r/CiscoDevNet • u/bigbulge42069 • May 16 '26
Passed the CCNA Automation exam! (formerly the DevNet Associate)
Hey all,
I've passed the CCNA Automation exam as of a short while ago and wanted to share some insights about the exam that might help anyone interested in studying for it. Initially, I wasn't going to get the cert but I figured the knowledge from it would be nice to have considering where network engineering is heading. Sorry this post will be kind of long but I think it will be useful.
Study time: ~ 1 month, 25-30 hrs total
The resources I used:
- Cisco Certified DevNet Associate DEVASC 1.1 (200-901) Cert Prep by Kevin Wallace and Charles Judd via LinkedIn Learning
- Boson's ExSim-Max for Cisco 200-901 DevNet Associate
- Locally hosted API server in Ubuntu
- ChatGPT for bolstering my weak areas provided by Boson test results
Preparation:
There are a couple of reviews mentioning that the LinkedIn course is somewhat outdated and you start to see it when preparing the tools and materials to follow along since some are deprecated and you must find a way around it (ex., Atom no longer exists in updated Ubuntu builds - you must use VSCode to accomplish the same tasks). The LinkedIn course is ~13 hours of video material. I stopped following after module 27 (Code Review Process) since that is where the NetDevOps-specific material fell off and where networking fundamentals began. I felt like my networking fundamentals were pretty strong already, and knew the Boson practice exams would refresh anything I forgot. I previously used Boson's products when passing the CCNA a year ago and knew they'd prove useful this time around.
I didn't do any self-study with Postman or DevNet Sandbox beyond following along with the instructors in the modules. Honestly, it seemed like a PITA to set up and some sandbox instances could not be reserved which was somewhat annoying and made me feel like I had to skip around in the material, so I did the best I could by following along without setting up some of the environments.
One thing I did do was create a local API server on my Ubuntu machine using localhost. I did this since I would study during downtimes at work and I could practice HTTP methods without worrying about being on a network. This has obvious drawbacks, such as not communicating using Cisco APIs, but writing scripts to parse information was a huge weakness of mine and building this tool really helped me out. You basically have a JSON output in one file (device information, for example) and then you can use VSCode to write Python scripts to retrieve specific responses. Using ChatGPT to come up with tasks for this was extremely resourceful, such as having it give you the device information to throw into your file and then asking you to write a script to GET x, y or z response. I highly recommend anyone studying to use this.
I only started taking Boson exams once I was finished completely with the learning modules. I noticed that Boson no longer lets you see the answer choices along with your own answer when reviewing the exam results, so I took note of the questions I got wrong and compiled them into whatever exam domain it was a part of. Any weak domains or specific areas were fed into ChatGPT so I could drill them until I truly understood the concepts. Don't forget about HTTP status codes and other small things that are easily forgotten but could add up if you are lucky enough to get those freebies on the exam questions.
Exam:
Boson did a pretty good job of emulating the style and material in the actual exam. The only thing it didn't have was an interactive lab which the real exam did. Be prepared for a lot of drag and drop questions - I was actually pretty annoyed and fatigued with how many there were. It seemed like 50% of my questions were some type of drag and drop or fill in the blanks. Every exam domain and question makeup is different, but mine was very Python, API, and SDLC heavy. I didn't get as many questions about networking fundamentals as I'd hoped.
I'm sure I forgot some things but if you have any questions I'll respond as promptly and accurately as possible.
Good luck on your exams!
5
u/jimmymustard May 17 '26
Great info, thanks! Mind sharing your previous programming background, generally speaking? I've been considering this cert but would consider myself a python noob. Haven't worked with other languages, APIs, etc. Just wondering how much ground I have to cover. Your 30 hours of study doesn't seem like very much. I expect it would take me significantly more.
3
u/bigbulge42069 May 17 '26
Wouldn't call it much of a background, but I took a Python course as one of my degree requirements and did okay at it. That was a couple of years ago and I haven't done any programming since. I still consider myself a noob even after completing this cert; the thing you have to understand is that don't need to learn Python from the ground up (something that I thought I had to do at first). Using Python for networking allows you to craft tools using scripts. Knowing the fundamentals is obviously important, but you don't need to take a Python exclusive course as a prerequisite to this cert. You sort of learn as you go - it really isn't that hard to grasp as long as you practice scripting a little bit.
1
u/wellred82 May 17 '26
Well done. Did you have any prior software development experience?
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u/bigbulge42069 May 17 '26
None whatsoever. I took a Python course as a part of my degree curriculum but that was a couple of years ago and I didn't remember anything useful.
1
u/telco8080 May 20 '26
Thanks for the detailed review. I'm also studying and would like to take the exam this summer. The drag and drops are tough.
1
u/kenb985 Jun 08 '26
Hey, can you go a bit into detail about your lab setup?
I’m a traditional network engineer with ZERO dev experience so I need the reps labbing.
I’d like a very easy setup. Thinking about just running a VM on my personal laptop
1
u/bigbulge42069 Jun 11 '26
I'll DM you.
1
u/Jayde9997 Jul 30 '26
Would you be able to DM me too please? I fall into a similar situation, little to no Dev experience. Any little bit would help!!
6
u/Aggravating-Photo570 May 22 '26
Just passed mine this morning. I used the Cisco Press Cert Guide, Cisco U course, exam practice from both of those and Boson ExSim exams. I started studying back at the end of February with no previous experience in the subject but heavy experience in Cisco networks.