200-901 Infrastructure and Automation Practice Question
A company uses Ansible to automate network configuration. They have an Ansible control node that must reach all network devices. Which transport protocol does Ansible use by default to connect to Cisco IOS devices?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that Ansible uses Telnet or SNMP for legacy device compatibility, but the trap here is that Ansible defaults to SSH for secure, agentless automation, and candidates may confuse Ansible's connection methods with other tools like NETCONF or RESTCONF.
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
✓
SSH
Ansible uses SSH as its default transport protocol to connect to Cisco IOS devices because SSH provides encrypted, secure remote access and is the standard for network device management in modern environments. Ansible's native architecture relies on SSH for agentless communication, executing modules and playbooks over this secure channel without requiring additional software on the target devices.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
HTTP
Why it's wrong here
HTTP is not a device-management transport for Cisco IOS; Ansible's network_cli plugin opens an SSH session and issues CLI commands. HTTP would be correct for RESTCONF or NX-API style programmatic access, not for the default CLI connection Ansible uses to configure IOS devices.
- ✗
Telnet
Why it's wrong here
Ansible's network_cli connection plugin uses SSH by default for Cisco IOS, not Telnet; Telnet is only selected when explicitly configured for legacy devices lacking SSH. Telnet would be the correct answer for a device where SSH is unavailable and the connection is deliberately set to telnet.
- ✓
SSH
Why this is correct
Ansible's default connection for Cisco IOS modules is SSH, using the network_cli connection plugin to open an interactive shell session on port 22. This satisfies the stem's constraint of the transport protocol used by default from the control node to IOS devices.
- ✗
SNMP
Why it's wrong here
SNMP is a monitoring and polling protocol, not an interactive configuration transport, so Ansible cannot drive IOS CLI commands over it. SNMP would be the right choice for gathering interface statistics or traps, not for the SSH-based network_cli connection Ansible uses by default.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 975 original 200-901 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 200-901 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 200-901 exam.