HP HPE7-A07 - Aruba Certified Campus Access Mobility Expert Written Exam

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract of HPE Aruba Networking Switching:

In AOS-10 wireless deployments, HPE Aruba Networking supports the configuration of Primary and Secondary Gateway Clusters in the SSID profile to ensure high availability, redundancy, and load distribution. This configuration follows Aruba’s gateway clustering best practices, where access points (APs) attempt to establish tunnels with their Primary Gateway Cluster first. If the AP cannot reach the primary cluster (due to reachability, latency, or network topology), it automatically connects to the Secondary Gateway Cluster.

When both gateway clusters are active and reachable but some APs cannot reach the primary cluster—for example, due to Layer 3 routing, firewall restrictions, or network segmentation—those APs will associate with the secondary cluster instead. This results in an approximately equal split of APs across both clusters, even though the primary cluster is operational.

Exact Extract from HPE Aruba Networking Switching and AOS-10 Gateway Documentation:

“Access Points attempt to form tunnels with the Primary Gateway Cluster first. If the primary cluster is unreachable or fails to respond within the defined timeout, the AP establishes a tunnel with the Secondary Gateway Cluster.”

“When the primary and secondary gateway clusters are both up but APs are distributed across separate routed networks or VLANs, APs may select the gateway cluster that is most reachable at that time, resulting in an even or partial split of AP distribution.”

“This is expected behavior when APs in different subnets cannot reach the same primary cluster due to network topology. The secondary cluster provides redundancy and connectivity continuity.”

Therefore, the equal split of 260 APs is explained by the fact that while the primary cluster is active, a subset of APs cannot reach it due to routing or segmentation and thus join the secondary cluster—this behavior aligns with Aruba’s gateway redundancy mechanism.

Why the Other Options Are Incorrect:

A. The statement reverses the cause: APs that cannot reach the primary connect to the secondary—not the other way around. The secondary cluster’s reachability does not affect AP selection when the primary is available and reachable.

“APs first attempt the primary cluster; only failure to reach it triggers fallback to secondary.”

B. Secondary cluster is homogeneous:Cluster homogeneity refers to identical hardware/software versions between gateways; it does not influence AP distribution or equal load split.

“Homogeneity is a software version consideration, not an AP load-balancing factor.”

C. Secondary cluster is heterogeneous:Heterogeneity (mixed hardware types) is unsupported or discouraged; it does not cause AP distribution behavior.

“Heterogeneous gateway clusters are not a cause of AP distribution variation; cluster type does not dictate AP split.”

References of HPE Aruba Networking Switching Documents or Study Guide:

ArubaOS 10 Gateway and AP Deployment Guide – “Primary and Secondary Gateway Cluster Configuration and AP Association Logic.”

Aruba High Availability and Clustering Best Practices Guide – “Gateway Cluster Failover, Redundancy, and AP Selection.”

Aruba Central Cloud Management and Monitoring Guide – “SSID Profile Configuration: Primary and Secondary Gateway Clusters.”

Aruba Campus Wireless Design Guide (AOS 10.x) – “Cluster Reachability, Redundancy, and Role Propagation Across Gateways.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract of HPE Aruba Networking Switching:

The requirement in this question is to allow IT staff to provision unique pre-shared keys (PSKs) for each IoT device on a single SSID, ensuring that one device’s PSK cannot be used by another. This is the definition of Multi-Pre-Shared Key (MPSK) functionality.

HPE Aruba Networking supports three main MPSK deployment methods:

MPSK Local – Keys are defined locally on the AP or gateway; no external integration.

MPSK with ClearPass – Keys are managed and validated via ClearPass Policy Manager.

MPSK with Cloud Authentication – Keys are generated, stored, and managed natively through Aruba Central Cloud Authentication.

In this scenario, the IT Helpdesk wants a simplified, cloud-based method to generate and manage per-device unique PSKs without needing a ClearPass deployment. This aligns directly with MPSK AES with HPE Aruba Networking Central Cloud Authentication.

Exact Extract from HPE Aruba Networking Switching and Central Documentation:

“MPSK with Cloud Authentication allows administrators to configure a single SSID where each device is assigned a unique PSK. The PSKs are securely stored and validated using Aruba Central’s cloud-based authentication service.”

“Each PSK is tied to a specific client identity. If another device attempts to connect using the same PSK, the authentication will fail.”

“This method simplifies onboarding of IoT and headless devices while maintaining security equivalent to 802.1X.”

