JN0-106 Operational Monitoring and Maintenance Practice Question
A network administrator wants to see the current CPU load average over the last 1, 5, and 15 minutes on a Juniper device. Which command displays this information?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse 'show chassis routing-engine' (which shows current CPU utilization) with the load average command, not realizing that load averages are a separate time-weighted metric displayed by 'show system uptime'.
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 system uptime
The 'show system uptime' command displays the system's uptime along with the load averages for the last 1, 5, and 15 minutes. This is the standard Junos command for viewing CPU load averages, which are calculated based on the number of processes in the run queue over those time intervals.
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 chassis routing-engine
Why it's wrong here
The `show chassis routing-engine` command displays the Routing Engine's instantaneous CPU utilization as a percentage (e.g., `CPU Utilization: 10%`) along with memory statistics and RE uptime, but it does not report load averages. Load average is a different metric—an exponentially smoothed average of the number of processes in the run queue over 1, 5, and 15 minutes—so this command is not a substitute for `show system uptime` when checking load average.
- ✓
show system uptime
Why this is correct
The `show system uptime` command is the correct way to view CPU load averages on Junos because its output begins with a `Load averages:` line that shows the 1-, 5-, and 15-minute averages. These three numbers indicate how many threads are runnable or waiting for I/O, providing a historical trend that a simple percentage cannot capture. The command also shows system uptime, time, and active users, but the load average is the key field for this question.
- ✗
show system processes
Why it's wrong here
`show system processes` provides a real-time snapshot of each process's CPU and memory usage, similar to `top`, including PID, CPU percentage, and command name. While useful for identifying a specific process that is consuming CPU, it does not aggregate the entire system into the 1-, 5-, and 15-minute load averages. The load average is maintained by the kernel over time and is not derivable from the current process list, so this command cannot answer the administrator's need.
- ✗
show system statistics
Why it's wrong here
`show system statistics` outputs a large list of counters and statistics for interfaces, protocols, and kernel events, such as bytes tranferred, packets dropped, and ICMP messages. These counters focus on traffic and event activity, not on CPU run-queue length or load averages. The load average is a separate scheduler metric that is stored in the system's uptime data, so this command is not used for CPU load monitoring.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This JN0-106 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Juniper Networks 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 JN0-106 exam.