200-901 Infrastructure and Automation Practice Question
When using NETCONF to edit the configuration of a Cisco IOS XE device, an engineer receives an <rpc-error> with error-tag 'in-use' and error-app-tag 'data-exists'. What does this error indicate?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between NETCONF <edit-config> operations (create vs. merge vs. replace) and their corresponding error tags, leading candidates to confuse 'in-use' with permission or syntax errors.
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 configuration being added already exists on the device.
The error-tag 'in-use' combined with the error-app-tag 'data-exists' in NETCONF indicates that the configuration operation (e.g., <edit-config> with operation 'create') attempted to add a configuration element that already exists in the running datastore. NETCONF uses these standardized error tags per RFC 6241 to signal that the requested operation cannot be completed because the target data node is already present, preventing duplicate configuration entries.
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 NETCONF session was closed due to a timeout.
Why it's wrong here
A session timeout produces a transport-level disconnect or notification, not an <rpc-error> with error-tag 'in-use'. The 'data-exists' app-tag signals a data-model conflict: the configuration node already exists, so a create operation is rejected. Timeout handling would be the concern when an RPC never receives a reply.
- ✗
The RPC message was malformed.
Why it's wrong here
A malformed RPC produces error-tag 'malformed-message', not 'in-use' with 'data-exists'. That pair signals the configuration data already exists on the device, so the edit conflicts with existing state. Malformed-message is correct when the XML violates the schema or YANG model.
- ✓
The configuration being added already exists on the device.
Why this is correct
NETCONF maps YANG data-exists violations to the in-use error-tag, meaning the target datastore already holds the node being created. The edit is rejected because the configuration being added already exists, so the engineer must merge or replace rather than create it.
- ✗
The device does not have the required user permissions.
Why it's wrong here
The 'in-use' and 'data-exists' tags indicate the requested configuration data already exists on the device, so the edit conflicts with existing state. It is tempting to read as an authorisation failure, but permission errors surface as 'access-denied', a different error-tag entirely.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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