- JN0-364 (Junos OS 25.2) has 65 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes, delivered through Pearson VUE at a test center or via OnVUE.
- The published base exam fee is $300 plus applicable taxes; final regional checkout totals are not published.
- An active JNCIA-Junos is the prerequisite, and the credential stays valid for three years.
- The official outline has 10 objective headings, but percentage weights are unpublished, so no domain can be called the heaviest.
The Exam at a Glance: Logistics You Must Know
The Juniper Networks Certified Specialist, Service Provider Routing and Switching (JNCIS-SP) is the specialist-level credential for networking professionals with beginner-to-intermediate Junos routing and switching knowledge. Juniper's pages now carry HPE Juniper Networking branding, but the credential and exam code (JN0-364) are the same. If you are new to the credential itself, the overview in What Is JNCIS-SP? covers the basics. This page is the compressed version: everything worth memorizing before you sit the exam.
| Item | What the issuer publishes |
|---|---|
| Exam code and version | JN0-364, Junos OS 25.2 |
| Questions | 65, English-language written multiple choice |
| Time limit | 90 minutes |
| Fee | $300 USD per exam plus applicable taxes; no member/nonmember distinction published |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE test center or OnVUE online, subject to local availability, technical checks and ID |
| Prerequisite | Active JNCIA-Junos; no additional mandatory training hours, employment hours or references stated |
| Passing score | Statistically set for the individual exam and reported to the candidate |
| Validity | Three years |
| Results | Pass/fail available immediately, subject to exam-security validation |
Registration and identity mechanics
- Your legal name must match your government-issued photo and signature identification, and it must match your CertMetrics and Pearson VUE accounts.
- A passing score is provisional until exam-security validation is complete; valid results are available in CertMetrics within three business days under the published policy.
- Written exams may be taken in any order, but every prerequisite requirement must still be fulfilled. Taking an exam early does not waive the JNCIA-Junos requirement for the credential. See JNCIS-SP Requirements 2026 for eligibility detail.
- No adaptive-testing claim or calculator entitlement is established in the reviewed documentation, so do not plan around either.
Retake and renewal rules
- After a first failure, a repeat attempt may be made without a waiting period.
- After a second or subsequent failure, wait 14 calendar days; the clock starts the day after the failed attempt.
- After passing, wait at least 18 months before retaking the same exam.
- Renew within three years by completing an eligible current exam or a specified qualifying course, or by achieving a higher-level credential in the same track.
- A higher-level renewal also renews active lower-level credentials in that track and active associate credentials. No universal CEU/CPE quota is published.
- An expired credential means restarting the track.
Protocol-Independent Routing, OSPF and IS-IS Essentials
The first three objective headings are the routing foundation. The official outline lists them as Domains 1 to 3, and nearly every later topic (BGP policy, MPLS signaling, IPv6) assumes you are comfortable here. For a heading-by-heading expansion, use the JNCIS-SP Exam Domains guide.
Domain 1: Protocol-Independent Routing
Know the concepts and operation of these items, then be able to configure, monitor or troubleshoot the ones the outline names for hands-on skill.
- Static, aggregate and generated routes (all three appear in the configuration/monitoring/troubleshooting requirement)
- Martian addresses
- Routing instances, including RIB and routing-table groups
- Load balancing and filter-based forwarding (both appear in the configuration/monitoring/troubleshooting requirement)
Domain 2: Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
Expect questions that test whether you can read a scenario and identify what the protocol is doing.
- Link-state database, router ID, adjacencies/neighbors
- OSPF packet types and LSA packet types
- Designated and backup designated routers
- Area types and router types
- Configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting: interfaces and neighbors, routing-policy application, and troubleshooting tools
Domain 3: Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS)
IS-IS often gets less attention than OSPF in general networking study, but it is its own objective heading here and service provider environments use it heavily.
- Link-state database, PDUs, and type/length/value (TLV) structures
- Adjacencies/neighbors, levels and areas
- The designated intermediate system (DIS) and metrics
- Configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting: interfaces and adjacencies, routing-policy application, and troubleshooting tools
BGP, Bridging, VLANs and Spanning Tree
Domain 4: Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
The outline frames BGP as basic operation, not advanced design.
- Message types and attributes
- Route and path selection
- IBGP versus EBGP functionality and interaction
- Configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting: groups and peers, additional basic options, and routing-policy application
Domain 5: Layer 2 Bridging or VLANs
This heading splits into bridging concepts for Junos service-provider switching platforms and VLAN concepts.
- Bridging elements and terminology, frame processing, virtual switches
- Provider bridging and Q-in-Q
- VLAN benefits, port modes, tagging, and Integrated Routing and Bridging (IRB)
- Configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting: interfaces/ports, VLANs, IRB and provider bridging
Domain 6: Spanning-Tree Protocols
All four variants appear in the outline, so do not stop at RSTP.
- STP, RSTP, MSTP and VSTP
- Port roles and states, BPDUs, convergence and reconvergence
- Spanning-tree security: BPDU, loop and root protection
- Configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting for all four variants and the protection features
MPLS, IPv6, Tunnels and High Availability
Domain 7: Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)
This is the largest topic list in the outline by sheer variety, though that says nothing about its exam weight, since weights are unpublished.
