350-601 Automation Practice Question
In an ACI fabric, an automation engineer needs to deploy tenant policies in an idempotent manner. Which approach is most aligned with best practices?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume any API-based approach (like REST POST or Python SDK) is inherently idempotent, but Cisco tests the understanding that true idempotency requires a declarative or state-checking mechanism, which Ansible's `state: present` provides out-of-the-box.
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 Ansible with state: present in the cisco.aci collections
Ansible's `state: present` in the `cisco.aci` collection inherently provides idempotency: it checks the current state of the ACI object and only applies changes if the desired state differs, ensuring no duplicate or conflicting configurations. This aligns with best practices for automation, as it avoids manual error handling and guarantees consistent policy deployment without side effects.
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 REST API with POST method for each creation
Why it's wrong here
POST without idempotency checks can create duplicate objects.
- ✓
Use Ansible with state: present in the cisco.aci collections
Why this is correct
Ansible modules are idempotent and widely used in ACI automation.
- ✗
Write CLI scripts using expect or pexpect
Why it's wrong here
CLI scripts lack idempotency and are error-prone.
- ✗
Use Python SDK with a check-and-create loop
Why it's wrong here
This is less reliable than using Ansible's built-in idempotency.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 350-601 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco 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 350-601 exam.