Its happening! CCNP here I go...

--chris--

Spent an hour trying to get one of the 3750's setup for management but could not get SSH to work. Telnet turned off, SSH enabled, I could connect but I would keep getting rejected because of a bad password.

Finally I wr mem, reloaded and it worked...must have been a hung service?

Finished chapters 1-3 in FLG, setup the lab for VTP next time.

--chris--

negru_tudor wrote: »

Good luck man. Also going through a CCNA review at the moment & planning on tackling CCNP soon. Going to start ROUTE first though.

Good luck, I wish I would have went straight to CCNP studies from CCNA. The material is not much more difficult to understand if you are at CCNA level and NP is where you finally get into the fun stuff. I think of NA as your first year of college, getting all the boring required learning out of the way before the meat and potatoes.

--chris--

Determined this morning that one of my lab switches is failing. I have to reboot it every 20-30 minutes to ssh into it. Good thing I ordered that other switch...hopefully it will be here this week.

negru_tudor

--chris-- wrote: »

Determined this morning that one of my lab switches is failing. I have to reboot it every 20-30 minutes to ssh into it. Good thing I ordered that other switch...hopefully it will be here this week.

any specific reason why it's going A-wall? seen this happen to my lab 2801 and it was due to the RAM stick.

--chris--

negru_tudor wrote: »

any specific reason why it's going A-wall? seen this happen to my lab 2801 and it was due to the RAM stick.

I did not troubleshoot it, I only have an hour or so each morning to put into studying SWITCH topics and I have a new switch on the way. Its also exhibiting other odd behaviors that are fixed with reboots (like VTP not propagating, but a reload makes that work). Unless I am missing something with VTP?

--chris--

Its almost worthwhile to have a busted switch in your lab, your constantly troubleshooting! (half kidding)

Got VTP working, played with different modes, reset counters, adjusted parameters and broke it a few times then fixed it. Watched info propagate out to clients. Discovered the server can jump between vtp versions and the clients will follow (cool). Put everything into transparent mode and moved on....

Feel pretty comfortable with VTP, moving onto STP. Setup the 2950's for management, will config tomorrow for (maybe later today if remote access is working) STP labs.

--chris--

34 % through FLG again, much of it feels very familiar. I am making notes using Anki for review and retention, I will make these availible when I am finished.

8% of the way through Chris Bryants Udemy course, labbing along with him. Spent this morning learning STP timer adjustment, priority, and shifting the root bridge around for different Vlans. I need more time working with port settings in STP, I understand how these work I just dont remember which setting does what without tabbing.

I am going to start tracking lab time as well, including today (2 hours) I am up to 5 hours.

Stevennn

Nice topic, great idea to post things on Linkedin. I might give that a try aswell. Bood luck with your studies!

--chris--

37% on FLG, slower progress due to holiday weekend festivities. No progress made this morning, had a few hours of school work to nail down so I can focus on CCNP the rest of the week. Also, found out I have a week off between summer semester and fall semester, I did not know I had that! A week of nothing but SWITCH studies will help me achieve my goal!

--chris--

Had some trouble understanding Root Guard, this explanation helped me the most (and maybe help someone else!):

BPDU Guard

• BPDU guard disables the port upon BPDU reception if PortFast is enabled on the port. The disablement effectively denies devices behind such ports from participation in STP.

• You must manually reenable the port that is put into errdisable state or configure errdisable-timeout. The receipt of unexpected BPDUs may be accidental or may be part of an unauthorized attempt to add a switch to the network. BPDU guard is best deployed toward user-facing ports to prevent rogue switch network extensions by an attacker.

Root guard

• Root guard allows the device to participate in STP as long as the device does not try to become the root. If root guard blocks the port, subsequent recovery is automatic. Recovery occurs as soon as the offending device ceases to send superior BPDUs

• The root guard feature of Cisco switches is designed to provide a way to enforce the placement of root bridges in the network. Root guard limits the switch ports out of which the root bridge may be negotiated. If a root-guard-enabled port receives BPDUs that are superior to those that the current root bridge is sending, then that port is moved to a root-inconsistent state

https://supportforums.cisco.com/discussion/11644571/root-guard-vs-bpdu-guard

--chris--

43% through FLG, received OCG and poked around in it...much great level of detail compared to the FLG.

Finished the STP chapter last night in FLG and feel like I only retained 50% of it. I can tell by the amount of time spent on STP in both the books and videos that mastery of the topics discussed will be required to pass CCNP.

Anyone have any good resources for really understanding STP?

30 min in lab; 5:30 total.


edit: I did order the SWITCH lab manual (v2), maybe that will help in the STP/labbing?

just waiting on BN.com to get it to me....as an aside, Amazon spoils us with two day shipping. I had $70 in gift cards to BN.com and thought why not use them to buy the FLG and switch lab books....its been 11 business days since I ordered them; the OCG arrived Friday (?) and the lab manual is somewhere between me and Illinois (about 200 miles). If I paid for these books without gift cards I might be upset lol.

