Ansible EX 407 and EX 294

1. Refference Exam EX294 || EX407
https://tekneed.com/rhce-8-ex294-exam-practice-question-answer-collections/
https://gist.github.com/waseem-h/6793ba3328f27df1a815402710acb3ff
https://www.lisenet.com/2019/ansible-sample-exam-for-ex294/
https://ziyonotes.uz/rJt6DcqXr
Requirements
There are 18 questions in total.
You will need five RHEL 7 (or CentOS 7) virtual machines to be able to successfully complete
all questions.
One VM will be configured as an Ansible control node. Other four VMs will be used to apply
playbooks to solve the sample exam questions. The following FQDNs will be used throughout
the sample exam.
1. ansible-control.hl.local – Ansible control node
2. ansible2.hl.local – managed host
3. ansible3.hl.local – managed host
4. ansible4.hl.local – managed host
5. ansible5.hl.local – managed host
There are a couple of requiremens that should be met before proceeding further:
1. ansible-control.hl.local server has passwordless SSH access to all managed servers
(using the root user).
2. ansible5.hl.local server has a 1GB secondary /dev/sdb disk attached.
3. There are no regular users created on any of the servers.
Tips and Suggestions
I tried to cover as many exam objectives as possible, however, note that there will be no
questions related to dynamic inventory.
Some questions may depend on the outcome of others. Please read all questions before
proceeding.
Sample Exam Questions
Note: you have root access to all five servers.

2. Task 1: Ansible Installation and Configuration
Install ansible package on the control node (including any dependencies) and configure the
following:
1. Create a regular user automation with the password of devops. Use this user for all
sample exam tasks.
2. All playbooks and other Ansible configuration that you create for this sample exam
should be stored in /home/automation/plays.
Create a configuration file /home/automation/plays/ansible.cfg to meet the following
requirements:
1. The roles path should include /home/automation/plays/roles, as well as any other
path that may be required for the course of the sample exam.
2. The inventory file path is /home/automation/plays/inventory.
3. Privilege escallation is disabled by default.
4. Ansible should be able to manage 10 hosts at a single time.
5. Ansible should connect to all managed nodes using the cloud_user user.
Create an inventory file /home/automation/plays/inventory with the following:
1. ansible2.hl.local is a member of the proxy host group.
2. ansible3.hl.local is a member of the webservers host group.
3. ansible4.hl.local is a member of the webservers host group.
4. ansible5.hl.local is a member of the database host group.
# Solution Task1
cat inventory
[proxy]
77726771c.mylabserver.com
[webservers]
77726772c.mylabserver.com
77726773c.mylabserver.com
[database]
77726774c.mylabserver.com
[prod:children]
database
cat ansible.cfg
[defaults]
roles_path = ./roles
inventory = ./inventory
remote_user = cloud_user
forks = 10
[prvilege_escalation]
become = False

3. Task 2: Ad-Hoc Commands
Generate an SSH keypair on the control node. You can perform this step manually.
Write a script /home/automation/plays/adhoc that uses Ansible ad-hoc commands to achieve
the following:
o User automation is created on all inventory hosts (not the control node).
o SSH key (that you generated) is copied to all inventory hosts for the automation user and
stored in /home/automation/.ssh/authorized_keys.
o The automation user is allowed to elevate privileges on all inventory hosts without having to
provide a password.
After running the adhoc script on the control node as the automation user, you should be able to
SSH into all inventory hosts using the automation user without password, as well as a run all
privileged commands.
Task 3: File Content
Create a playbook /home/automation/plays/motd.yml that runs on all inventory hosts and
does the following:
1. The playbook should replace any existing content of /etc/motd with text. Text depends
on the host group.
2. On hosts in the proxy host group the line should be “Welcome to HAProxy server”.
3. On hosts in the webserver host group the line should be “Welcome to Apache server”.
4. On hosts in the database host group the line should be “Welcome to MySQL server”.
# Solution - Task 3
cat motd.yml
---
- name: Changing MOTD
hosts: all
become: yes
tasks:
- name: Copy the content to HAProxy
copy:
content: "Welcome to HAProxy servern"
dest: /etc/motd
when: "'proxy' in group_names"
- name: Copy the content to Apache
copy:
content: "Welcome to Apache servern"
dest: /etc/motd
when: "'webservers' in group_names"
- name: Copy the content to MySQL
copy:
content: "Welcome to MySQL servern"
dest: /etc/motd
when: "'database' in group_names"

