Question about material on CCENT

Hey everybody,

I'm studying for my CCENT (through WGU) and feel like I'm nearing the point where I'm ready to test. I've watched all of the ICND1 CBT Nuggets videos and read Wendell's Official Cert Guide. I still need to go back and re-read a few chapters/re-watch a few videos (mostly about NAT, ACLs, and a few other topics), but in general I felt like I had a decent understanding of all the topics presented in the videos as well as the textbook... until today.

I then started doing some of the Cisco labs (provided by Cisco) that WGU gave me access to. They're good labs, but they are also asking me to use commands and configure routers/switches in ways that, to the best of my knowledge, the Official Cert Guide and the CBT Nuggets never even touched upon. One example was setting up OSPF to advertise a default route to the internet to all other OSPF routers in the same area. The command was "default-information originate," and I had no clue what it did/that it even existed. There have been a number of other instances of this in the Cisco labs, and it's frustrating. I expect to have things explained to me in the book, then presented to me in a lab, and then be tested on it during the certification. Not have zero mention of something in the text, presented in a lab, and then be scared about what other random commands that might pop up in the cert. I'm sure a few of the commands were indeed mentioned in the text at some point and I've simply forgotten, but not all of them.

Anyway, does anybody know what's going on here? Will the CCENT be asking me to configure routers in ways that the textbook didn't cover, or is Cisco just throwing some curveballs in the labs to make the lower-tier material seem less scary?

Find more posts tagged with

Save $250 on 2025 certification boot camps from Infosec!

Book now with code EOY2025

Button

Comments

jayskata

I'm pretty sure the command "default-information originate." was mentioned in Jeremy's video ICND1v2. I guess you must have missed it. I'm sure that the test will not ask you to input commands you have never encountered in the ICND1v2 videos.

Bacon_00

It's definitely possible, I just don't recall ever hearing about it. More likely it was in the book and I missed it, but I really don't remember him getting into that much depth in the videos. IDK, it's possible I'm just forgetful and need to just keep studying!

edit:

I just looked through Jeremy's video on OSPF configuration. He covers setting up OSPF, making interfaces passive and not passive, turns on packet debugging to watch the OSPF messages, but never uses the default-information originate command. Possibly he uses it in subsequent videos, but again, I don't remember ever seeing it or hearing about it.

jayskata

Bacon_00 wrote: »

It's definitely possible, I just don't recall ever hearing about it. More likely it was in the book and I missed it, but I really don't remember him getting into that much depth in the videos. IDK, it's possible I'm just forgetful and need to just keep studying!

edit:

I just looked through Jeremy's video on OSPF configuration. He covers setting up OSPF, making interfaces passive and not passive, turns on packet debugging to watch the OSPF messages, but never uses the default-information originate command. Possibly he uses it in subsequent videos, but again, I don't remember ever seeing it or hearing about it.

He may have mentioned it on the ICND1v1 or ICND2v2 OSPF configuration video. But I'm pretty sure he did mentioned that command

networker050184

First off, no one can tell you what is on the exam or the depth of the questions.

The best thing you can do is pull up the exam objectives and study them thoroughly. Odom usually does a great job of covering all of the objectives. The videos are always light on content which is why they should never be your primary source of information.

Bacon_00

If it was in the ICND2 videos, that does me little good because I'm only studying for the ICND1!

late_collision

networker050184 wrote: »

Odom usually does a great job of covering all of the objectives.

I will disagree with you there. I would go so far as to say that if you use only Odom's book ("The Official Certification Guide") made available by ciscopress, you would be hard pressed to pass either ICND exam without prior experience.

The bottom line is that Cisco's official curriculum does not prepare you for every question you will see on the exam. In addition to that, you may (assuming there is a random bank of questions) see questions on the exam that are not outlined in the "Exam Objectives."

bermovick

The new ICND1 covers OSPF, from what I understand, while the old material didn't. I don't know if that might be the issue, that some of the material you're reviewing isn't covering the new material?

networker050184

late_collision wrote: »

I will disagree with you there. I would go so far as to say that if you use only Odom's book ("The Official Certification Guide") made available by ciscopress, you would be hard pressed to pass either ICND exam without prior experience.

The bottom line is that Cisco's official curriculum does not prepare you for every question you will see on the exam. In addition to that, you may (assuming there is a random bank of questions) see questions on the exam that are not outlined in the "Exam Objectives."

I appreciate your opinion, but myself and countless others here have used the material to pass. It has and will most likely continue to be the best available material outside of the official course material which not everyone has access to.

late_collision

networker050184 wrote: »

I appreciate your opinion, but myself and countless others here have used the material to pass. It has and will most likely continue to be the best available material outside of the official course material which not everyone has access to.

Hey, no offense taken!

Judging by the list of certs under your name, I'm guessing you haven't used Odom's latest book, and probably haven't taken the latest version of the CCNA exams?

From the chit-chat around the campfire, regarding the most recent exams, my sentiments are not unique.

DoubleNNs

There will always be a few small tid-bits and a few commands that aren't mentioned in the text or videos. The guys making the study materials don't have access to the entire test question bank, and even if they did, the question bank changes periodically.

The best thing you can do is study your hardest and understand everything. Use multiple materials to try to fill in all gaps; the cisco labs you're using is another source which is giving you access to even more topics/commands, which is good.

