Apache Airflow Fundamentals · 15% of the exam

Monitoring, the UI, and the CLI: free practice questions

5 sample questions from our 12-question bank for this domain — answers and explanations included. These are the same scenario-based style as the real Astronomer exam.

1. Which Airflow UI view shows a grid of DAG runs and their task instances over time, making it easy to spot failures across runs?

  • A. The Grid view✓ Correct
  • B. The Connections page
  • C. The Variables page
  • D. The Admin menu
Explanation

The Grid view displays DAG runs as columns and tasks as rows, color-coded by state, so you can quickly see which task instances failed across runs. Connections (B) and Variables (C) are admin config pages, and the Admin menu (D) is navigation, not a run-monitoring view.

2. Which CLI command lists all DAGs known to the Airflow instance?

  • A. airflow dags list✓ Correct
  • B. airflow tasks run
  • C. airflow variables get
  • D. airflow webserver
Explanation

`airflow dags list` prints the DAGs Airflow has parsed. `tasks run` (B) runs a task, `variables get` (C) reads a variable, and `webserver` (D) starts the UI server — none lists DAGs.

3. Which Airflow UI view displays the DAG's tasks and their dependencies as a graph?

  • A. The Graph view✓ Correct
  • B. The Grid view
  • C. The Calendar view
  • D. The Logs tab only
Explanation

The Graph view renders the DAG's tasks and dependency edges, showing the workflow structure and each task's state for a selected run. The Grid view (B) is a time grid, the Calendar view (C) shows run history by date, and Logs (D) show task output.

4. In the Airflow UI, task instances are color-coded by state. What does a task colored to indicate 'failed' tell you?

  • A. The task instance ran and ended in error; check its logs to diagnose✓ Correct
  • B. The task is scheduled for the future
  • C. The task succeeded
  • D. The task was never defined
Explanation

A failed-state task ran and errored; the next step is to open its logs to find the cause. It doesn't mean scheduled (B), succeeded (C), or undefined (D) — those are different states/situations.

5. Which statement about monitoring Airflow with the UI is TRUE?

  • A. The UI lets you inspect DAG structure (Graph), run history (Grid/Calendar), task states, and logs — the primary way to observe and debug pipelines✓ Correct
  • B. The UI can only start the scheduler
  • C. The UI cannot show task logs
  • D. The UI is read-only and cannot trigger or clear tasks
Explanation

The Airflow UI is the main observability tool: Graph for structure, Grid/Calendar for history, per-task states, and logs — plus actions to trigger and clear tasks. It's not limited to starting the scheduler (B), it does show logs (C), and it is interactive, not read-only (D).

7 more questions in this domain

Practice the full bank with instant grading, flashcards, and a timed mock exam.

Start practicing free
Monitoring, the UI, and the CLI — Free Apache Airflow Fundamentals Practice Questions | DataCertPrep — Certification Prep