What File Extension is Required for Cisco ISE ZTP in Hyper-V?
Which file extension is required when deploying Cisco ISE using a ZTP configuration file in Microsoft Hyper-V?
Community Votes
83% of anonymous learners picked answer D. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.
Community Insight
This question tests zero-touch provisioning hypervisor requirements, where the common trap is assuming the generic .img format or raw .txt file is used instead of the Hyper-V specific .iso format.
Deploying Cisco ISE via Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP) on Microsoft Hyper-V requires the configuration file to use a specific file format. This page establishes that the .iso extension is required because Hyper-V must mount the file as a virtual CD/DVD drive.
Choosing .img because it is the standard ZTP format for other hypervisors like VMware, or choosing .txt because the underlying configuration data is text-based.
Community Discussion (4 comments)
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Expert Analysis
Why the Answer Is Correct
Microsoft Hyper-V requires the ZTP configuration media to be mounted as a virtual CD/DVD drive, which necessitates an ISO image format. Although the actual ZTP configuration data is text-based, it must be packaged into a file with an.iso extension for Hyper-V to recognize and attach it during the boot process. Therefore, the.iso extension is the strictly required format for the ZTP configuration file in this specific hypervisor environment.Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option A (.txt) is incorrect because while the configuration contents are text, Hyper-V cannot mount a bare text file as a bootable medium for ZTP. Option B (.img) is incorrect because, unlike VMware or KVM, Hyper-V does not natively support mounting.img files for ZTP provisioning. Option C (.tar) is simply not a supported format for ISE ZTP configuration files on any hypervisor.Community Comment Notes
As noted in the community, "Hyper-V does not support the standard '.img' file format used for ZTP on other platforms". Another user clarified that "the file must be packaged into an ISO image for Hyper‑V to recognize and attach it during the boot process". This highlights the critical distinction between the raw text data and the required packaging format dictated by the hypervisor.Official Reference
Exam Strategy
For hypervisor-specific deployment questions, memorize the supported file formats for mounting configuration or image files (e.g., Hyper-V uses .iso, VMware uses .img). Pay close attention to the exact hypervisor mentioned in the question stem to avoid applying a generic rule.