Network Automation and APIs Flashcards

Which protocol operates over TCP port 830 and is used for network device configuration?

Answer: NETCONF

NETCONF uses SSH (TCP port 830) as its transport protocol for secure device configuration.

What is RESTCONF, and how does it relate to NETCONF?

Answer: RESTCONF is a REST-based protocol that exposes NETCONF data stores over HTTP/HTTPS

RESTCONF (RFC 8040) provides a RESTful HTTP interface to the same YANG-modeled data stores used by NETCONF.

In an Ansible playbook, what is the purpose of the 'vars' section?

Answer: It defines variable values used throughout the playbook

The 'vars' section in a playbook defines variables that can be referenced in tasks using {{ variable_name }} syntax.

What is the purpose of the 'Accept' HTTP header in a REST API request?

Answer: It tells the server what data format the client wants in the response

The Accept header indicates the media type(s) the client can process, telling the server what format to use for the response.

Which of the following is a characteristic of a stateless REST API?

Answer: Each request must contain all information needed; the server stores no client state

REST's stateless constraint means every request is self-contained; the server retains no session state between requests.

When using Python's 'requests' library to call a HTTPS REST API that uses a self-signed certificate, what parameter disables SSL verification (for lab/testing only)?

Answer: verify=False

Passing verify=False to requests.get() or requests.post() disables SSL certificate verification, used only in lab environments.

Which automation approach is described as 'push-based' where a central controller sends configuration to devices?

Answer: Ansible

Ansible uses a push model where the control node actively pushes configuration to managed devices over SSH.