JNCIA-JUNOS Hard Questions — 25 Difficult Questions

Question 1

You are the network engineer for a mid-sized enterprise with a Juniper MX router running Junos. The router has two uplinks to the internet: one to ISP-A via ge-0/0/0 (10.0.0.1/30) and one to ISP-B via ge-0/0/1 (10.0.0.5/30). You have configured static default routes to both ISPs: one to 10.0.0.2 and one to 10.0.0.6. Both routes have the same preference (default 5) and metric. You enabled ECMP to load-balance outbound traffic. After testing, you notice that all traffic is being sent only to ISP-A, and none to ISP-B. You verify that both interfaces are up and that the next-hop addresses are reachable. You check the routing table and see both routes are active but with different next-hop counts. What is the most likely cause of the traffic not being load-balanced?

Accepted Answer

One of the static routes resolves to multiple next hops, causing imbalance.. When both static default routes have the same preference and metric, Junos installs both in the routing table. However, ECMP load-balancing requires that each route resolve to a single next hop. If one static route resolves to multiple next hops (e.g., through a recursive lookup to a prefix with multiple paths), the route with a single next hop (ISP-A) becomes the sole active path for forwarding, while the multi-next-hop route (ISP-B) is not used for load balancing. This explains why all traffic goes to ISP-A despite both routes being present.

Answer

ECMP is not enabled in the forwarding-options.

Answer

The route to ISP-B is not active.

Answer

Hash-based load balancing requires per-packet configuration.

Question 2

Which TWO statements correctly describe the behavior of the 'commit confirmed' command in Junos?

Accepted Answer

The confirmation timeout can be modified by specifying a number of minutes.. Option A is correct because the `commit confirmed` command in Junos accepts an optional numeric argument (in minutes) to override the default confirmation timeout. For example, `commit confirmed 10` sets a 10-minute window during which the administrator must issue a `commit` to make the changes permanent; otherwise, the system automatically rolls back to the previous active configuration.

Answer

The default confirmation timeout is 5 minutes.

Answer

It requires a reboot to revert to the previous configuration.

Answer

It stages the configuration in the candidate configuration but does not apply it until confirmed.

Question 3

Which TWO statements correctly describe Junos configuration hierarchy and management?

Accepted Answer

The 'load merge' command imports configuration from a file and merges it with the current candidate configuration.. Option B is correct because the 'load merge' command in Junos imports configuration data from a file and merges it with the current candidate configuration, preserving existing statements unless explicitly overridden. This allows incremental changes without replacing the entire configuration, which is essential for efficient network operations.

Answer

The 'deactivate' command permanently removes a configuration statement from the candidate.

Answer

The 'set' command in configuration mode directly modifies the active configuration.

Answer

In operational mode, the 'show' command displays the candidate configuration.

Question 4

Your company operates a dual-homed network with two Juniper MX routers (R1 and R2) each connected to a different ISP. R1 uses BGP to receive a default route from ISP-A (preference 170), and R2 uses BGP to receive a default route from ISP-B (preference 170). Additionally, both routers have a static default route pointing to a local next-hop (192.0.2.1) with preference 5 for backup. R1 and R2 are connected via an internal link (10.0.0.0/30) and run OSPF to exchange internal routes. You notice that traffic from internal hosts is always exiting via R1's ISP-A link, even when R1's BGP session to ISP-A goes down. The OSPF routes are preferred. You want traffic to fail over to R2's ISP-B link when R1 loses its BGP default. Which configuration change should you make?

Accepted Answer

Configure the static default route with a preference of 180 so that the BGP default routes (pref 170) are preferred when available.. Option D is correct because the static default route currently has a preference of 5, making it preferred over the BGP default (preference 170) even when the BGP route is available. By raising the static default's preference to 180 (higher than BGP's 170), the BGP default will be chosen when present, and the static default will only be used as a backup when BGP is unavailable. This ensures traffic fails over to R2's ISP-B link when R1 loses its BGP default, as OSPF will propagate the default from R2.

Answer

Increase the preference of the BGP default routes to 180 so that the static default is always preferred.

Answer

Configure a routing policy on R2 to reject the default route from ISP-B, forcing all traffic through R1.

Answer

Remove the static default route and rely on OSPF to propagate a default route from the router with the active BGP session.

Question 5

Which THREE statements are true about commit operations in Junos OS?

Accepted Answer

Multiple users can make configuration changes simultaneously, but only one can commit at a time.. Option B is correct because Junos OS allows multiple users to enter configuration mode and make changes simultaneously, but the commit operation is serialized: only one user can commit at a time. This prevents conflicting changes from being applied concurrently, ensuring configuration consistency.

Answer

The 'commit confirmed' command immediately discards changes if not confirmed.

Answer

The 'commit' command always requires 'commit synchronize' when using dual Routing Engines.

Question 6

An engineer is designing a network with two routers connected via a serial link. The link should support multiple logical subinterfaces for different VLANs. Which encapsulation type must be used on the serial interface?

