ENAUTO 300-435 study plan

Set up a local lab (Python 3 venv, Git repo, Postman or curl, a reserved sandbox or DevNet always-on IOS XE device) and verify connectivity with one successful API call

Explain and demonstrate the difference between data modeling formats (YAML, JSON, XML) by converting one sample interface inventory between all three and validating each with a parser

Describe the request/response anatomy of REST (methods, status codes, headers, auth) and annotate a real captured exchange from your lab

Write and run a Python script that issues a GET and a PUT against a REST endpoint, handles errors, and logs results

Map every domain objective in the official exam blueprint to a study artifact you will produce in weeks 2-8

Implement authentication flows against a controller API: basic auth, token-based auth with refresh, and API key headers, and document when each is appropriate

Consume a paginated REST API in Python, following continuation tokens or offset parameters until all pages are retrieved

Compare REST, NETCONF, RESTCONF, and gRPC/gNMI for transport, encoding, and typical use case, and choose one per scenario

Build a small Python client module with retry/backoff and rate-limit handling, then unit test it against mocked responses

Explain model-driven vs CLI-driven interfaces and identify which YANG models (native, openconfig, IETF) your lab device supports

Enable and verify model-driven programmability on a lab device (NETCONF over SSH, RESTCONF over HTTPS) and capture a successful session for each

Retrieve and modify device configuration using NETCONF with ncclient, including a candidate-datastore commit and a confirmed rollback

Explore a YANG module tree with pyang or a similar tool and extract the exact path needed for one interface and one routing operation

Perform equivalent configuration changes via RESTCONF and compare payloads with the NETCONF version

Write a Python script that configures an interface end-to-end from YANG-modeled data and verifies the resulting state

Implement streaming telemetry with gRPC dial-out or dial-in on the lab device and visualize one metric

Parse structured and unstructured device output (JSON, XML, and CLI text) into a normalized data structure with a tested parser

Automate device backup and configuration diffing with a Python script and schedule it

Use Ansible or a comparable tool to push an idempotent configuration change and prove a second run reports no changes

Diagnose two deliberately broken automation runs (bad YANG path, wrong encoding) and record root cause and fix

Describe Cisco DNA Center architecture and the intent-based workflow from design to policy to assurance, and diagram it in your own words

Authenticate to the DNA Center API (token-based) and enumerate sites, devices, and templates with Python

Create and deploy a day-N template or configuration to a device through the API and verify compliance afterward

Query assurance and health endpoints and export device/client health metrics to a file

Interpret the difference between the intent API and the integration/ITSM flow and identify which endpoints support each

Automate a full DNA Center change workflow: discover or onboard a device, assign it to a site, apply a template, and confirm success via API

Explain Cisco SD-WAN (Viptela) architecture components (vManage, vSmart, vBond, vEdge/cEdge) and the control vs data plane roles

Authenticate to the vManage API and retrieve device inventory, templates, and alarms with Python

Compare DNA Center and SD-WAN controller APIs for auth, resource model, and templating approach

Document failure modes you encounter (auth expiry, 4xx payload errors) with the fix for each

Create or modify an SD-WAN feature template and a device template via the vManage API and attach it to a device

Push a policy or configuration change through the SD-WAN API and verify it in the running config or monitoring endpoints

Use the SD-WAN API to collect interface, BFD, and control-connection status and summarize overlay health

Automate a rollback or template-detach procedure and confirm the device returns to the prior state

Explain SD-WAN security and segmentation concepts (VPNs, segmentation, policy) and how they appear in the API model

Re-run every weekly deliverable from a clean environment and fix anything that no longer works

Complete two timed practice sets covering all five domains and record per-domain accuracy

Re-study the two weakest domains using your own notes and artifacts rather than new material

Write a one-page cheat sheet of API auth patterns, YANG/NETCONF/RESTCONF commands, and DNA Center/SD-WAN endpoint families

Rehearse explaining three of your automation projects aloud in exam-style scenario terms