Nutanix NCP-MCA Nutanix Certified Professional - Multicloud Automation (NCP-MCA 6.10) Exam Exam Practice Test

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation

Self-Service platform sync allows Prism Central to periodically collect updates from external providers.

Nutanix documentation states that the providers supportingplatform sync with a 20-minute update windoware:

Nutanix (AHV)

VMware (vSphere)

AWS

These environments support the metadata collection necessary for tracking:

IP changes

Disk resizing

VM availability

Thus, the valid set isNutanix, VMware, and AWS, makingOption Ccorrect.

The requirement to restrict VMs to specific physical hosts for licensing purposes is addressed usingVM-Host Affinity Policiesin Nutanix AHV, which relies onCategories. The complete configuration workflow is:

Categorization (Step 1):The administrator must create specific categories to tag the entities. One category (e.g., License:Oracle) is assigned to the specificHosts(the licensed ones). Another category (e.g., App:Database) is created for theVMs.

Affinity Policy (Step 2):An Affinity Policy is created in Prism Central that strictly enforces that any VM with the App:Database category must run on hosts with the License:Oracle category.

Blueprint Assignment (Step 3):In the Self-Service Blueprint, the administrator configures the VM service to automatically apply the App:Database category upon creation.

When the blueprint is deployed, the VM is created with the category, and the AHV scheduler immediately respects the Affinity Policy, ensuring the VM only starts on the licensed hosts.

Options A and C are incomplete (Categories alone do not enforce placement), and Option B (Playbook migration) is a reactive "fix" rather than a proactive placement constraint, which risks non-compliance at startup.

Nutanix Intelligent Operations (X-Play) allows administrators to create custom automation playbooks by defining triggers and associated actions. The system provides a library of pre-built actions to simplify integration.

To integrate notifications with standard collaboration platforms, the administrator should select theActionspecific to that platform. For example, theSlackandMicrosoft Teamsactions are natively available in the Action Gallery.

Slack Action:Requires entering a Slack Token and Channel Name.

Microsoft Teams Action:Requires entering a Webhook URL from the Teams instance.

Using these pre-built actions is the direct and recommended method for supported platforms, as opposed to configuring a generic Webhook manually (Option D) or modifying global settings (Option B).

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation

When configuring aSelf-Service Account for AWS, Prism Central must be able to:

Resolve AWS service endpoint URLs

Validate API calls via name-based resolution

Nutanix documentation specifies thatDNS is requiredfor all cloud-provider integrations, including AWS, Azure, and GCP.

Therefore,DNSis the required network element.

Correct answer:B

In Nutanix Intelligent Operations (X-Play), a Playbook action can have a status of"Skipped"in the execution history. This status is specific and distinct from "Failed."

Conditional Execution:Administrators can configureConditionson individual Playbook actions (e.g., "Only run this step if the Alert Severity == Critical" or "Only if entity name contains 'Prod'").

The Cause:If the Playbook triggers successfully but the specific criteria for the notification step are not met during execution, X-Playskipsthat specific action while effectively completing the Playbook run.

If the service were down (Option B) or the configuration invalid (Option A), the step would typically report a"Failed"status, not "Skipped."

Nutanix Data Protection (Leap) and Flow Security policies rely on Categories to dynamically assign policies to entities.6

In this scenario, the administrator likely set up the Protection Policy to target the Protection: Silver category (standard practice for tiered Service Level Agreements, e.g., Gold, Silver, Bronze). While Environment: Prod is used for the Security Policy (isolation), the Protection Policy specifically requires the protection category to function as intended in a tiered architecture.

If the blueprint (Marketplace item) only assigned Environment: Prod, the VM is missing the critical tag (Protection: Silver) required to associate it with the 1-hour snapshot schedule. To fix this, the blueprint must be updated to assignbothcategories (Environment: Prod AND Protection: Silver) to the VM during provisioning.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation

Nutanix Self-Service requires aTunnel VMto establish communication between Prism Central and VPC-isolated workloads.

Documentation states that:

TheTunnel VM must be able to reach Prism Centralover a routable external network.

Anexternal subnetmust exist so the Tunnel VM can initiate outbound connectivity to PC.

Thus, the correct configuration is:

Create an external subnet to allow the Tunnel VM to reach Prism Central.

Therefore,Option Bis correct.

The placement of applications in Nutanix Self-Service is dictated by the intersection of theProjectconfiguration and theBlueprintdefinition.

