These questions present the output of IOS show commands — show ip route, show interfaces, show ip ospf neighbor, show vlan brief — and ask you to interpret what they reveal about the network state. Reading IOS output accurately is one of the highest-value skills on the CCNA.
Start Scenario PracticeA network engineer runs the following command on Switch SW1: SW1# show etherchannel summary Flags: D - down P - bundled in port-channel I - stand-alone s - suspended H - Hot-standby (LACP only) R - Layer3 S - Layer2 U - in use N - not in use, no aggregation f - failed to allocate aggregator M - not in use, minimum links not met u - unsuitable for bundling w - waiting to be aggregated d - default port Number of channel-groups in use: 1 Number of aggregators: 1 Group Port-channel Protocol Ports ------+-------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------- 1 Po1(SU) LACP Gi0/1(P) Gi0/2(P) Gi0/3(D) Based on this output, what can be concluded?
Explanation: The output shows that Gi0/1 and Gi0/2 have a flag of 'P' (bundled in port-channel), while Gi0/3 has a flag of 'D' (down). Therefore, only two ports are actively bundled, making option D correct. The 'SU' flags on Po1 indicate the port-channel is Layer 2 (S) and in use (U), not Layer 3.
An organization uses Ansible to manage network device configurations. They have a playbook that uses the ios_command module to execute 'show ip route' on multiple routers and then uses the 'debug' module to print the output. Recently, the playbook started failing with 'Timeout (12s) waiting for privilege escalation prompt'. The routers are reachable and SSH credentials are correct. What is the most likely cause?
Explanation: The error 'Timeout (12s) waiting for privilege escalation prompt' indicates that Ansible successfully connected to the routers via SSH but failed to escalate privileges to enable mode. For network devices like Cisco IOS routers, when using the 'network_cli' connection type, the 'ansible_become_method' must be explicitly set to 'enable' to send the 'enable' command and handle the privilege escalation prompt. Without this setting, Ansible does not attempt to enter enable mode, causing the timeout when the module requires higher privileges to execute commands like 'show ip route'.
A network administrator is troubleshooting a BGP routing issue where routes from an eBGP neighbor are not being installed in the routing table. The 'show ip bgp' output shows the routes are received but not valid. What is the most likely cause?
Explanation: For a BGP route to be considered valid and installed in the routing table, the next-hop IP address must be reachable via an IGP or a static route. If the next hop is not reachable, the route will appear in the 'show ip bgp' output but will be marked as not valid (often with a 'r' for received but not valid). This is the most common cause when routes are received from an eBGP neighbor but not installed.
A network engineer runs the following command on Switch SW1: SW1# show interfaces gi0/1 switchport Name: Gi0/1 Switchport: Enabled Administrative Mode: trunk Operational Mode: trunk Administrative Trunking Encapsulation: dot1q Operational Trunking Encapsulation: dot1q Negotiation of Trunking: On Access Mode VLAN: 1 (default) Trunking Native Mode VLAN: 1 (default) Administrative Native VLAN tagging: enabled Voice VLAN: none Administrative private-vlan host-association: none Administrative private-vlan mapping: none Administrative private-vlan trunk native VLAN: none Administrative private-vlan trunk Native VLAN tagging: enabled Administrative private-vlan trunk encapsulation: dot1q Administrative private-vlan trunk normal VLANs: none Administrative private-vlan trunk private VLANs: none Operational private-vlan: none Trunking VLANs Enabled: ALL Pruning VLANs Enabled: 2-1001 Capture Mode Disabled Capture VLANs Allowed: ALL Based on this output, what can be concluded?
Explanation: The output shows 'Negotiation of Trunking: On', which indicates that Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP) is enabled on the interface. DTP is a Cisco proprietary protocol used to negotiate trunking between switches. Since the interface is in trunk mode and DTP is on, option B is correct.
A network engineer runs the following command on Router R1: R1# show ip sla summary IPSLAs Latest Operation Summary Codes: * active, ^ inactive, ~ pending ID Type Destination Stats Return Code Last 1 icmp-echo 192.168.1.10 Success OK 1 2 icmp-echo 192.168.1.20 Success OK 2 3 udp-jitter 192.168.1.30 Success OK 3 *4 icmp-echo 192.168.1.40 Success OK 10 Based on this output, what can be concluded?
Explanation: The asterisk (*) in the first column of the 'show ip sla summary' output indicates that IP SLA operation 4 is currently active. The other operations (IDs 1, 2, and 3) have no asterisk, meaning they are inactive. The 'Return Code' column shows 'OK' for all operations, confirming they completed successfully, but only operation 4 is actively running.
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Practice all Show Command Output QuestionsThese questions present the output of IOS show commands — show ip route, show interfaces, show ip ospf neighbor, show vlan brief — and ask you to interpret what they reveal about the network state. Reading IOS output accurately is one of the highest-value skills on the CCNA. These appear throughout the 350-401 and require you to apply your knowledge, not just recall facts.
Cisco doesn't publish an exact breakdown, but scenario-based questions (especially exhibit and command-output formats) make up a significant portion of the 350-401. Practicing each scenario type ensures you're ready for any format.
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