CCNA Automation (DevNet Associate) Practice Exams

The 200-901 exam is Cisco's associate-level automation and programmability certification. It was known as DevNet Associate (DEVASC) from its introduction until February 2026, when Cisco moved the DevNet track into the CCNA/CCNP/CCIE Automation taxonomy — the exam number, the v1.1 blueprint, and the content are unchanged, and the exam is now titled CCNAAUTO. It is unusual among Cisco associate exams in expecting genuine software skill: candidates are asked to read Python, interpret JSON and YAML, reason about HTTP responses, and understand a Git workflow, alongside the network knowledge Cisco associate exams normally test. The blueprint covers software development and design (15%) — data formats, parsing, design principles and patterns, version control, and unit testing; understanding and using APIs (20%) — REST constructs, HTTP methods and status codes, authentication, pagination, rate limiting, webhooks, and API troubleshooting; Cisco platforms and development (15%) — the APIs and SDKs for Webex, Meraki, Catalyst Center, ACI, NX-OS, IOS XE, Intersight, and the security platforms; application deployment and security (15%) — deployment models from bare metal to serverless, containers and CI/CD, the twelve-factor methodology, and OWASP Top 10 mitigations; infrastructure and automation (20%) — model-driven programmability with NETCONF, RESTCONF and YANG, Ansible and infrastructure as code, templating, and automated testing; and network fundamentals (15%) — addressing, switching and routing, DNS and DHCP, NAT, network devices, and connectivity troubleshooting. The exam runs 120 minutes.

• 1The entry point to Cisco's Automation track, leading to CCNP Automation and CCIE Automation
• 2Unusual among associate exams in testing real Python, REST, and Git skill rather than command recall
• 3Bridges network engineering and software development, which is where most infrastructure roles are heading
• 4The API and CI/CD material transfers directly to platform, DevOps, and SRE work beyond Cisco environments
• 5A practical foundation for the automation content that now appears across the CCNP Enterprise and Security tracks

• ✓Read and write Python covering data structures, functions, error handling, and module organization
• ✓Parse and construct JSON, XML, and YAML, and convert between them programmatically
• ✓Apply software design principles including modularity, abstraction, cohesion, and loose coupling
• ✓Recognize common design patterns such as model-view-controller and observer
• ✓Use Git for branching, merging, conflict resolution, and pull request workflows
• ✓Write unit tests and explain their role in a development and deployment pipeline
• ✓Compare software development methodologies including agile, lean, and waterfall
• ✓Explain REST constructs including statelessness, idempotency, and resource addressing
• ✓Interpret HTTP methods, status codes, and headers when consuming an API
• ✓Implement API authentication using basic auth, API keys, bearer tokens, and OAuth flows
• ✓Handle pagination, rate limiting, and error responses in API client code
• ✓Construct and troubleshoot API requests using tools such as curl and Postman
• ✓Explain webhooks and when an event-driven integration is preferable to polling
• ✓Use the Webex, Meraki, Catalyst Center, ACI, NX-OS, IOS XE, and Intersight APIs for common tasks
• ✓Select the appropriate Cisco SDK or library for a given platform and task
• ✓Compare deployment models across bare metal, virtual machines, containers, and serverless
• ✓Build and run containers, and explain the role of images, registries, and Dockerfiles
• ✓Describe a CI/CD pipeline and where build, test, and deployment stages fit
• ✓Apply the twelve-factor application principles to a deployed service
• ✓Identify OWASP Top 10 threats and describe appropriate mitigations
• ✓Manage secrets and protect data in transit and at rest
• ✓Use NETCONF, RESTCONF, and YANG models to configure and query network devices
• ✓Automate configuration with Ansible and apply infrastructure-as-code practices
• ✓Render device configuration from templates and validate it before deployment
• ✓Use pyATS and Genie to test and validate network state programmatically
• ✓Explain networking fundamentals including addressing, switching, routing, DNS, DHCP, and NAT
• ✓Troubleshoot application connectivity across firewalls, proxies, and load balancers