Danielh22185

All I can say is repetition, repetition, repetition! Keep at it! Many times when I felt I didn't understand particular topics I would switch my study resource a bit. Sounds like you have 2 different books to bounce off of, which is good. You might also try looking into the CCNP Simplified Series. They are tailored for the older test BUT they have probably 85-90% of the current exam content covered, and typically advanced stuff that was not on the older tests or on the new ones. Stuff like STP, VTP, OSPF, EIGRP, etc... the core concepts will not change. You can get that entire library virtually for $30 on amazon.

Also maybe try mixing up your study with video content, and different video content. I've learned to REALLY enjoy Chris Bryant's stuff (I wish I would have delved into his stuff earlier). Some people will call him a bit dry and his presentation method a bit simple but he gets right to the point and shows EVERYTHING in the CLI, which I felt was crucial to learning. Him doing everything in the CLI also gives you a great opportunity to easily create the same topology and follow along.

My reading / video study method would be to first flat out read or watch through everything once. Then come back pen in hand ready to take extensive notes over the same exact content. Many of the professional trainers out there will mention they expect you to watch or read the content multiple times to get the content down and understood, which I fully agree with. I would even pop the videos on in my car rides to and from work to listen to as I drove to have that constant mental regurgitation.

Labbing is obviously your friend (and a must!) which I more reserved for the end of my studies to apply what I learned.

Everybody is different but those are my methods, so feel free to take from that what you may.

carterw65

Thanks for those tips Daniel!

--chris--

Danielh22185 wrote: »

All I can say is repetition, repetition, repetition! Keep at it! Many times when I felt I didn't understand particular topics I would switch my study resource a bit. Sounds like you have 2 different books to bounce off of, which is good. You might also try looking into the CCNP Simplified Series. They are tailored for the older test BUT they have probably 85-90% of the current exam content covered, and typically advanced stuff that was not on the older tests or on the new ones. Stuff like STP, VTP, OSPF, EIGRP, etc... the core concepts will not change. You can get that entire library virtually for $30 on amazon.

Also maybe try mixing up your study with video content, and different video content. I've learned to REALLY enjoy Chris Bryant's stuff (I wish I would have delved into his stuff earlier). Some people will call him a bit dry and his presentation method a bit simple but he gets right to the point and shows EVERYTHING in the CLI, which I felt was crucial to learning. Him doing everything in the CLI also gives you a great opportunity to easily create the same topology and follow along.

My reading / video study method would be to first flat out read or watch through everything once. Then come back pen in hand ready to take extensive notes over the same exact content. Many of the professional trainers out there will mention they expect you to watch or read the content multiple times to get the content down and understood, which I fully agree with. I would even pop the videos on in my car rides to and from work to listen to as I drove to have that constant mental regurgitation.

Labbing is obviously your friend (and a must!) which I more reserved for the end of my studies to apply what I learned.

Everybody is different but those are my methods, so feel free to take from that what you may.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I am going to work these in! I have the Udemy and INE video's then the OCG and FLG and still waiting on the lab guide.

Ill see what I can find on the simplified series if time permits / knowledge gaps still exists.

--chris--

No labbing today, worked on filling out my notes on:

• Switch priority/config/verification
• Path cost/config/verification
• STP Timer/config/verification
• RootGuard/config/verification
• LoopGuard/config/verification

Feel much more confident in those sections. I think spending a week or 10 days focusing on nothing but STP and how it relates to the SWITCH exam will be a big help instead of progressing through the books and videos in a linear fashion.

--chris--

Vacation has been much less productive than planned (as far as this cert is concerned).

Can someone help me figure out which IOS support TCLSH? Is it only supported on 12.2+? Or is it dependent on image?

I created a reset and a base config tclsh script on one switch, then tftp copied to another switch but I can not "call it"...the switch does not recognize any TCLSH command.

The switch it works on is 12.2 / K9 image, the switch it does not work on is 12.1 / I5-M

--chris--

while attempting to telnet into a lab switch I get this prompt:




Is it just me or is it weird I can reach a service provider device via private IP?

Fadakartel

--chris-- wrote: »

while attempting to telnet into a lab switch I get this prompt:




Is it just me or is it weird I can reach a service provider device via private IP?

hahahah I hope that`s not your ISP router a SR 7750 is a pretty good triple play router, by chance who is your ISP?

clarson

I don't think it is supported on 12.1


Cisco IOS Scripting with Tcl

12.3(2)T 12.3(7)T 12.2(25)S 12.2(33)SXH 12.2(33)SRC 12.2(33)SB Cisco IOS XE 3.1.0SG




and you can always look it up:

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/go/cfn.

--chris--

Triple play router?

