CCNA v2.0 exam topics
Published 17 September 2026
The new CCNA is being described everywhere as the AI CCNA. Read both blueprints side by side and that is not what the document says. AI was already on v1.1, the new AI content amounts to two exam topics, and the change that will actually decide whether you pass is something else entirely.
The dates
| Exam topics published | 20 May 2026 |
| Last day to sit 200-301 v1.1 | 2 February 2027 |
| CCNA v2.0 goes live | 3 February 2027 |
Cisco published the CCNA exam topics for v2.0 on 20 May 2026, so the CCNA 2027 refresh is already documented rather than rumoured. Every figure below comes from that document and from the v1.1 one it replaces.
This is the first substantial change to the CCNA blueprint since 2019. The
exam code stays 200-301 and the exam stays 120 minutes, so the
CCNA topics have been re-cut rather than replaced.
The domains, side by side
| v1.1 (until 2 Feb 2027) | v2.0 (from 3 Feb 2027) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 Network Fundamentals | 20% | 1.0 Network Infrastructure and Connectivity | 25% |
| 2.0 Network Access | 20% | 2.0 Switching and Network Access | 25% |
| 3.0 IP Connectivity | 25% | 3.0 IP Routing | 20% |
| 4.0 IP Services | 10% | 4.0 Network Services and Security | 20% |
| 5.0 Security Fundamentals | 15% | 5.0 AI, and Network Operations and Management | 10% |
| 6.0 Automation and Programmability | 10% | — | — |
Six domains become five. IP Services and Security Fundamentals merge. Automation and Programmability disappears as a domain, and the slot it occupied (still 10%) is now called AI, and Network Operations and Management.
How much AI is actually on it
Domain 5.0 is 10% of the exam and contains six topics. Here they are in full, because the full list is the argument:
- 5.1 Describe the role of agentic AI in network operations
- 5.2 Select a prompt to send to a generative AI system to support network operations, considering prompt components such as data classification, output format, persona, and instructions
- 5.3 Describe network management approaches (device-based, cloud-based, controller-based, automation-based, and infrastructure as code)
- 5.4 Describe the function of SNMP in network operations
- 5.5 Use configuration management mechanisms such as Ansible to execute commands
- 5.6 Interpret syslog message content, severity levels, and facilities
Two of those six are about AI. The other four are SNMP, Ansible, syslog and a list of management architectures: operations content that has been on networking exams for twenty years.
Cisco does not publish how many questions map to each topic, so treat this as reasoning rather than an official figure: two topics out of six, inside a domain worth 10%, puts AI in the region of three per cent of the exam. Both are describe and select verbs. Neither asks you to configure anything.
And AI was already there
This is the part that gets left out. The v1.1 blueprint, used for exams since 2024, already contains this at topic 6.4:
Explain AI (generative and predictive) and machine learning in network operations
So the CCNA did not just discover AI. It went from one AI topic to two, and the framing moved from "explain AI and machine learning" to "agentic AI" plus prompt construction. That is a real change and a meaningful signal about where Cisco thinks the job is going. It is not a reinvention of the certification.
What was actually removed
The more consequential edit is what left. These v1.1 topics have no counterpart in v2.0:
- 6.2 Compare traditional networks with controller-based networking
- 6.3 Controller-based, software-defined architecture: overlay, underlay and fabric, separation of control and data plane, northbound and southbound APIs
- 6.5 Characteristics of REST-based APIs: authentication types, CRUD, HTTP verbs, data encoding
- 6.7 Components of JSON-encoded data
REST, JSON and software-defined architecture are off the CCNA. That content now sits in CCNA Automation (200-901), whose blueprint gives 20% to "Understanding and Using APIs" and opens by comparing XML, JSON and YAML.
Read the two documents together and the shape is clear: programmability has moved out of the CCNA into its own certification, and the CCNA kept a narrow operations-and-AI slice. If you want the automation content, it is now a separate exam.
Worth knowing if the names confuse you: CCNA Automation carries exam number 200-901 (the same number as the former DevNet Associate) and substantially the same blueprint. There is no AI anywhere in it. The words AI, machine learning and LLM do not appear in that document at all.
The change that will actually decide whether you pass
Ignore the domain titles for a moment and read the verbs. Across domains 1 to 4, v2.0 asks you to diagnose and troubleshoot repeatedly:
- 1.1 Diagnose interface and cable issues: collisions, errors, mismatched duplex, speed, distance, signal levels, pin out, cable types
- 1.3 / 1.4 Troubleshoot IPv4 and IPv6 addressing, assignment, subnetting and prefix sizing
- 1.6 Troubleshoot wired and wireless client connectivity on Windows, macOS and Linux
- 1.7 Troubleshoot DHCPv4 client, server and relay
- 2.4 Troubleshoot Layer 2/3 connectivity using show commands, ping, extended ping, trace route, and packet capture output
- 3.2 Troubleshoot IPv4 and IPv6 static routing
- 4.4 Diagnose issues with DNS records: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS and PTR: to support host, web application and mail server access by name
Cisco has also said the refreshed exam leans harder on hands-on labs and practical skills. The centre of gravity has moved from configure this to work out why this is broken, and that is a far bigger shift in how you should prepare than two AI topics.
Note 4.4 in particular. A CCNA candidate is now expected to look at DNS records by type and say what is wrong, which is a troubleshooting skill, not a memorisation one, and it cannot be learned from flashcards.
Practise 2.4 and 4.4 on real networks. The DNS lookup tool queries A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, TXT and PTR against a resolver you choose, and the subnet calculator covers the addressing in 1.3. Both run in your browser. For reading a trace, the single most-misread output in networking is covered in what the asterisks mean.
Should you sit v1.1 or wait?
If you are already deep in v1.1 material, finish and sit it before 2 February 2027. The certification is the same CCNA either way, and switching blueprints mid-study costs more than the difference between them.
If you are starting now and will not realistically be ready until spring, prepare for v2.0. The overlap is large: this is a re-cut of familiar material, not a new syllabus, but the troubleshooting emphasis means spending your lab time breaking things and fixing them rather than configuring from a template.
Either way, do not pick based on the AI topics. Three per cent of an exam is not a reason to rush or to wait.
Sources and a caveat
Everything above is from Cisco's published exam-topics documents for 200-301 CCNA v2.0, 200-301 CCNA v1.1 and 200-901 CCNA Automation, read on 17 September 2026.
Cisco states that these guidelines "are subject to change at any time without notice." Check the current PDF before you book.