GH-200 GitHub Actions Exam Questions and Answers

First, the dataset should be encrypted before being stored. This ensures that the data is protected when stored in a repository.

The encrypted dataset can be stored in a GitHub secret, ensuring it is securely kept and not exposed publicly.

The encryption key needed to decrypt the dataset should also be stored in a GitHub secret to maintain security during the workflow, allowing access only when needed.

A matrix strategy allows you to define different versions of a programming language (or any other environment setting) and run tests on each version simultaneously. This is particularly useful for testing code compatibility across different versions of a language.

A matrix strategy can also be used to test code on multiple operating systems (e.g., Windows, macOS, Linux) by defining these operating systems as matrix variables. This enables cross-platform testing within the same workflow.

A composite action allows you to bundle multiple steps into a single reusable action within a workflow. It is composed of multiple run steps or other actions and can be reused across workflows, making it the perfect choice for bundling a series of steps.

GitHub Actions allows you to configure environment protection rules, where you can require specific users or teams to approve the deployment before the workflow proceeds to the next step. This ensures that the required reviewers approve the workflow before any sensitive actions (such as deployment) occur.

GitHub-hosted runners have a limit on the number of concurrent workflows (typically 20 for free-tier accounts and 5 for enterprise). If your organization needs to run more workflows simultaneously, you would need to use self-hosted runners to increase the available concurrency.

Self-hosted runners allow you to configure specialized hardware or software setups that are necessary for certain workflows. GitHub-hosted runners may not have access to custom hardware configurations like GPUs or other specialized resources, so self-hosted runners are required in such cases.

The first image shows a workflow trigger with an option for the test suite, and the chosen YAML configuration matches this interface. Specifically, the test suite input is defined with type: choice and includes the option value: functional, which aligns with the visible UI elements in the first image.

While Docker can run on various operating systems, Linux is often the most common and preferred OS for containerized workloads. Docker works well on Linux and is a widely-used platform for running containers.

For container jobs to run on a self-hosted runner, Docker must be installed and properly configured on the runner. Docker is required to build and run containerized workloads in a GitHub Actions workflow.

Setting a debug message using ::debug:: command sends a message to the logs, helping with troubleshooting and providing insight into the workflow run.

Setting output parameters using ::set-output sends data from a job step to subsequent steps or jobs, which can be used later in the workflow.

The $GITHUB_ENV environment variable is used to set environment variables that persist across steps in a workflow job. By echoing FOO=bar into $GITHUB_ENV, the variable FOO will be available in subsequent steps within the same job.

The workflow_call event is used to trigger a reusable workflow from another workflow. This allows you to create workflows that can be reused in multiple places within your organization, enabling better modularity and reducing duplication.

The Actions tab on the main page of the repository is where you can find detailed information about the workflow runs, including step failures and build logs. You can review the status of each job and step within the workflow, see the failure messages, and access logs for debugging.

Creating a separate repository for each custom action allows you to manage the versioning independently for each action. This approach provides flexibility, as each action can be updated, tested, and versioned separately, avoiding potential conflicts or dependencies between different actions.