Nutanix NCP-MCA Exam Dumps & Practice Test Questions

Question 1:

To enable Consumers to update attributes within a system, what feature should the Blueprint designer incorporate in the workflow?

A Custom actions
B eScript task with custom macros
C Runtime variables
D HTTP task with built-in macros

Correct answer: A

Explanation:

In workflow or process automation platforms like Blueprints, the term "Consumers" typically refers to end-users who interact with the system and may need to modify data attributes dynamically. For the Blueprint creator, the challenge is to provide a mechanism that empowers these users to make attribute changes in a controlled and interactive manner.

The correct approach is to implement custom actions (Option A). Custom actions are user-triggered operations designed to allow interaction with the system’s attributes or data fields. These actions can be tailored by the Blueprint creator to fit specific business logic and requirements, offering a flexible interface that enables Consumers to update attribute values directly. This design ensures that attribute modification is both user-friendly and aligned with the intended workflow behavior.

Looking at the other options:
B, the use of eScript tasks with custom macros, primarily focuses on automation via scripting and macros. These are more suitable for backend process automation rather than enabling user-driven attribute modification, so they do not provide the interactive capability required here.
C, runtime variables, serve as temporary data holders during process execution but do not inherently allow users to modify attributes interactively. They are more relevant for internal data flow and logic control.
D, HTTP tasks with built-in macros, are mainly for integration purposes, such as connecting with external APIs or web services. They do not offer a straightforward or user-friendly way for Consumers to change attributes within the Blueprint itself.

To summarize, when designing a Blueprint to allow Consumers the ability to modify attributes, incorporating custom actions is the most appropriate and effective choice, making Option A the correct answer.

Question 2:

A Playbook is created to run a script to resolve a known issue in an application, but it keeps failing. What is the most likely reason for the Playbook’s repeated failure?

A Slack configuration requires checking
B The script contains errors
C The Playbook steps are incorrectly ordered
D Insufficient storage space for snapshots

Correct answer: B

Explanation:

When a Playbook designed to fix a known application issue fails repeatedly during execution, the primary suspect is usually the script it is running. If the script contains errors—whether syntax mistakes, logical flaws, or incorrect instructions—it will cause the Playbook to fail regardless of other factors. This makes Option B the most plausible cause of failure.

Scripts are central to automated remediation playbooks. If a script is not properly written or tested, it can lead to runtime errors, incomplete execution, or ineffective fixes. Troubleshooting should start by reviewing the script line-by-line, validating its logic, and testing it in isolation to confirm it performs as expected.

Examining the other options:
A, Slack configuration issues, might interfere with notification delivery but generally do not prevent the Playbook or its script from executing. Unless the Playbook explicitly depends on Slack for crucial steps, this is unlikely to cause script failure.
C, incorrect sequencing of Playbook actions can cause issues, but if the script itself is faulty, the problem will persist even if the action order is adjusted. The script failure indicates a deeper problem than step order alone.
D, running out of storage for snapshots could cause failures related to backup or snapshot actions, but it wouldn’t directly cause a script to fail unless the snapshot step is critical and occurs before the failure point. Since the issue centers on the script execution, storage space is less likely the root cause.

In conclusion, the recurring Playbook failure is most likely due to an incorrect or flawed script that needs to be reviewed and corrected, confirming Option B as the right answer.

Question 3:

Which action should an administrator take to reserve a static IP address using an IP Address Management (IPAM) system?

A. Profile
B. Pre-create
C. Guest Customization
D. Create

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

When an administrator wants to secure a static IP address within an IP Address Management (IPAM) solution, the correct process is to pre-create or reserve that IP address ahead of time. This ensures that the IP is set aside exclusively for a particular device or purpose and won’t be assigned dynamically to other network clients.

Let’s analyze the options to understand why pre-create is the best choice:

• A. Profile: This typically refers to a set of configurations or policies assigned to devices or users. While profiles manage settings, they don’t handle the specific act of reserving IP addresses. Profiles are about grouping or configuring devices, not directly requesting IPs.

• B. Pre-create: This is the correct term and process. Pre-creating an IP address means the administrator explicitly reserves a particular IP address within the IPAM system before it is assigned. This step guarantees the IP won’t be dynamically allocated elsewhere, which is crucial for devices requiring fixed IP addresses, such as servers or network printers.

• C. Guest Customization: This term is usually linked with virtual machine environments, where the IP or other settings are configured during VM deployment. While related to IP assignment in virtualization, it does not directly represent reserving an IP in an IPAM system.

