Palo Alto Networks (PANW) System Engineer (PSE) Practice Exam

What is Ansible primarily used for in network management?

1. It is a collection of scripts for collecting data.

2. It is an orchestration engine for task automation such as device configuration.

3. It is a module used to facilitate communication between network devices.

4. It is an open-source container orchestration system for automating software deployment, scaling, and management.

The correct answer is: It is an orchestration engine for task automation such as device configuration.

Ansible is primarily used as an orchestration engine for task automation, particularly in the context of device configuration in network management. It enables network engineers and administrators to automate the provisioning and management of network devices by using declarative configuration files, known as playbooks. These playbooks define the desired states of the network devices, allowing teams to ensure consistent configurations and reduce the potential for human error. The strength of Ansible lies in its simplicity and agentless architecture, meaning that it does not require any special software or agents to be installed on target devices. Instead, it uses standard protocols like SSH to communicate, making it a flexible solution for managing a wide range of network infrastructure. In the context of network management, automating tasks such as device configuration, updates, and compliance checks allows for more efficient operations and can assist in scaling infrastructure effectively as needs grow. This orchestration capability is what sets Ansible apart from simple scripting tools or communication modules, as it enables comprehensive automation workflows that can save time and resources in network environments.