NSE7 Troubleshooting and Diagnostics Practice Question
An administrator is troubleshooting BGP and runs 'get router info bgp neighbors 10.0.0.1' and sees 'BGP state = Active'. The neighbor IP is reachable via ping. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to assume 'Active' means a Layer 3 connectivity issue (like a missing route or firewall block), but since ping succeeds, the problem is specifically a BGP parameter mismatch, most commonly the remote-as.
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 BGP neighbor's remote-as is misconfigured
The BGP state 'Active' indicates that the router is actively trying to establish a TCP connection to the neighbor but is failing. Since the neighbor IP is reachable via ping (Layer 3 connectivity is fine), the most likely cause is a misconfiguration of the remote-as on one side, causing a BGP OPEN message mismatch (the received AS number does not match the expected remote-as). This prevents the TCP session from completing the BGP peering process.
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 BGP update-source interface is missing
Why it's wrong here
Missing update-source could cause source IP issues, but ping works, so reachability is fine.
- ✗
The BGP network statement is missing
Why it's wrong here
Missing network statement affects route advertisement, not neighbor state.
- ✗
The BGP router-id is not configured
Why it's wrong here
Router-id is used for loop prevention but does not affect neighbor state to Active.
- ✓
The BGP neighbor's remote-as is misconfigured
Why this is correct
A mismatch in remote AS will cause the neighbor to reject the connection, leading to Active state.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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