• D. Create: Although “Create” might seem relevant, it’s a broader term and doesn’t specifically imply reserving or pre-allocating an IP address. “Pre-create” more accurately describes the action of reserving an IP in the system for future use.

In conclusion, pre-creating an IP address is the precise operation administrators use within IPAM solutions to request and reserve a static IP, ensuring the address remains dedicated and not dynamically assigned elsewhere.

Question 4:

Which two steps must be performed to enable a developer to complete the given task involving AWS and Azure cloud resources?

A. Create AWS and Azure Providers
B. Add the Providers to the Project
C. Enable Environment for AWS and Azure
D. Upgrade Calm to version 3.2.x

Correct Answers: A, B

Explanation:

To allow a developer to successfully complete a task that involves provisioning or managing cloud resources on AWS and Azure within a platform like Calm, certain foundational configurations must be in place. Specifically, these configurations relate to how the platform connects to and manages these cloud environments.

Let’s review each option in context:

• A. Create AWS and Azure Providers: This is a critical step. Providers are integrations that link the platform (such as Calm) with external cloud environments. Creating AWS and Azure providers sets up the necessary credentials, API connections, and configurations so that the platform can communicate with these cloud services. Without creating these providers, the platform wouldn’t be able to access or manage resources on AWS or Azure.

• B. Add the Providers to the Project: After the providers are created, they must be linked or added to the specific project the developer is working on. This step ensures the project has access to these cloud environments, allowing the developer to provision resources within that project context. Without adding the providers to the project, the developer wouldn’t be able to use the AWS or Azure resources in their workflows.

• C. Enable Environment for AWS and Azure: Enabling environments typically means activating or configuring settings for infrastructure or compute resources in the cloud. While important, this step generally comes after providers are created and added. It’s not the initial step required to enable the developer to start working with these clouds.

• D. Upgrade Calm to version 3.2.x: Although maintaining up-to-date software versions is good practice, upgrading is not mandatory to complete the task unless specifically required. The key enablers here are creating and adding the providers.

Therefore, to empower the developer to complete the task involving AWS and Azure, the first essential steps are to create the AWS and Azure providers (Option A) and then add these providers to the project (Option B). These actions configure the necessary access paths between the platform and the cloud services.

Question 5:

A company new to automation wants to automate its infrastructure using Calm to ensure standardized automation. Their existing environment includes Nutanix AHV, Azure, AWS, and a small legacy vSphere setup. They plan to build a hybrid cloud environment using these platforms. 

On which two platforms can Calm be deployed? (Select two.)

A. vSphere Essential Edition
B. VMware ESXi
C. Nutanix AHV
D. Any Public Cloud

Correct Answer: B, C

Explanation:

Calm is a multi-cloud automation and orchestration platform designed to simplify deployment and management of hybrid cloud infrastructures. It supports automation across various environments, including private clouds, public clouds, and virtualized infrastructure. The goal here is to understand where Calm can actually be deployed to control and automate resources effectively.

Option A, vSphere Essential Edition, is a limited VMware license edition targeted for small environments. It often lacks advanced features needed to fully support third-party automation platforms like Calm. Because of these limitations, deploying Calm directly on this edition may not be feasible or supported, making it less ideal for automation purposes.

Option B, VMware ESXi, is a core enterprise hypervisor widely used for virtualization. Calm integrates well with VMware ESXi hosts, enabling organizations to automate VM provisioning, lifecycle management, and policy enforcement directly on ESXi environments. Since many enterprises rely on VMware’s ecosystem, Calm’s ability to deploy here makes it a natural fit.

Option C, Nutanix AHV (Acropolis Hypervisor), is Nutanix’s native hypervisor, popular in hyperconverged infrastructure setups. Calm was developed by Nutanix, ensuring deep integration with AHV for seamless automation and hybrid cloud management. Deploying Calm on AHV is a primary use case, especially for organizations moving to hyperconverged solutions.

Option D, any public cloud, is partially true in that Calm can manage workloads on public clouds like Azure and AWS. However, Calm itself is generally deployed on infrastructure controlled by the organization—private clouds or hypervisors—not directly within public clouds. It orchestrates public cloud resources but does not get deployed inside those clouds.

Therefore, the correct answers are B and C because Calm can be installed and run on VMware ESXi and Nutanix AHV environments, providing robust automation capabilities for these virtualization platforms.