4. Task 4: Configure SSH Server
Create a playbook /home/automation/plays/sshd.yml that runs on all inventory hosts and
configures SSHD daemon as follows:
1. banner is set to /etc/motd
2. X11Forwarding is disabled
3. MaxAuthTries is set to 3
# Solution - Task 4
cat sshd.yml
---
- name: Change SSH configuration
hosts: all
become: yes
tasks:
- name: Change default banner path
lineinfile:
path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
regexp: '^Banner'
line: 'Banner /etc/motd'
- name: X11 Forwarding is disabled
lineinfile:
path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
regexp: '^X11Forwarding'
line: 'X11Forwarding no'
- name: MaxAuthTries is set to 3
lineinfile:
path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
regexp: '^#MaxAuthTries'
line: 'MaxAuthTries 3'
- name: Restart the sssd service
service:
name: sshd
state: restarted
enabled: yes
- name: Check the Configuration
shell: "grep MaxAuthTries /etc/ssh/sshd_config; grep X11Forwarding
/etc/ssh/sshd_config; grep Banner /etc/ssh/sshd_config"
register: check_result
- name: Results
debug:
msg: "{{ check_result.stdout }}"

5. Task 5: Ansible Vault
Create Ansible vault file /home/automation/plays/secret.yml. Encryption/decryption
password is devops.
Add the following variables to the vault:
1. user_password with value of devops
2. database_password with value of devops
Task 6: Users and Groups
You have been provided with the list of users below.
Use /home/automation/plays/vars/user_list.yml file to save this content.
---
users:
- username: alice
uid: 1201
- username: vincent
uid: 1202
- username: sandy
uid: 2201
- username: patrick
uid: 2202
Create a playbook /home/automation/plays/users.yml that uses the vault file
/home/automation/plays/secret.yml to achieve the following:
1. Users whose user ID starts with 1 should be created on servers in the webservers host
group. User password should be used from the user_password variable.
2. Users whose user ID starts with 2 should be created on servers in the database host
group. User password should be used from the user_password variable.
3. All users should be members of a supplementary group wheel.
4. Shell should be set to /bin/bash for all users.
5. Account passwords should use the SHA512 hash format.
After running the playbook, users should be able to SSH into their respective servers without
passwords.
# Solution - Task 6
---
- name: Create users
hosts: all
become: yes
vars_files:
- ./users_list.yml

6. - ./secret.yml
tasks:
- name: Ensure group is exist
group:
name: wheel
state: present
- name: Create users
user:
name: "{{ item.username }}"
group: wheel
password: "{{ user_password | password_hash('sha512') }}"
shell: /bin/bash
update_password: on_create
with_items: "{{ users }}"
when:
- ansible_fqdn in groups['webservers']
- "item.uid|string|first == '1'"
- name: Create users in database
user:
name: "{{ item.username }}"
group: wheel
password: "{{ user_password | password_hash('sha512') }}"
shell: /bin/bash
uid: "{{ item.uid }}"
update_password: on_create
with_items: "{{ users }}"
when:
- ansible_fqdn in groups['database']
- "item.uid|string|first == '2'"
Task 7: Scheduled Tasks
Create a playbook /home/automation/plays/regular_tasks.yml that runs on servers in the
proxy host group and does the following:
1. A root crontab record is created that runs every hour.
2. The cron job appends the file /var/log/time.log with the output from the date
command.
# Solution - Task 7
---
- name: Scheduled tasks
hosts: all
become: yes
tasks:
- name: Ensure file exists
file:
path: /var/log/time.log
state: touch
mode: 0644
- name: Create cronjob for root user
cron:
name: "check time"

7. minute: "0"
user: root
job: "date >> /var/log/time.log"
Task 8: Software Repositories
Create a playbook /home/automation/plays/repository.yml that runs on servers in the
database host group and does the following:
1. A YUM repository file is created.
2. The name of the repository is mysql56-community.
3. The description of the repository is “MySQL 5.6 YUM Repo”.
4. Repository baseurl is http://repo.mysql.com/yum/mysql-5.6-community/el/7/x86_64/.
5. Repository GPG key is at http://repo.mysql.com/RPM-GPG-KEY-mysql.
6. Repository GPG check is enabled.
7. Repository is enabled.
# Solution - Task 8
---
- name: Software repositories
hosts: database
become: yes
tasks:
- name: Create msyql repository
yum_repository:
name: mysql56-community
description: "MySQL 5.6 YUM Repo"
baseurl: "http://repo.mysql.com/yum/mysql-5.6-community/el/7/x86_64/"
enabled: yes
gpgcheck: yes
gpgkey: "http://repo.mysql.com/RPM-GPG-KEY-mysql"
Task 9: Create and Work with Roles
Create a role called sample-mysql and store it in /home/automation/plays/roles. The role
should satisfy the following requirements:
1. A primary partition number 1 of size 800MB on device /dev/sdb is created.
2. An LVM volume group called vg_database is created that uses the primary partition
created above.
3. An LVM logical volume called lv_mysql is created of size 512MB in the volume group
vg_database.
4. An XFS filesystem on the logical volume lv_mysql is created.
5. Logical volume lv_mysql is permanently mounted on /mnt/mysql_backups.
6. mysql-community-server package is installed.
7. Firewall is configured to allow all incoming traffic on MySQL port TCP 3306.
8. MySQL root user password should be set from the variable database_password (see task
#5).

