ACE Automation Advanced Specialist
EXAM OVERVIEW
Arista Automation Advanced course deepens automation expertise for large-scale and production-ready Arista environments. Participants will design structured data models, automate complex topologies, and deploy validated configurations using Arista AVD across Layer 2 and Layer 3 Leaf-Spine, EVPN/VXLAN, and MPLS environments.
The course focuses on advanced configuration generation, CI/CD-style deployment workflows via CloudVision, and post-deployment validation using AVD validation tools. Students will learn how to implement automation frameworks aligned with Arista best practices for scalable, repeatable network operations.
Exam Blue Print
Automation & NetOps foundations
Network automation foundations
- Introduction to network automation
- Approaches to network automation
- History of network automation
Core principles of network automation
- Software development and network automation
- Network automation concepts and practices
Automation tools
Automation tools overview
- Automation tools and data formats
- Programmability IDEs overview
VS Code development environment
- Introduction to Visual Studio Code
- VS Code themes, fonts and icons
- Customizing VS Code layout
- VS Code extensions
- VS Code debugger
- Reviewing VS Code
Git version control
- Understanding Git version control
- Git demo
- GitHub demo
Python fundamentals
- Why Python matters for network automation
- Understanding Python variables
- Advanced Python concepts
- Working with Python variables, lists and dictionaries
- Introduction to Python and eAPI
- Getting information from EOS devices
- Parsing CLI output with Python
- Parsing JSON with python
Understanding APIs
Application programmatic interfaces - APIs
- APIs in network automation
- The history of HTTP and its role in networking
- Understanding HTTP messages
- HTTP authentication
Securing APIs with PKI
- TLS and SSL overview
- TLK certificates and trust chains
- Why use certificates in network automation
- Creating and installing TLS certificates
- Client TLS certificates for API authentication
Using REST API clients
- Introduction to EchoAPI
- REST API client requests and responses
- HTTP Auth with REST API client
- Organizing requests in REST API clients
- REST API client scripts
Ansible fundamentals
Getting started with Ansible
- Introduction to Ansible
- Ansible use cases
Building automation with Ansible
- Understanding Ansible files
- Working with Ansible variables
- Ansible variables demo
- Using Ansible debug
- Ansible debug demo
CloudVision fundamentals
CloudVision overview
- Introduction to CloudVision
- CloudVision deployment
- CloudVision and device communication
CloudVision high availability
- CloudVision cluster redundancy
- CloudVision dual cluster deployment
- CloudVision backups
CloudVision portal setup and operations
- CloudVision multi-node OVA installation demo
- Upgrading CloudVision demo
- CloudVision backup and restore demo
- Getting familiar with CloudVision interface demo
CloudVision network provisioning
- CloudVision device management overview
- Legacy provisioning overview and demo
- MLAG configuration demo
- CloudVision snapshots
Change control
- CloudVision change control overview
- Change control demo
Automated device onboarding in CloudVision
- Zero touch provisioning and replacement
- ZTP demo – deploying vEOS to CloudVision
- ZTR demo – replacing a device in CloudVision
CloudVision Studios
- Configuration management with Studios
- CloudVision tags
- Inventory and topology Studio overview
- Inventory and topology Studio demo
- Interface configuration and Studio demo
- Date and time Studio overview
- Date and time Studio demo
- Postcard telemetry Studio overview
- Mirroring Studio overview
- Authentication Studio overview
- Authentication Studio demo
- Management connectivity Studio demo
Working with static config Studios
- Static configuration Studio overview
- Adding devices to CloudVision Studios inventory
- Using static configuration Studio
- Migrating legacy configlets to Studios
Software management with CloudVision
- Software management overview
- Software image management demo
CloudVision telemetry
- Modern network telemetry with CloudVision
- Telemetry use cases in CloudVision
- Compliance overview
CloudVision monitoring overview
- CloudVision dashboards
- CloudVision events
- CloudVision topology overview
- Topology icons and settings
- CloudVision topology tags
AQL and NetSQL
- Querying NetDB and NetSQL
- Querying ARP entries using AQL notebook and dashboards
- Querying BGP sessions using AQL notebook and dashboards
- Querying device state and software versions using NetSQL
Using Ansible and Jinja
Network automation with Jinja
- Introduction to Jinja
- Jinja file layout
- Jinja variable files
- Building and organizing data models
- Building and applying configurations with Ansible and CloudVision
Building and deploying configurations with Jinja
- Why Jinja – manual configuration challenges
- Setting up Jinja and building your first template in Ansible
- Building the Jinja data model and generating underlay contigs
- Upload and deploy Jinja configs through CloudVision
- Deploying configs directly with eAPI and Jinja
- Deploying Jinja templates via CloudVision configlets
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q1. I currently hold Arista Certified Engineer (ACE) L3 Cloud Journey man. Willl this automatically converted to a new Arista Certification?
Your ACE L3 will be convereted to a new certification Arista Certified Engineer (ACE) Data Center Specialist as the old courses and certification were more focused on Data Center technologies.
Q2. How do you earn an ACE Professional Level certification (ACE-Level 5)
You must pass both the Operations Specialist exam and the Engineering Specialist exam within the same track (e.g., Data Center, Campus, Routing, Automation). Once both are completed, the Level 5 Professional certification is automatically awarded—there is no separate exam.
Q2. Can I enter the ACE program at a higher level?
Yes. Arista lets you attempt Specialist or higher-level exams aligned with your experience. However, those exams will test knowledge from the foundational levels upward