Apache Ambari Interview Questions

Q. What are the purposes of using Ambari shell?

Ambari Supports:

All the functionalities which are available through Ambari web-app.
It supports the context-aware availability of commands.
completion of a tab.
Also, offers optional and required parameter support.

Q. What is the required action you need to perform if you opt for scheduled maintenance on the cluster nodes?

Especially, for all the nodes in the cluster, Ambari offers Maintenance mode option. Hence before performing maintenance, we can enable the maintenance mode of Ambari to avoid alerts.

Q. What is the role of “ambari-qa” user?

‘ambari-qa’ user account performs a service check against cluster services that are created by Ambari on all nodes in the cluster.

Q. Explain future growth of Apache Ambari?

We have seen the massive usage of data analysis which brings huge clusters in place, due to increasing demand for big data technologies like Hadoop.

Hence, more visibility companies are leaning towards the technologies like Apache Ambari, for better management of these clusters with enhanced operational efficiency.

In addition, HortonWorks is working on Ambari to make it more scalable. Thus, gaining knowledge of Apache Ambari is an added advantage with Hadoop also.

Q. State some Ambari components which we can use for automation as well as integration?

Especially, for automation and Integration, components of Ambari which are imported are separated into three pieces, such as:

                 Ambari Stacks
                 Blueprints of Ambari
                 Ambari API
However, to make sure that it deals with automation and integration problems carefully, Ambari is built from scratch.

Q. In which language is the Ambari Shell is developed?

In Java language, Ambari shell is developed. Moreover, it is based on Ambari REST client as well as the spring shell framework.

Q. State benefits of Hadoop users by using Apache Ambari.

We can definitely say, the individuals who use Hadoop in their day-to-day work life, the Apache Ambari is a great gift for them. So, benefits of Apache Ambari:

              Simplified Installation process.
              Easy Configuration and management.
              Centralized security setup process.
              Full visibility in terms of Cluster health.
              Extendable and customizable.

Q. Explain Apache Ambari with its key features.
The Apache Ambari is an Apache product designed and developed with a target to simplify Hadoop projects with easy management. Ambari helps to manage Hadoop project concerning

                 Easy provisioning
                 Convenient project management
                 Hadoop cluster monitoring
                 Availability of intuitive interface
                Support for RESTful API
                Hadoop management web UI

Q. Why should you use Apache Ambari as a Hadoop user or system administrator?
There are multiple benefits that a Hadoop user can achieve by using Apache Ambari.

Using Ambari a system administrator can –

Install Hadoop across any number of hosts using a step-step wizard provided by Ambari while the Ambari handles the configuration for Hadoop installation.
Centrally manage the Hadoop services across the cluster using Ambari.
Efficiently monitor the status and health of Hadoop cluster leveraging the Ambari metrics system. Additionally, the Ambari alert framework provides the timely notification regarding any system issues like disk space issue or a node running status.
Integrate the functionalities mentioned above in an application using Ambari RESTful APIs.

Q. What are the operating systems supported by Apache Ambari?
Apache Ambari supports the 64-bit version of the following Operating Systems:

        CentOS 6 and 7
        RHEL (Redhat Enterprise Linux) 6 and 7
        SLES (SuSE Linux Enterprise Server) 11
        Ubuntu 12 and 14
       OEL (Oracle Enterprise Linux) 6 and 7
       Debian 7

Q. How many layers of Hadoop components are supported by Apache Ambari and what are they?
There are three layers of Hadoop components which are supported by Apache Ambari, and these are as follows:

1. Hadoop core components

Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS)
MapReduce
2. Essential Hadoop components

         Apache Pig
         Apache Hive
         Apache HCatalog
         WebHCat
         Apache HBase
         Apache ZooKeeper
3. Components of Hadoop support

         Apache Oozie
         Apache Sqoop
         Ganglia
         Nagios

Q. What is a repository in Apache Ambari?
A repository is a hosted space for Ambari software packages for downloading and installing purposes. Apache provides different versions of repositories which are OS specific. Moreover, based on internet accessibility, you can access either of the two formats of repositories:

Tarball (.tar format, if you don’t have internet access)
Repo file(.repo format for temporary internet access)

Q. What are the different types of Ambari repositories?
There are mainly four types of Ambari Repositories as listed below –

Ambari: This repository is used for Ambari server, the monitoring software packages, and Ambari agent.
HDP-UTILS: This repository is used for Ambari and HDP utility packages
HDP: The repository to host Hadoop Stack packages
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux( EPEL): The repository with an additional set of packages for the Enterprise Linux

Q. What is a local repository and when will you use it?
A local repository is a hosted space in the local environment for Ambari software packages. This is mainly used when the enterprise clusters have no or limited outbound Internet access.

Q. What are the benefits of setting up a local repository?
First and foremost by setting up a local repository, you can access Ambari software packages without internet access. Along with that, you can achieve benefits like –

Enhanced governance with better installation performance
Routine post-installation cluster operations like service start and restart operations

Q. Explain different life cycle commands in Ambari.
Apache Ambari has a defined set of life cycle commands to add, remove or reconfigure any of the services and these are –

      Start
      Stop
      Install
      Configure
      Status

Q. What are the tools you need to build Ambari?
Following tools are required to build Ambari –

             JDK 7
            Apache Maven 3.3.9 or later
            Python 2.6 or later
            Node JS
            G++
            Xcode in case of Mac

Q. What are the different tools used for Ambari monitoring purpose?
There are two open source monitoring tools in Ambari –

            Ganglia
            Nagios

Q. What are the particular functionalities of Ganglia in Ambari?
The functionalities of Ganglia in Ambari are –

          Monitoring the cluster
          Identify trending patterns
          Collect the metrics in the clusters
          To support detailed heatmaps

Q. What are the particular functionalities of Nagios in Ambari?
The functionalities of Nagios in Ambari are –

Health checking of the nodes and sending alerts
To send alert emails as any of the notifications type or service type.

Q. Explain some of the basic commands used for Apache Ambari server?
Following commands are used for Apache Ambari server –

To start the Ambari Server:
ambari-server start

To check the Ambari Server processes:
ps -ef | grep Ambari

To stop the Ambari Server:
ambari-server stop

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