8. 9. MySQL server should be started and enabled on boot.
10. MySQL server configuration file is generated from the my.cnf.j2 Jinja2 template with
the following content:
[mysqld]
bind_address = {{ ansible_default_ipv4.address }}
skip_name_resolve
datadir=/var/lib/mysql
socket=/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock
symbolic-links=0
sql_mode=NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION,STRICT_TRANS_TABLES
[mysqld_safe]
log-error=/var/log/mysqld.log
pid-file=/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.pid
Create a playbook /home/automation/plays/mysql.yml that uses the role and runs on hosts in
the database host group.
# Solution - Task 9
Roles for this task is located in https://github.com/khamidziyo/ex407/tree/master/roles
cat mysql.yml
---
- name: Install mysql role
hosts: database
become: yes
vars_files:
- secret.yml
roles:
- sample-mysql
Task 10: Create and Work with Roles (Some More)
Create a role called sample-apache and store it in /home/automation/plays/roles. The role
should satisfy the following requirements:
1. The httpd, mod_ssl and php packages are installed. Apache service is running and
enabled on boot.
2. Firewall is configured to allow all incoming traffic on HTTP port TCP 80 and HTTPS
port TCP 443.
3. Apache service should be restarted every time the file /var/www/html/index.html is
modified.
4. A Jinja2 template file index.html.j2 is used to create the file
/var/www/html/index.html with the following content:
The address of the server is: IPV4ADDRESS

9. IPV4ADDRESS is the IP address of the managed node.
Create a playbook /home/automation/plays/apache.yml that uses the role and runs on hosts
in the webservers host group.
# Solution - Task 10
Roles for this task is located in https://github.com/khamidziyo/ex407/tree/master/roles
cat apache.yml
---
- name: Configure apache
hosts: webservers
become: yes
roles:
- sample-apache
Task 11: Download Roles From an Ansible Galaxy and Use Them
Use Ansible Galaxy to download and install geerlingguy.haproxy role in
/home/automation/plays/roles.
Create a playbook /home/automation/plays/haproxy.yml that runs on servers in the proxy
host group and does the following:
1. Use geerlingguy.haproxy role to load balance request between hosts in the webservers
host group.
2. Use roundrobin load balancing method.
3. HAProxy backend servers should be configured for HTTP only (port 80).
4. Firewall is configured to allow all incoming traffic on port TCP 80.
If your playbook works, then doing “curl http://ansible2.hl.local/” should return output from
the web server (see task #10). Running the command again should return output from the other
web server.
# Solution - Task 11
---
- name: Configure HAPROXY
hosts: proxy
become: yes
roles:
- geerlingguy.haproxy
vars:
haproxy_frontend_port: 80
haproxy_frontend_mode: 'http'
haproxy_backend_balance_method: 'roundrobin'

10. haproxy_backend_servers:
- name: app1
address: 54.153.48.114:80
- name: app2
address: 18.144.27.107:80
tasks:
- name: Ensure firewalld and its dependencies are installed
yum:
name: firewalld
state: latest
- name: Ensure firewalld is running
service:
name: firewalld
state: started
enabled: yes
- name: Ensure firewalld is allowing to the traffic
firewalld:
port: 80/tcp
permanent: yes
immediate: yes
state: enabled
Task 12: Security
Create a playbook /home/automation/plays/selinux.yml that runs on hosts in the
webservers host group and does the following:
1. Uses the selinux RHEL system role.
2. Enables httpd_can_network_connect SELinux boolean.
3. The change must survive system reboot.
---
- name: Security playbook
hosts: webservers
become: yes
vars:
selinux_booleans:
- name: httpd_can_network_connect
state: on
persistent: yes
roles:
- linux-system-roles.selinux
Task 13: Use Conditionals to Control Play Execution
Create a playbook /home/automation/plays/sysctl.yml that runs on all inventory hosts and
does the following:
1. If a server has more than 2048MB of RAM, then parameter vm.swappiness is set to 10.
2. If a server has less than 2048MB of RAM, then the following error message is displayed:
Server memory less than 2048MB

