Question

Difficulty: Very hardConfiguration and Change Management

During an unpredicted core link failure, a lead network engineer executed an approved Emergency Change (ECAB) by manually applying temporary static routing overrides directly on live edge routers to restore connectivity. Three hours later, an automated configuration management pipeline executed its scheduled compliance audit and synchronized the routers against the central version-controlled repository, inadvertently wiping out the manual emergency modifications and restoring the outage. Which of the following procedures should have been completed immediately following the emergency implementation to permanently prevent this configuration drift?

  1. Update the authoritative version-controlled repository with the modified configuration parameters and commit a post-implementation baseline update before the automated synchronization cycle runs.Answer
  2. B
    Immediately roll back the emergency static routing commands and wait for the standard weekly Change Advisory Board (CAB) meeting to re-authorize the changes.
  3. C
    Reconfigure the edge routers' default gateway settings on internal subnets to route traffic around the automated configuration pipeline.
  4. D
    Perform a differential system backup of the edge router startup configuration and restore it every time the automated deployment tool triggers.

Answer

Update the authoritative version-controlled repository with the modified configuration parameters and commit a post-implementation baseline update before the automated synchronization cycle runs.
In modern automated network environments, central repositories (Infrastructure as Code / configuration baselines) define the source of truth. When emergency changes are applied manually directly to devices, the central repository must be updated and committed immediately during post-implementation reconciliation. This ensures automated compliance engines recognize the new state as authorized, preventing automated configuration drift remediation from undoing emergency fixes.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the cause of configuration drift
Identified that the automated pipeline enforced the established repository baseline, which lacked the live emergency static route changes.
Automated network orchestration systems enforce state based on the version-controlled central repository.
2
Identify proper post-emergency change workflow steps
Determined that emergency change procedures require retroactively updating the formal baseline documentation and code repository.
Updating the repository ensures the automated management system recognizes the emergency changes as the new desired configuration state.
3
Select the correct preventative action
Committing the changes to the version-controlled repository aligns live devices with automated compliance engines.
This maintains operational continuity while adhering to strict change control governance.

Key Concept

Configuration Baseline Synchronization and Post-Emergency Change Management
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