NETCONF operates primarily over which transport protocol?

NETCONF primarily operates over TCP, which is a reliable, connection-oriented transport protocol that ensures messages are delivered in the correct order without errors. This reliability is crucial for the management and configuration of network devices, as it allows NETCONF to provide consistent and secure communications between clients and devices. The use of TCP helps manage the complexities of interruptions in communication, such as packet loss or reordering, which is vital for maintaining state and consistency in network operations.

The other transport protocols mentioned, such as UDP, MQTT, and FTP, serve different purposes. For example, UDP is a connectionless protocol that does not guarantee delivery or order, making it less suitable for configuration tasks that rely on message integrity. MQTT is a lightweight messaging protocol primarily used for IoT applications, while FTP is designed for file transfer rather than real-time management and configuration tasks that NETCONF is built to handle. Hence, TCP’s characteristics make it the most appropriate choice for NETCONF operations.