Nutanix Nutanix Certified Professional - Multicloud Automation (NCP-MCA 6.10) Exam NCP-MCA Exam Dumps: Updated Questions & Answers (January 2026)

The requirement to restrict VMs to specific physical hosts for licensing purposes is addressed usingVM-Host Affinity Policiesin Nutanix AHV, which relies onCategories. The complete configuration workflow is:

Categorization (Step 1):The administrator must create specific categories to tag the entities. One category (e.g., License:Oracle) is assigned to the specificHosts(the licensed ones). Another category (e.g., App:Database) is created for theVMs.

Affinity Policy (Step 2):An Affinity Policy is created in Prism Central that strictly enforces that any VM with the App:Database category must run on hosts with the License:Oracle category.

Blueprint Assignment (Step 3):In the Self-Service Blueprint, the administrator configures the VM service to automatically apply the App:Database category upon creation.

When the blueprint is deployed, the VM is created with the category, and the AHV scheduler immediately respects the Affinity Policy, ensuring the VM only starts on the licensed hosts.

Options A and C are incomplete (Categories alone do not enforce placement), and Option B (Playbook migration) is a reactive "fix" rather than a proactive placement constraint, which risks non-compliance at startup.

To satisfy specific ordering requirements around IP assignment (before VM existence) and Security Group assignment (after VM existence but before use), the administrator usesPre-createandPost-createtasks.

Pre-Create Task (IP Address):This task executesbeforethe VM provisioning call is made to the provider. The developer uses this phase (e.g., an HTTP task or Script) to request a specific IP from an external IPAM solution. The IP is stored in a variable and passed to the VM configuration.

VM Provisioning:The VM is created (using the IP from step 1) but is configured in the blueprint to stay in aPowered Offstate initially.

Post-Create Task (Security Group):This task executesimmediately afterthe VM resource is created (so the VM UUID/NIC exists) but before the application logic starts. The developer uses this phase to make an API call (e.g., to Flow or NSX) to place the VM into the required Security Group.

Power On:A subsequent task (or manual action) powers on the VM, ensuring it boots up with the correct IP and within the correct security boundary.

Option C is the only combination that covers both the "Before Creation" and "After Creation" phases required.

According to the Self-Service Blueprint and Task configuration settings, the specific parameter that enables and controls the number of retries for a failed task is theRetry Count.

Retry Count:This integer value determines how many times the system will attempt to re-execute the task if it returns a failure status. If this is set to 0 (default in some views), no retries occur. Setting it to a value of 1 or higher enables the retry logic.

Retry Interval (Option A):This setting defines thewait time(in seconds) between the attempts, but without a positiveRetry Count, the interval is irrelevant.

Timeout (Option B):This defines how long the system waits for a single attempt to complete before marking it as failed.

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.

In Nutanix Self-Service (Calm),Endpointsare external execution targets used by Playbooks and Runbooks to run scripts or automation tasks. Nutanix documentation specifies the followingvalid Endpoint types:

Windows Endpoint

Linux Endpoint

Database Endpoints(e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL)

HTTP/Webhook Endpoints

Calm identifiesWindowsandLinuxmachines as valid, manageable Endpoints, meaning administrators can run scripts, commands, and automation tasks on them.

Why the correct answer is B (Windows)

Windows is explicitly listed as a supported Endpoint type.It supports script execution (PowerShell), credential storage, and remote orchestration through Calm.

Why the other options are incorrect

❌A. API Gateway

An API Gateway isnot an Endpoint typein Self-Service; it is not used for script execution or orchestration.

❌C. CentOS

Although CentOS is a Linux distribution, Calm doesnotregister distribution-specific Endpoints like "CentOS."

Instead, it uses thegeneric Linux Endpoint type, not OS-specific entries.

Therefore, "CentOS" isnota selectable Endpoint type.

❌D. Kubernetes

A Kubernetes cluster can be integrated with Nutanix, but it isnot classified as a Playbook/Runbook Endpointin Self-Service.

Kubernetes resources are handled through Calm Blueprints—not through Endpoint registration for automation tasks.

Nutanix Playbooks allowevent-driven automation.

Documentation states that Playbooks can:

Trigger onVM Powered Offevents

Filter targets usingcategories(e.g., OSType: Linux, Environment: Dev)

Perform actions such asVM Reduce CPU,VM Resize, etc.

To automatically and immediately update CPU count when the VM powers off, the proper method is:

✔Use aPlaybook

✔Trigger:VM Powered Off

✔Target VMs using categories

✔Action:VM Reduce CPU

Self-Service Runbooks (Option D) are manually executed; they do not automatically trigger on events.

Therefore,Option Cis correct.

In Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) Intelligent Operations (formerly Prism Pro/X-Play), the primary method for troubleshooting and validating Playbook behavior is through the Plays view in Prism Central.

When a Playbook is reported as not executing as expected, the administrator must examine thePlaystab (Execution History). This view provides a detailed log of all playbook activity, including:

Status:Whether the playbook succeeded, failed, or is in progress.

Trigger Details:Information regarding what specific event or alert triggered the playbook. If the playbook is not running at all, the administrator needs to verify if the "Idle VM" trigger conditions (e.g., CPU usage threshold, duration) are actually being met by the VMs in question.

Step-by-Step Execution:If the playbook triggered but failed during execution, the history details exactly which step failed and provides error messages (e.g., permission issues or API failures).

Options such as rebooting Prism Central or increasing quotas do not address the need to diagnose why specific automation logic failed to fire or complete. Modifying the execution context is a potential fix onlyafterthe execution history reveals a permission error, but checking the history is the mandatory first step to validate the configuration.

To utilize aVM-Host Affinity Policy(which pins VMs to specific Hosts) in the context of a Self-Service Blueprint, the administrator must leverageCategories.

The Mechanism:

Infrastructure Level:The administrator creates a Category (e.g., License:Oracle) and assigns it to the specific Hosts in Prism Central. They then create an Affinity Policy that enforces "VMs with Category App:Oracle must run on Hosts with Category License:Oracle."

Blueprint Level (The Answer):In the Blueprint editor, the administrator cannot "select hosts" directly. Instead, theyassign the specific Prism Central Category(e.g., App:Oracle) to the Service (VM) definition.

Execution:When the blueprint is deployed, the VM is provisioned with that Category tag. The AHV scheduler immediately recognizes the tag and enforces the pre-existing Affinity Policy, ensuring the VM lands on the correct hosts.

Option A describes a non-existent workflow (Policies are typically global or environment-mapped, not "associated to a policy within a project" in this context). Options C and D refer to "Tags," but Nutanix uses the term "Categories" for policy enforcement.

In Self-Service, anOperatorrole can:

Create blueprints

Modify blueprints

Add tasks (shell, PowerShell, script, package installs, etc.)

Use project-provided resources (images, networks, credentials)

To deploy a Linux VM with NGINX:

Asingle-VM blueprintis sufficient.

Developer must selectLinux substrate.

Installation of NGINX occurs througha shell taskin the blueprint’s package or service.

No additional permissions are required for an Operator to perform these actions.

Therefore, the correct answer isC.

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}@@