Over preparing for any of these exams and learning more topics and commands than would be on the test is a good thing, and would prepare you even better when you apply the knowledge at a job. In the same vein, not knowing a single command or aspect of a topic isn't going to make you fail the entire exam.

networker050184

You are right, it has been quite a while since I have done the exam. I do see the 'Pass' posts here every day and the material they use and recommend though. Odom books will always be the first thing I recommend.

denv540

If I was you I wouldn't second guess myself. Go into the test and write out a quick subnetting **** sheet on the provided dry erase board BEFORE starting the test so you can do calculations quickly, then all you really need is show commands..in the ccent you are not configuring anything - absolutely no configuration.. off the top of my head know stuff like major show commands (show ip interface/ospf/protocols/vlan/cdp/version and show run of course..the question mark works to help you along)...other than that, if you've read the book and watched those videos your ready. Be mindful of the clock and again write out a subnet table to not waste time on that.

late_collision

I'm not challenging you, so please don't read into it that way. Everyone learns different, so who's to say what learning method is best?

From my experience, I've noticed many folks supplementing their studying with CBT Nuggets, Lammle's book, and sharing study notes among peers. It's my gut feeling that these options wouldn't be so popular if Odom's books were sufficient.

Something I would add to the list, which typically gets overlooked because it's the 300lb gorilla in the corner, is the resources on Cisco's website. The white papers for the various protocols you're expected to know may present the information differently than the book, and likely covers the subject in more depth, although more difficult to read.

networker050184

Of course, supplemental material is always a good thing. Don't ever count on one source, but Odom is my suggeston for your main source.

denv540

networker050184 wrote: »

Of course, supplemental material is always a good thing. Don't ever count on one source, but Odom is my suggeston for your main source.

NightBlade09

Hey man, just want to let you know that Odom does talk about ospf default routes in the book-Page 486. I'm studying just like you, using Odom as my primary source.

ph1x10n

Yea I just did a quick search of Odoms ICND1 (100-101) .pdf and it does infact mention the default-infomation originate command, strangely I don't actually recall reading about it which is quite worrying since I only just finished the book but I had planned on going over a bunch of videos and labs then re-reading the book anyway as I have been taking to many breaks throughout my study (work sucks!).

CoolAsAFan

I literally just happened to read the chapter discussing DHCP in Odoms book and the default-information originate command is definitely discussed. This specific command was not discussed in Jeremy's nuggets, but the theory/concept was.

With only CBT Nuggets and Odoms book, I feel extremely confident about passing the exam in a few weeks.

Bacon_00

OK, well, that makes me feel a little better about that command (I think... hahaha). However, I'm now onto another lab in the official Cisco labs for the ICND1, and it's having me enter commands to set up HTTPS application routing on a router. I am 10000% sure that this was never even brushed upon in the CBT Nuggets, and as far as I know not discussed in the book, either. I suppose it's possible I'm wrong (again!), but this isn't just a command I don't recognize. It's an entire topic. I don't even want to do the lab because I have absolutely zero background on application-specific packet routing. Seems a little advanced for the CCENT...

Another thing bugging me about the labs is that they're in a really bizarre order. It had me set up OSPFv2 and v3 on a router, and then had me do the "basic router configuration" lab. Little backwards, much?

WGU also set me up with another set of labs, most of which are overly easy and have me spending 90% of the time entering enable secrets and logging in/out of the routers. They also put ACLs, DHCP, NAT, and IPv6 into the "ICND2" topic heading, which is obviously wrong.

I guess I'm just a little frustrated with the apparent confusion by the people creating this material about what exactly I need to be studying for the ICND1 test.

DoubleNNs

ACLs, DHCP, NAT, and IPv6 were in the ICND2 up until October 1st, when the older versions of the ICND1 and ICND2 became unavailable. So it's not that the materials you have from WGU are incorrect per se.. they're just out-dated now.

As mentioned previously, if you're encountering materials in the labs you aren't familiar w/ just look them up. You'll be a better network tech for it. If you don't want to look them up, not knowing that single command you haven't seen before will not be the reason why you passed or failed the exam.

late_collision

ACL's, NAT, and IPv6 can show up on both ICND1 and ICND2 exams, along with a few other topics. I can't comment on DHCP, with the cards that I was dealt, I didn't see it on either.

There is an IPv6 section in both of Odom's books, and when I took the ICND2 exam, it caught me by surprise how much ICND1 material I saw.

I was of the mindset: study book 1, take exam 1, study book 2, take exam 2. I would advise reviewing books 1 and 2 before taking exam 2. That seems a bit like common knowledge, but if you don't work with book 1 material everyday, some of it may begin to fade by the time you are ready to take exam 2.

Bacon, depending on the actual question you are seeing, there is a small section starting on page 207 in the first book that deals with securing the CLI with ssh. If you are talking about filtering https traffic, this was probably covered in the extended ACL chapter: 23. https traffic is on tcp port 443, there is a small table on page 630 with some common services, their protocol, and port number.

Magic Johnson

denv540 wrote: »

If I was you I wouldn't second guess myself. Go into the test and write out a quick subnetting **** sheet on the provided dry erase board BEFORE starting the test so you can do calculations quickly, then all you really need is show commands..in the ccent you are not configuring anything - absolutely no configuration.. off the top of my head know stuff like major show commands (show ip interface/ospf/protocols/vlan/cdp/version and show run of course..the question mark works to help you along)...other than that, if you've read the book and watched those videos your ready. Be mindful of the clock and again write out a subnet table to not waste time on that.

Eh? The exam objectives list TONNES of potential configuration scenarios?

Also, in my opinion, Odom's book is almost, at times, TOO much rather than not enough. He goes in to great depth on all the subjects, beyond CCENT requirements I think.

Take IPv6, Wendell dedicates a whole part of the book, 4 meaty chapters I think, to it. Jeremy Ciora only does 2, 40 minute videos.

I also do believe the default-info command was listed, but he said it was outside the scope of the CCENT.