NCP-MCA Exam Dumps - Nutanix Certified Professional (NCP) Questions and Answers

TheLibraryin Nutanix Self-Service (formerly Calm) serves as a central repository for reusable automation assets that can be shared across multiple Blueprints and Projects. According to the Self-Service Administration Guide, the Library specifically contains:

Tasks (Scripts):The "Task Library" allows administrators to save Shell, PowerShell, Python (eScript), or HTTP tasks. These published tasks can then be imported into any blueprint, ensuring code reusability and standardization.

Variable Types (Variables):The Library also hostsVariable Types(often simply referred to as user-defined variables in the context of the library). Administrators can create and save complex variable definitions (such as lists or static values) in the Library to be reused in different blueprints without redefining them every time.

Endpoints(Option C) are configured in the global Settings or Project settings, not within the Library tab.Apps and Blueprints(Options A and D) have their own dedicated "Apps" and "Blueprints" tabs in the navigation bar.

When creating a Runbook that involves power cycling a VM (Restart), there is a gap in connectivity while the Guest OS reboots and network services initialize.

If the Runbook moves immediately from the "VM Restart" task to the "Add new credential" task (which likely uses SSH or PowerShell to connect to the VM), the connection will fail because the VM is not yet accessible.

To correct this, the administrator must insert a Delay task between the restart and the configuration step.

The sequence should be:

VM Restart:Initiates the reboot.

Delay:Pauses the runbook execution for a set duration (e.g., 60-120 seconds) to allow the OS to boot.

Add new credential:Executes the script once the VM is back online.

According to the Self-Service Administration Guide regardingError Handling in Runbook and Blueprint Tasks, there is a specific documented limitation regarding VM Power actions.

General Behavior:The error handling mechanism is designed to allow workflows to continue or alert when tasks (including VM Power On/Off) fail for reasons such as the Prism Central being unreachable or the VM being deleted.

The Exception (Option D):The documentation explicitly states:"Error handling, however, does not take into account the power on, power off, or restart task failures because of authentication errors."

If the "VM Power On" task fails specifically due to an authentication issue (e.g., token expiry or connectivity preventing authentication with the host), the standard error handling flow may not trigger as expected, matching the scenario described.

Option A is incorrect because Self-Servicecanhandle infrastructure task failures (like Power On), with specific exceptions like the one noted in D.

To satisfy the requirement where a user mustmanually entera value (Cost Center) at request time, and have that specific value applied to the resulting VM'sCategory, the administrator must use aRuntime Variablecombined with aTask.

Runtime Variable:Configuring a variable (e.g., @@{cost_center}@@) as "Runtime" in the Blueprint ensures that the Self-Service Marketplace prompts the user to input this data when they click "Launch."

Task for Categorization:In standard Self-Service blueprints, Categories defined in the VM configuration pane are typically static or tied to the Project/Environment defaults. To apply adynamiccategory based on a specific user input string, the administrator creates aTask(typically a script using the API or a "Set Category" action if available in the version) that runs post-create. This task takes the value from the runtime variable and updates the VM entity with the corresponding CostCenter:Value category tag.

Why not others?

Option Auses a "Pre-Defined" variable, which typically implies a static value fixed by the admin, not input by the user.

Option Csuggests using the Environment to set the value. Environments are used to map deployments to infrastructure (e.g., "Production" vs "Dev" clusters) and do not support dynamic injection of arbitrary user strings into category values during the launch process.

Option Dsuggests associating the variable to the Category in theProject. Project-level categories are generally static defaults applied toallworkloads in that project (e.g., all VMs in the "HR Project" get CostCenter:HR), which contradicts the requirement for therequesterto enter the specific cost center at launch.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation

Self-Service supports provisioning into:

AWS

Azure

GCP

VMware

Nutanix AHV

To deploy into external clouds, Calm requires:

AProvider Account(credentials + API endpoints + permissions)

Assigned to theProject

Without a Provider Account, the Project cannot access cloud infrastructure and provisioning fails.

Documentation is explicit:

A Projectmusthave at least one Provider Account to enable cloud provisioning.

Thus the correct answer isD.

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.

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.

In a Nutanix Self-Service Blueprint, actions that affect theentire application lifecycleor its structural configuration are defined asProfile Actions.

Application Profile Actions:These are operations that run at the level of the Application Profile.

Custom Profile Actions:To enable capabilities likeScale Out(adding more replicas),Scale In(removing replicas), orUpgrade(updating the application software across the deployment), the developer createsCustom Profile Actions.

These actions are distinct from "Service Actions" (which apply to a single VM/Service, like "Restart Apache").

Once defined, these Custom Profile Actions appear as buttons on the "Manage" tab of the deployed application, allowing the application admin to trigger the scaling or upgrade workflows defined by the developer.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation

Nutanix Calm naming macros:

@@{calm_random}@@→ Generates a random short string,not guaranteed uniqueacross deployments.

@@{calm_unique}@@→ Generates a unique, monotonically increasing integerguaranteed not to repeat.

Static values (e.g., WNSRV0001) will always collide.

Calm documentation specifies:

calm_uniqueshould be used when a deterministic, guaranteed unique VM name is required across multiple deployments.

Therefore, the correct VM naming pattern is:

✔WNSRV@@{calm_unique}@@

Nutanix Calm documentation states thatApplication Profiles (App Profiles)define:

Default variable values

Deployment targets (cluster, subnet, environment)

Runtime configuration differences across environments

App Profiles act aslogical deployment configurationswithin a blueprint, allowing the same blueprint to be deployed differently across staging, test, or production environments.

Thus, the correct answer isC. App Profiles.