How I Passed The CCIE Lab

The biggest question I have received since getting my CCIE two years ago is without a doubt “How did you pass your CCIE lab exam?” Many people want to know what exactly to do. They want a plan and structure to follow. I was the exact same way starting out as a student. I thought I would collect some thoughts on what exactly it was I did to be successful at passing the CCIE lab and share them with you all in this blog post!

First of all, there are many people out there studying, and many other people out there that have passed before me. There are plenty of effective methods. I just want to share with you what worked for me.

Step 1: Assess Yourself

When you start preparing for the CCIE lab, you should realize that it will be a humbling experience. You might have a good amount of experience under your belt. You might have many lower level certifications. You might have been doing this your entire adult life. Prepare to humble yourself. Nobody knows everything. Before you even get into labbing, you need to take a good honest look at yourself and start asking some questions like “What are my strong points?” “What are my weak points”? “Why do I want to put myself through this pain and suffering”? For some people it is status…the status of being elite in your field. For some it is money. For some it is to stay at the head of the game. For some it is learning. For some it is a little of all of the above. You need to ask yourself WHY you want this so bad, because there will be times down the road when the going gets tough and you are asking yourself the same question. There will be times down the road when your family might be asking you the same question. Besides, you need this information to get to step 2.

Step 2: Commit to your goal

This is completely mental. You cannot get to a place you haven’t decided on. Or as George Harrison said “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” I have always found that when I want to hit a goal in life, I need to mentally commit to actually doing it. You can say in your head “Boy, I really want to be a CCIE” or “Wow, I should definitely start studying for my IE again…” but if you don’t commit to doing it, it’s not going to happen. You really need to get deep in there and make a conscious decision that you are GOING to do this. Now! This is why I tell people when they are studying for the written to SCHEDULE it. PAY for it. It will become much more real for you at that point. You have committed. Take another look at your life and realize that to do this you will NEED to commit a tremendous amount of time and energy. Figure out if that is something you can actually do at this point in your life. I recommend you talk to your significant other if you have one, and get their support. You will need it when it is 3AM, you need to be at work at 8AM, you are still debugging a routing loop, and you haven’t seen your wife in 3 days! From here on out, you have a one track mind. CCIE. You wake up, you go to work, if your job allows study as much as you can there, come home, eat, spend a few hours with the family, and hit the lab hard. You need a routine. Like Rocky. He didn’t get to going 15 rounds with Apollo Creed overnight. He trained every day. He ran every day. He killed himself every day to get to the goal. That’s the mentality.

Step 3: Pass Your Written

Awesome! I can feel as I am writing this that some of you have already committed!! Now that you have set your goal, your first non-mental step in getting there is passing your written and earning your right to sit the lab exam. Consider it a rite of passage. Go pick up a copy of the CCIE R&S Exam Certification Guide 4th Edition by Odom. This is your life for the next 6 weeks or so. I want you to read it cover to cover, and take in all the concepts. If there is something that you don’t understand, do more research on it yourself. We are not really playing too much on routers right now. This is book time. This is quite time in your office or on your lunch break. This is hardcore theory time. Read it, learn it, live it, love it. I personally studied this book hardcore for about 6 weeks before passing my written exam on the first try (Although it was the 3rd edition at the time)

