Cisco CCNA Automation (formerly DevNet Associate)
CCNA Automation certifies that you can program against network platforms rather than configure them by hand: APIs, data formats, version control, testing and the automation tooling network teams have adopted.
A hundred and twenty minutes, nothing gating entry, and a rename recent enough to cause trouble.
Exam facts
- Exam code
- 200-901
- Level
- Associate
- Field
- Networking
- Duration
- 120 minutes
- Questions
- count not published; multiple choice, drag-and-drop and scenario items with code and API output
- Passing score
- pass/fail — Cisco does not publish the cut score; results within 48 hours
- Languages
- English
- Price
- 300 USD (read 12 September 2026)
- Validity
- 3 years, renewable
- Exam delivery
- Pearson VUE (test centre or online proctored); registration through the Cisco Certification Tracking System
Prerequisites: None. Cisco assumes basic Python, Git and REST-API familiarity plus CCNA-level networking.
Renewal: Any associate-level or higher Cisco exam passed inside the three years, or 30 Continuing Education credits
Source: exam page at Cisco · Price: Cisco's certification page (read 2026-09-12); Pearson VUE shows the local amount at booking. Cisco Learning Credits accepted.
How to prepare
1. The vendor's free learning path
Cisco publishes the exam objectives and a learning path free of charge — the authoritative source for scope and weighting. Open the learning path (opens in a new tab)
2. Online courses
Courses and practice questions from the directory that target exactly this exam — details, price and the provider link (affiliate) are on the course page.
3. A practice test in the exam format
MeasureUp sells a practice test for 200-901 with questions in the exam format, an explanation for every answer and a timed mode; the price shows in your currency on the shop page. Affiliate link.
Practice test for 200-901 at MeasureUp (opens in a new tab)Book the exam
Delivered by Pearson VUE (test centre or online proctored); registration through the Cisco Certification Tracking System. Schedule with Cisco (opens in a new tab)
Affiliate disclosure: the course and practice-test links above are affiliate links — buying through them may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. The vendor's learning path and booking links carry no commission.
Same exam code, different name
This was the DevNet Associate and it carries the same exam code. The rename places it inside the CCNA family, which is clearer about where it sits and less clear when you are shopping: courses, practice material and a great deal of published advice still use the old name, and some of it is genuinely current material under a superseded label. When buying, match on the code and ignore the title, since the code is the part that stayed put.
The syllabus is unusual among network certificates in how little of it is networking. Data formats, version control, testing and API behaviour take up substantial ground, and the network platforms appear as things to be automated rather than configured. That makes it the most accessible Cisco exam for a software person and the least comfortable for a traditional network engineer, which is the reverse of what the family name implies.
Who it is worth a fee to
Network engineers whose work has started to involve scripts, and who want the underlying software practices rather than another few commands. Software people supporting network teams, for whom this is the shortest route to understanding what those teams need. It is a poor first certificate for anyone new to networking, because it assumes the thing it automates, and a poor substitute for the traditional CCNA if what an employer actually wants is somebody to configure equipment. The two sit side by side deliberately and neither gates the other.
| Domain (version 1.1) | Share | Who finds it hard |
|---|---|---|
| Understanding and using APIs | 20 % | The network engineer who has never read a JSON response |
| Infrastructure and automation | 20 % | The software person who has never seen a device configuration |
| Software development and design | 15 % | The network engineer: version control, testing, and why either exists |
| Cisco platforms and development | 15 % | Both, because it is specific to the vendor's own tooling |
| Application deployment and security | 15 % | The network engineer: containers, pipelines, secrets |
| Network fundamentals | 15 % | The software person, and this is the one that sinks them |
- The traditional CCNA (200-301) is the same length, is offered in Japanese as well as English, and carries a version 1.1 last test day in February 2027; this one is English only with no announced version change.
- Cisco lists two prices for that exam on the same day; for this one it lists one, and accepts Cisco Learning Credits for both.
- Both run three years and renew when any Cisco exam at associate level or above is passed, or on 30 continuing-education credits.
- Neither requires the other, and the traditional paper is the wiser first buy for anyone who does not yet know what a subnet is for.
- Passing either renews the other, since both sit at the associate level in the same programme.
