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200-901 Practice Question: Needs to automate the configuration of VLANs…
A network engineer needs to automate the configuration of VLANs across 50 switches. Which approach best follows Cisco’s recommended practices for programmability?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that REST APIs are universally available on all network devices, but in reality, many legacy switches lack REST API support, making Ansible (which uses SSH/CLI abstraction) the more practical and recommended choice for multi-vendor or mixed-platform environments.
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
✓
Write an Ansible playbook using the ios_vlan module to configure VLANs on all switches.
Ansible's ios_vlan module is purpose-built for automating VLAN configuration on Cisco IOS devices, aligning with Cisco's recommended practices for programmability by using a declarative, agentless automation tool that abstracts the underlying CLI and ensures idempotent configuration across multiple switches.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Write an Ansible playbook using the ios_vlan module to configure VLANs on all switches.
Why this is correct
Ansible with idempotent modules is a best practice for network automation.
- ✗
Use a REST API on each switch to push the VLAN configuration individually.
Why it's wrong here
REST API is good but without idempotency and version control it is less recommended.
- ✗
Use a Python script that manually SSHes into each switch and applies CLI commands.
Why it's wrong here
Manual SSH scripting is error-prone and not scalable.
- ✗
Configure all VLANs via SNMP MIBs.
Why it's wrong here
SNMP is primarily for monitoring, not reliable for configuration.
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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.