156-587 Checkpoint Check Point Certified Troubleshooting Expert - R81.20 (CCTE) Free Practice Exam Questions (2025 Updated)

The correct directory where an administrator can find vpn debug log files generated during Site-to-Site VPN troubleshooting is $FWDIR/log/. This directory contains the following files related to vpn debug:

vpnd.elg: This file contains the high-level VPN debug information, such as the VPN tunnel establishment, deletion, and negotiation messages. It can be enabled by using thevpn debug oncommand on the Security Gateway CLI.

legacy_ike.elg: This file contains the low-level IKE debug information for IKEv1, such as the IKE packets, encryption, decryption, and authentication. It can be enabled by using thevpn debug ikeoncommand on the Security Gateway CLI.

legacy_ikev2.xml: This file contains the low-level IKE debug information for IKEv2, such as the IKE packets, encryption, decryption, and authentication. It can be enabled by using thevpn debug ikev2oncommand on the Security Gateway CLI.

These files can be viewed by using thevpn debug viewcommand on the Security Gateway CLI, or by using theIKEViewtool on the Security Management Server GUI.

When troubleshootingcrasheson a Security Gateway (or any Linux-based system), the file type that is typically generated and used for in-depth analysis is acore dump.

A core dump captures the memory state of a process at the time it crashed and is critical for root-cause analysis.

Other options:

A. tcpdump: A packet capture file, not a crash-related file.

C. fw monitor: A Check Point packet capture tool, but not for crash debugging.

D. CPMIL dump: Not a common or standard crash dump reference in Check Point.

CMI stands for Context Management Infrastructure, which is a component of the Access Control Policy that enables the Security Gateway to inspect traffic based on the context of the connection. Context includes information such as user identity, application, location, time, and device. CMI allows the Security Gateway to apply different security rules and actions based on the context of the traffic, and to dynamically update the context as it changes. CMI consists of three main elements: Unified Policy, Identity Awareness, and Content Awareness. 

 = The RFL process is the Remote File Log process that is responsible for transferring logs from the Security Gateway to the Security Management Server1. If the RFL process is with status T, it means that it is terminated and not running2. This could explain why the logs are not seen in the SMS. To resolve this issue, one possible command to run is smartlog_server stop and smartlog_server restart3. This command will stop and restart the SmartLog server, which is the process that indexes and displays the logs in the SmartConsole. By restarting the SmartLog server, it may also restart the RFL process and resume the log transfer. Alternatively, one can also try to restart the RFL process directly by running cpwd_admin stop -name RFL and cpwd_admin start -name RFL. References: Check Point Processes and Daemons, sk97638 - Check Point Processes and Daemons, sk144192 - How to restart SmartLog server, [sk98348 - SmartLog / SmartView server functionality], [sk97638 - Check Point Processes and Daemons]

 The correct command to check the subscription status on the CLI of the gateway is show license status. This command displays the current license information, such as the license type, expiration date, and subscription status for various blades, such as Anti-Bot, Anti-Virus, IPS, etc. The command also shows the contract status for each blade, such as valid, expired, or invalid. If John has renewed his NPTX license, but he gets an error that the contract for Anti-Bot expired, he can use this command to verify the contract status and the subscription status for the Anti-Bot blade.

The other commands are incorrect because:

A. fwm lie print is not a valid command. The correct command is fwm lic print, which displays the license information on the Security Management Server, not on the gateway. This command does not show the subscription status or the contract status for the blades.

B. fw monitor license status is not a valid command. The correct command is fw monitor, which is a tool for capturing network traffic on the gateway, not for checking the license status.

C. cpstat antimalware-f subscription status is not a valid command. The correct command is cpstat antimalware -f subscription_status, which displays the subscription status for the Anti-Virus blade, not for the Anti-Bot blade. This command does not show the contract status for the blade.

The correct answer is A. smartlogrestart and smartlogstart. These commands are used to restart the SmartLog service and start the SmartLog indexing process. They can be run on the Security Management Server or the Log Server to resolve issues with SmartLog not being active or failing to parse results from the server. The other commands are not valid or relevant for thispurpose. References: Check Point Troubleshooting Expert (CCTE) R81.10 Course Data Sheet1, Check Point Troubleshooting Expert (CCTE) R81.10 Course Outline2, Check Point Troubleshooting Expert (CCTE) R81.10 Lab Manual3, sk175223 -SmartLog is not active or failed to parse results from server

The correct statement explaining the differences between the two procedures for debugging in the firewall kernel is D. (i) is used for general debugging, has a small buffer and is a quick way to set kernel debug flags to get an output via command line whereas (ii) is useful when there is a need for detailed debugging and requires additional steps to set the buffer and get an output via command line.