Thus, the correct recommendation is MPSK AES with Aruba Central Cloud Authentication, which fully supports per-device key uniqueness, centralized management, and cloud-based authentication—ideal for IoT device onboarding.

Why the Other Options Are Incorrect:

A. MPSK AES with ClearPass:Valid and secure, but requires an on-prem ClearPass Policy Manager deployment. The question specifies a simpler method for IT Helpdesk to manage keys directly, which Cloud Authentication provides natively.

“ClearPass MPSK requires policy manager integration; Aruba Central Cloud Authentication provides a simpler cloud-native alternative.”

C. MPSK Local:Suitable for small static environments, but not scalable and requires manual key creation on the AP or gateway. Does not allow IT staff to easily generate new keys per device via Central.

“MPSK Local does not support centralized lifecycle management or key revocation.”

D. MPSK AES with MAC Auth:MPSK already handles per-device authentication via unique keys; MAC authentication is unnecessary and less secure.

“MAC authentication is an alternate method for non-802.1X devices but is not required with MPSK.”

References of HPE Aruba Networking Switching Documents or Study Guide:

Aruba Central Cloud Authentication and MPSK Deployment Guide – “Configuring MPSK AES with Cloud Authentication.”

Aruba Wi-Fi 6 and IoT Integration Best Practices Guide – “Securing IoT with Cloud-Managed MPSK.”

ArubaOS 10 WLAN Configuration Guide – “MPSK Modes (Local, ClearPass, Cloud Authentication) and Use Cases.”

In Aruba CX 6300 and other AOS-CX switches, device profiling enables automatic assignment of roles and policies to endpoints based on device attributes such as MAC OUI, LLDP, or DHCP fingerprint — without requiring an external authentication server such as ClearPass or RADIUS.

The configuration snippet shows:

mac-group iot

seq 10 match mac-oui 81:cd:93

port-access device-profile iot-prod

enable

associate role iot-prod

associate mac-group iot

This means that any device with a MAC address matching the OUI 81:cd:93 will automatically be assigned the iot-prod device profile and its associated role (iot-prod).

However, the requirement also specifies that any other device connected to the same interface (that does not match the OUI or device profile) should still be assigned a default role called iot-default.

To ensure that endpoints not matching any known device profile still receive limited network access, Aruba AOS-CX uses the fallback-role feature under port-access configuration.

The command:

port-access fallback-role iot-default

defines the role that will be automatically assigned to endpoints that fail to match any of the configured device-profile conditions.

This mechanism is crucial in lab or standalone environments where no external authentication (e.g., RADIUS, ClearPass) is configured. It ensures devices are still given a default policy, preventing them from being left in an unauthenticated or blocked state.

Official HPE Aruba Extract (ArubaOS-CX Security and Access Guide):

“The fallback-role command allows the switch to assign a predefined local role to a device when no authentication server is available, or when the device does not match any configured device profile.”

“This command is typically used in test or lab environments where profiling is local to the switch, and a baseline role must still be enforced for unknown devices.”

Therefore, in this case:

Devices matching the MAC OUI 81:cd:93 → assigned iot-prod role

All other devices → automatically assigned iot-default role via port-access fallback-role iot-default

Option Analysis:

A. Incorrect – The port-access onboarding-method precedence command changes the priority order between authentication methods (e.g., 802.1X, MAC-auth, device profile). It does not control fallback behavior.

B. Incorrect – The block-until-profile-applied option delays port activation until profiling completes, but it doesn’t provide a fallback role.

C. Correct – The port-access fallback-role iot-default command ensures that any device not matching the iot-prod profile receives the iot-default role.

D. Incorrect – Lowering precedence has no effect on assigning a default role.

Final Verified Answer: C

Reference Sources (HPE Aruba Official Materials):

Aruba AOS-CX Security and Access Configuration Guide – Device Profiling and Role Assignment

Aruba Certified Switching Professional (ACSP) Study Guide – Port Access and Device Profiling

ArubaOS-CX Fundamentals Guide – Port Access and Fallback Role Implementation

In an Aruba deployment, if an AP's interfaces show different LACP states, it often indicates a configuration mismatch. If one interface is up and the other is blocked as shown in the output, it's likely due to both interfaces on the AP being set to LACP active mode, which is a correct setting for establishing an LACP channel with Aruba switches like the CX 6300 series.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation (Verified Extract from HPE Aruba Networking AOS-10 Gateway Documentation)

The Change of Authorization (CoA) message is a RADIUS-based control packet typically sent by ClearPass Policy Manager or another RADIUS server to modify client authorization dynamically after authentication.

