CCIE Devnet Expert?
As of May 2nd 2022, the wait is finally over and you can now sit the lab exam for the long awaited Cisco Certified Devnet Expert Lab Exam! This is an 8 hour exam which will test the new network engineer of the future in the world of programming automation and application development skills. This new Cisco certification is a ground breaking step away from the traditional exams to date and moving at pace towards a software driven network.
I am going to be attempting this exam in 2023!!
It is still to be confirmed if you will called a CCIE Devnet Expert? But that is probably the name that will stick.
I passed the CCNA Devnet exam back in 2020 and became a member of the class of 2020.
To become a Cisco Certified Devnet Expert you just need to pass the DEVCOR exam and the lab exam.
The Cisco Certified DevNet Expert (v1.0) Lab Exam is an 8-hour, hands-on exam that requires a candidate to plan, design, develop, test, deploy, and maintain software solutions within complex automation-driven network environments.
For more information from Cisco:
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/training-events/training-certifications/certifications/expert/devnet-expert.html
The main exam page is here: https://developer.cisco.com/certification/devnet-expert/
There is a great video introduction below
Cisco Certified Devnet Expert Training
As this exam is so new, there is no official training available, but there are a lot of resources available on the Cisco website and Cisco are planning to release some practice labs very soon.
The official page here contains the blueprint and also links to training on specific topics
https://developer.cisco.com/certification/exam-topic-expert/
Devnet Expert Learning Matrix
Cisco have also published a learning matrix which lists all the key topics, book lists and links to training from Ciscolive and Devnet.
Download the devnet expert learning matrix here
The official exam blueprint lists the high level topics and there are many resources to learn each individual area.
The Cisco devnet certification cost is much the same as other Cisco exams. I will provide a dedicated post on this subject soon.
Cisco Devnet Expert Blueprint
The 8 hour lab exam is broken down into 5 sections
1.0 Software Design, Development, and Deployment
Design a solution based on an on-premises, hybrid, or public cloud deployment,
considering these factors:
1.1.a Deployment: maintainability, modularity (e.g., containers, VM, orchestration,
automation, components, and infrastructure requirements)
1.1.b Reliability: high availability and resiliency
1.1.c Performance: scalability, latency, and rate limiting
1.1.d Infrastructure: monitoring, observability, and metrics (e.g., instrument
placement and instrument deployment)
1.2 Recommend a deployment strategy to mitigate risk and impact on service availability,
for a given scenario
1.3 Modify an existing network automation solution based on business and technical
requirements (includes gap analysis)
1.4 Use Git in a CI/CD development workflow
1.5 Troubleshoot issues with a CI/CD pipeline (e.g., code-based failures, pipeline issues, and
tool incompatibility)
2.0 Infrastructure as Code
2.1 Create a scalable solution for infrastructure automation (considering areas such as
network impact, risk, and tool selection)
2.2 Build, manage, and operate a Python-based REST API with a web application framework
(endpoints, HTTP request, and response)
2.3 Build, manage, and operate a Python-based CLI application to use a REST API
2.4 Consume and use a new REST API, given the documentation
2.5 Create a RESTCONF or NETCONF payload based on a given YANG module, and interpret
the response
2.6 Create a NETCONF filter by using XPath
2.7 Configure network devices on an existing infrastructure by using NETCONF or
RESTCONF, given YANG analysis tools
2.8 Create and use a role by utilizing Ansible to manage infrastructure, given support
documentation
2.8.a Loop control
2.8.b Conditionals
2.8.c Use of variables and templating
2.8.d Use of connection plug-ins such as network CLI, HTTPAPI, and NETCONF
2.9 Use Terraform to statefully manage infrastructure, given support documentation
2.9.a Loop control
2.9.b Resource graphs
2.9.c Use of variables
2.9.d Resource retrieval
2.9.e Resource provision
2.9.f Management of the state of provisioned resources
2.10 Create a basic Cisco NSO service package to meet given business and technical