What Cisco does and does not tell you
Two hours, pass or fail with the result inside 48 hours, no published question count and no published cut score. The items mix multiple choice, drag-and-drop and scenarios built around code fragments and API output, so the reading load is higher than the question count would suggest. Cisco assumes basic Python, Git and REST-API familiarity plus CCNA-level networking, and enforces none of it.
English only is the fact most likely to decide this for a candidate outside the Anglophone markets, and it sits oddly beside the traditional CCNA's second language. Read it as a statement about the audience Cisco expects: people who already read documentation, code and API references in English every day, for whom an exam in the same language is no extra burden. For anyone else, the traditional paper first, in the language of their choice, and this one when the scripts have started appearing in their week.
What a question looks like
Written by us in the exam's style. It is not a real question from any question bank, and we do not publish those.
A script collects interface state from several devices and writes a report. It works when run against a lab device and fails intermittently in production, logging a timeout. The devices respond normally to manual queries at the same moment. What is the most likely cause and the correct remedy?
The symptom looks like a network fault and the stem rules that out by saying manual queries succeed. What remains is a property of how the script talks to the devices, which is a software problem rather than a networking one. Candidates from a network background look for the fault in the network; the exam wants them to look at concurrency, retries and rate limits.
What it costs to get and to keep
| Item | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Exam fee | 300 USD | quoted on Cisco's certification page, which also notes that Cisco Learning Credits may be used where an employer holds them (read 12 September 2026) |
| Renewal every three years | not published | pass any associate-level or higher Cisco exam inside the window, or earn continuing-education credits. The traditional CCNA renews this and vice versa (read 12 September 2026) |
How much preparation, from where you are
- You write scripts against network devices
- Most of the syllabus is your work with names attached. The gaps are usually testing and version-control practice, which scripts written under deadline tend to skip.
- You are a network engineer who has never programmed
- The largest jump on this page, and worth taking. Start with the data formats and API concepts rather than the tooling, because the tooling makes no sense until those land.
- You develop software and support a network team
- The shortest preparation of anyone. Learn what the platforms expose and why network people ask for the things they ask for; the software half will be familiar throughout.
What passing this does not prove
- Whether you can configure a network by hand, which the traditional CCNA covers.
- Whether your automation is safe to run against production at scale.
- Anything about the organisational change automation actually requires.
- Software engineering beyond the practices a script needs to be maintainable.
Against the alternatives
- 200-301 — Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
- The traditional networking exam, and neither gates the other. Sit that one if an employer wants configuration; sit this if the work has moved toward scripting it.
- AZ-400 — Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert
- Microsoft's delivery exam covers the same software practices in far more depth and without the network platforms. Better if your direction is engineering practice rather than networking.
- CKA — Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
- Performance-based and on a live system, which is a different kind of proof entirely. A reasonable next destination for anyone heading toward platform work.
200-901 — quick answers
Is this the DevNet Associate?
Yes, renamed, with the same exam code. That code is the reliable thing to check when shopping for material, since plenty of what is current still ships under the previous title and some genuinely outdated material has been relabelled.
Do I need the traditional CCNA first?
No, and nothing gates either exam behind the other. In practice this one assumes enough networking to know what is being automated, so candidates with no networking background usually find the other one the easier place to start.
How much programming is expected?
Enough to read and reason about a script, understand an API response, and know why version control and testing exist. You are not asked to build an application. Network engineers consistently underestimate this half and software people consistently overestimate it.
Is the practice test still under the old name?
Yes. Our partner's product for this exam is still titled for the DevNet Associate, and it targets the same code, so it is current despite the label. Match on 200-901, not on the title.
Which of the two CCNAs do employers actually ask for?
The traditional one, by a wide margin, because most adverts want somebody to configure equipment. This one is asked for by teams that have already automated and need people who can maintain that. If the advert mentions scripts, pipelines or a controller, it is describing this exam; if it mentions switches and routing, it is describing the other.
What comes next
Concepts this exam draws on
Glossary entries with the reason each one matters for 200-901.
- Python
The exam expects you to read Python that calls APIs and parses JSON.
- Containers
Docker basics and container deployment are part of the application domain.
- REST API
Understanding and using APIs is a fifth of the paper: methods, status codes, authentication and reading a response.
- HTTP
API calls are HTTP requests, and the exam shows you the raw exchange.
- Git
Version control for automation code is examined in the software development and design domain.
- TCP/IP
Network fundamentals for developers: what the transport underneath an API call is doing.
Last reviewed 12 September 2026 · Getting Digital