchronize module can also be used for this function. You merely have to say the supply and destination directories.

Q25. Can we create modules in Ansible?

Sure, the modules can be created in Ansible. Ansible is an open-source software that works on python language. Anybody who knows coding can create modules in Ansible.

Conclusion

These are the must-read Ansible Interview Questions that make you prepared to your subsequent interview and get your dream profession as Ansible Analyst. Industries are adapting to the new technologies sooner due to the growing competitors to allow them to keep updated with the market and get forward within the race. Ansible is one such expertise that has gained lots of consideration from IT industries due to its advantages.