8 free HPE HPE6-A86 Network Switching Associate practice questions from the CertStash pack of 108, each with the correct answer and a full explanation. The rule is the same for every exam: ten free on the product page, 8 free here, all 108 in the pack, and each step includes the one before it.
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Question 1
A technician installed a new 550 series access point, which is cabled back to a CX 6000 series switch. However, there are no lights on the AP.
What could cause this?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. PoE is disabled on the interface.
An access point cabled to a switch typically draws its power over the Ethernet cable using Power over Ethernet. If PoE is disabled on the switch interface, the AP receives no power at all, so it cannot boot and none of its LEDs light up. Every other possible fault, such as a VLAN or cloud connectivity problem, would only appear after the AP has powered on, so a completely dark AP points to the power source. Enabling PoE on the interface restores power to the AP.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Spanning tree only affects whether a port forwards traffic and has nothing to do with powering the AP.
- C. An AP that cannot reach Central still powers on and shows status lights.
- D. A wrong VLAN prevents network connectivity but does not stop the AP from receiving power and lighting up.
Question 2
Which user group exists by default on a CX 8400 series switch?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. operators
AOS-CX switches ship with built-in local user groups that define privilege levels for management users. The operators group is one of these default groups and provides read-only access suitable for monitoring, alongside the administrators group with full access and the auditors group for audit-related access. Any local user created on a CX 8400 can be assigned to operators without first defining the group, because it is part of the factory configuration.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. There is no helpdesk group on AOS-CX switches by default.
- C. There is no servicedesk group on AOS-CX switches by default.
- D. There is no support group on AOS-CX switches by default.
Question 3
How do you configure an IP address for the management interface on a CX 6300?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. interface mgmt no shutdown ip static 10.250.136.52/29 default-gateway 10.250.136.49
On a CX 6300, the out-of-band management port is configured in the interface mgmt context. The interface is enabled with no shutdown, given a static address with ip static followed by the address and prefix length, and assigned its gateway with default-gateway. The management interface belongs to the built-in mgmt VRF automatically, so there is no need to create that VRF or attach the interface to it. This short sequence is all that is required to reach the switch over its management port.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. The management interface uses ip static rather than ip address to set a static IPv4 address.
- C. The mgmt interface uses ip static rather than ip address and is already part of the mgmt VRF, so vrf attach is not used.
- D. The mgmt VRF exists by default and the management interface is bound to it automatically, so creating the VRF and attaching the interface are not part of the configuration.
Question 4
What is considered a secure protocol?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. SNMPv3
SNMPv3 adds a user-based security model to SNMP, providing authentication of each message and optional encryption of its contents. This protects credentials and monitoring data from being read or altered in transit, which earlier SNMP versions cannot do. Because it secures both identity and data, SNMPv3 is considered a secure protocol for network management.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. HTTP sends data, including credentials, in clear text.
- B. Telnet sends usernames, passwords and commands in clear text.
- D. TFTP has no authentication or encryption at all.
Question 5
Which is at the Transport Layer of the OSI model?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. TCP Port
The Transport Layer, layer 4 of the OSI model, is where protocols such as TCP and UDP operate. TCP uses port numbers to identify which application or service on a host a segment belongs to, allowing many conversations to share the same IP address. A TCP port is therefore a Transport Layer element.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. IP addresses are Network Layer (layer 3) addresses.
- C. MAC addresses are Data Link Layer (layer 2) addresses.
- D. A switch port is a physical interface, which belongs to the Physical Layer rather than the Transport Layer.
Question 6
Which statement is true when creating VLANs on an HPE Aruba Networking CX switch?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. A VLAN range can be created with a syntax of: vlan 100-110
AOS-CX lets you create several VLANs at once by entering a range with a hyphen, so vlan 100-110 creates VLANs 100 through 110 in one command. VLANs created this way are active immediately and need no separate enable step. The hyphenated range syntax saves time when building many VLANs on a switch.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. A colon is not the range separator; ranges use a hyphen.
- C. There is no enable command for VLANs, which are active when created.
- D. A newly created VLAN does not need a no shutdown command to become active.
Question 7
You have access to the CLI of an HPE Aruba Networking CX switch.
How can you output the switch make, model, and serial number displayed on the session?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Issue command: show system
The show system command displays general information about an AOS-CX switch in the current session, including the vendor, the product name and model, and the chassis serial number, along with details such as the hostname, base MAC address and uptime. It is the quickest way to identify the make, model and serial number of a switch from the CLI.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. show support-information collects extensive diagnostic output for support cases rather than giving a concise summary of make, model and serial number.
- B. diag dump basic is a diagnostic command and is not used to display the switch make, model and serial number.
- C. show configuration displays configuration settings, not hardware identity details.
Question 8
Which firewall port needs to be opened between your Network Monitoring System and CX switches to collect monitoring data using SNMP?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. UDP 161
A network monitoring system collects data by sending SNMP get and walk requests to the agent on each switch, and the SNMP agent listens on UDP port 161. Opening UDP 161 from the monitoring system to the CX switches allows these polls and their responses through the firewall. SNMP traps travel in the other direction to the manager on UDP 162, which is separate from polling.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. UDP 1157 is not used by SNMP.
- C. SNMP uses UDP rather than TCP, and port 162 is for traps sent to the manager rather than polling the switch.
- D. TCP 1156 is not used by SNMP.
That was 8 of 108.
The full HPE HPE6-A86 Network Switching Associate pack has all 108 questions, each with the answer, the explanation and why the other options are wrong, plus a questions-only copy for timed runs. US$39, paid once, with free monthly updates and a pass-or-your-money-back guarantee.
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