Ansible Questions

Over the next few days I am going to answer every one of these questions, if you have an Ansible question or want one answered below drop it in the comments – Thanks!

Ansible Basics

1. What is Ansible, and how does it work?
2. What are the key components of Ansible?
3. How do you install Ansible on different operating systems?
4. What is an inventory file in Ansible, and how is it used?
5. What are Ansible modules, and how do they work?
6. How do you write your first Ansible playbook?
7. What is an Ansible task, and how do you define one?
8. What is the difference between a playbook and a role in Ansible?
9. How does Ansible differ from other configuration management tools like Puppet or Chef?
10. Can Ansible manage Windows hosts, and if so, how?

Playbooks and Roles

11. How do you include variables in an Ansible playbook?
12. What are handlers in Ansible, and when should you use them?
13. How do Ansible roles improve playbook organization?
14. What is the purpose of the hosts field in a playbook?
15. How do you execute a specific playbook in Ansible?
16. How can you include one playbook inside another?
17. What are Ansible tags, and how are they used?
18. How do you set up a role directory structure manually?
19. Can you reuse roles across multiple playbooks?
20. How do you use the import_playbook directive?

Variables and Facts

21. What are variables in Ansible, and how do you define them?
22. What are Ansible facts, and how are they gathered?
23. How do you override variables in Ansible?
24. What is the precedence of variables in Ansible?
25. How do you use the vars_files directive to include external variable files?
26. What is an Ansible vault, and how is it used to secure sensitive data?
27. How do you use environment variables in Ansible?
28. Can you use dynamic variables in Ansible?
29. What are group variables, and how are they defined?
30. How do you use with_items to loop through a list of variables?

Inventory Management

31. What is an inventory in Ansible?
32. How do you define a static inventory in Ansible?
33. What are dynamic inventories, and how do they work?
34. How do you specify host groups in an inventory file?
35. Can you mix static and dynamic inventories in Ansible?
36. How do you use the ansible-inventory command?
37. What is the purpose of the all group in an inventory file?
38. How do you test connectivity to hosts in an inventory?
39. What are host variables, and how are they defined?
40. How do you create an inventory script for a custom inventory source?

Advanced Topics

41. What is the difference between delegate_to and run_once in Ansible?
42. How do you use the block directive to group tasks?
43. What is an Ansible callback plugin, and how do you write one?
44. How do you implement error handling in Ansible?
45. What are Ansible filters, and how do you use them?
46. How do you write a custom Ansible module?
47. What are connection plugins in Ansible?
48. How do you use Ansible with Docker containers?
49. How do you use Ansible with Kubernetes?
50. What is the meta module in Ansible?

Best Practices

51. What are the best practices for organizing Ansible playbooks?
52. How do you write idempotent Ansible tasks?
53. How do you debug issues in Ansible playbooks?
54. What are some common pitfalls while writing Ansible playbooks?
55. How do you manage large inventories in Ansible?
56. How do you use version control with Ansible?
57. What are some recommended Ansible linting tools?
58. How do you test Ansible playbooks before running them in production?
59. What are the best practices for securing Ansible Vaults?
60. How do you document your Ansible playbooks effectively?

Specific Use Cases

61. How do you use Ansible to set up an Apache web server?
62. How do you use Ansible to deploy a MySQL database?
63. Can Ansible be used to manage cloud infrastructure?
64. How do you use Ansible to provision AWS EC2 instances?
65. How do you use Ansible to configure firewalls like UFW or iptables?
66. How do you use Ansible for load balancing with Nginx?
67. What are some use cases for Ansible in DevOps workflows?
68. How do you use Ansible to deploy applications in a CI/CD pipeline?
69. How do you use Ansible to manage SSL certificates?
70. How do you use Ansible to configure DNS settings?

Performance and Scaling

71. How does Ansible handle large-scale deployments?
72. How do you optimize Ansible playbook execution?
73. What are forks in Ansible, and how do they affect performance?
74. How do you use Ansible with a centralized control node?
75. What are Ansible pull and push modes?
76. How do you use Ansible Tower or AWX for centralized management?
77. How does Ansible handle parallel execution of tasks?
78. What is the difference between serial and strategy in Ansible?
79. How do you manage high-latency networks in Ansible?
80. How do you troubleshoot performance issues in Ansible?

Integrations

81. How do you integrate Ansible with Jenkins?
82. How do you integrate Ansible with Terraform?
83. How do you use Ansible with GitLab CI/CD?
84. How do you use Ansible with HashiCorp Vault?
85. Can Ansible interact with REST APIs?
86. How do you use Ansible with Azure or Google Cloud?
87. How do you integrate Ansible with monitoring tools like Prometheus?
88. How do you use Ansible with configuration validators like Packer?
89. Can Ansible be used for compliance and auditing tasks?
90. How do you integrate Ansible with ITSM tools like ServiceNow?

Troubleshooting and Debugging

91. How do you debug a failing Ansible playbook?
92. What are the common errors in Ansible, and how do you resolve them?
93. How do you use the --check mode to preview changes?
94. What is the --diff flag, and how does it help in debugging?
95. How do you use the -vvv option for detailed output?
96. What are some tools for testing Ansible playbooks?
97. How do you troubleshoot SSH connectivity issues in Ansible?
98. Can Ansible be used for troubleshooting remote systems?
99. How do you log task execution details in Ansible?
100. How do you handle task retries in Ansible?