CCNA Automation: What Changed in 2026

Cisco made two big moves that affect every CCNA student:

1. CCNA 200-301 v1.1 added AI, machine learning, Terraform, and Ansible to the exam
2. DevNet certifications were renamed to CCNA/CCNP/CCIE Automation (February 2026)

The message is clear: network automation isn't optional anymore. Here's what changed, what you need to study, and how to get hands-on practice.

What Changed in CCNA v1.1

The updated exam (released August 2024) added these topics:

New on the exam:

• Generative AI and predictive AI in network operations
• Machine learning for network management
• Terraform for infrastructure as code
• Ansible for network configuration management
• Cloud network management concepts

Removed from the exam:

• DNA Center (replaced by broader cloud management concepts)
• Puppet and Chef (replaced by Terraform and Ansible)

This isn't a minor update. Automation and AI now appear across multiple exam domains, not just in a single "automation" section.

What You Need to Know (Concepts)

The CCNA doesn't expect you to write production Ansible playbooks. But you do need to understand:

Configuration management:

• What Ansible does and how it works (agentless, push-based, YAML playbooks)
• What Terraform does (infrastructure as code, declarative, state management)
• When to use each tool

APIs and automation:

• REST API concepts (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE)
• JSON data format
• How controllers expose APIs for network management

AI/ML in networking:

• How AI assists with anomaly detection, traffic prediction, and troubleshooting
• Difference between generative AI and predictive AI in network context
• How ML models learn from network telemetry data

What You Should Practice (Hands-On)

Theory gets you partway. Hands-on practice with real devices makes the concepts stick.

Ansible Basics

A simple Ansible playbook that configures OSPF on a Cisco router:

---
- name: Configure OSPF on routers
  hosts: routers
  gather_facts: no
  connection: network_cli
 
  tasks:
    - name: Configure OSPF process
      cisco.ios.ios_config:
        lines:
          - router ospf 1
          - network 10.0.0.0 0.0.0.255 area 0
          - network 192.168.1.0 0.0.0.255 area 0

What's happening:

• hosts: routers — targets all devices in the "routers" group
• connection: network_cli — connects via SSH
• cisco.ios.ios_config — Ansible module for Cisco IOS configuration
• lines — the CLI commands to push

One playbook configures 10 routers in seconds. That's the power of automation — consistency and speed.

Python with Netmiko

Netmiko is the most common Python library for SSH-based network automation:

from netmiko import ConnectHandler
 
device = {
    "device_type": "cisco_ios",
    "host": "10.0.1.1",
    "username": "admin",
    "password": "cisco123"
}
 
connection = ConnectHandler(**device)
 
# Read configuration
output = connection.send_command("show ip ospf neighbor")
print(output)
 
# Push configuration
config_commands = [
    "interface loopback 99",
    "ip address 99.99.99.99 255.255.255.255",
    "no shutdown"
]
connection.send_config_set(config_commands)
connection.disconnect()

This script connects to a router, checks OSPF neighbors, and creates a loopback interface — all programmatically. You can't practice this in Cisco Packet Tracer.

REST API Interaction

Modern network controllers expose REST APIs. Here's a basic example:

import requests
import json
 
# Get device list from a controller
response = requests.get(
    "https://controller.lab/api/v1/devices",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"},
    verify=False
)
 
devices = response.json()
for device in devices["data"]:
    print(f"{device['hostname']} - {device['ip_address']}")

The CCNA expects you to understand what this code does conceptually — reading JSON responses, making HTTP requests, authenticating with tokens.

The New Automation Certification Track

In February 2026, Cisco renamed DevNet to the Automation track:

This isn't just a rename — it signals that automation is now a core networking discipline, not a separate developer track.

What this means for CCNA students:

If you're studying for the standard CCNA (200-301), the automation topics overlap significantly with CCNA Automation. Mastering the automation concepts for 200-301 gives you a head start toward the dedicated Automation certification.

Where to Practice

The challenge with automation labs is that most traditional tools don't support them:

• Cisco Packet Tracer — no Python, no Ansible, no API access
• GNS3/EVE-NG — supports automation but requires manual setup of the automation environment
• CML — supports Ansible/Python with Cisco devices only

With cloud-based labs, automation tools are available out of the box. You can SSH into devices with Netmiko, push configs with Ansible, and test API interactions without setting up a separate automation server.

Try this prompt to get started:

Build a network automation lab with:
- 3 Cisco routers running OSPF
- All devices accessible via SSH
- I want to practice Ansible and Python automation

Study Resources

For CCNA 200-301 automation topics:

• Cisco's official exam topics page — search for "automation" and "programmability"
• Cisco DevNet Sandbox — free lab environments for API practice
• "Python for Network Engineers" tutorials — focus on Netmiko and NAPALM

For the CCNA Automation track:

• Cisco Learning Network — updated study materials for the new track
• PyNet Labs — structured automation courses
• Practice on real devices — theory alone won't prepare you

The Bottom Line

Automation is no longer a nice-to-have skill for network engineers. It's on the CCNA exam, it's a dedicated certification track, and it's what employers increasingly look for.

The good news: the CCNA-level automation concepts aren't deep. You need to understand what the tools do, read basic code, and know when to use each approach. Hands-on practice with real devices makes these concepts concrete.

Ready to practice automation? Get started with NetPilot — build automation labs with real devices you can SSH into, script against, and configure programmatically. Or explore CCNA labs and CCNP labs.