350-501 Architecture Practice Question
An SP is using NETCONF with YANG to automate VRF provisioning. The engineer notices that the NETCONF session is established but configuration changes are not applied. Which issue is most likely?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between NETCONF capabilities (like `:candidate`) and YANG model compatibility, leading candidates to incorrectly blame the YANG model or user permissions when the real issue is a missing capability advertisement.
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
✓
The NETCONF capability :candidate is not advertised
NETCONF uses datastores to manage configuration. The `:candidate` capability allows changes to be made to a candidate configuration before committing them. If this capability is not advertised, the device defaults to the `:writable-running` capability, which requires changes to be applied directly to the running datastore. Since the engineer is likely using a candidate-based workflow (e.g., `edit-config` with target `candidate`), the session establishes but changes are silently ignored or rejected because the device does not support a separate candidate datastore.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The YANG model does not support the target configuration datastore
Why it's wrong here
Datastore support is independent of YANG model; NETCONF defines datastores.
- ✓
The NETCONF capability :candidate is not advertised
Why this is correct
If :candidate is not advertised, the device does not support candidate datastore, and edit-config with candidate fails.
- ✗
The device does not support :url capability
Why it's wrong here
The :url capability is optional and not required for basic configuration changes.
- ✗
The user does not have write access to the candidate datastore
Why it's wrong here
This would cause a different error, but the session is established implying initial access.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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