Question 6:

An administrator wants to receive notifications when production virtual machines (VMs) become idle. Idle status is defined as CPU usage below 5% for over 5 minutes. These VMs are tagged with the category Environment:Production due to Flow microsegmentation rules. 

What should the administrator do to meet this requirement?

A. Create an alert for all VMs, set up a Playbook triggered by this alert, and send an email notification.
B. Create an alert for VMs in the correct category, create a Playbook triggered by the alert that takes a snapshot, then sends an email.
C. Create an alert for all VMs, create a Playbook triggered by this alert that reduces CPU count by one, then sends an email.
D. Create an alert for VMs in the correct category, create a Playbook triggered by this alert, and send an email notification.

Correct Answer: D

Explanation:

The administrator’s goal is to be alerted when production VMs are idle, defined specifically as having CPU usage below 5% for more than 5 minutes. Because the organization has many VMs but only those tagged with Environment:Production are relevant, the alerting mechanism should focus exclusively on this category to avoid unnecessary notifications.

Option A suggests creating an alert for all VMs, which is inefficient. Monitoring every VM regardless of its role will lead to irrelevant alerts for non-production machines, increasing noise and making it harder to focus on critical alerts.

Option B adds an action of taking a snapshot of the VM when it becomes idle. While snapshots can be useful for backup or rollback, taking snapshots automatically on idle VMs is unnecessary here and would waste storage resources and potentially impact performance.

Option C involves reducing CPU allocation by one when a VM is idle. Although this could be a method to optimize resources, it is not what the question requires. The administrator’s task is to get alerts, not to alter VM configurations automatically.

Option D fits the requirement precisely: create an alert scoped to VMs tagged as Environment:Production, then use a Playbook triggered by that alert to send an email notification. This way, the administrator only receives relevant alerts about production VMs becoming idle, fulfilling the monitoring requirement cleanly and effectively.

Thus, D is the best answer as it correctly filters by category, triggers the alert based on CPU usage, and sends an email without performing unnecessary or unwanted actions.

Question 7:

A developer has created a Development Blueprint that provisions both a Windows Server and an Ubuntu Server. The blueprint installs IIS on the Windows Server and MySQL on the Ubuntu Server. For troubleshooting, an Operator must be able to restart the IIS service. 

How should the developer integrate this restart capability into the Blueprint?

A. Add an Execute Task to the Restart Action of the Application Profile.
B. Add an Execute Task to the Restart Action of the Windows/IIS Service.
C. Add a Delay Task to the Restart Action of the Windows/IIS Service.
D. Create an Endpoint for the IIS server and configure a Runbook to restart the service.

Correct answer: B

Explanation:

In this scenario, the developer needs to embed a restart function for the IIS service on the Windows Server within the Development Blueprint to allow an Operator to troubleshoot by restarting IIS when needed.

Option A suggests adding an Execute Task to the Restart Action of the Application Profile. While this action could be used to restart broader application profiles, it doesn’t specifically target the IIS service itself, which reduces precision and might lead to unnecessary complexity or unintended restarts of unrelated components.

Option B involves adding an Execute Task specifically to the Restart Action of the Windows/IIS Service. This is the most direct and effective approach because it focuses precisely on the IIS service. When the operator triggers a restart, the task executes the command to restart IIS without affecting other services or parts of the application, aligning perfectly with the troubleshooting requirements.

Option C proposes adding a Delay Task to the Restart Action of the Windows/IIS Service. A delay merely pauses the restart process but does not fulfill the actual need to restart the service, making this an unsuitable choice.

Option D involves creating an Endpoint and a Runbook to restart IIS. While this method can work, it adds complexity by requiring additional configuration and maintenance. If the goal is simply to allow operators to restart IIS from within the blueprint’s actions, this is an unnecessary overhead.

Therefore, adding an Execute Task in the Restart Action of the Windows/IIS Service (Option B) provides the simplest, most direct, and maintainable solution for integrating IIS restart functionality into the blueprint.

Question 8:

An administrator runs a script on a virtual machine (VM) via Calm but encounters an error. Which two of the following are the most likely reasons for this problem? (Choose two.)

A. The firewall is blocking the VM’s port.
B. The credentials used lack adequate permissions.
C. The VM has not finished booting.
D. There is a bug or syntax error in the script.

