An administrator has completed a new install of SmartZone-Essentials for switch management, and has configured...

When deployingSmartZone-Essentials (SZ-100/SZ-144)forRUCKUS ICX switch management, the switches establish a secure HTTPS-based connection to the controller using theSmartZone registrar IP. A common issue preventing connection occurs whenSmartZone is not configured to accept self-signed certificates—which are typically used by ICX switches by default for initial onboarding.

As described in theRUCKUS One Online Help – SmartZone Switch Management SetupandRUCKUS AI documentation, administrators must explicitly enable the option to“Allow Self-Signed Certificates”in the controller’sSwitch Management settings. Without this configuration, the SmartZone rejects the ICX connection request during SSL/TLS handshake, causing registration failure.

SNMPv3 configuration and DHCP options are unrelated to initial controller registration. Additionally,SmartZone-Essentialsfully supports ICX management;SmartZone High Scaleis not required.

Thus, the correct answer isC— the connection fails because the controller is not set to accept self-signed certificates from the switch.