Step 4: Get Some Good Material From A Reputable Vendor

If you are a purist like me, you might be asking yourself why you need to spend any MORE money than the $1400 you are going to owe Cisco for your lab exam. The reason you need to find a good vendor is because they have all been there before. There is nothing wrong with learning from those that have gone before you. You will find the CCIE community as a whole is generally very willing to give back and mentor newcomers. We love this stuff. We live this stuff.  They probably have a good deal of knowledge that you can use to your advantage. For me, this came in the form of the IPexpert Blended Learning Solution (BLS) which included (for 3.0) the VoD, AoD, technology specific workbook volume 1, and both full scale mock lab workbooks volume 2 and volume 3. This is not designed to be a sales pitch, especially since I no longer work for IPexpert, so let me just tell you what worked for me. I watched every single video in the series, and I took notes while watching them so it would sink in. During the videos I would try to follow along on my own rack of gear. That’s another thing – Either get a rack of gear that is at least powerful enough to get you by, utilize Dynampis, or plan some rack time from a vendor into your budget. OK, so what I did is after going through all the VoD, I started with volume 1. Volume 1 covers each technology in depth. This is the phase where you are really diving deep into each individual technology before putting them all together. Once you have conquered Volume 1, move on to full scale 8 hour mock labs (Volume 2 and Volume 3). For those of us that work, it might not always be feasible to sit down in 8-12 hour blocks. It’s OK. When you are first getting going maybe break it up into 2x 4 hour sessions. We should be focused on learning the technology, and actually understanding the answers at this point, not time management.

Step 5: Get Involved With The CCIE Community

The CCIE community at large is a great thing to be part of! Generally, everybody is very helpful and willing to help you along your way to getting your own number. First, you should get on the vendor specific support forums. For one, most of the instructors from the vendors are on the forums and we can give you direct feedback on specific lab issues you may run into. Secondly, your peers are there too! Feed off of your peers, learn from them, and give something back too! Explaining things has a way of really making you sure that you fully understand. I met people during my journey that were a great help to me, and that I still am in contact with today. Another list you need to utilize is Groupstudy. Groupstudy is a public form where anybody who is anybody in the community hangs out. This is an invaluable tool for you moving forward. You will meet some amazing and talented people, and hopefully be able to contribute a little as well.

Step 6: Read Books

This kind of goes without saying, but there are certain books that every CCIE really should have on his or her shelf. Here are some of the goodies. This is by no means an all inclusive list, just some recommendations

1) Routing TCP/IP Volume 1 & Volume 2 — Doyle
2) Developing IP Multicast Networks — Williamson
3) CCIE Routing & Switching Exam Certification Guide 4th Edition — Odom
4) CCNP SWITCH Exam Certification Guide — Huccaby
5) Cisco OSPF Command and Configuration Handbook — Parkhurst
6) Cisco BGP-4 Command and Configuration Handbook — Parkhurst
7) MPLS Fundamentals — Ghein
8) End-To-End QoS Network Design — Szigeti
9) Official Cisco Documentation (DocCD) of IOS
10) Cisco 3560 Configuration Guide — Seriously read this cover to cover.

Step 7: Refine & Fine-Tune

After you have gone through ALL the vendor material, you should be feeling pretty good about the technology in general. Now it is time to refine for speed and strategy. Throughout your studies, you will build up your own “templates” of how you like to do things. You need to be asking yourself “is there a way I can do this better or faster?” For all of the core technologies, you really need to be at the point where you can whip out a BASIC technology off the top of your head. Frame-Relay? No problem, you can bust out a config based on any interface type in about 5 minutes. Copy and paste plays a HUGE role in your speed development. The biggest factor is going to be repetition. You need to do the configurations for the core technologies over and over and over until you could do them in your sleep. Seriously. EVERY core technology, you need to have a base template in your head of how you can configure it. Now, when we get into the more complex and obscure options, of course you will use IOS help and the documentation where necessary, but for our basic core technology setup you need to be solid.

One of the biggest mistakes I see students doing while working on labs is taking way too much time to do basic tasks, and that will kill you in the real lab. I tell students that you need to know about 80% of your lab right off the top of your head. In other words, when you read through your lab booklet you should already know how to configure about 80% or more. The rest will be obscure details or options in the technology that you know how to find but maybe not necessarily exactly how to do it. Once you are comfortable getting through the majority of the labs within the 8 hour allotted time, you are getting close. This would be an excellent time to get out to a bootcamp or do some mock labs from vendors to complete your fine tuning.  I personally attended a bootcamp 2 weeks before passing my lab exam. Yeah, it was mostly review, but I learned some very valuable things that week and the experience itself was well worth it.

