HPE6-A86 HPE Network Switching Associate Exam Free Practice Exam Questions (2026 Updated)

The correct answer is D. Create VSF on the CX 6200 switches and a LAG between the CX 6200 and 2530 switches. HPE Aruba Networking documentation explains that VSF allows multiple individual switches to operate as a single logical device using standard Ethernet links. The CX 6200 supports VSF stacking, so two CX 6200 aggregation switches can be combined into a single logical aggregation switch. HPE Aruba Networking Layer 2 documentation also describes link aggregation as grouping individual physical interfaces into a single logical link, increasing bandwidth and providing resiliency when links fail. In this design, the 2530 access switch can use two uplink ports in a trunk/LAG toward the aggregation layer, while the CX 6200 side operates as one logical switch because of VSF. Option A is incorrect because a CX 6200 and a 2530 cannot be placed into one common VSF stack. Option B is incorrect for the same reason: the 2530 is not stacked with the CX 6200. Option C is incomplete because a LAG from one access switch to two separate aggregation switches requires the aggregation side to act as one logical switch, which is provided by VSF in option D.

The correct answer is D. 3311. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX documentation identifies valid VLAN IDs as being in the range of 1 to 4094 for VLAN-related configuration, including access VLANs and trunk/native VLANs. Because 3311 falls inside the valid configurable VLAN ID range, it is the only valid option listed. Option A, 4096, is invalid because it is above the supported VLAN ID range. Option B, 0, is invalid because configurable VLAN IDs begin at 1. Option C, 32768, is far outside the supported VLAN ID range and cannot be configured as a VLAN ID on a CX switch. This question tests the standard IEEE 802.1Q VLAN ID range as applied in HPE Aruba Networking CX configuration. The supported configurable VLAN range is 1 through 4094, with VLAN 1 commonly used as the default VLAN and VLAN IDs such as 3311 available for administrator-defined VLANs.

The correct answer is D. Role-based Access Control. The configuration creates a user-defined local user group named external-auditors and then permits only specific CLI commands for that group. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX hardening documentation explains that user-defined local groups are used for local authorization and that local authorization uses role-based access control, or RBAC, to provide role-based privilege levels and optional command execution rules. The CLI command documentation also states that permit or deny cli command rules define which CLI commands can be executed by members of a user-defined group, with an implicit deny rule at the end. This matches RBAC because access is granted according to the user’s assigned role or group. Option A is incorrect because authentication verifies identity, such as username and password. Option B is incorrect because accounting records user activity. Option C is broader security architecture terminology, but the specific configuration shown is command authorization through RBAC.

The correct answer is D. UDP 161. SNMP uses different UDP ports depending on the monitoring function. When a Network Monitoring System collects or polls monitoring data from a CX switch, it communicates with the SNMP agent on the switch. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX SNMP documentation shows the SNMP agent port as UDP 161. This is the port used for SNMP polling and monitoring responses. This differs from SNMP traps or alerts, which are sent by the switch to a monitoring system on UDP 162. The question specifically asks about the Network Monitoring System collecting monitoring data from CX switches, so the required firewall allowance is UDP 161 from the monitoring system to the switch. Option A is incorrect because TCP 162 is not the standard SNMP polling port. Option B and option C are incorrect because UDP 1157 and TCP 1156 are not the SNMP polling ports used for this purpose.

The correct answer is C. No, SSH and HTTPS are enabled by default. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX hardening documentation states that, in the factory-default state, AOS-CX switches have SSH enabled on TCP port 22 and Web UI/read-write REST API enabled on TCP port 443. For the CX 6200 switch series, these services are enabled on both the default and management VRFs. These are secure management protocols because SSH encrypts CLI sessions and HTTPS encrypts web-management sessions. The same HPE Aruba guidance also notes that connections to TCP port 80 are automatically redirected to TCP port 443, which means HTTP is not used as the insecure management method. Option A is incorrect because Telnet is insecure and is not the correct default secure management protocol. Option B is incorrect because Telnet is not the default management method. Option D is incorrect because HTTP connections are redirected to HTTPS. ( arubanetworking.hpe.com )

The correct answer is B. The SNMP service on the Conductor switch will respond to all SNMP queries for the stack. A CX 6200F VSF stack operates as a single logical switch. HPE Aruba Networking VSF documentation explains that one switch in the stack is the Conductor, and the Conductor runs the control-plane software and manages the ASICs of all stack members. The Standby member maintains a synchronized copy of the Conductor’s configuration database and can assume the Conductor role after a failure. HPE Aruba Networking documentation also states that configuration changes are applied on the Conductor switch and then synchronized to the Standby. Since the VSF stack is managed as one logical system, SNMP monitoring is performed against the stack through the active Conductor role, not by independently polling each member as a separate switch. Option A is incorrect because SNMP is not separately enabled per VSF member. Option C is incorrect because SNMP is not enabled by default on each OOBM port for member-specific queries. Option D is incorrect because both Conductor and Standby do not independently answer as separate stacked SNMP endpoints.

The correct answer is D. CX 6300M in VSF. The requirement includes stacked switches, PoE+ ports, near-zero downtime, continuous packet forwarding, and highly available hardware. HPE Aruba Networking CX 6300M switches support PoE models and are part of the CX 6300 stackable switch family. HPE’s CX 6300 QuickSpecs describe high availability by design using VSF in-service software upgrades, with no downtime or restart when upgrading within the same major release, provided there is at least a two-member VSF stack. The CX 6300 family also supports modular and fixed models in a single stack and includes PoE-capable models. Option A is incorrect because the CX 8100 uses VSX rather than VSF stacking and is not the appropriate PoE+ access stack answer. Option B is less correct because the CX 6200F is stackable with VSF but does not provide the same high-availability feature set as CX 6300M. Option C is incorrect because the CX 8320 is a VSX-capable data center/core platform, not the best PoE+ stacked access solution.

The correct answer is A. Must be manually configured. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX documentation states that static routes are manually configured in the routing table. A static route defines a destination network and the next-hop address or exit interface that the switch should use to forward traffic. Static routes are useful in small, simple, or predictable networks because they are straightforward and do not require a dynamic routing protocol to exchange route information. Option B is incorrect because automatically learned routes are associated with dynamic routing protocols, such as OSPF or BGP, not static routing. Option C is incorrect because static routes usually have low processing overhead compared to dynamic routing protocols, since the switch does not need to run neighbor discovery, exchange routing updates, or calculate topology changes. Option D is incorrect because static routes do not automatically respond to network topology changes unless supported by an additional tracking mechanism or manually changed by an administrator. Therefore, the defining characteristic of a static route is manual configuration.