Some tips or extra exercises for DO374

[MrErlison]

I failed on my first attempt at the EX374 exam.

My score wasn't bad, but I need to practice more. I need to improve the use of filters, plugins and customization of EE.

Before the exam I took all of the DO374 labs, some more than once. Everything ok, but the exam showed me some details that I couldn't solve.

Anyway, if anyone has any tips or extra exercises it would be greatly appreciated.

[Travis · Accepted solution]

@MrErlison -

I strongly encourage making up your own exercises and playing with filters. That is some of the hardest and broadest topics to cover as there are so many different filters and different ways at isolating and processing data.

I have several example Git repos that you can use to extend your practice that work directly in the course environment.

https://github.com/tmichett/do374

https://github.com/tmichett/RH294

https://github.com/tmichett/AnsiblePlaybooks

https://github.com/tmichett/Ansible_EE_Demo

The above repositories should help with some additional examples.

[bonnevil]

I'd agree with @Travis that whether or not it's key to the exam, exploring and understanding what you can do with filters is really worthwhile.  Filters unlock ways to manipulate facts and variables in ways that let you do some really awesome things with Ansible, and it's something that's hard for those courses to do full justice to given the other things they also need to cover.

[Travis · Accepted solution]

@MrErlison -

I want to be clear that I didn't say "Filtering" is the key to passing the exam and the silver bullet, I was using that as an example of where you need to work out more things and practice various filters on your own. Depending on the plugins and filters used, there are multiple ways to accomplish any given task. Think of the differences between lists and dictionaries, they both contain the same data, but the data is accessed differently and put in to use slightly differently. Lists for looping need to be flat if you are using "loop", but there is also the "with_*" that allows you to loop differently.

To be successful, I strongly recommend looking at the exam objectives: https://www.redhat.com/en/services/training/red-hat-certified-specialist-developing-automation-ansib...

mapping those back to chapters/sections and the GEs/Labs in the book. Then figure out how to do those as quickly and efficiently as possible. After you are comfortable doing the work (without the step-by-step) think OK, how might I be tested to meet this objective or how might I use what is taught in this chapter/section that might be presented differently than I practiced in the lab.

Lastly, I strongly encourage looking at the documentation and extended resources and find places where you can copy/paste/tweak/execute the code or the YAML playbook and task snippets. This can be key to save valuable time on the exam because in addition to needing to implement the playbooks correctly, you have a finite amount of time to complete all exam objectives and often time management becomes something that is super critical for an exam like this where you can spend a ton of time on a single question and not have enough time remaining to complete additional questions (that might be easier).

[MrErlison]

Hi @Travis 

Yes, I understand. I'm not looking for a silver bullet for the exam either, but rather to understand and improve my weaknesses.

Your tips are precious to me because I'm terrible at creativity. 

Thank you for your guidance. I hope to return soon with good news.