350-501 MPLS and Segment Routing Practice Question
A company is connecting two sites using MPLS L3VPN. The PE routers are running both LDP and Segment Routing (SR-MPLS) in the core. The CE router at Site A cannot reach the CE at Site B. On the PEs, the VRF routes are present. Which command would you use to verify the MPLS forwarding path for the VPN traffic?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between control-plane verification (BGP labels, VRF routes) and data-plane verification (MPLS forwarding table), so candidates mistakenly choose commands that confirm route presence but miss the actual label forwarding path.
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
✓
show mpls forwarding-table vrf VPN-A 10.1.1.0
The 'show mpls forwarding-table vrf VPN-A 10.1.1.0' command displays the MPLS label stack that will be imposed on packets destined for the VPN prefix, including the inner VPN label and the outer transport label (LDP or SR-MPLS). This directly verifies the end-to-end MPLS forwarding path for VPN traffic, which is necessary when VRF routes are present but connectivity fails due to label 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.
- ✗
show mpls ldp bindings
Why it's wrong here
Shows LDP label bindings, not per-VPN-prefix forwarding.
- ✗
show ip route vrf VPN-A 10.1.1.0
Why it's wrong here
Shows only the IP route, not the MPLS labels or forwarding.
- ✓
show mpls forwarding-table vrf VPN-A 10.1.1.0
Why this is correct
Displays the MPLS forwarding entry including the outgoing label stack and next hop.
- ✗
show bgp vpnv4 unicast labels
Why it's wrong here
Shows BGP VPN labels but not the transport labels or forwarding.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 350-501 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 350-501 exam.