Red Hat System Administration III: Linux Automation (AU294) – RHEL 10 — Lesson 1: Automation Foundations, Inventories, Configuration, and Ad Hoc Operations

Learning Objectives

• Explain the structures, services, data, settings, roles, and dependencies governing Ansible architecture and control nodes and managed nodes.
• Implement and validate inventory design, configuration precedence, and ad hoc commands using reviewable evidence.
• Evaluate the condition where the observed result differs from the approved configuration because a prerequisite, permission, dependency, or sequence was missed and select a proportionate corrective response.

Detailed Topics

• Ansible architecture applied to the course scenario, expected platform behavior, dependencies, controls, and evidence.
• control nodes and managed nodes applied to the course scenario, expected platform behavior, dependencies, controls, and evidence.
• inventory design applied to the course scenario, expected platform behavior, dependencies, controls, and evidence.
• configuration precedence applied to the course scenario, expected platform behavior, dependencies, controls, and evidence.
• ad hoc commands applied to the course scenario, expected platform behavior, dependencies, controls, and evidence.

Instructor Demonstration

The instructor traces a Linux operations team replacing manual server changes with controlled, reusable automation across a RHEL 10 estate. The walkthrough connects navigation, commands, configuration logic, system messages, and evidence captured in the RHEL automation design, playbook library, validation record, and operational handover portfolio. It also tests the exception where the observed result differs from the approved configuration because a prerequisite, permission, dependency, or sequence was missed.

Hands-On Exercise

Complete a controlled Red Hat exercise covering Automation Foundations, Inventories, Configuration, and Ad Hoc Operations and preserve the verified result in the RHEL automation design, playbook library, validation record, and operational handover portfolio.

1. Confirm scope, prerequisites, versions, identities, dependencies, and acceptance criteria.
2. Execute the workflow while recording commands, settings, outputs, events, and system messages.
3. Test normal behavior, one boundary condition, and the stated exception.
4. Document corrections, evidence, ownership, retest criteria, rollback, and handover actions.

Scenario Analysis

• Identify which object, service, policy, setting, or sequence most strongly influences Ansible architecture.
• Compare two defensible responses and explain technical, security, operational, and support trade-offs.
• Determine how the RHEL automation design, playbook library, validation record, and operational handover portfolio should be approved, retained, retested, and updated.

Troubleshooting Guidance

Start where expected behavior first differs from the observed result. Check prerequisites, identity, configuration order, version compatibility, connectivity, status, resource limits, and evidence separately. Treat “the observed result differs from the approved configuration because a prerequisite, permission, dependency, or sequence was missed” as a hypothesis until commands, logs, settings, and retest outcomes confirm the cause.

Validation Checklist

• Required platform components, identities, permissions, settings, and dependencies are present.
• The RHEL automation design, playbook library, validation record, and operational handover portfolio connects each conclusion to objective, reviewable evidence.
• Normal processing, a boundary condition, dependency behavior, and the stated exception were tested.
• Corrections, ownership, retest criteria, rollback, documentation, and operational handover are complete.

Lesson Outcome

Learners can apply Automation Foundations, Inventories, Configuration, and Ad Hoc Operations, explain the resulting platform behavior, and defend the outcome through the RHEL automation design, playbook library, validation record, and operational handover portfolio.