Correct answers: B, C

Explanation:

When a script fails to execute correctly on a virtual machine through an automation tool like Calm, several environmental or configuration issues could be responsible. Let’s evaluate each option:

A. Firewall blocking VM port: Firewalls can indeed prevent communication by blocking network ports. However, this issue usually manifests as a connection timeout or inability to establish a session rather than a script execution error once connected. Unless the script depends on specific ports being open (e.g., SSH or RDP), this is less likely the root cause.

B. Insufficient permissions: This is a very common cause of script failure. If the credentials used to run the script do not have the necessary permissions—such as administrative rights or rights to execute certain commands on the VM—the script will fail. This results in access-denied errors or failure to complete operations requiring elevated privileges.

C. VM still booting: If the VM is not fully initialized and is still in the startup phase, required services, network stacks, or system processes might not be available yet. Attempting to run a script during this time can cause failure due to unavailable resources or services.

D. Errors in the script: While script bugs or syntax errors could cause execution failures, this question emphasizes environmental causes. Unless the administrator has confirmed the script’s correctness, this remains a less likely cause in this context.

Given these points, the most plausible causes are B (permissions issues) and C (VM not fully booted). Both directly affect the ability to execute scripts on a VM, making them the correct choices.

Question 9:

When designing a blueprint in an automated system, which of the following sets of tasks are appropriate for execution before resource creation and after resource deletion?

A. Create, Start, Stop, Delete
B. Execute, Set variable, HTTP, Delay
C. Create, Start, Stop, Soft Delete
D. Execute, Set variable, API, Delay

Correct answer: C

Explanation:

In blueprint creation, particularly within automation or orchestration platforms, pre-create and post-delete tasks refer to specific operations executed before creating resources and immediately after deleting them. These tasks are vital for preparing the environment before resource provisioning and for handling cleanup or soft removal processes after resource termination.

Option C includes "Create, Start, Stop, Soft Delete," which aligns well with typical pre-create and post-delete activities. For example, Create and Start are common pre-create tasks used to provision or initialize resources before they become fully operational. Stop is often a transitional or control action, while Soft Delete is a frequently used post-delete strategy, where resources are flagged as deleted without permanent removal. This allows for recovery, auditing, or delayed final deletion, adding a safety layer for critical systems.

Option A includes "Delete," which is generally a direct deletion action rather than a soft or controlled post-delete task. Also, "Start" and "Stop" might not always be relevant before creation or after deletion phases.

Options B and D list tasks like "Execute," "Set variable," "HTTP," and "API," which are typically operations run during the blueprint execution phase, not specifically aligned with pre-create or post-delete stages. These options describe mid-workflow actions rather than setup or teardown processes.

Overall, C best fits the context because it incorporates the correct lifecycle tasks associated with the initial setup and final cleanup phases of a blueprint workflow. Using Soft Delete is especially important in modern systems where resources are first softly marked deleted to avoid immediate data loss and allow proper handling before permanent deletion.

Question 10:

Which two sets of operations can be performed by users assigned the Prism Admin or Super Admin role? (Select two.)

A. Create, read, automate, or delete an action template in the action gallery
B. Create, read, update, or delete an action template in the action gallery
C. Create, read, automate, delete, enable, and run playbooks
D. Create, read, update, delete, enable, and run playbooks

Correct answers: B and D

Explanation:

Users with the Prism Admin or Super Admin roles hold elevated privileges, allowing them comprehensive management over system components such as action templates and playbooks. These roles are critical in maintaining and configuring automation workflows within the system.

Option B accurately reflects the typical permissions over action templates. Admins can create, read, update, and delete these templates in the action gallery, enabling them to customize and maintain the templates as needed. The ability to update is essential because it allows modifications to existing templates, which is a standard admin responsibility.

Option D lists the full spectrum of permissions over playbooks: create, read, update, delete, enable, and run. This is consistent with the admin role's duties because playbooks are core automation workflows that admins must be able to modify, execute, and manage lifecycle states for (enabling or disabling as necessary).

Option A is missing the critical "update" permission for action templates, making it incomplete. Automation without the ability to update limits admin flexibility.

Option C also omits "update" for playbooks, which is a necessary capability to maintain and evolve these workflows effectively.

Hence, the correct answers are B and D since they represent full CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) permissions plus additional capabilities such as enabling and running playbooks—key responsibilities for Prism Admin and Super Admin roles. These permissions ensure that admins can comprehensively control automation workflows and templates, which is vital for operational stability and efficiency.