Astronomer Apache Airflow 3 Fundamentals · 35% practice allocation
5 free sample questions from the Authoring and Scheduling DAGs domain, with answers and explanations. The full Apache Airflow 3 Fundamentals bank has 55 questions across 4 domains. Questions are scenario-based and written from the official Astronomer exam guide.
What does the cron expression '0 6 * * 1' mean as a DAG schedule?
Cron fields are minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week: '0 6 * * 1' = minute 0, hour 6, any day, any month, day-of-week 1 (Monday) — so 06:00 every Monday. The other readings misinterpret the fields.
You want task_a and task_b to both run before task_c. Which dependency expression is correct?
[task_a, task_b] >> task_c sets both task_a and task_b as upstream of task_c, so task_c runs after both complete. Option A reverses the direction, option B makes them sequential (a→b→c, not both before c independently), and option C sets reverse dependencies.
To make a task automatically retry a few times before being marked failed, which parameters should be set (typically in default_args)?
retries sets how many times a failed task is retried, and retry_delay sets the wait between attempts — commonly placed in default_args. schedule/catchup (D) govern DAG timing, dag_id/task_id (C) are identifiers, and start_date/end_date (B) bound scheduling.
A DAG should run once every day at midnight. Which schedule preset expresses this most simply?
@daily is the preset for running once a day at midnight. @once (D) runs a single time, @hourly (A) runs every hour, and option B is false — @daily is a valid preset (equivalent to the cron '0 0 * * *').
Which parameter uniquely identifies a DAG in Airflow?
The dag_id is the unique identifier for a DAG. task_id (A) identifies a task within a DAG, run_id (D) identifies a specific DAG run, and schedule (C) defines timing — none uniquely identifies the DAG itself.
The free Apache Airflow 3 Fundamentals practice test mixes about 20 questions weighted like the exam. The full 55-question bank adds instant grading, flashcards and a timed mock exam.