Step 8: Final Preparation

I assume you will have had a lab date scheduled by this point. If you have not scheduled and paid for your lab yet, go back to step 2. You have not committed. Coming up to your lab date, you need to understand that you are not going to learn this stuff in the last week. If you don’t know it by then, it’s not happening in a week. Your last week should be spent generally NOT on a router or a switch. I recommend that you spend your last week doing some light reading, finalizing your travel plans, and trying to relax. Brush up on your core technology theory. Browse around on the DocCD. Ask yourself “What are my weakest points?” and then go find them on the DocCD. Try to arrive a day or two early to the city you are taking your lab. You don’t want to be any more stressed than you already will be about the lab. You want to allow plenty of time. If you get there the day before, you can even go over to the Cisco building and see if you can take a look around the lab. This is a mental exercise that tends to help people relax a little more. Get a good night sleep!!! Even if you have to force yourself to, go to bed early, and get up in plenty of time. When you get up in the morning, if you have prepared well you should be feeling anxious but confident. You have studied hard. You have trained with the best. You will destroy this test! Give yourself a good look in the mirror and think “I AM a CCIE, I am an expert in my field, now it is time to prove it.”

Final Thoughts: In The Lab

When you arrive at the testing center, make sure you have at least one form of photo ID. You will have to show it to the proctor. When I tested in RTP there was a group of about 6 of us outside waiting for the proctor to show up. When he arrived, we all went inside, had some light chat and presented our IDs. If you are one that is easily distracted by noise, you might consider bringing earplugs. I personally brought my own stash of red bull as well.
After that, you will be taken into the testing room and assigned a terminal. You will have your own little desk to work on. You should have some scratch paper, and several pens and pencils. Never be afraid to ask for more paper! You get as much as you want! For $1400 you should!!! The other thing is you can NOT be intimidated by or afraid to converse with the proctor. You need to remember it is their job to be there and assist you. YOU are the customer. YOU are paying $1400 to be there. I don’t care if he looks annoyed. I don’t care if he is on the phone when you have a question. You are essentially paying them nearly $200 an HOUR for their time. Use it wisely. I probably asked more questions than anybody on that day. Do I care? NO! I have my CCIE #.

You should be told about the lab rules before taking your seat. Before you type anything, you need to read your entire lab exam. This should give you a general idea of what the lab is going to look like. It gives you a chance to quickly scan for problem areas. When you are flipping through the lab, make notes. This is the only portion of the day you will have a clear mind. Write down each task, it’s point value, and some notes on what you need to do to make it work. You are essentially creating your own cheat sheet that you can reference later in the day! Once you have your cheat sheet, draw out your own diagrams. Finally, before you configure anything check out your startup configs. Go through every device, and do a “show run.” Look for things that are out of place, or that do not jive with your diagrams. Make sure you have basic connectivity on every segment. NOW you can get started with your lab tasks.

Generally it is a good idea to write your configs often. Power outages happen. I typically write mem after every task. When you break for lunch, save everything and reload your pod. By lunch you should have full IP reachability or be pretty close to it. Use your time at lunch to think about things you might be stumped on. Treat it as part of your lab time! Do not sit there and banter about things. You are there for one reason and one reason only: To rule the CCIE lab. Do not waste your lunch time. Use it to your advantage. If you run into something you can’t solve, give it 15 minutes max and move on. You need to have that discipline to walk away. If it involves basic reachability get it working enough to not break full reachability. Hopefully, you will finish with enough time left over to verify all your work, and verify it again. Run your TCL scripts on every router. Flip back through the lab book and verify EVERY SINGLE TASK with the relevant show commands, pings, traceroutes, etc. You will be amazed at what silly mistakes you made on the way. Finally, save all your configs, reboot your PC, and hand your booklet and any scrap paper you used to the proctor.

I hope this has helped some of you guys out there looking for a structured approach to the CCIE lab. Now, get out there, commit, study hard, and go kill your lab exam!
– Joe Astorino CCIE #24347

15 Comments

  • Matt says:

    Thanks Joe. To confirm there is no lab book anymore, it’s all viewed on the PC? Cheers.

