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350-401 Practice Question: Is using Cisco DNA Center to automate the…
A network engineer is using Cisco DNA Center to automate the deployment of a new VLAN across multiple access switches. The engineer creates a new network profile with the VLAN definition and assigns it to a site. However, after provisioning, the VLAN is not created on any of the switches. The engineer verifies that the devices are in the Inventory and are reachable. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is assuming DNA Center is fully declarative and auto-pushes any profile change — candidates forget that the explicit Provision workflow must be run to translate intent into device configuration.
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 engineer did not run the Provision workflow to push the configuration to the devices.
In Cisco DNA Center, creating a network profile and assigning it to a site only defines the intent — it does not push configuration to devices. The engineer must run the Provision workflow (Design > Network Settings, then Provision > Devices) to actually generate and deploy the CLI configuration, including the new VLAN, to the target switches. Until provisioning is executed, the devices remain unchanged even though they are in Inventory and reachable.
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 engineer did not run the Provision workflow to push the configuration to the devices.
Why this is correct
Assigning a network profile to a site only stages the intended configuration; the Provision workflow must then be run to push those settings to the devices. Without provisioning, DNA Center leaves the switches untouched, so the VLAN never appears despite correct inventory and reachability.
- ✗
The VLAN ID conflicts with an existing VLAN on the switches.
Why it's wrong here
A conflicting VLAN ID would cause provisioning to fail only on the affected switches, not across every device at the site. This distractor is tempting because duplicate VLAN IDs genuinely break DNA Center provisioning, but only where the conflict exists, not site-wide.
- ✗
The switches do not support the VLAN ID range.
Why it's wrong here
Unsupported VLAN ID ranges would affect only older or lower-tier models, not all switches uniformly. It is tempting because hardware capability does limit provisionable VLANs, yet the scenario gives no indication of mixed platforms, making this an unlikely universal cause.
- ✗
The DNA Center appliance is not licensed for the Automation module.
Why it's wrong here
DNA Center's Automation licence governs template-based configuration deployment, but provisioning a network profile to a site also requires the devices to be assigned to that site hierarchy; inventory membership alone does not place them under the profile. Licensing would be the cause if provisioning were blocked outright with entitlement errors.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Cisco exam blueprint
This 350-401 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 350-401 exam.