200-901 Practice Test 12 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A DevOps engineer wants to automate the configuration of network devices using Ansible. Which file format is commonly used for Ansible playbooks?

Accepted Answer

YAML. Ansible playbooks are written in YAML (YAML Ain't Markup Language) because YAML is human-readable, supports complex data structures like lists and dictionaries, and is designed for configuration files. YAML's indentation-based syntax aligns with Ansible's declarative automation model, making it the default and recommended format for defining tasks, variables, and handlers in playbooks.

Answer

INI

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XML

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JSON

Question 2

A Python script using the Cisco Meraki SDK fails with 'APIError: 429 Too Many Requests'. What action should the developer take?

Accepted Answer

Add a retry mechanism with exponential backoff. The HTTP 429 status code indicates rate limiting has been exceeded. The Meraki API enforces rate limits to protect its infrastructure, and the SDK's built-in retry mechanism with exponential backoff is the correct way to handle this, as it automatically waits increasing intervals between retries, respecting the Retry-After header if present.

Answer

Increase the timeout value

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Change the HTTP method to POST

Answer

Use a different API key

Question 3

A developer is deploying a microservice to a Kubernetes cluster. The application needs to read a database password securely without hardcoding it in the image. Which Kubernetes resource should be used?

Accepted Answer

Secret. (Secret) is correct because Kubernetes Secrets are specifically designed to store sensitive data such as database passwords, API keys, and certificates. They can be mounted as files or injected as environment variables into pods, ensuring the password is never hardcoded in the container image. Secrets are base64-encoded and can be encrypted at rest using etcd encryption or external KMS providers, providing a secure mechanism for managing credentials.

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ConfigMap

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ServiceAccount

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PersistentVolume

Question 4

A developer is working on a Python script that performs CRUD operations on devices via a REST API. Which HTTP method should be used to update an existing device's configuration partially?

Accepted Answer

PATCH. PATCH is used for partial updates, PUT for full replacement.

Answer

POST

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DELETE

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PUT

Question 5

A Python script uses the Cisco Webex API to list all rooms. The response includes pagination via the 'Link' header with 'rel="next"'. What is the correct way to retrieve the next page of rooms?

Accepted Answer

Parse the 'Link' header for the URL with 'rel="next"' and send a GET request to that URL.. The Webex API uses HTTP Link headers for pagination, as specified in RFC 5988. The 'Link' header contains a URL with 'rel="next"' that points directly to the next page of results. To retrieve the next page, you must parse this header, extract the URL, and send a GET request to that URL. This is the standard approach for cursor-based or token-based pagination, which is common in RESTful APIs that avoid offset-based pagination for consistency.

Answer

Increment a page counter and append '?page=2' to the original URL.

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Use the total count returned in the response to calculate the offset.

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Send a POST request to the same endpoint with the 'cursor' parameter.

Question 6

A network administrator is asked to reduce the size of the routing table on a core router. The router currently has many /24 routes learned via BGP. Which technique will most effectively reduce the number of routes without losing reachability to all subnets?

Accepted Answer

Implement route summarization on the BGP neighbor.. Route summarization (also known as route aggregation) allows the router to advertise a single, less specific prefix (e.g., a /22 or /20) that covers multiple contiguous /24 subnets, thereby reducing the number of BGP routes in the routing table while still providing reachability to all the underlying subnets. This technique is commonly implemented on BGP neighbors using the `aggregate-address` command in Cisco IOS, which creates a summary route in the BGP table and suppresses the more specific routes.

Answer

Replace BGP with static routes.

Answer

Remove all BGP learned routes and use only OSPF.

Answer

Configure a default route to the upstream provider.

Question 7

A developer is using Git for source control. They have made changes to a file and want to temporarily save the changes without committing, then work on a different branch. Which Git command should they use?

Accepted Answer

git stash. `git stash` temporarily saves uncommitted changes (both staged and unstaged) to a stack, reverting the working directory to the last commit. This allows the developer to switch branches without losing work, then later reapply the changes with `git stash pop` or `git stash apply`.

Answer

git checkout other-branch

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git commit -m 'temp'

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git reset --hard

Question 8

An application running on Kubernetes is experiencing intermittent 503 errors. The logs show 'upstream timed out'. The application is behind a Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) load balancer. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The Readiness probe is not defined. The 'upstream timed out' error in a Kubernetes environment behind a Cisco APIC load balancer indicates that the load balancer is attempting to forward traffic to a pod that is not ready to accept connections. Without a Readiness probe, Kubernetes assumes the pod is ready as soon as it starts, but the application may still be initializing or unable to handle requests. The APIC load balancer then sends traffic to an unready pod, causing timeouts and 503 errors.