11. # Solution - Task 13
---
- name: Use Conditionals to Control Play Execution
hosts: all
become: yes
tasks:
- name: Change vm.swappiness
sysctl:
name: vm.swappiness
value: 10
state: present
when: ansible_memtotal_mb >= 2048
- name: Report not enough memory
debug:
msg: "Server memory less than 2048MB. RAM size: {{
ansible_memtotal_mb }}"
when: ansible_memtotal_mb < 2048
Task 14: Use Archiving
Create a playbook /home/automation/plays/archive.yml that runs on hosts in the database
host group and does the following:
1. A file /mnt/mysql_backups/database_list.txt is created that contains the following
line: dev,test,qa,prod.
2. A gzip archive of the file /mnt/mysql_backups/database_list.txt is created and
stored in /mnt/mysql_backups/archive.gz.
# Solution - Task 14
---
- name: Use Archiving
hosts: database
become: yes
tasks:
- name: Check if the directory is exist
stat:
path: /mnt/mysql_backups/
register: backup_directory_status
- name: Create directory when not exist
file:
path: /mnt/mysql_backups/
state: directory
mode: 0775
owner: root
group: root
when: backup_directory_status.stat.exists == false
- name: Copy the content
copy:
content: "dev,test,qa,prod"
dest: /mnt/mysql_backups/database_list.txt
- name: Create archive

12. archive:
path: /mnt/mysql_backups/database_list.txt
dest: /mnt/mysql_backups/archive.gz
format: gz
Task 15: Work with Ansible Facts
Create a playbook /home/automation/plays/facts.yml that runs on hosts in the database
host group and does the following:
1. A custom Ansible fact server_role=mysql is created that can be retrieved from
ansible_local.custom.sample_exam when using Ansible setup module.
# Solution - Task 15
---
- name: Work with Ansible Facts
hosts: database
become: yes
tasks:
- name: Ensure directory is exist
file:
path: /etc/ansible/facts.d
state: directory
recurse: yes
- name: Copy the content to the file
copy:
content: "[sample_exam]nserver_role=mysqln"
dest: /etc/ansible/facts.d/custom.fact
Task 16: Software Packages
Create a playbook /home/automation/plays/packages.yml that runs on all inventory hosts
and does the following:
1. Installs tcpdump and mailx packages on hosts in the proxy host groups.
2. Installs lsof and mailx and packages on hosts in the database host groups.
# Solution - Task 16
---
- name: Install packages
hosts: all
become: yes
tasks:
- name: Installs tcpdump and mailx packages on hosts in the proxy host
groups
yum:
name:
- tcpdump
- mailx

13. state: latest
when: inventory_hostname in groups['proxy']
- name: Installs lsof and mailx and packages on hosts in the database
host groups
yum:
name:
- lsof
- mailx
state: latest
when: inventory_hostname in groups['database']
Task 17: Services
Create a playbook /home/automation/plays/target.yml that runs on hosts in the webserver
host group and does the following:
1. Sets the default boot target to multi-user.
# Solution - Task 17
---
- name: default boot target
hosts: webservers
become: yes
tasks:
- name: Set default boot target to multi-user
file:
src: /usr/lib/systemd/system/multi-user.target
dest: /etc/systemd/system/default.target
state: link
Task 18. Create and Use Templates to Create Customised Configuration Files
Create a playbook /home/automation/plays/server_list.yml that does the following:
1. Playbook uses a Jinja2 template server_list.j2 to create a file
/etc/server_list.txt on hosts in the databasehost group.
2. The file /etc/server_list.txt is owned by the automation user.
3. File permissions are set to 0600.
4. SELinux file label should be set to net_conf_t.
5. The content of the file is a list of FQDNs of all inventory hosts.
After running the playbook, the content of the file /etc/server_list.txt should be the
following:
ansible2.hl.local
ansible3.hl.local
ansible4.hl.local
ansible5.hl.local

14. Note: if the FQDN of any inventory host changes, re-running the playbook should update the file
with the new values.
# Solution - Task 18
cat server_list.j2
################
{% for host in groups.all %}
{{ hostvars[host].inventory_hostname }}
{% endfor %}
################
cat server_list.yml
---
- name: Create and Use Templates to Create Customised Configuration Files
hosts: database
become: yes
tasks:
- name: Create server list
template:
src: ./server_list.j2
dest: /etc/server_list.txt
owner: cloud_user
mode: '0600'
setype: net_conf_t