Certification labs teach configuration. Tickets teach behaviour: listen, isolate, verify, document and escalate cleanly.
| Field | What I must write |
|---|---|
| User report | What the user says, without adding my own assumptions. |
| Business impact | Who is affected and how urgent it is. |
| Initial checks | Power, link, IP, gateway, DNS, routing, firewall, service status. |
| Commands used | Exact commands and important output. |
| Root cause | The real reason, not just the symptom. |
| Fix and verification | What changed, how I proved it works, and what evidence I saved. |
| Escalation note | What to hand to Level 2/3 if I cannot fix it. |
User has 169.254.x.x address and cannot access internet.
ipconfig, DHCP fix note.Website opens by IP address but not by name.
nslookup, DNS server, cache, reachability.Local devices ping each other, but internet fails.
One department cannot reach its gateway after a desk move.
show vlan brief, access port VLAN, patching.VLAN works on one switch but not across another switch.
show interfaces trunk, allowed VLANs, native VLAN.Connection drops randomly after a new device was added.
Users cannot print to a network printer.
VPN says connected but internal application does not open.
Desk port is dead after plugging in a device.
User reports slow internet; no obvious outage.
Laptop connects to Wi-Fi but cannot browse.
New users cannot obtain IP addresses during busy hours.