Practice exam only
€18.99
30 days · Labs not included.
View exam access →EX294 · Hands-on practice
EX294 Hands-on Labs — practise in a simulated Ansible control node
Learn it. Practise it. Make it stick.
36 practical tasks + 4 troubleshooting challenges. Familiar administration workflows, gradual hints and explanations. Independent simulation — no real tenant, device or cloud resources.
First five tasks are free, repeatable and have no expiry · No credit card required.
Access options
One-time payments, no automatic renewal. The first five tasks stay free either way.
EX294 Hands-on Labs
€14.99
All labs for this course. 30 days from payment confirmation.
One-time payment · No automatic renewal.
Purchases are temporarily unavailable. Enjoy your 5 open tasks.
EX294 Practice Exam + Hands-on Labs
€29.99
Save €3.99. Exam and all labs each get 60 days.
One-time payment · No automatic renewal.
Purchases are temporarily unavailable. Enjoy your 5 open tasks.
Certificate of Completion
Finish the course. Prove it.
Complete all 36 labs and you can download a certificate of completion with your name, the skills you practised and a unique ID. Challenges are optional. Anyone can check it on a public verification page — and add it to LinkedIn in one click.
- Not self-declared. Before issuing, our server re-runs the grader on every lab you saved, so a checkbox in your browser is not enough.
- Verifiable. Every certificate has its own page at examitlab.com/verify/<ID>.
- Honest. It certifies that you completed this course. It is independent training, not an official certification.
ExamIT Lab
Certificate of Completion
Linux Automation with Playbooks
Hands-on skills course · EX294 track · 36 graded labs
Alex Morgan
has completed every hands-on lab of the course. Each task was graded on the resulting state of the managed servers and the project files — not on the commands typed.
Inventories & ad-hoc commandsPlaybooksRolesTemplatesHandlers & vaultStorage automationServices & securityNavigator
Completed
4 October 2026
4 October 2026
36/36labs
Certificate ID
LAU-7K4Q-2M9D-X8
LAU-7K4Q-2M9D-X8
Verify at examitlab.com/verify/LAU-7K4Q-2M9D-X8. This is a certificate of course completion issued by ExamIT Lab. It is independent training and not an official certification of any vendor.
Sample certificate — name and ID are fictional.
Your learning path
Work through the tasks in order — each one builds on the last.
LAB 01 · FREE
Build the inventory and ansible.cfg for the lab
Ansible configuration · 10–12 min
Open lab →LAB 02 · FREE
Prepare the managed nodes: SSH key, devops user and passwordless sudo
Managed node setup · 12–15 min
Open lab →LAB 03 · FREE
First playbook: packages, services and firewall on the web servers
Playbook creation · System administration · 12–15 min
Open lab →LAB 04 · FREE
Users and groups from a variables file, with loops
Variables · Loops · Users and groups · 12–15 min
Open lab →LAB 05 · FREE
Template the MOTD with facts and reload a service with a handler
Templates · Facts · Handlers · 12–15 min
Open lab →LAB 06 · LOCKED
Ad-hoc commands: ping, facts, command and copy without a playbook
Ansible core components · 8–10 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 07 · LOCKED
Conditionals: act only on the right hosts, using facts and groups
Conditional tasks · 10–12 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 08 · LOCKED
Error handling: block/rescue/always, ignore_errors and failed_when
Handling task failure · 10–12 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 09 · LOCKED
Register and report: collect command output into per-host and central reports
Variables · Facts · 10–12 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 10 · LOCKED
Use ansible-doc to find the right module and its options
Documentation · 6–8 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 11 · LOCKED
group_vars and host_vars: variable precedence by directory
Variables · 8–10 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 12 · LOCKED
Ansible Vault: encrypt the secrets file and use it in a play
Ansible Vault · 10–12 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 13 · LOCKED
Jinja2 templates: generate a hosts file from inventory and facts
Templates · 10–12 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 14 · LOCKED
set_fact and custom facts in /etc/ansible/facts.d
Facts · 10–12 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 15 · LOCKED
Write a role: apache with a template, a handler and defaults
Roles · 12–15 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 16 · LOCKED
Install roles and collections from requirements files
Roles and collections · 10–12 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 17 · LOCKED
RHEL system roles: timesync and selinux
Roles and collections · 10–12 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 18 · LOCKED
Collections: install into the project and use fully qualified module names
Collections · 8–10 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 19 · LOCKED
Storage with modules: parted, lvg, lvol, filesystem and mount
System administration (storage) · 12–15 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 20 · LOCKED
Firewall rules and SELinux with modules
System administration (security) · 10–12 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 21 · LOCKED