Project Construct:The Project defines which infrastructure accounts (Providers) are available for use (e.g., AHV, AWS, Azure). If the Project is configured to allow access tobothAWS and another provider (like on-prem AHV or Azure), the potential exists for deployment to those targets.

Blueprints:The Blueprint (or the specific Environment selected at launch) dictates where the workload actually goes. If the administrator intended "Only AWS," but the Project allows multiple providers and the Blueprints (or the users launching them) are configured to use a non-AWS environment, the application will be deployed there.

Therefore, the cause is that theProject construct(allowing multiple clouds) and theBlueprints(utilizing those available clouds) are configured to allow this distribution. To restrict it, the administrator should remove the unintended providers from the Project's "Infrastructure" or "Environment" settings.

In Self-Service, anOperatorrole can:

Create blueprints

Modify blueprints

Add tasks (shell, PowerShell, script, package installs, etc.)

Use project-provided resources (images, networks, credentials)

To deploy a Linux VM with NGINX:

Asingle-VM blueprintis sufficient.

Developer must selectLinux substrate.

Installation of NGINX occurs througha shell taskin the blueprint’s package or service.

No additional permissions are required for an Operator to perform these actions.

Therefore, the correct answer isC.

In Nutanix Self-Service (Calm),Endpointsare external execution targets used by Playbooks and Runbooks to run scripts or automation tasks. Nutanix documentation specifies the followingvalid Endpoint types:

Windows Endpoint

Linux Endpoint

Database Endpoints(e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL)

HTTP/Webhook Endpoints

Calm identifiesWindowsandLinuxmachines as valid, manageable Endpoints, meaning administrators can run scripts, commands, and automation tasks on them.

Why the correct answer is B (Windows)

Windows is explicitly listed as a supported Endpoint type.It supports script execution (PowerShell), credential storage, and remote orchestration through Calm.

Why the other options are incorrect

❌A. API Gateway

An API Gateway isnot an Endpoint typein Self-Service; it is not used for script execution or orchestration.

❌C. CentOS

Although CentOS is a Linux distribution, Calm doesnotregister distribution-specific Endpoints like "CentOS."

Instead, it uses thegeneric Linux Endpoint type, not OS-specific entries.

Therefore, "CentOS" isnota selectable Endpoint type.

❌D. Kubernetes

A Kubernetes cluster can be integrated with Nutanix, but it isnot classified as a Playbook/Runbook Endpointin Self-Service.

Kubernetes resources are handled through Calm Blueprints—not through Endpoint registration for automation tasks.

The "Environment" construct in Nutanix Self-Service is designed specifically to abstract infrastructure details from the end user while ensuring correct placement.

Within a single Project, an administrator can define multipleEnvironments(e.g., "Development" and "Production").

TheDevelopment Environmentis configured to map to theDevelopment Clusterand its associated networks.

TheProduction Environmentis configured to map to theProduction Clusterand its associated networks.

When a blueprint is launched, the user (or the application profile) simply selects the target Environment. The Self-Service engine then automatically directs the provisioning to the specific cluster defined in that Environment's settings, ensuring correct placement without requiring the user to know cluster details or manual intervention.

To automate post-deployment configuration within Nutanix Self-Service (Calm), the administrator must defineTaskswithin the Service lifecycle of the Blueprint.

Service Lifecycle:Every Service (VM) in a blueprint has lifecycle actions, such as Create, Start, Stop, and Delete.

Automation Implementation:The administrator should add specific tasks (e.g., HTTP tasks for API calls to monitoring, Scripts for tagging/email) specifically to theCreateaction (or Package Install phase) of the Service.

Execution:When the blueprint is launched, the Orchestrator provisions the VM (Substrate) and then automatically executes these defined tasks in sequence. This ensures that tagging, monitoring, and notification happen immediately and consistently for every deployment without manual intervention.

According to theSelf-Service Administration and Operations Guide(specifically the section on System Limits and Maintenance), the retention policy for soft-deleted entities is explicitly defined:

Retention Period:"Data related to deleted apps and blueprints is cleaned up after3 months."

This mechanism is part of the internal database maintenance ("garbage collection") to manage resource usage on the Prism Central/Self-Service VM while allowing for audit trails or recovery within a reasonable window.

To configure access to a new cloud target (such as Oracle Cloud, AWS, Azure, or GCP) within Nutanix Self-Service (formerly Calm), the administrator must define the connection in theProviderssection.