Answer

The service port is misconfigured

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The Liveness probe timeout is too low

Answer

The pod is not ready

Question 9

Which TWO are valid capabilities advertised during a NETCONF session?

Accepted Answer

urn:ietf:params:netconf:capability:url:1.0. The URL capability (urn:ietf:params:netconf:capability:url:1.0) is a standard NETCONF capability that allows a client to specify a URL as the source or target of operations like or . Option D is correct because urn:ietf:params:netconf:base:1.0 is the mandatory base capability that every NETCONF session must advertise, as defined in RFC 6241, indicating support for the core NETCONF protocol operations.

Answer

urn:ietf:params:netconf:capability:writable-running:2.0

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urn:ietf:params:netconf:capability:validate:2.0

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urn:ietf:params:netconf:capability:interleave:1.0

Question 10

Which of the following is a best practice for securing API keys in a CI/CD pipeline?

Accepted Answer

Use environment variables in build configuration. The best practice for securing API keys in a CI/CD pipeline is to use secrets management tools or environment variables with proper protection. While environment variables can be exposed if not handled carefully, they are more secure than sharing via email, which is susceptible to interception, phishing, and unauthorized access. Among the given choices, using environment variables in build configuration (with appropriate security controls) is the recommended approach. Options A, B, and C are all insecure practices.

Answer

Share via email

Answer

Hardcode in Dockerfile

Answer

Store them in source code

Question 11

Which THREE of the following are benefits of using an SDN (Software-Defined Networking) architecture compared to traditional networking? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

Automation of network configuration changes.. SDN separates the control plane from the data plane, allowing network administrators to automate configuration changes through a centralized controller (e.g., OpenFlow or Cisco APIC-EM). This eliminates the need for manual, device-by-device CLI changes, reducing human error and enabling rapid, consistent updates across the entire network.

Answer

Reduced need for network engineers.

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Built-in encryption for all network traffic.

Question 12

A large enterprise uses Cisco DNA Center to manage over 500 network devices across multiple sites. The network operations team wants to automate the validation of device compliance with a baseline configuration. They have a Python script that uses the Cisco DNA Center REST API to retrieve the device configuration and compare it against a golden configuration stored in a local file. Recently, the script started failing with a 401 HTTP response code when trying to authenticate. The team confirmed the username and password are correct and that the DNA Center server is reachable. The script uses the /api/system/v1/auth/token endpoint to obtain a token. Which of the following is the most likely cause of the 401 error?

Accepted Answer

The authentication token has expired and the script is not refreshing it.. The 401 HTTP response code indicates an authentication failure. Since the username and password are confirmed correct and the server is reachable, the most likely cause is that the script obtained a token earlier but is now using an expired token without refreshing it. Cisco DNA Center tokens have a configurable timeout (default 1 hour), and the script must re-authenticate or refresh the token before it expires.

Answer

The API endpoint requires a different HTTP method (e.g., POST vs GET).

Answer

The script is using an incorrect API version path (e.g., /v2 instead of /v1).

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CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) is blocking the request.

Question 13

A developer needs to enforce HTTPS for a web application. Which security measure should be implemented in the application or reverse proxy?

Accepted Answer

SSL/TLS termination and HTTP redirect. Enforcing HTTPS requires the reverse proxy or application to terminate incoming SSL/TLS connections (decrypting traffic at the proxy) and then redirect any HTTP requests to HTTPS using a 301 or 302 redirect. This ensures all client traffic is encrypted in transit, meeting security best practices and compliance requirements like PCI DSS.

Answer

Parameterized queries

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CORS configuration

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Input validation

Question 14

A Python script sends a PUT request to update a resource. The API returns a response with status code 204. What does this indicate?

Accepted Answer

The update was successful and no content is returned.. 204 No Content means the request succeeded, but there is no response body (common for PUT or DELETE).

Answer

The request was malformed.

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The resource was not found.

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The update failed due to a server error.

Question 15

In a microservices architecture, which of the following is a primary advantage over a monolithic architecture?

Accepted Answer

Independent deployability and scaling of services. Microservices allow independent deployment and scaling of services, which is a key advantage.

Answer

Easier end-to-end testing

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Lower operational overhead

Answer

Simpler inter-service communication