The command fw ctl zdebug is a shortcut command that sets the kernel debug flags to a predefined value and prints the debug output to the standard output. It is useful for general debugging of common issues, such as traffic drops, NAT, VPN, or clustering. It has a small buffer size and does not require additional steps to start or stop the debugging. However, it has some limitations, such as it cannot be used with SecureXL, it cannot filter the output by chain modules, and it cannot save the output to a file12.

The command fw ctl debug is a command that allows the administrator to set the kernel debug flags to a custom value and specify the chain modules to debug. It is useful for detailed debugging of specific issues, such as policy installation, CoreXL, or Identity Awareness. It has a larger buffer size and can save the output to a file. However, it requires additional steps to start and stop thedebugging, such as setting the buffer size, clearing the buffer, dumping the buffer, and resetting the debug flags12.

The command fw ctl kdebug is a command that is used in conjunction with fw ctl debug to dump the kernel debug buffer to the standard output or to a file. It is part of the procedure (ii) for detailed debugging in the firewall kernel12.

The other statements are not correct or relevant for explaining the differences between the two procedures for debugging in the firewall kernel. The command fw ctl zdebug can be used to debug more than just the access control policy, and the command fw ctl debug/kdebug can be used to debug more than just the unified policy. Both commands can be used on both the Security Gateway and the Security Management Server, depending on the issue to be debugged12.

To see the list of processes monitored by the WatchDog process (CPWD), you use thecpwd_admin listcommand.

Option A (cpstat fw -f watchdog): Shows firewall status and statistics for the "fw" context, not necessarily the list of monitored processes.

Option B (fw ctl get str watchdog): Not a valid parameter for retrieving the list of monitored processes; “fw ctl” deals with kernel parameters.

Option C (cpwd_admin list): Correct command that lists all processes monitored by CPWD, their status, and how many times they have been restarted.

Option D (ps -ef | grep watchd): This will list any running process that matches the string “watchd” but will not specifically detail which processes are being monitored by CPWD.

Therefore, the best answer iscpwd_admin list.

Check Point Troubleshooting References

sk97638: Explains Check Point WatchDog (CPWD) usage and the cpwd_admin utility.

R81.20 CLI Reference Guide: Describes common troubleshooting commands including cpwd_admin list.

Check Point Gaia Administration Guide: Provides instructions for monitoring system processes and verifying CPWD.

The kernel component associated with Content Awareness and data collection from contexts (often provided by the Context Management Infrastructure - CMI) is dlpda.  

According to the Check Point R81.20 Quantum Security Gateway Administration Guide, within the listing of kernel modules, dlpda is described as follows:

Exact Extract:

Module "dlpda" (Data Loss Prevention - Download Agent for Content Awareness)

The dlpda module functions as a "Download Agent for Content Awareness." This role involves collecting data necessary for the Content Awareness blade to inspect and understand the content of traffic. The Content Awareness blade works in conjunction with the Context Management Infrastructure (CMI), which provides the initial context about the traffic. The dlpda component then uses these contexts to gather the relevant data for deeper inspection and to determine if the content matches any defined data types or policies. While the guide lists it as a "Module," exam questions in the CCTE context often refer to such components involved in kernel operations as "kernel processes." The function described clearly aligns with collecting data for Content Awareness.  

Options analysis:

A. PDP (Policy Decision Point): This process is primarily associated with Identity Awareness for making access decisions based on user identity, not directly for Content Awareness data collection from CMI contexts.

B. cpemd (Check Point Endpoint Management Daemon): This daemon is related to endpoint security management and does not fit the role of a kernel process for gateway-level Content Awareness data collection.

D. CMI (Context Management Infrastructure): CMI is an infrastructure that provides contexts to various blades, including Content Awareness. It is the source of the contexts, not the kernel process that collects data based on those contexts.

Therefore, dlpda is the kernel component specifically tasked with collecting data for Content Awareness.