File content: lineinfile, blockinfile, copy with content and replace
File content · 10–12 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 22 · LOCKED
Archive and unarchive across hosts
Archiving · 8–10 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 23 · LOCKED
Scheduling: cron and at modules
Scheduling · 8–10 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 24 · LOCKED
Packages and repositories: yum_repository, dnf and package facts
Packages · 8–10 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 25 · LOCKED
One playbook, three services: host-specific variables drive the tasks
System administration (services) · 10–12 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 26 · LOCKED
Users with aging, SSH keys and sudo, delivered as a role
Users and groups · 12–15 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 27 · LOCKED
NFS server and clients, automated end to end
System administration (file systems) · 12–15 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 28 · LOCKED
ansible-navigator: settings file, syntax check, check mode and a logged run
Playbook execution · 8–10 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 29 · LOCKED
Tags, --limit and --start-at-task for partial runs
Playbook execution · 8–10 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 30 · LOCKED
Delegation and run_once: a status log on the control node
Advanced playbooks · 8–10 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 31 · LOCKED
Privilege escalation per play, per task and per user
Managed node setup · 8–10 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 32 · LOCKED
Reusable task files: include_tasks versus import_tasks
Playbook creation · 10–12 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 33 · LOCKED
Troubleshoot a failing playbook with --syntax-check, -v and check mode
Handling task failure · 10–12 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 34 · LOCKED
Git basics: version the ansible project
Source control · 8–10 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 35 · LOCKED
Shell script wrapper for ansible-playbook (RHCSA foundation)
RHCSA foundation skills · 8–10 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
LAB 36 · LOCKED
Capstone: the enrolment stack — web, database and proxy in one site playbook
Capstone · 20–25 min
Included with full EX294 lab access
Troubleshooting challenges
Inspect evidence, identify the cause, make a safe fix and verify it. 4 separate exercises, included with full EX294 lab access.
Playbook unreachable: the nodes reject the control node
10–12 min
Locked · Full lab access required
The handler never fires
8–10 min
Locked · Full lab access required
Vault password changed, deployment broken
8–10 min
Locked · Full lab access required
Role installed in the wrong path
6–8 min
Locked · Full lab access required
EX294 hands-on labs — questions
- Does EX294 have labs, and can I practise them without a tenant?
- Yes. ExamIT Lab gives you 36 guided EX294 labs in a simulated Ansible control node. Nothing is deployed to a real Microsoft tenant, subscription or device, so there is nothing to set up, nothing to pay Microsoft for, and nothing you can break.
- Are the EX294 labs free?
- The first 5 labs in the learning order are free, repeatable and never expire — no credit card and no sign-up required to start. The full course of 36 labs plus 4 troubleshooting challenges is a one-time purchase with no subscription.
- What does a EX294 lab look like?
- Each lab opens a realistic simulation of a simulated Ansible control node with four managed RHEL 9 nodes — inventories, ansible.cfg, ad-hoc commands, playbooks with loops and conditionals, handlers, roles and collections, RHEL system roles, templates, Ansible Vault, ansible-navigator, storage, SELinux, firewalld, services, scheduling and NFS automation. You get a task brief, a guided or independent mode, progressive hints and a "Check configuration" button that grades the actual end state you left behind — not just the buttons you clicked.
- Do the labs cover the current EX294 exam outline?
- The labs are mapped to the objectives in Microsoft's current EX294 study guide, and we re-audit the mapping when Microsoft updates the skills measured. Combine them with the EX294 practice test on ExamIT Lab for full coverage.
- Is there a certificate at the end?
- Yes. When all 36 labs are complete you can issue a certificate of completion in your account: a PDF with your name and a unique ID, an Add to LinkedIn link and a public verification page. Before issuing, the server re-runs the course grader on every lab you saved, so it reflects work you really did. It certifies completion of this course; it is independent training, not an official certification.
- How is this different from a Microsoft Learn sandbox or a trial tenant?
- A trial tenant gives you a blank environment and no feedback. These labs give you a pre-built scenario with fictional users, devices and policies, a clear goal, and automatic checking of your result — so you practise the exact administration workflows the EX294 exam expects, in minutes, not hours of setup.
Access is per course. Sign in for account progress. After paid access expires, your saved progress is retained and the first five tasks remain free.