In ArubaOS 10, CoA and Disconnect-Request (DM) messages use UDP port 3799 and are received on the control path of the gateway, not the datapath.

HPE Aruba AOS-10 documentation specifies:

“Use the command packet-capture controlpath udp 3799 on the gateway to verify that CoA packets are being received and processed on the control plane.”

“The controlpath capture displays inbound CoA or DM messages received from RADIUS servers such as ClearPass.”

Command breakdown:

packet-capture controlpath udp 3799

controlpath → Captures control-plane traffic (used for management protocols like RADIUS, CoA, CAPWAP, etc.)

udp 3799 → Filters only CoA/DM packets

Why Others Are Incorrect:

A. interprocess captures internal gateway processes, not RADIUS packets.

C. diag utilities tcpdump is used in AOS 8.x, not AOS 10.

D. tcpdump host-port 3576 uses the wrong port; CoA uses UDP 3799, not 3576 (which is for standard RADIUS authentication).

✅ Final Verified Answer: B. packet-capture controlpath udp 3799

📘 Reference Sources (HPE Aruba Official Materials):

Aruba AOS-10 Gateway Troubleshooting Guide – Control Path Packet Capture Commands

Aruba ClearPass and AOS Integration Guide – RADIUS CoA Port (UDP 3799)

Aruba Certified Mobility Professional (ACMP) Study Guide – CoA and Disconnect Message Verification

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation (Verified Extract from HPE Aruba Networking Switching Documentation)

In Aruba AOS-CX switching environments, Quality of Service (QoS) allows the switch to prioritize certain types of traffic such as voice, video, or real-time applications.

When a connected endpoint (such as a VoIP phone or wireless handset) marks packets with DSCP = 46 (Expedited Forwarding for voice), the switch must trust these markings to maintain end-to-end traffic prioritization.

Key Concept: Trust Boundary

By default, Aruba switches do not trust incoming DSCP or 802.1p markings from end devices for security reasons.

To allow the switch to accept and act on these values, the QoS trust DSCP feature must be explicitly enabled on the relevant interface or globally.

Official Aruba AOS-CX Extract:

“The qos trust dscp command enables the switch port to honor the Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) markings received from connected devices. When trusted, packets maintain their QoS priority as they traverse the switch fabric.”

When wireless handsets connect to a bridged SSID, their traffic is bridged locally at the access switch — meaning the switch sees the traffic directly from the AP. If the handset marks the packet with DSCP 46, enabling QoS trust DSCP ensures that the switch preserves that marking and applies the appropriate voice priority queue treatment.

This configuration ensures end-to-end QoS consistency between the wireless AP, mobility gateway, and wired switch.

Option Analysis:

A. Incorrect – “Voice Wi-Fi Multimedia Share” is not a valid Aruba configuration feature; WMM shares QoS mapping but not DSCP trust.

B. Incorrect – UCC (Unified Communications and Collaboration) enhances call visibility and diagnostics, not DSCP trust or QoS marking.

C. ✅ Correct – Enables the switch to trust and honor DSCP markings (such as DSCP 46) received from endpoints or bridged SSIDs.

D. Incorrect – WMM (Wi-Fi Multimedia) is required for prioritization over wireless links, but since this is a bridged SSID, the DSCP markings must be honored at the switch, not just the AP.

✅ Final Verified Answer: C

📘 Reference Sources (HPE Aruba Official Materials):

Aruba AOS-CX Quality of Service (QoS) Configuration Guide

ArubaOS 10 WLAN and Mobility Configuration Guide – QoS and WMM for Voice SSIDs

Aruba Certified Switching Professional (ACSP) Study Guide – QoS Trust and Traffic Classification

The capture shows messages related to WPA key management, indicating WPA2-PSK is being used. Also, the capture includes a DHCP request from the client but no corresponding DHCP ACK, suggesting the client is not receiving an IP address, which could explain the connectivity failure.

In BGP, the route marked with a ">" symbol is the best route that is chosen based on BGP attributes in the following order: highest weight (Cisco-specific), highest local preference, originated by BGP running on the local router, shortest AS path, lowest origin type, lowest MED, eBGP over iBGP, closest IGP neighbor, and lowest BGP router ID. Based on the table provided, Option E would be marked with a ">" symbol as it has the highest local preference of 100 which is a decisive factor in the BGP best path selection process.