Providers (Settings):This is the foundational configuration area where connection details, API endpoints, and authentication credentials for external infrastructure are defined. Before any Project, Environment, or Blueprint can utilize a new cloud, the "Account" or "Provider" definition must be created here.

Workflow:The administrator navigates to theProviders(or "Cloud Providers") tab, selects the provider type (using a plugin or generic provider if Oracle Cloud is not natively listed in the version), and inputs the necessary region and credential information.

Differentiation:

Environments (B)are subsets of a provider assigned to a specific Project.

Marketplace (A)is for publishing applications, not configuring infrastructure connections.

To utilize aVM-Host Affinity Policy(which pins VMs to specific Hosts) in the context of a Self-Service Blueprint, the administrator must leverageCategories.

The Mechanism:

Infrastructure Level:The administrator creates a Category (e.g., License:Oracle) and assigns it to the specific Hosts in Prism Central. They then create an Affinity Policy that enforces "VMs with Category App:Oracle must run on Hosts with Category License:Oracle."

Blueprint Level (The Answer):In the Blueprint editor, the administrator cannot "select hosts" directly. Instead, theyassign the specific Prism Central Category(e.g., App:Oracle) to the Service (VM) definition.

Execution:When the blueprint is deployed, the VM is provisioned with that Category tag. The AHV scheduler immediately recognizes the tag and enforces the pre-existing Affinity Policy, ensuring the VM lands on the correct hosts.

Option A describes a non-existent workflow (Policies are typically global or environment-mapped, not "associated to a policy within a project" in this context). Options C and D refer to "Tags," but Nutanix uses the term "Categories" for policy enforcement.

In the Nutanix Self-Service (Calm) Blueprint lifecycle, tasks are executed in a specific order relative to the provisioning of the infrastructure (Substrate).

Pre-Create Task:This is the specific phase designed to run scripts or set variablesbeforethe VM provision call is sent to the provider (AHV).

Workflow:

The developer creates a pre-create task (e.g., a Python script) to generate the custom hostname string based on logic (e.g., date, user input, or sequence).

The script outputs this string to a variable (e.g., @@{vm_hostname}@@).

The VM Service configuration (Substrate) references this variable in the "VM Name" or "Hostname" field.

Execution:When the blueprint launches, the pre-create task runs first, populates the variable, and then the VM creation occurs using that calculated name.

Tasks in post-create or package-install (Options B and C) runafterthe VM has already been provisioned and named, making them too late for this requirement.

In Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) Intelligent Operations (formerly Prism Pro/X-Play), the primary method for troubleshooting and validating Playbook behavior is through the Plays view in Prism Central.

When a Playbook is reported as not executing as expected, the administrator must examine thePlaystab (Execution History). This view provides a detailed log of all playbook activity, including:

Status:Whether the playbook succeeded, failed, or is in progress.

Trigger Details:Information regarding what specific event or alert triggered the playbook. If the playbook is not running at all, the administrator needs to verify if the "Idle VM" trigger conditions (e.g., CPU usage threshold, duration) are actually being met by the VMs in question.

Step-by-Step Execution:If the playbook triggered but failed during execution, the history details exactly which step failed and provides error messages (e.g., permission issues or API failures).

Options such as rebooting Prism Central or increasing quotas do not address the need to diagnose why specific automation logic failed to fire or complete. Modifying the execution context is a potential fix onlyafterthe execution history reveals a permission error, but checking the history is the mandatory first step to validate the configuration.

In Nutanix Self-Service (Calm), a Quota Policy limits the total infrastructure resources that can be consumed by a Project.5

When configuring a Project, the administrator sets limits for the following specific resources:

vCPUs:The total number of virtual CPUs allocated to VMs in the project.

Memory:The total amount of RAM (in GiB) allocated to VMs.

Disk:The total storage capacity (in GiB) allocated to VMs.

These quotas are enforced during the provisioning process. If a user attempts to launch a blueprint that would cause the project to exceed these defined limits (vCPU, Memory, or Disk), the deployment will fail. Quotas do not monitor IOPs, NIC counts, or the number of blueprints stored.

To satisfy specific ordering requirements around IP assignment (before VM existence) and Security Group assignment (after VM existence but before use), the administrator usesPre-createandPost-createtasks.

Pre-Create Task (IP Address):This task executesbeforethe VM provisioning call is made to the provider. The developer uses this phase (e.g., an HTTP task or Script) to request a specific IP from an external IPAM solution. The IP is stored in a variable and passed to the VM configuration.

