Cisco CCST IT Support Practice Exams

1.1. Define key help desk concepts.

Queue management, time management, ticketing systems, service level agreement (SLA), key performance indicators (KPIs)

1.2. Prepare documentation to summarize a customer interaction.

Creating a clear, concise, factual, and comprehensive description of the problem, the troubleshooting steps, and the results obtained

Documenting in such a way that the documentation is useful for future interactions

1.3. Describe the problem solving process.

Define the problem

Gather detailed information

Identify a probable cause of the failure

Devise a plan to resolve the problem

Make necessary changes to implement the plan

Observe the results the changes

If the problem is not resolved, repeat the process

Document the changes made to resolve the problem

2.1. Demonstrate how to follow basic safety procedures.

Electrical shock, ESD, fire, and personal safety

2.2. Assist end users in using tools to locate information about their device.

Information: host name, hardware (processor, memory, disk space), operating system version, IPv4 address, IPv6 address, MAC address

Windows tools: Task Manager, System Information, Event Viewer, ipconfig

MacOS tools: Activity Monitor, About This Mac, System Settings, Console, ifconfig

2.3. Assist end users in locating, identifying, and understanding the characteristics of various ports and cables.

Video ports: HDMI, USB-C, DVI, DisplayPort, VGA

USB-A, USB-B, USB-C, Micro USB

Serial ports

RJ-45, UTP, STP

Common types of power cables (desktop, laptop, mobile)

Thunderbolt 3/4 (USB-C)

Converters

2.4. Identify, install and upgrade various components in a desktop computer.

Identifying the processor and motherboard

Identifying, installing, and upgrading RAM, peripherals (graphics cards, wireless cards, Bluetooth cards), and internal storage devices (SATA, SSD, NVMe, M2)

Interfaces and expansion card compatibility

Using Device Manager to manage drivers

E-waste best practices for disposing of components

2.5. Investigate commonly encountered hardware issues.

Basic troubleshooting: plug in, connected to power, powered on

Application compatibility requirements: processor architecture, RAM requirements, GPU requirements, disk space

Using Device Manager to identify issues with hardware

Device status indicators

Awareness of firmware updates (benefits and dangers)

3.1. Assist users with establishing access to network-based resources.

Basic knowledge of common directory services: Active Directory, Cloud-based access management (Entra ID and AWS IAM)

Multifactor Authentication (authenticator apps and other methods)

Mapping a shared drive, including SMB and cloud drive (S3 bucket, OneDrive, GoogleDrive, Dropbox, Box, etc.)

Using Gpupdate/adgpupdate to force a group policy update

Resetting passwords

Checking membership in security and distribution groups to determine whether there is an issue

Verifying permissions

3.2. Troubleshoot commonly encountered connectivity issues with peripherals.

Printers: connectivity to printer, assisting a user in using a multifunction device, loading paper, fixing a paper jam, clearing print queue, swapping toner

Fax

Headphones

Microphones

External drives

Scanners

Webcams

Keyboard, mouse, pointing devices (wired and wireless)

Tactile/interactive input devices (flat panels)

Teleconferencing devices (Webex Desk Pro screens)

3.3. Examine basic end-device connectivity to the network.

LAN (wired) access vs. WLAN

Purpose of DNS

Purpose of DHCP, recognizing self-assigned IP addresses (APIPA)

Purpose of DHCPv6 (recognizing a link-local address instead of a global address)

IP address ranges (is it in the right subnet, public and private)

Default gateway

WLAN SSID

Using the following commands to verify connectivity

Ipconfig/Ifconfig

Traceroute/tracert

Ping

Nslookup

Netstat

Ping6

Traceroute6

Iproute2 (ip add, ss)

Purpose of a firewall and how it might impact connectivity

4.1. Assist users in resolving Windows operating system issues.

Display settings, multiple displays, brightness

BitLocker codes

Windows and application updates

Clearing the browser cache

Terminating processes with Task Manager

Assisting the customer in backing up and restoring personal data with cloud-based tools (OneDrive)

Boot sequence, booting to safe mode

Power management

Accessibility features

4.2. Assist users in resolving MacOS operating system issues.

Display settings, multiple displays, brightness

Allowing applications the necessary permissions

Mounting external drives

Clearing the browser cache

AirDrop

Terminating processes with Activity Monitor

Assisting the customer in backing up and restoring personal data with cloud-based tools (iCloud and Time Machine)

Power management

Accessibility features

4.3. Assist users in resolving mobile device issues.

Restarting the phone, phone not charging, connectivity, email setup, mobile apps, collaboration software, basic understanding of MDM

Device OS: iOS, Android

4.4. Describe virtualization and cloud terminology.

Cloud providers – Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Virtual machines and hypervisors

Recognizing cloud models in order to direct the incident to the right team

4.5. Assist users in resolving common application issues.

Marketplace or approved application installation

Untrusted/unknown sources

Email, collaboration, productivity applications

5.1. Describe security threats to the end user, perform basic investigation, and escalate to the appropriate team.

Threats: phishing, malware, spam, unauthorized access attempts, spoofing

Helping the user run a malware scan

Strong passwords and good password practices

5.2. Recognize how to avoid becoming a victim of social engineering attacks.

Awareness that a help desk technician is a prime target for social engineering attacks

Phishing, impersonation, etc.

5.3. Recognize how company policies and confidentiality guidelines protect user data.

Identifying confidential, propriety, and personally identifiable information (PII) data

6.1. Use remote access software to connect to end user devices and perform remote support tasks.

Remote Desktop, Remote Assistance, Cisco Webex, Remote Management, TeamViewer, Virtual Network Computing (VNC), PC Anywhere

6.2. Use appropriate troubleshooting tools to research an issue and update internal documentation with findings.

AI: query AI to research an issue, limitations of AI, ethical considerations for AI, privacy and security risks, difference between predictive and generative AI

Using search engine results

Technical forums

Knowledge base articles (industry and internal)