3.9 Interaction with Network Devices Through APIs Using Basic Python Scripts CCIE-SECURITY Practice Questions (Page 6)

Questions 26–30

1. 26expert · hard

   A security engineer is automating configuration changes on a Cisco ASA via its REST API. The API supports both API keys and OAuth2 tokens. The engineer needs to implement a solution that provides the highest security and allows for token revocation. Which authentication method should the engineer choose?

   • AAPI key in a custom header
   • BOAuth2 with short-lived access tokens and refresh tokens
   • CBasic Auth with username and password
   • DSession cookie after initial login
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
2. 27expert · hard

   A Python script is sending a POST request to create a new object on a network device API. The script receives a 409 Conflict response. What is the most likely cause and what should the engineer do?

   • AThe server is overloaded; the engineer should retry later
   • BThe request body is malformed; the engineer should fix the JSON syntax
   • CThe API endpoint is incorrect; the engineer should check the URI
   • DThe resource already exists; the engineer should use a different identifier or check for duplicates
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
4. 28expert · hard

   A Python script receives a JSON response from a network device API that contains a timestamp in ISO 8601 format as a string. The engineer needs to compare this timestamp with the current time to determine if a configuration change is recent. Which Python approach is correct?

   • AUse datetime.fromisoformat() to parse the string and compare with datetime.now()
   • BUse time.time() to parse the string
   • CUse json.loads() to convert the string to a datetime object
   • DUse int() to convert the string to a Unix timestamp
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
5. 29expert · hard

   An engineer is writing a Python script to parse an XML response from a network device API. The XML contains namespaces, and the engineer needs to extract data from an element within a specific namespace. Which approach is correct?

   • AUse findall() with just the local tag name
   • BUse ElementTree's findall() with a namespace map and the full namespace URI
   • CUse json.loads() to parse the XML
   • DUse string manipulation to extract the data
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
6. 30expert · hard

   A Python script needs to generate a YAML configuration file for a network device. The configuration includes a list of ACL rules, each with a sequence number, action, and protocol. Which Python code correctly creates the YAML structure?

   • AUse xml.etree.ElementTree to write YAML
   • BUse yaml.dump() with a Python dictionary containing a list of dictionaries
   • CUse string formatting to manually create YAML
   • DUse json.dump() to write YAML
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first