  • Jack says:

    Does this mean there is no troubleshooting part ?

    and is the lab structure very complex (more than 10 switches and routers) ?

    there is no need to physically attach the unit or cabling, but will the topology be available in the booklet with clear port connectivity ?

    going through the tasks does not affect other will not affect previous tasks (e.g. task 23 will not affect task 5 ) ?

    • Joe Astorino says:

      – When I passed the R&S lab, it was version 3.0 so there was no dedicated troubleshooting section. That has changed, and there is now a 2 hour dedicated and independent troubleshooting section.

      – On the troubleshooting section you can expect a fairly large number of devices. Something like 30 routers is not an uncommon thing, because it is all virtualized. While it might sound intimidating, each TS ticket is independent of the others. The configuration portion is 6 routers and 4 switches I believe, and that is something that Cisco has talked about

      – You will be given documentation / diagrams on your detailed topology outlining L1/L2/L3 connectivity
      – In the configuration portion of the exam, definitely expect that one task could and probably will effect other things

      Hope that helps

  • Dandré says:

    Joe thanks for such valuable information.

    Besides the material that you mentioned:
    1) Routing TCP/IP Volume 1 & Volume 2 — Doyle
    2) Developing IP Multicast Networks — Williamson
    3) CCIE Routing & Switching Exam Certification Guide 4th Edition — Odom
    4) CCNP SWITCH Exam Certification Guide — Huccaby
    5) Cisco OSPF Command and Configuration Handbook — Parkhurst
    6) Cisco BGP-4 Command and Configuration Handbook — Parkhurst
    7) MPLS Fundamentals — Ghein
    8) End-To-End QoS Network Design — Szigeti
    9) Official Cisco Documentation (DocCD) of IOS
    10) Cisco 3560 Configuration Guide — Seriously read this cover to cover.

    You also bought and studied by ipexpert volume 1, 2 and 3?

  • Dandré says:

    Joe,

    I was watching part of the rental racks and very interested in the service.

    I wanted to congratulate the Initiative to expose his life experience and his site.

    I’ll follow your advice and study so that you are prepared in touch to rent racks.

    I will surely display your site to friends here in Brazil who are also studying for the CCIE.

    Besides the books you would like to get more informed about the famous K2, K3, K6, K7, TS3 and TS4 are studying is good for these topologies and where I get the most correct?

    Thankful!!

  • Nrgs says:

    Hi Joe, great post.

    Wanting to start my journey into CCIE.
    I was wondering.. What about i start studying now and on the middle of my preparation they announce an update or something like that?

    Is there any date to prepare before they launch R&S 5.0?
    When do you think they will launch it?
    Want to prepare and try 4.0 :)

    Thanks!

    • Joe Astorino says:

      That is always a possibility. Usually there are strong rumors though, and right now the R&S front is pretty quiet. You can’t go on with your career based on what might happen. Even if they did change the BP, a VERY large % of what is on the v4.0 lab would be included with the next version. For example, I guarantee you will still have to be a God at STP, EIGRP, OSPF and BGP. Those things don’t really change too much from a fundamental level. My suggestion is that you pass the written and really understand the stuff and jump right into your lab study. Good luck!

      • Nrgs says:

        Hi Joe,

        I’m halfway done through Odom Cert Guide.
        Also I’m using this particular webpage as a motivation on a daily basis. Reading this stuff everyday makes me more focused.

        Thanks.

  • Kyaw Min Naing (Raymond) says:

    Hi,
    Thank you, such a gr8 post, i’m on my step-2, let me read this again next week, i’l read it until i pass the lab exam, i’l sit my written on 1st of Feb, thanks again!
    rgds,

  • varaz says:

    Great stuff Joe

    How long did it take you to prepare for your Lab

  • astro says:

    Hi Joe,

    Thank you for such a grate post regarding CCIE LAB, you really motivating people regarding passing CCIE.
    My question, how long did you study for the lab separately, did you work in a ISP or same enterprise at that time, and did you pass in the first attempt?

    Cheers,

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