ClusterXL is Check Point’s high-availability and load-sharing solution, which monitors critical components to ensure cluster functionality. PNOTEs (Problem Notifications) are specific conditions or processes monitored by ClusterXL to detect failures or issues that could impact the cluster’s operation. When a PNOTE is triggered, ClusterXL may initiate a failover to maintain service continuity.

Option A: Correct. TED (Threat Emulation Daemon) is not monitored as a PNOTE by ClusterXL. TED is part of the Threat Emulation blade, which handles sandboxing and emulation tasks, but it is not a critical cluster component monitored by ClusterXL.

Option B: Incorrect. Policy installation status is monitored as a PNOTE by ClusterXL. If a policy fails to install or becomes corrupted, ClusterXL can detect this as a critical issue and trigger a failover.

Option C: Incorrect. RouteD (Routing Daemon) is monitored as a PNOTE by ClusterXL. Routing issues, such as the failure of dynamic routing protocols, are critical for cluster operations, especially in environments with dynamic routing enabled.

Option D: Incorrect. VPND (VPN Daemon) is monitored as a PNOTE by ClusterXL. VPN functionality is critical in many deployments, and ClusterXL monitors VPND to ensure VPN tunnels remain operational.

When a process isfrozen(hung or unresponsive), the typical method to resolve it is tokill the process. On Check Point, you can use cpwd_admin kill -name or a standard Linux kill -9 command if necessary. You then allowCPWD(the Check Point watchdog) to restart it, or manually restart it if needed.

Other options:

A. Power off the machine: This is too drastic and not recommended just for a single frozen process.

B. Restart the process: While this sounds viable, you typicallymust killthe frozen process first, then let WatchDog or an admin restart it.

C. Reboot the machine: Similar to powering off—too disruptive for just one stuck process.

Hence, the most direct and standard approach:

“Kill the process.”

Check Point Troubleshooting References

sk97638– Explanation of CPWD (Check Point WatchDog) and how to manage processes.

sk43807– How to gracefully stop or kill a Check Point process.

Check Point CLI Reference Guide– Details on using cpwd_admin commands to kill or restart processes.

The STAT column in the output of the cpwd_admin list command shows the status of the monitored process. The possible values are E for established, meaning that the process is running, or T for terminated, meaning that the process is not running. The STAT column is useful for quickly checking if any critical process has crashed or failed to start. If the value is T, the process should be restarted and the reason for the termination should be investigated. The STAT column does not show the Watch Dog name, the number of times the process was started, or the monitoring method of the Watch Dog. 

 The CPD process controls logging on the Security Management Server or the Log Server. It is responsible for receiving logs from the Security Gateways, storing them in the log files, and forwarding them to the SmartLog and SmartEvent servers. It also handles the communication with the SmartConsole clients and the CPM process. The CPD process runs on the Security Management Server or the Log Server as part of the Management High Availability module.

To troubleshoot Identity Awareness issues related to user identification and Access Role application, you need to enable debugging for both Identity Collectors (IDC) and Identity Providers (IDP). The command pdp debug set IDC all IDP all on the gateway achieves this.

Here's why this is the correct answer and why the others are not:

A. on the gateway: pdp debug set IDC all IDP all:This correctly enables debugging for all Identity Collectors and Identity Providers, allowing you to see detailed logs and messages related to user identification and Access Role assignment. This helps pinpoint issues with user mapping, authentication, or authorization.

B. on the gateway: pdp debug set AD all and IDC all:This command only enables debugging for Active Directory (AD) as an Identity Provider and all Identity Collectors. It might miss issues related to other Identity Providers if they are in use.

C. on the management: pdp debug on IDC all:This command has two issues. First, it should be executed on the gateway, not the management server, as the gateway is responsible for user identification and policy enforcement. Second, it only enables debugging for Identity Collectors, not Identity Providers.

D. on the management: pdp debug set all:While this command might seem to enable debugging for everything, it's not specific enough for Identity Awareness troubleshooting. It might generate excessive logs unrelated to the issue and make it harder to find the relevant information.

Check Point Troubleshooting References:

Check Point Identity Awareness Administration Guide:This guide provides detailed information about Identity Awareness components, configuration, and troubleshooting.

Check Point sk113963:This article explains how to troubleshoot Identity Awareness issues using debug commands and logs.

Check Point R81.20 Security Administration Guide:This guide covers general troubleshooting and debugging techniques, including the use of pdp debug commands.