Which encoding format does Cisco IOS XE software support for NETCONF?

NETCONF (Network Configuration Protocol) is a standardized protocol used for automating configuration and management of network devices. According to IETF standards (RFC 6241), the required encoding for NETCONF is:

XML (Extensible Markup Language)

Cisco IOS XE supports NETCONF over SSH and uses XML to structure both configuration data and RPC messages. XML allows strict schema validation (via YANG models), extensibility, and rich hierarchical structure required for modern network automation.

Other formats:

HTML is not a data encoding method.

YAML is typically used with configuration management tools, not NETCONF.

JSON is supported in RESTCONF, not in traditional NETCONF.

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