Accepted Answer

Frame Relay. Frame Relay is correct because it supports multiple logical subinterfaces (DLCIs) on a single serial link, allowing different VLANs to be mapped to separate virtual circuits. Unlike PPP or HDLC, Frame Relay inherently provides the ability to create point-to-point or multipoint subinterfaces for Layer 2 segmentation.

Answer

Ethernet

Answer

PPP

Answer

HDLC

Question 7

Refer to the exhibit. An engineer configures a new IPv6 address on ge-0/0/0 unit 0 by entering the following commands in configuration mode:

set interfaces ge-0/0/0 unit 0 family inet6 address 2001:db8::2/64
commit

After the commit, the engineer runs 'show interfaces terse ge-0/0/0' and sees only the two original addresses. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The engineer did not enter configuration mode before running the 'set' command.. Option B is correct because the engineer likely ran the 'set' command from operational mode (e.g., at the '>' prompt) rather than from configuration mode (e.g., at the '#' prompt). In Junos, 'set' commands only take effect when entered in configuration mode; if entered in operational mode, they are silently ignored or produce an error, and the configuration is not modified. Since the engineer saw no new address after commit, the 'set' command was never applied to the candidate configuration.

Answer

The engineer used 'commit' instead of 'commit confirmed'.

Answer

Junos only allows one IPv6 address per interface.

Answer

The 'set' command requires the 'add' keyword to add a second address.

Question 8

You are a junior network engineer at a company that uses Juniper MX routers. You are troubleshooting a connectivity issue on a branch router. The branch router has two upstream links to the corporate network: ge-0/0/0 (10.1.1.1/30, connected to core router A) and ge-0/0/1 (10.1.1.5/30, connected to core router B). The branch router runs OSPF and has a default route learned from both upstream routers. The routing table shows two equal-cost default routes via both next hops. However, traffic from the branch to the corporate network is experiencing intermittent high latency and some packet loss. You suspect that asymmetric routing is causing issues because the return traffic is not following the same path. You want to influence the router to prefer one upstream link for all traffic to the corporate network. You have decided to adjust the OSPF metric on the branch router to make the link to core router A more preferred. You are in configuration mode on the branch router. Which single configuration change will accomplish this goal?

Accepted Answer

set protocols ospf area 0 interface ge-0/0/1 metric 200. Option C is correct because setting the OSPF metric on interface ge-0/0/1 to a higher value (200) increases the cost of that link, making the default route via ge-0/0/0 (which retains the default OSPF metric of 1 on a Gigabit Ethernet interface) more preferred. This influences the branch router to use the lower-cost path through core router A for all traffic to the corporate network, resolving asymmetric routing issues.

Answer

set interfaces ge-0/0/1 unit 0 family inet cost 200

Answer

set protocols ospf area 0 interface ge-0/0/1 passive

Answer

set interfaces lo0 unit 0 family inet address 10.0.0.1/32 metric 100

Question 9

Refer to the exhibit. A network engineer sees repeated 'PFE interrupt error' messages in the log for fpc0. What is the most likely impact and recommended action?

Accepted Answer

Replace the line card (FPC0) as it is experiencing hardware failures causing traffic loss.. The 'PFE interrupt error' message indicates a hardware-level failure on the Packet Forwarding Engine (PFE) of FPC0. Since the PFE is responsible for forwarding packets, such errors typically cause traffic loss or drops. The recommended action is to replace the line card (FPC0) because persistent PFE interrupt errors are symptomatic of a hardware fault that cannot be resolved by software resets or upgrades.

Answer

Remove and reinsert the PIC on FPC0 to reseat the connection.

Answer

Restart the PFE process using 'restart pfe' command.

Answer

Perform a software upgrade on the router to fix a known bug.

Question 10

During a maintenance window, an engineer needs to apply a series of configuration changes that are stored in a text file. Which command sequence should be used to load and apply the changes from the file?

Accepted Answer

configure; load merge /var/tmp/changes.txt; commit. Option D is correct because the engineer needs to enter configuration mode (configure) and then use the 'load merge' command to merge the contents of the text file into the candidate configuration without replacing the entire configuration. The 'commit' command then activates the changes. This is the standard Junos workflow for applying incremental changes from a file.

Answer

request system configuration rescue save

Answer

load override /var/tmp/changes.txt; commit

Answer

configure; load patch /var/tmp/changes.txt; commit

Question 11

Which TWO statements about Juniper's implementation of static routes are correct? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

The default preference for static routes is 5.. Option A is correct because in Juniper's Junos OS, the default preference (administrative distance) for static routes is 5. This value indicates that static routes are highly trusted, only surpassed by directly connected routes (preference 0). This is a Juniper-specific default, differing from Cisco's default of 1 for static routes.

Answer

Static routes always have a metric of 1.

Answer

Static routes are automatically redistributed into OSPF.

Answer

The default preference for static routes is 170.

