350-501 MPLS and Segment Routing Practice Question
A network engineer is configuring an MPLS L3VPN on a PE router. The VRF is configured with route-target import/export. The PE and CE are running eBGP. The CE advertises routes to the PE, and the PE installs them in the VRF routing table. However, the remote PE does not receive these routes via BGP VPNv4. The local PE's BGP table shows the VPNv4 prefixes with the correct next hop and label. The remote PE's BGP table shows no such prefixes. The IGP between the PEs is working, and MPLS LSPs are up. What is the most likely cause and correct action?
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
✓
Check the route-target import/export configuration on both PEs and ensure they match
Despite the local PE having the routes in BGP VPNv4, the remote PE does not receive them. This often indicates that the route-target export on the local PE does not match the route-target import on the remote PE, or that the VPNv4 session is not correctly configured. Since the local PE shows the prefixes in its BGP VPNv4 table, they are being advertised to the BGP peer, but the remote PE's import policy filters them due to mismatched RT. The correct action is to verify the route-target configuration on both PEs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Enable the 'soft-reconfiguration inbound' command
Why it's wrong here
Soft-reconfiguration is for storing updates, not for fixing route-target issues.
- ✗
Reset the BGP session between the PEs
Why it's wrong here
Resetting sessions may not fix a configuration mismatch.
- ✗
Check the MTU on the link between the PEs
Why it's wrong here
MTU would not affect BGP VPNv4 route reception.
- ✓
Check the route-target import/export configuration on both PEs and ensure they match
Why this is correct
If route-target export does not match the import, the remote PE will discard the route.
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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.