Crushing Defeat - TSHOOT

Well...I did not pull out a pass. In fact, I got there, found out all my usual troubleshooting commands were disabled on the sims...and pretty much went into a tailspin from there. Things that should have been easy suddenly became hard and I spent far too much time scrolling through show runs. I should not have wasted time on CBT Nuggets as I did and instead spent time on the Boson test, which I didn't even get to. I'm betting that would have gotten me far more familiar with the sim environment. That, and cramming for 3 days on the troubleshooting models and other small random stuff was a waste.

Ugh...a lesson learned the hard way.

So...my BCMSN, ONT, and ISCW are now just history. It's time to start over with my ROUTE under my belt and get back to studying for TSHOOT and SWITCH. Definitely a humbling experience to have all the exams necessary for a CCNP done...but no CCNP to show for it.

My advice for TSHOOT...get to know the sim environment well. My advice for CCNP...just push through it, one exam after the other. It's too easy to let life happen in between and have to start over.

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Comments

Danielh22185

Sorry to hear. Defeat is a great motivator though. I failed both my ICND21 and ICND2 tests on first attempt, but I felt after failing I really knew what I need to buckle down on and came back and blew both tests away. The key is to not get discouraged, learn from defeat and you will go far.

Somnipotent

bummer bro. especially having taken all the retired prerequisite exams. chin up. the at least you know what to expect now. the biggest thing about the tshoot exam is having a game plan, but apparently yours fell through once you realized you couldn't do half the things you intended. sorry to hear man, but don't let this discourage you!

ThunderPipe

The first exam I failed was a serious blow to my ego. But once I got back to my studying I found my mojo and knocked it out. It stings a little but you'll get it the next time.

networker050184

Sorry to hear it man.

waragi

What's makes is worse on the exam simulaters is that mistakes are not tolerated I.e the no version of any command does not work.

It seems exam strategy is very important for tshoot.

jamesp1983

You'll definitely have a good plan of attack for next time.

7of9

LOL...thank you guys, although I suppose it should be pointed out that I am not a bro or a man.

I'll admit...last night, I was pretty crushed about it, but this morning, I'm trying to look at it more as an opportunity to brush up again before moving on. Perhaps I could use the extra study as a launching point for CCIE written studies? You never know...

For now, though...I'm taking a brief break and focusing on another project. Getting married next weekend. Becoming part of a human HA pair is good.

m3zilla

waragi wrote: »

What's makes is worse on the exam simulaters is that mistakes are not tolerated I.e the no version of any command does not work.

It seems exam strategy is very important for tshoot.

Did TSHOOT change? From what I remember, there were no configuration change on TSHOOT and it was all show commands....where would you do a "no" command? I find TSHOOT to simulate real world very well. Most of my troubleshooting is doing show commands, then I script changes to fix it during the change window. No way can I just put in commands to see if it fixes it!

waragi

I was refering to the simulater from the other ccnp exams , where removing a entered config cannot be undone
If tshoot is only show commands and no entering or modyfing of configuration then I can understand why some people say the exam is so easy.

MrBishop

First things first and congrats on getting married next week! Second, please leave boson material alone and go with something else. Third, I would personally use INE material to study for these exams. Fourth, I"m kinda confused as to what command you were trying to do? Ping, tracert, show commands should be the bulk of the commands. I'm a little into the INE stuff and haven't seen anything to challenging or different that I would expect from troubleshooting techniques. Understanding how to use the topology diagrams and how to apply that to each ticket could be a problem if you haven't seen them before.

Congrats again on your wedding and enjoy

waragi

Strange I just saw a post praising the boson. simulater as to how close it was to the cisco exam simulater.
For the keep it real people the simulater used in the exam might just drive them barmy.

DPG

You definitely need to attempt the TSHOOT exam with the ROUTE and SWITCH material fresh in your mind. It is easy to get rusty when you don't deal with all of the covered technologies on a day-to-day basis.

I would go ahead and give TSHOOT another try since you now know what to expect.

m3zilla

waragi wrote: »

I was refering to the simulater from the other ccnp exams , where removing a entered config cannot be undone
If tshoot is only show commands and no entering or modyfing of configuration then I can understand why some people say the exam is so easy.

I think it's the opposite. The hard part of troubleshooting is figuring out the problem. Typing out the commands to fix said problem is the easy part.

TSHOOT is not a test that aim to see if you know how to configure something....it's to measure how well you can troubleshoot network issues. Anyone can type in commands to configure routing or switching, that's easy. To be able to pinpoint where the problem is by using only show command requires you to know how the technology works and operates.

In the real world, when you get a ticket about something being wrong, you don't go in and start reconfiguring stuff unless you know what's wrong. TSHOOT simulates this very well because you're not able to do any configuration. If you're not 100% sure of what the problem is, and you pick the wrong answer, you're essentially screwed because the following question on the lab is of no relevance to what the fix is.

waragi

So for the tshoot exam could I make the generalisation:
For dynamically changing parameters the show commands should be used like show ip route.
For static parameters just check the running config, where everything is clearly and sequentially listed is enough.

7of9

The issue I had was that, for one, I usually parse show commands. I'm used to working with devices that have long configs, so I use the pipe command A LOT. It was frustrating and threw me off that I could only do a straight show run. Besides that, I couldn't even do basic commands I'm used to using when troubleshooting, like "show ip interface," let alone "show ip int b." Since the command shortcuts are part of the TSHOOT exam material, I assumed they'd actually be available on the exam. When they weren't, it definitely threw me and I spent too much time staring at configs.

I didn't find it very similar to real world troubleshooting at all. Yes, in the real world, you have change management and usually can't go making config changes on the fly, however, you do also usually have a fully functional IOS.

I am thinking, 2 weeks off for R&R and getting married, then a quick brush up and go right after TSHOOT again, then begin prep for SWITCH. I'm down, but not out.

Good thing my fiance is a Citrix guy...he could care less about the NP.

waragi

So time was the issue then at the end of the exam due to the crippled ios?.
I am beginning to see now how the crippled and often ridiculed boson sim software is actually a good preparation tool.

Happy holiday , maybe you will actually get through a day without hearing the cisco word.

Scales

Did you do this before you sat for the exam?
TSHOOT Demo Item

And did you review the Tshoot topology before the exam?
https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/thread/10965

7of9

I did review the topology and I really didn't have many issues with that part of things. If I'd had my dang show commands and debug commands, I think I would have been a happy camper. I didn't see the demo item, but I'm not sure how much that would have helped. I was ok with the actual mechanics of the sim itself, just not the limited range of commands available. I'm thinking the Boson ExSim is my best bet for final prep when I come back from wedded bliss in a week or so.

Thank you for sharing those!

waragi

For people set in their everday tshoot strategies it must feel like a mechanic not having his spanners and only being allowed to use a pipe wrench.