Courses  Forum Support Welcome, SHERIF!

 Search … 

You are here: Home » Cisco » CCIE Routing & Switching

How to use Cisco Documentation for CCIE Course Contents

CCIE Routing & Switching

When you are studying for CCIE you will have to become familiar with the so called “doc cd”. There is no
such thing as a Cisco Documentation CD anymore but that’s what most people still call it. Everything that  Unit 1: Preparation

you need can be found on the Cisco support site. Cisco CCIE Routing & Switching V4 Experience

Where to start for CCIE Routing & Switching

During the CCIE lab exam you will have access to the “configure” section of the Cisco support site. This is the Cisco CCIE R&S Book Reading List
URL that you should save:
How to use the “Doc CD”

Useful links on the Doc CD

[Link]
Lab Equipment

 Unit 2: Switching
You will end up at the following screen:
 Unit 3: IP Routing

 Unit 4: RIP

 Unit 5: EIGRP

 Unit 6: OSPF

 Unit 7: BGP

 Unit 8: Multicast

 Unit 9: IPv6

 Unit 10: Quality of Service

 Unit 11: Security

 Unit 12: System Management

 Unit 13: Network Services

 Unit 14: MPLS

Now the big question is…what can you use and more importantly, what is not available to use during the
CCIE exam? Let’s start with the things that we can’t use during the lab exam:

The technology section has some very interesting FAQs, standards, design guides, white papers and config
examples but they are NOT available to us during the CCIE lab exam. Don’t ignore it however, this is great
stuff as you are studying and preparing at home. Just keep in mind that it’s not available during the CCIE lab
exam! So what can we use during the lab exam? Let me show you:


We will have access to the products section -> Cisco IOS -> Cisco IOS Software Release 12.4 Family -> Cisco
IOS Software Releases 12.4 T. Once you click on it you will see this screen:

Here you will find everything you need for all the protocols that are running on our routers. Things like
OSPF, EIGRP, BGP and everything else. You will find the most interesting information in the Configuration
Guides. If you click on it and scroll down this is what you will find:

For example you can see the configuration guides for BGP, EIGRP, OSPF and RIP. If you click on them you
will find everything you need. You also might want to look at the Master Index if you are looking for one
particular command. Go back to the 12.4T overview and click on “Software Downloads, Release and General
Information”:

The Master Index is an overview with all available commands. It’s useful when you forgot about a certain
command, you can use your webbrowser’s search function to lookup commands.

If you want to lookup something for your Cisco Catalyst 3560 switches you can use the following section on
the support website:


Just click on Products -> Switches -> Campus LAN Switches – Access -> Cisco Catalyst 3560 Series Switches
and you will find the Configuration examples /guides. Here’s what it looks like:

Keep in mind that search is disabled during the CCIE lab exam so you need to become familiar with the
navigation. You are able to use your web browser’s search function however. Make sure you become
familiar with the documentation support section from Cisco and don’t rely on Google too much as you are
studying, this is the only tool that you will be allowed to use.

I hope this is helpful to you, good luck studying!

« Previous Lesson
Cisco CCIE R&S Book Reading
List
Next Lesson
Useful links on the Doc CD »

Forum Replies

system

Great write up. This is exactly what I needed. Thanks!

ReneMolenaar

Hi Joe,

Sorry for the late reply. The new URL is:

[Link]

I’ll update the article so it has new screenshots.

Rene

gazwoz

Hi Guys - why do you think that Cisco allow access to the Products section but not the Technology during the lab exam?
 What is there specifically that you can find in the Technology section which can not be found under Products?

[Link]

Hi Rene,

I stumbled upon this article. I’ve noticed that out of all CCIE studies many instructors and students emphasize how important is it to know how to use CISCO documentation during the
exam but nobody speaks about how useful is it in the real world, is it because not many engineers hardly use it in the real world or they don’t have much faith

lagapides

Hello Walter

The use of Cisco documentation for the CCIE is of utmost importance because it is your only resource during the exam. Learning how to use it efficiently means the difference between
passing and failing. In the real world, Cisco documentation is also important, but it is not as mission critical. You have various additional resources to go to such as forums like this one,
consultants, and even colleagues. We all have what I like to call our “Cisco Gurus” which are those people that we go to when we can’t solve a problem or troubleshoot an issue,

... Continue reading in our forum

 12 more replies! Ask a question or join the discussion by visiting our Community Forum

© 2013 - 2021 [Link] 36066 Disclaimer Privacy Policy Support About