You are automating configuration changes on one of the FortiGate VMs using Red Hat Ansible.

The Public Cloud Security Architect study guide explains that Ansible uses the APIs provided by Fortinet products when performing configuration tasks. Specifically, the httpapi plugin allows Ansible to interact with FortiGate through API calls. The inventory file identifies the FortiGate managed node and connection information, while the YAML playbook defines the configuration tasks that Ansible must execute. YAML is therefore the playbook format rather than the network connection mechanism. The guide also distinguishes FortiGate management from many traditional servers and devices, for which Ansible commonly uses SSH. In the FortiOS workflow demonstrated in the course, HTTPAPI is used to connect to the FortiGate. A FortiGate VIP is a virtual IP/NAT configuration object and is unrelated to Ansible management connectivity. Therefore, the correct answer is API.