ANS-C01 Network Management and Operations Practice Question
A network engineer is troubleshooting connectivity issues between an EC2 instance in a VPC and an on-premises server over a Direct Connect connection. The engineer has verified that the VPC route tables, Direct Connect virtual interface, and on-premises routing are correctly configured. Which tool should be used to verify the path MTU and identify fragmentation issues?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers choose traceroute (option D) thinking it shows MTU along the path, but traceroute does not set the DF flag or control payload size to test fragmentation; it only measures hop latency and path, not MTU boundaries.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use the ping command with the DF flag set to test MTU
The ping command with the Don't Fragment (DF) flag set (e.g., `ping -M do -s <size>` on Linux) is the correct tool to verify path MTU because it forces the packet not to be fragmented. If the packet size exceeds the MTU of any link along the path, the router will drop the packet and send an ICMP Fragmentation Needed message back, allowing the engineer to pinpoint the maximum supported MTU and identify fragmentation issues.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use the netstat command
Why it's wrong here
netstat shows connections, not path MTU.
- ✓
Use the ping command with the DF flag set to test MTU
Why this is correct
ping with 'do not fragment' flag can detect MTU issues.
- ✗
Use the nslookup command
Why it's wrong here
nslookup is for DNS resolution, not MTU.
- ✗
Use the traceroute command
Why it's wrong here
traceroute shows path but doesn't test MTU effectively.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This ANS-C01 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the ANS-C01 exam.