- MPLS CoS processing on Junos devices, terminology and the packet header
- End-to-end packet flow and forwarding, labels and the label information base
- MPLS and routing tables
- RSVP, LDP, and segment routing with MPLS (identification level)
- Configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting: MPLS forwarding, RSVP-signaled LSPs, LDP-signaled LSPs and shortest-path segment-routing LSPs
One source quirk: the published configuration bullet for RSVP ends at "RSVP-signaled" without a stated continuation. Study RSVP-signaled LSPs as the topic, but do not assume extra sub-requirements the issuer did not print. Segment routing here is introductory; keep it separate from professional-level VPN material.
Domain 8: IPv6
- Static routes and dynamic routing with OSPFv3, IS-IS and BGP
- IPv6-over-IPv4 tunneling concepts
- IPv6 configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting
Domain 9: Tunnels
- IP-tunneling concepts, requirements, functionality, applications and considerations
- GRE, including configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting
Domain 10: High Availability
- Concepts, benefits, applications and requirements for LAGs, graceful restart (GR), graceful Routing Engine switchover (GRES), nonstop bridging (NSB), nonstop active routing (NSR), BFD and VRRP
- Configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting for LAGs, GR/GRES/NSB/NSR, BFD and VRRP
Knowing It vs. Configuring It: The Two Skill Levels
The official outline separates two kinds of requirement under most headings: identifying concepts, operation or functionality, and demonstrating configuration, monitoring or troubleshooting knowledge. Prepare for both. The identification items test whether you understand how a mechanism works. The configuration items test whether you can recognize correct Junos configuration, read operational output, or reason about why something is not working.
- Concept-only topics in the outline include Martian addresses and routing instances (Domain 1), and RSVP, LDP and segment routing concepts (Domain 7). Know how they work, but you need not memorize configuration for them beyond what the outline lists.
- Configuration-level topics are the ones named in each domain's configuration/monitoring/troubleshooting line, such as OSPF interfaces and neighbors, BGP groups and peers, IRB, GRE and VRRP.
Treat show-command output as study material. Being able to read an OSPF neighbor table, an IS-IS adjacency or a BGP summary is the practical skill behind the troubleshooting phrase in the outline. The time budget is about 90 minutes for 65 questions, roughly 83 seconds each, so fluency matters more than looking things up in your head.
Key Takeaway
Do not rank domains by assumed exam share. The issuer publishes 10 headings without percentage weights, so cover all of them and spend extra time where your own practice results show gaps.
Common Confusions and Source Traps
Passing score confusion
The live exam's passing score is statistically set and reported to the candidate. A separate official practice-test page publishes a 70% threshold, and a voucher assessment lists 80 minutes, three attempts and a 70% threshold. Those are not JN0-364 logistics. Details are in JNCIS-SP Passing Score 2026, and the unknown pass-rate picture is covered in JNCIS-SP Pass Rate 2026.
Version and track confusion
- JN0-364 is the specialist service provider exam on Junos OS 25.2. Older material for JN0-360, JN0-362 or JN0-363 may include different scope, and enterprise (JNCIS-ENT) content is a separate track.
- Recommended-course pages may list older software releases. They do not override the pinned exam version.
- Some web pages show a JNCIS-DC route that looks similar. That is a different credential (Data Center) and none of its objectives apply here.
- JNCIS-SP is specialist level. Professional-level VPN topics belong to a different exam.
Unofficial material
Third-party question banks, videos and study notes are useful for knowledge preparation, but they are not issuer-endorsed, and pass guarantees or bank-size claims are not exam facts. Anything that claims to be actual recalled questions should be avoided. Use the issuer's objective list as your checklist and the JNCIS-SP study guide for a structured plan.
A Domain-Ordered Review Schedule
Because weights are unpublished, order your review by dependency rather than by assumed importance: routing fundamentals first, then protocols that build on them, then forwarding technologies, then resilience. Adjust the pace to your own experience; this is a template, not a prescription.
Routing foundations
- Domain 1: static, aggregate and generated routes, routing instances, load balancing, filter-based forwarding
- Refresh JNCIA-Junos basics so the prerequisite knowledge is solid
Link-state protocols
- Domain 2 (OSPF) and Domain 3 (IS-IS), studied as paired vocabulary
- Practice reading neighbor and adjacency output
BGP and Layer 2
- Domain 4: attributes, path selection, IBGP versus EBGP, policy application
- Domains 5 and 6: bridging, VLANs, IRB, Q-in-Q, all four spanning-tree variants
MPLS, IPv6, tunnels, HA
- Domain 7 first, since it builds on IGP knowledge; then Domains 8, 9 and 10
- Finish with a full pass across all 10 headings and revisit weak areas
Spacing review sessions and re-quizzing yourself on weak headings helps most here. Test yourself in the exam's multiple-choice format using the JNCIS-SP practice tests to find which headings need another pass, and keep in mind that independently authored practice questions measure knowledge preparation, not practical competence.
FAQ
JN0-364 has 65 multiple-choice questions and a 90-minute limit. It is delivered in English through Pearson VUE, at a test center or via OnVUE online delivery where available.
The issuer does not publish a fixed percentage. The passing score is statistically set for the individual exam and reported to you. The 70% figure seen on practice and voucher pages does not apply to the live exam. See the passing score guide.
Yes, an active JNCIA-Junos is the stated prerequisite. Exams can be taken in any order, but every prerequisite requirement must still be met to earn the credential. Recommended training is not mandatory.
It is valid for three years. Renew by completing an eligible current exam or specified qualifying course before expiry, or by earning a higher-level credential in the same track. If it expires, you restart the track.
That depends on your role and goals. No exact JNCIS-SP salary or credential-caused uplift is verified, so weigh the exam against the skills in your target jobs. The ROI analysis and the difficulty guide can help you decide.