requirements. The service would generate a network configuration on the target device
platforms using the “cisco-ios-cli” NED and be of type “python-and-template”
2.10.a Create a service template from a provided NSO device configuration
2.10.b Create a basic YANG module for the service containers (including lists, leaf lists,
data types, leaf references, and single argument “when” and “must” conditions)
2.10.c Create basic actions to verify operational status of the service
2.10.d Monitor service status by reviewing the NCS Python VM log file
3.0 Network Programmability and Automation
3.1 Create, modify, and troubleshoot scripts by using Python libraries and SDK
documentation to automate against APIs (ACI, AppDynamics, DNA Center, FDM,
Intersight, IOS XE, Meraki, NSO, Webex)
3.2 Automate the configuration of a Cisco IOS XE network device (based on a provided
architecture and configuration), including these components:
3.2.a Interfaces
3.2.b Static routes
3.2.c VLANs
3.2.d Access control lists
3.2.e BGP peering
3.2.f BGP and OSPF routing tables
3.2.g BGP and OSPF neighbors
3.3 Deploy an application on a Cisco IOS XE device by leveraging the technologies of Guest
Shell and application hosting
3.4 Modify and troubleshoot an automated test by using pyATS to meet requirements
3.4.a Create a testbed file for connecting to Cisco IOS, IOS XE, or NX-OS devices
3.4.b Gather current configuration and operational state from devices using the Genie
parsers and models included with pyATS
3.4.c Develop and execute test jobs and scripts using AEtest to verify network health
3.5 Design a model-driven telemetry solution based on given business and technical
requirements by using gNMI dial-in, gRPC dial-out, and NETCONF dial-in
3.6 Create YANG model-driven telemetry subscriptions
3.6.a Identify model elements and cadence
3.6.b On-change or event drive
3.6.c Optimize frequency
3.6.d Dial-out subscription
3.6.e Secure telemetry streams
3.6.f Confirm data transmission
3.6.g Identify network issues and make changes
4.0 Containers
4.1 Create a Docker image (including Dockerfile)
4.1.a From a provided image
4.1.b Expose ports
4.1.c Add or copy files
4.1.d Run commands during image build
4.1.e Manipulate entry point and initial commands
4.1.f Establish working directories
4.1.g Environment variables as part of a definition to control an application
4.1.h Docker ignore file
4.1.i Volumes
4.2 Package and deploy a solution by using Docker Compose
4.2.a Deploy and manage containers
4.2.b Define services, networks, volumes, and links
4.3 Package and deploy a solution by using Kubernetes
4.3.a Use deployments, secrets, services, ingress, volumes, namespaces, and replicas
4.3.b Manage the lifecycle of pods (e.g., scale up, scale down, help status, logs)
4.3.c Monitor pods by building health checks)
4.3.d Use the kubectl interface
4.4 Create, consume, and troubleshoot a Docker host and bridge-based networks and
integrate them with external networks
5.0 Security
5.1 Leverage OWASP secure coding practices into all solutions to meet given requirements
5.1.a Input validation
5.1.b Authentication and password management
5.1.c Access control
5.1.d Cryptographic practices
5.1.e Error handling and logging
5.1.f Communication security
5.2 Create a certificate signing request (CSR) by using OpenSSL; send CSR to a provided
certificate authority; and use the certificate to secure a web application
5.3 Use OAuth2+ to obtain an authentication token
5.4 Use a secret management system to secure an application
5.5 Use tokens, headers, and secrets to secure a REST API
Devnet Expert Salary
Whilst there are no official figures on this yet, anyone who is a qualified network engineer and has added Devnet skills to their toolset they can easily expect to increase their salary by 10-20%
Conclusion
Wow! – if you are still here you can see that the topic list is quite in depth, but also for me very interesting, there is not one topic there that I would not want to learn more about.
An CCIE level lab exam that is based on network automation and requires expert knowledge in Ansible, Terraform, Python, API’s, NSO – amazing! Great job Cisco.
So if you want to follow me on this journey I am realistically planning to take this exam in 2023 – there will be plenty of study resources on here – and plenty of videos
Contact me if you want to be updated on my progress on this amazing journey
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