Haha no my CPE is net gear. Figured out this is normal, seems weird anyone would have telnet enabled though. I know it happens, but on newer equipment?

--chris--

Working with L2 port channels...

When I delete a PO interface, do the interfaces that were previously in that PO move to a shutdown state on their own?

That is what I am observing, I just can't find any official document that confirms it.

--chris--

Filled out more of my study guide, over 50% complete as of today. Completed about 20% of the lab guide. School starts up again this wednesday, two classes...400 level math and 200 level elective...I will see how time consuming these are and adjust study from there.

--chris--

ughh....school is very time consuming this semester. The classes are 2-3 hours a day leaving 0-1 hours a day for CCNP. Progress has significantly slowed, but I am still reading/studying/labbing as I get time.

--chris--

School has greatly impacted the amount of study time I have. I am seriously doubting the renewal at this point.

Working on L3 ethchannels this morning.

negru_tudor

--chris-- wrote: »

School has greatly impacted the amount of study time I have. I am seriously doubting the renewal at this point.

Working on L3 ethchannels this morning.

school has a way of getting into the way of things, that's what experience taught me :P anyway, you can do it man, any progress is fine as long as you grind through it.

--chris--

Yeah re-reading that post came off a bit pessimistic. It was meant more or less for anyone following along now or who may find this later and wonder "whats with the week between updates?"

Definitely not giving up and in fact finished this weeks school work today so now I have from tonight through Thursday morning to focus on SWITCH. I was able to finish of section 1.0 of the objectives/notes at work today and started on teh security features (DHCP snooping, IP Source Guard) which is pretty much review since I have read the material and worked with it on the field.

When I started SWITCH, most of the topics were well over my head. Having worked as a network "engineer" for almost 4 months now though, most of these topics are actually not that technical and I find myself working on even harder things daily.

Its all perception I guess.

hurricane1091

--chris-- wrote: »

Working with L2 port channels...

When I delete a PO interface, do the interfaces that were previously in that PO move to a shutdown state on their own?

That is what I am observing, I just can't find any official document that confirms it.

Port Channels can be weird. I am trying to think what I was doing on a Nexus 7k a month ago, but whatever I did to the PO interface actually did not affect the physical members of the port channel. Not a big deal, I recognized it and fixed it. It was unexpected at the time though (though my boss said it was the expected behavior and he would know better) and now it is bugging me lol.

--chris--

I think about this thread weekly.

I hate starting something and not finishing it, but the honest truth is I have to be flexible (because "rigid" will break). When I started this thread I thought the only way to progress in the direction I wanted was to keep working towards CCN* and learn/earn my way up.

I am about 1 year into my first year as a "network engineer" and my job is slowly shifting into security & compliance with a mix of network eng work. I like the direction its shifting, this is the area I went to school for (BS in Info Assurance). I feel my 2-3 years as a sys admin and 1 year as a net eng will serve me well in this new direction.

With that said, I am going to declare this CCNP attempt dead.

I may circle back to this at some point, but with my CCNA expiring this January and my job wanting me to focus on school (graduate in 6 months!) and security certs I can't prioritize this cert over that stuff. I have been handed a tremendous opportunity here and I don't want to be hung up on this CCNP attempt...sorry for the rant, but I get upset with anything I fail to follow through on.

So whats next? This summer will be CEH, then if the overlap is strong enough CHFA....leading into WGU's MSCISA in 2018 (may be able to get the employer to pick up the bill).

ande0255

I call the CCNP R/S the brain killer cert, I test this Friday, and I don't even know what to do in preparation.

I am covering the bases I didn't pay a lot of attention to, but in doing that I've forgotten a large chunk of BGP information I learned just a month or so ago, so I am trying to measure how many solid hours I would have to watch every day for the next 3 days without clicking pause to get through all 8-9 hours of BGP in the INE R/S track.

If I pass this exam I might fall out of the chair and just stroke out due to happiness, cause studying is turning from a fun learning experience into a grind, trying to keep all the details in my head for exam day.

So I'm going to take the leap of faith Friday and just see what happens x_x My brain is tired.

--chris--

ande0255 wrote: »

I call the CCNP R/S the brain killer cert, I test this Friday, and I don't even know what to do in preparation.

I am covering the bases I didn't pay a lot of attention to, but in doing that I've forgotten a large chunk of BGP information I learned just a month or so ago, so I am trying to measure how many solid hours I would have to watch every day for the next 3 days without clicking pause to get through all 8-9 hours of BGP in the INE R/S track.

If I pass this exam I might fall out of the chair and just stroke out due to happiness, cause studying is turning from a fun learning experience into a grind, trying to keep all the details in my head for exam day.

So I'm going to take the leap of faith Friday and just see what happens x_x My brain is tired.

Good luck mate, don't get to hung up on the potential "failure" aspect of exams...you can take it again for a few bones more.