Cisco IOS interview questions

57 real Cisco IOS questions from the Networking bank, as asked in Indian campus drives and tech interviews. Every question has a verified answer and an AI-tutor explanation on placd — free to start.

1. What does show ip interface brief do?

Junior
  1. A.enter privileged EXEC mode from user EXEC mode
  2. B.save the active configuration to NVRAM so it persists across reboots
  3. C.display the device's ARP table mapping IPs to MAC addresses
  4. D.summarize interface IP addresses and up/down status
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3. Which statement is correct?

Junior
  1. A.show ip interface brief — enter global configuration mode
  2. B.show ip interface brief — summarize interface IP addresses and up/down status
  3. C.show ip interface brief — list directly connected Cisco devices discovered via CDP
  4. D.show ip interface brief — display the routing table with learned and connected routes
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4. What does show running-config do?

Junior
  1. A.display the active configuration currently in memory
  2. B.display BGP peer sessions and prefix counts
  3. C.display STP state, root bridge, and port roles per VLAN
  4. D.save the active configuration to NVRAM so it persists across reboots
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6. Which statement is correct?

Junior
  1. A.show running-config — display the routing table with learned and connected routes
  2. B.show running-config — display the device's ARP table mapping IPs to MAC addresses
  3. C.show running-config — display the active configuration currently in memory
  4. D.show running-config — display BGP peer sessions and prefix counts
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7. What does enable do?

Junior
  1. A.save the active configuration to NVRAM so it persists across reboots
  2. B.display BGP peer sessions and prefix counts
  3. C.display link-aggregation bundle status and member ports
  4. D.enter privileged EXEC mode from user EXEC mode
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9. Which statement is correct?

Junior
  1. A.enable — list directly connected Cisco devices discovered via CDP
  2. B.enable — display OSPF adjacencies and their states
  3. C.enable — enter privileged EXEC mode from user EXEC mode
  4. D.enable — display configured ACLs and their hit counts
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10. What does configure terminal do?

Junior
  1. A.display link-aggregation bundle status and member ports
  2. B.list configured VLANs and their assigned ports
  3. C.save the active configuration to NVRAM so it persists across reboots
  4. D.enter global configuration mode
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12. Which statement is correct?

Junior
  1. A.configure terminal — summarize interface IP addresses and up/down status
  2. B.configure terminal — display IOS version, uptime, and hardware details
  3. C.configure terminal — enter global configuration mode
  4. D.configure terminal — list directly connected Cisco devices discovered via CDP
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13. What does show ip route do?

Mid
  1. A.list directly connected Cisco devices discovered via CDP
  2. B.display the routing table with learned and connected routes
  3. C.display learned MAC-to-port mappings on a switch
  4. D.list configured VLANs and their assigned ports
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15. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.show ip route — save the active configuration to NVRAM so it persists across reboots
  2. B.show ip route — display the device's ARP table mapping IPs to MAC addresses
  3. C.show ip route — display the routing table with learned and connected routes
  4. D.show ip route — display STP state, root bridge, and port roles per VLAN
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16. What does show vlan brief do?

Mid
  1. A.display the routing table with learned and connected routes
  2. B.enter global configuration mode
  3. C.report port speed, duplex, and VLAN for switch interfaces
  4. D.list configured VLANs and their assigned ports
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18. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.show vlan brief — report port speed, duplex, and VLAN for switch interfaces
  2. B.show vlan brief — list configured VLANs and their assigned ports
  3. C.show vlan brief — display BGP peer sessions and prefix counts
  4. D.show vlan brief — enter global configuration mode
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19. What does show mac address-table do?

Mid
  1. A.send ICMP echoes from the device to test reachability
  2. B.display learned MAC-to-port mappings on a switch
  3. C.report port speed, duplex, and VLAN for switch interfaces
  4. D.display the routing table with learned and connected routes
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21. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.show mac address-table — display IOS version, uptime, and hardware details
  2. B.show mac address-table — display link-aggregation bundle status and member ports
  3. C.show mac address-table — display learned MAC-to-port mappings on a switch
  4. D.show mac address-table — display the routing table with learned and connected routes
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22. What does show cdp neighbors do?

Mid
  1. A.enter global configuration mode
  2. B.display the active configuration currently in memory
  3. C.list directly connected Cisco devices discovered via CDP
  4. D.report port speed, duplex, and VLAN for switch interfaces
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24. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.show cdp neighbors — display IOS version, uptime, and hardware details
  2. B.show cdp neighbors — enter global configuration mode
  3. C.show cdp neighbors — list directly connected Cisco devices discovered via CDP
  4. D.show cdp neighbors — display detailed counters and status for interfaces
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25. What does copy running-config startup-config do?

Mid
  1. A.save the active configuration to NVRAM so it persists across reboots
  2. B.display detailed counters and status for interfaces
  3. C.display the routing table with learned and connected routes
  4. D.list configured VLANs and their assigned ports
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27. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.copy running-config startup-config — enter privileged EXEC mode from user EXEC mode
  2. B.copy running-config startup-config — save the active configuration to NVRAM so it persists across reboots
  3. C.copy running-config startup-config — display the routing table with learned and connected routes
  4. D.copy running-config startup-config — display detailed counters and status for interfaces
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28. What does show ip ospf neighbor do?

Senior
  1. A.display the device's ARP table mapping IPs to MAC addresses
  2. B.display detailed counters and status for interfaces
  3. C.display the routing table with learned and connected routes
  4. D.display OSPF adjacencies and their states
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30. Which statement is correct?

Senior
  1. A.show ip ospf neighbor — display OSPF adjacencies and their states
  2. B.show ip ospf neighbor — display learned MAC-to-port mappings on a switch
  3. C.show ip ospf neighbor — send ICMP echoes from the device to test reachability
  4. D.show ip ospf neighbor — display detailed counters and status for interfaces
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