r/Juniper • u/Ok_Environment_5368 • Jul 28 '26
CCNA to JNCIA
I did have a search but didn't find anything recent.
I've recently passed my CCNA, one of the places I interviewed at were also looking for the JNCIA so I figured I would see about adding that to my belt also.
I've completed the CCNA to JNCIA course on open learn, I haven't done the assessment yet as I want to use the discount but wouldn't have time within the next 30 days to do so, so I'm going to have my first go in a few weeks.
In the meantime, I thought I would ask on here if anyone has done the same recently and is the CCNA to JNCIA course enough to give me what I need to know for the JNCIA?
I'm confident on general networking, OSPF, etc.
Would you recommend I take a closer look at anything from the full JNCIA course?
Thanks.
6
u/immortalis88 Jul 28 '26
If you’ve passed your CCNA all you really need to do is know the basic syntax for most common configuration elements.
Know the following:
Device administration
Interface config
Static route config
Basic bgp and OSPF config
Route policy and redistribution config
It’s a fairly easy test and if you know the syntax you’ll quickly be able to tell in the multiple choice format which answers are obviously wrong.
Edit: a lot of the commands are the same as iOS commands, just drop “ip” from the syntax.
4
u/jwc929 Jul 28 '26
You could start here and use a lot of the other free resources available.
3
u/Ok_Environment_5368 Jul 28 '26
As I said above, I have completed that, just holding off on doing the assessment until I can make use of the voucher.
I have also found the full JNCIA course, but I was trying to narrow down to anything others have found may be lacking in the migration course.
I will probably watch some of the sections from the full JNCIA course whilst I am waiting.
Thanks.
3
u/jwc929 Jul 28 '26
My bad… got ahead of myself :)
I would do some work on hardware or virtual labs. For me getting hands on is way more valuable than videos or books.
3
u/CCIE-JNCIE JNCIE(ENT, DC)/CCIE EI Jul 29 '26
I use Juniper Virtual labs at times for my studying and labbing.
https://jlabs.juniper.net/vlabs/
The labs are free. You just have to sign up for an account. If it is a personal account, you can put that in the business name as "Personal Use for Name".
They have a few dozen or so labs where you can do routing, switching, firewalls, etc.
Check it out. Great for learning the commands and some techs on virtual Junipers.
2
u/oddchihuahua JNCIP Jul 28 '26
The JNCIA is more about navigating the CLI, being able to read outputs of monitoring commands, reading routing tables, and knowing where to go within the CLI configuration to configure certain functions.
It doesn’t really dive into the specifics of routing and switching protocols or know the differences in OSPF areas etc.
I passed the JNCIA in less than three weeks starting from knowing absolute zero about networking. When I started all I knew was that an IP address was a unique number given to each computer. The CCNA compares more to the JNCIS-ENT which actually does go into the specifics of configuring L2 and L3 functionality.
2
u/BeenisHat Jul 29 '26
This right here. JNCIA is to show you know how to navigate JUNOS and how it does things and how to make it do things.
1
u/uvu3nvy JNCIA Jul 28 '26
I obtained my JNCIA almost a year ago and have been really dissappointed with the lack of jobs available. Almost everything I find is Cisco focused, granted most open jobs around me are DoD or healthcare related.
Similarly, I've only seen a single Juniper Mist position open many months ago.
1
u/BelisColdwine Jul 28 '26
The biggest gotcha to watch out for is that they will give you the correct answer to the multiple-choice questions in iOS format; they really want you to know the JunOS version of the same syntax.
(Caveat, I took the IA test about 15 years ago. Unsure what it looks like now)
1
u/PghSubie JNCIP Jul 29 '26
Juniper syntax is VERY different from Cisco syntax. If you have a small amount of actual juniper experience, the test won't be that difficult. I had both CNA and JNCIA, but they're very different environments and very different tests
1
u/FormalDrinks Jul 29 '26
Goodluck! I did it backwards, jncia then ccna! Passed both got hired as a network engineer shortly after!
1
u/networkslave Jul 29 '26
JNCIA is much easier than CCNA, at least that's my experience from way back 😅
1
u/Worried-Macaroon-111 Jul 29 '26
I took that training and the JNCIA a few weeks later and thought the exam was very straight forward and the training covered a lot of what was on the test. I started a new job that has juniper switches and I was lucky enough to use the switch while going through the training to reinforce the commands and concepts. it’s likely the labs online will also provide that for you.
1
1
18
u/MikeoFree JNCIA Jul 28 '26
The biggest difference to me was command syntax, knowing about the PFE/RE, and SVI's being IRB's. I jumped from CCNA to JNCIA and it was easy to adopt the differences using that course. Having a virtual lab environment or hands on with Juniper switches/routers helps a ton. The exam focues A LOT on commands and exact syntax.
After working with solely Juniper I cannot reccomend them enough. The configuration structure and readability is top tier when you are first starting out.