Question 12

A network engineer is troubleshooting OSPF adjacencies between two Juniper routers. The routers are directly connected and have matching OSPF configurations except for the router IDs. Router A has router-id 10.0.0.1, Router B has router-id 10.0.0.2. The adjacency remains in the EXSTART state. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The MTU on the interface is mismatched.. The EXSTART state indicates that the routers have progressed past the 2-Way state and are attempting to exchange Database Description (DBD) packets. A common cause for getting stuck in EXSTART is an MTU mismatch, because OSPF uses the interface MTU to determine the maximum size of DBD packets. If Router A's MTU is larger than Router B's, Router B will drop the oversized DBD packet and the adjacency will remain in EXSTART.

Answer

The router IDs are not the same.

Answer

The area ID is not configured.

Answer

The hello and dead intervals are mismatched.

Question 13

Which THREE of the following statements are true regarding Junos OS commit operations?

Accepted Answer

The 'commit check' command validates the candidate configuration without activating it.. Option A is correct because the 'commit check' command validates the candidate configuration for syntax and semantic errors without activating it. This allows an administrator to verify changes before making them active, preventing potential misconfigurations from disrupting network operations.

Answer

You can run multiple commit scripts during a single commit operation.

Answer

The rollback command reverts to the current active configuration.

Question 14

Which THREE commands are valid Junos operational mode commands for monitoring network diagnostics? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

traceroute. Option A is correct because the 'traceroute' command in Junos operational mode sends a series of UDP packets with increasing TTL values to discover the path a packet takes to a destination, which is a standard network diagnostic tool. It is a valid operational mode command used for monitoring network connectivity and path analysis.

Answer

show configuration

Answer

request system reboot

Question 15

During troubleshooting, an engineer needs to view real-time logging messages on a Junos device. Which command should be used?

Accepted Answer

monitor start messages. The 'monitor start messages' command enables real-time, tail-like display of the /var/log/messages log file on a Junos device, allowing the engineer to view new log entries as they are generated. This is the correct command for live troubleshooting because it continuously updates the terminal with incoming syslog messages, unlike static file viewing commands.

Answer

file show /var/log/messages

Answer

show log messages

Answer

traceoptions

Question 16

A junior engineer is troubleshooting a routing issue and wants to see the route table for IPv4 unicast routes. Which command will display this information?

Accepted Answer

show route table inet.0. Option A is correct because the command 'show route table inet.0' displays the IPv4 unicast route table in Junos. The inet.0 table is the default routing table for IPv4 unicast routes, containing all active routes learned via various protocols (e.g., OSPF, BGP, static). This command is the standard way to view the IPv4 unicast routing information base (RIB) on Juniper devices.

Answer

show route table inet6.0

Answer

show route forwarding-table

Answer

show route protocol bgp

Question 17

Refer to the exhibit. An engineer runs the command but sees no output. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The interface ge-0/0/0 is not configured.. The command 'show configuration | display set' outputs the configuration in a set-based format. If there is no output, it means the configuration is empty or the specified interface does not exist. In this case, the interface ge-0/0/0 is not configured, so the filter 'display set' returns no lines for that interface. Option B is correct because an unconfigured interface yields no configuration output.

Answer

The pipe (|) is not supported with 'display set'.

Answer

The interface name is misspelled.

Answer

The command syntax is incorrect.

Question 18

Which THREE are valid methods to exit configuration mode in Junos? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

exit configuration-mode. Option A is correct because 'exit configuration-mode' is a valid operational mode command that explicitly exits from configuration mode back to operational mode. This command is used when you are at the top of the configuration hierarchy and want to leave the configuration CLI session.

Answer

commit check

Answer

quit

Question 19

An engineer is designing a network and needs to ensure that management traffic (SSH, SNMP) is always permitted, even if an interface firewall filter is applied. Which Juniper best practice should be followed?

Accepted Answer

Apply a firewall filter on the loopback interface (lo0) to protect the device. Applying a firewall filter to the loopback interface (lo0) is the Juniper best practice for protecting management traffic because the loopback interface is the logical termination point for all control plane traffic, including SSH and SNMP. This ensures that management traffic is always permitted regardless of which physical interface it arrives on, while still allowing interface-specific filters to be applied for data plane traffic without risk of blocking management access.

Answer

Use a firewall filter that permits all management traffic at the top of the list on each interface

Answer

Apply a firewall filter to the management interface (fxp0)

Answer

Disable the firewall filter on all interfaces

Question 20

Which THREE commands are used for operational monitoring of routing protocols?

Accepted Answer

show isis adjacency. The 'show isis adjacency' command is used to verify the state of IS-IS neighbor adjacencies, which is a core operational monitoring task for the IS-IS routing protocol. It displays the interface, neighbor system ID, level, and adjacency state (e.g., Up, Down, Initializing), allowing an engineer to confirm that IS-IS neighbors are properly established.

Answer

show interfaces terse

Answer

show arp