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300-410 Practice Question: Which TWO commands would a network engineer use…
Which TWO commands would a network engineer use to verify NAT translations and their statistics on a Cisco IOS router? (Choose TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between verification commands (show) and troubleshooting commands (debug), and candidates mistakenly select 'debug ip nat' because they think it provides statistics, when in fact it is a real-time debugging tool that can impact router performance.
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
✓
show ip nat translations
Option A, 'show ip nat translations', is correct because it displays the current NAT translation table entries, showing the inside local, inside global, outside local, and outside global addresses for active translations on the Cisco IOS router. Option B, 'show ip nat statistics', is correct because it provides NAT statistics such as total active translations, hits, misses, expired translations, and interface information, which directly satisfies the requirement to verify NAT statistics. Option C, 'show ip nat verbose', is not a valid Cisco IOS command, so it cannot be used to verify NAT translations or statistics. Option D, 'show running-config | include nat', only filters the running configuration for lines containing 'nat' and shows configured NAT statements, not live translations or statistics. Option E, 'debug ip nat', is a real-time debugging command that displays NAT translation events as they occur, but it is used for troubleshooting packet-by-packet activity rather than verifying the translation table and statistics as requested.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
show ip nat translations
Why this is correct
Displays the live NAT translation table, showing each inside local, inside global, outside local and outside global mapping the router currently holds. This satisfies the stem's requirement to verify translations themselves, distinct from statistics, confirming address translation is actually occurring.
- ✓
show ip nat statistics
Why this is correct
Reports pool utilisation, hit and miss counts, and translation attempt totals, satisfying the stem's requirement to verify NAT statistics. It complements the translation table by revealing whether addresses are being exhausted or translations failing, rather than listing individual entries.
- ✗
show ip nat verbose
Why it's wrong here
Cisco IOS provides no verbose keyword for this command; the valid syntax is show ip nat translations with optional inside, outside or detail keywords. The name is tempting because verbose is a common IOS suffix, but it is not accepted here, so the command returns an error rather than statistics.
- ✗
show running-config | include nat
Why it's wrong here
Filtering the running configuration shows only NAT statements that are configured, not the live translation table or packet counters. It is tempting because it confirms NAT configuration is present, and would be correct for auditing configured NAT rules rather than verifying active translations.
- ✗
debug ip nat
Why it's wrong here
Debugging is a live diagnostic stream, not a verification command; it displays translation events as they occur and imposes heavy CPU load, so it cannot report cumulative statistics. Engineers reach for it when troubleshooting intermittent translation failures in real time, where watching packets traverse NAT matters more than reading counters.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 300-410 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 300-410 exam.