1. Ansible Basics
- What is Ansible, and how does it differ from other configuration management tools like Puppet or Chef?
- Can you explain the architecture of Ansible, including control nodes and managed nodes?
- How does Ansible ensure idempotency in its operations?
- What are Ansible modules, and how are they used in playbooks?
2. Ansible Playbooks
- What is the structure of an Ansible playbook?
- How do you handle variables in Ansible playbooks?
- Can you explain the use of handlers and notify in Ansible playbooks?
- How do you manage complex task execution flows using when, loop, and block statements?
- How do you handle error handling and retries in Ansible playbooks?
3. Roles and Reusability
- What are Ansible roles, and how do they promote code reusability?
- How do you structure an Ansible role?
- What are the best practices for managing Ansible roles in large projects?
- How do you use Ansible Galaxy for role management, and what are the pros and cons?
- Can you explain the difference between roles and playbooks? When would you use each?
4. Inventory Management
- How does Ansible handle inventory, and what are the different types of inventories?
- How do you manage dynamic inventories in Ansible, especially in cloud environments?
- Can you explain how to use Ansible’s inventory plugins?
- How do you group hosts in Ansible inventory files, and why is it important?
- What are some best practices for managing large inventories in Ansible?
5. Advanced Ansible Features
- What are Ansible facts, and how do they differ from variables?
- How do you use Ansible Vault for securing sensitive data in playbooks?
- Can you explain how to create and manage custom Ansible modules?
- What is the purpose of Ansible Collections, and how do you use them?
- How do you use delegation, local_action, and run_once in Ansible?
6. Ansible with CI/CD
- How do you integrate Ansible with CI/CD pipelines?
- What are some best practices for automating deployments with Ansible in a CI/CD environment?
- How do you handle version control and environment-specific configurations in Ansible?
- Can you explain how to use Ansible with Jenkins or other CI/CD tools?
- How do you manage and execute Ansible playbooks in a multi-environment CI/CD setup?
7. Error Handling and Troubleshooting
- What are some common errors you might encounter when running Ansible playbooks, and how do you troubleshoot them?
- How do you handle task failures in Ansible playbooks?
- Can you explain the use of ignore_errors, failed_when, and changed_when in Ansible?
- How do you debug Ansible playbooks? What strategies do you use for troubleshooting?
- What tools or techniques do you use to monitor and log Ansible executions?
8. Performance Optimization
- How do you optimize Ansible playbooks for faster execution?
- What are some techniques to reduce Ansible execution times in large deployments?
- How do you handle parallelism and limit the number of simultaneous tasks in Ansible?
- Can you explain the use of async and poll in Ansible for handling long-running tasks?
- How do you manage performance trade-offs between idempotency and execution speed in Ansible?
9. Ansible and Cloud Integration
- How do you use Ansible to manage cloud resources (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP)?
- What are some best practices for using Ansible in a multi-cloud environment?
- Can you explain how to use Ansible dynamic inventory with cloud providers?
- How do you handle cloud-specific configurations and resources in Ansible playbooks?
- How do you integrate Ansible with cloud-native services, such as AWS CloudFormation or Azure ARM templates?
10. Security and Compliance
- How do you ensure that your Ansible playbooks and roles adhere to security best practices?
- What strategies do you use to manage sensitive information in Ansible, such as credentials and secrets?
- How do you use Ansible for enforcing compliance and security policies across infrastructure?
- What are some common security pitfalls in Ansible, and how do you avoid them?
- How do you handle access control and role-based permissions in Ansible Tower or AWX?
11. Ansible Tower/AWX
- What are the key features of Ansible Tower (or AWX), and how do they enhance Ansible’s capabilities?
- How do you manage users, teams, and roles in Ansible Tower?
- Can you explain how to use Ansible Tower for scheduling and orchestrating playbook runs?
- How do you integrate Ansible Tower with external authentication systems (e.g., LDAP, SSO)?
- What strategies do you use for monitoring and auditing playbook execution in Ansible Tower?
12. Ansible Best Practices
- What are some best practices for writing maintainable and reusable Ansible playbooks?
- How do you manage Ansible configurations for multiple environments (e.g., dev, staging, prod)?
- What are the benefits of using tags in Ansible playbooks, and how do you use them effectively?
- How do you manage and version control Ansible configurations in a collaborative environment?
- Can you explain how to enforce coding standards and practices within an Ansible codebase?
13. Scenario-Based Questions
- Describe a challenging problem you solved using Ansible in a production environment.
- How did you handle a situation where an Ansible playbook caused unexpected changes or downtime?
- Can you discuss a time when you had to refactor a large Ansible codebase, and what challenges you faced?
- How did you scale Ansible deployments as the infrastructure grew?
- Describe a scenario where you had to integrate Ansible with other automation tools. How did you approach it?
These questions are designed to assess a candidate’s deep understanding of Ansible, their ability to manage and optimize complex infrastructure environments, and their experience with integrating Ansible into larger DevOps practices.
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