VM Provisioning:The VM is created (using the IP from step 1) but is configured in the blueprint to stay in aPowered Offstate initially.

Post-Create Task (Security Group):This task executesimmediately afterthe VM resource is created (so the VM UUID/NIC exists) but before the application logic starts. The developer uses this phase to make an API call (e.g., to Flow or NSX) to place the VM into the required Security Group.

Power On:A subsequent task (or manual action) powers on the VM, ensuring it boots up with the correct IP and within the correct security boundary.

Option C is the only combination that covers both the "Before Creation" and "After Creation" phases required.

To "compile a list" of entities using Intelligent Operations (X-Play) without manually tracking them, the administrator should leverage theCategorizationfeature, which acts as a dynamic tagging system.

Trigger (Event):The restoration of a VM from a snapshot generates a systemEvent(e.g., "VM Restored" or "Clone from Snapshot"). The Playbook must be configured with theEvent Triggerto detect this specific action immediately when it occurs.

Action (Assign Category):The Playbook should then execute theAssign Categoryaction. The administrator can define a specific category, such as Recovery:Restored.

Result:As the administrator restores the VMs (either manually or via script), the Playbook automatically tags each one with the Recovery:Restored category. The administrator can then simply filter the Prism Central VM list by this category to see the compiled list of all recovered VMs.

Options B and D are incorrect because a successful snapshot restoration is anEvent, not anAlert(which indicates a fault or threshold breach). Option C is incorrect because a Time Trigger cannot react to the specific action of a restore operation.

ThePolicy Engineis the core component in Prism Central that enables governance and scheduling capabilities for Self-Service.

Requirement:According to the Administration Guide, thePolicy Enginemust be enabled to useQuotas,Approvals, andSchedulerfeatures.

Function:The Scheduler relies on the Policy Engine to enforce timing and execution rules for Application Actions and Runbooks. Without this engine running, the Scheduler tab and functionality are unavailable.

To efficiently identify the source Blueprint for every VM created during a test, the administrator should utilize the built-inBlueprint Name Macrowithin a Multi-VM structure.

Macro Usage:The macro @@{calm_blueprint_name}@@ automatically resolves to the name of the blueprint being deployed (e.g., "Test_BP_Version_A").

Efficiency:By using aMulti-VM blueprint(which creates all four VMs in one deployment action) and configuring theVM Namefield in the service definition to include this macro (e.g., VM-@@{calm_blueprint_name}@@-@@{calm_array_index}@@), the administrator ensures that every resulting VM is automatically tagged with its source blueprint name in the hypervisor (Prism Element/Central) list.

Why not others:

Option Ainvolves "Single VM Blueprint" and "cloning," which is a manual or secondary process that is less efficient than a native Multi-VM definition.

Option Cuses @@{calm_application_name}@@, which identifies the specificinstance(e.g., "App-1"), not theblueprint design(e.g., "Web-Server-v2") that is being tested.

Among the options provided, calm_unique is the standard built-in macro provided by the Self-Service engine.

Purpose:The @@{calm_unique}@@ macro generates a unique, short alphanumeric string at runtime.

Use Case:It is widely used in Blueprints to ensure uniqueness for VM names, hostname prefixes, or other resources that cannot have duplicate identifiers within the infrastructure (e.g., naming a VM Web-@@{calm_unique}@@ to prevent naming collisions).

Other Options:calm_date, calm_generate_uuid, and calm_math are not standard built-in macro names in the Self-Service macro library (though calm_time and calm_now exist for time-based operations).

According to the Self-Service Blueprint and Task configuration settings, the specific parameter that enables and controls the number of retries for a failed task is theRetry Count.

Retry Count:This integer value determines how many times the system will attempt to re-execute the task if it returns a failure status. If this is set to 0 (default in some views), no retries occur. Setting it to a value of 1 or higher enables the retry logic.

Retry Interval (Option A):This setting defines thewait time(in seconds) between the attempts, but without a positiveRetry Count, the interval is irrelevant.

Timeout (Option B):This defines how long the system waits for a single attempt to complete before marking it as failed.

In the context of Nutanix Self-Service (Calm) Blueprints, anApplication Profileacts as a configuration wrapper that defines a specific variation of the application deployment.1

Combinations:It allows the blueprint developer to define multiple "sizes" or "flavors" of the same application (e.g., "Small," "Medium," "Large") within a single blueprint.

