Infrastructure as Code and Configuration Management Tools DSE Practice Questions (Page 4)

Questions 16–20

1. 16application · easy

   A system administrator manages a fleet of 200 Linux servers that are already provisioned. The servers have inconsistent package versions and configuration files. The administrator wants to bring all servers to a known good state and ensure they stay that way. The team has no existing configuration management tool and wants a solution that is easy to adopt without installing agents on every server. Which tool should they choose?

   • ATerraform, because it can manage existing servers through SSH.
   • BChef, because it uses a client-server model with agents.
   • CPuppet, because it uses a pull model with agents installed on each server.
   • DAnsible, because it is agentless and uses SSH to manage servers.
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
2. 17application · medium

   A company has a compliance requirement that all servers must have the same security hardening settings (e.g., specific SSH ciphers, password policies). They currently have a mix of manual configurations and a few scripts. They want a solution that will ensure all servers are consistently configured and that any unauthorized changes are automatically corrected. Which approach is the most effective?

   • AUse a script that runs once during the initial server setup to apply the settings.
   • BUse a monitoring tool to check the settings and alert the admin if they are incorrect.
   • CCreate a detailed runbook and have a team of admins manually apply the settings to each server.
   • DUse a configuration management tool like Ansible to define the desired hardening settings in a playbook and run it periodically.
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
4. 18foundation · easy

   What is configuration drift?

   • AThe automatic updating of software to the latest version
   • BThe gradual degradation of hardware performance over time
   • CThe process of migrating configuration from one environment to another
   • DThe difference between the actual state of a system and its desired state as defined in code
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5. 19foundation · easy

   What is the primary role of configuration management in system administration?

   • ATo monitor application performance and alert on anomalies
   • BTo maintain consistent software configuration across servers
   • CTo provision virtual machines and networks in a cloud environment
   • DTo manage user access and authentication for cloud services
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
6. 20foundation · easy

   Which of the following is an example of an imperative approach to infrastructure management?

   • AUsing a shell script that runs 'az vm create' and then 'az vm start' to create and start a VM
   • BWriting a CloudFormation template that defines an EC2 instance with a specific AMI
   • CWriting a Terraform configuration that declares a virtual machine with 2 CPUs and 8 GB RAM
   • DUsing Ansible playbook that states 'nginx should be installed and running'
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first