Variables:Each Application Profile maps specific values to the variables defined in the underlying Services and Packages. For example, the "Small" profile might set the vCPU variable to 2 and the Memory variable to 4GB, while the "Large" profile sets them to 8 and 32GB respectively.

User Experience:When a user launches a blueprint from the Marketplace, they select the desired Application Profile, which then determines the specific infrastructure resources (VM specs) and software packages that get deployed.2

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation

Nutanix Calm documentation states:

TheBlueprint Editoris the graphical interface used to design, visualize, and modify a blueprint’s components, such as services, packages, substrates, dependencies, and tasks.

The editor provides avisual topologyof the multi-tier application.

Thus, the correct answer isC. Blueprint Editor.

In Nutanix Prism Central Disaster Recovery, when a Prism Central instance fails over to a recovered site, several automation components—including Playbooks—must be revalidated. Nutanix documentation clearly states:

Playbooks store encrypted credentials locally in the Prism Central database.

When Prism Central is recovered on a DR site, the credential encryption keys donottransfer.

As a result,any credentials previously stored in Playbooks become invalidand must be manually re-entered.

This requirement ensures that the scripts, tasks, remediation sequences, and integrations invoked by the Playbook can authenticate properly after recovery.

Therefore:

Playbookscannot automatically use previously stored credentialsafter a DR failover.

Administrators mustre-enter all credentialsin enabled Playbooks so the automation continues functioning.

Hence, OptionCis correct.

Options A and D are incorrect because Playbooks donotautomatically retain functional credentials after DR recovery.

Option B is incorrect because the presence or absence of a credential provider does not change the need to re-enter credentials.

When configuring aNutanix(AHV) provider account within Self-Service (formerly Calm) to deploy infrastructure, the fundamental artifact required for VM provisioning is anAHV Image.

AHV Image:Nutanix AHV uses theImage Serviceto manage disk images (typically in QCOW2 or ISO format) that serve as the base for virtual machines. Before a Blueprint can be designed or deployed on a Nutanix account, a validDisk Imagemust be uploaded to the Prism Central Image Service. This image is then referenced in the Blueprint's VM configuration (Substrate) as the "Disk Image" source.

Contrast with other Providers:

VMware Template (Option B):This is the required artifact for theVMware vSphereprovider.

VHD (Option A):Typically associated with Hyper-V or Azure.

OVA (Option C):An export format, not a direct provisioning source for the Nutanix provider within Self-Service.

Therefore, ensuring anAHV Imageexists and is available on the cluster is the specific pre-configuration requirement for the Nutanix provider.

When a Playbook fails to fire despite an Alert occurring, the most common and "likely" cause is a mismatch in theTriggerconfiguration logic.

Trigger Precision:X-Play Triggers are precise. If the administrator selected theAlerttrigger, they must select asingle specificAlert Policy (e.g., "Host High Memory"). If the high-severity alert that occurred was "VM High Memory" (a different policy), the Playbook will not trigger, even if both are "High Severity."

Alerts Matching Criteria:To coverallhigh-severity alerts, the administrator must use theAlerts Matching Criteriatrigger and filter by Severity == Critical. If they used the specific "Alert" trigger or configured the criteria incorrectly (e.g., wrong entity type), the system is "working as implemented" (ignoring non-matching events), but the logic does not match the user's intent.

Autopilot (Option C):While X-Play has an Autopilot feature for KPI optimization, it is not a mandatory requirement for standard alert-based remediation playbooks to function.

The image typically shows the distinction between the "Alert" trigger (Select one policy) and "Alerts Matching Criteria" trigger (Select filters like Severity/Entity), illustrating how a configuration error here leads to the issue described in Question 40.

In Nutanix Self-Service (formerly Calm), the Infrastructure tab within a Project is the designated location for configuring and assigning provider accounts.

When an administrator navigates toProjects>[Project Name]>Infrastructure, they can click"Add Infrastructure". This workflow presents the option to select:

Account:Cloud provider accounts (e.g., Nutanix AHV, AWS, Azure, VMware) that the project is allowed to use.

Credential Provider:External credential stores (if configured) or specific credential provider accounts that the project users can access for authenticating workloads.

The other tabs serve different purposes: "Users & Groups" handles RBAC, "Policies" handles Quotas and Approvals, and "Tunnels" handles VPC network connectivity.