PCNSE Paloalto Networks Palo Alto Networks Certified Security Engineer (PCNSE) PAN-OS 11.0 Free Practice Exam Questions (2025 Updated)

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/10-1/pan-os-admin/high-availability/ha-concepts/ha-timers

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/10-1/pan-os-admin/high-availability/ha-concepts/ha-timers#idcc1faa1c-5cd8-4830-90da-93e8effab23d

In PAN-OS, the Log Forwarding object under Objects configures forwarding for Authentication (Option B) and User-ID (Option C) logs, among others, to external systems (e.g., syslog servers).

Option A (GlobalProtect) and Option D (WildFire) logs are managed differently (e.g., via profiles or Panorama). Documentation lists supported log types in Log Forwarding.

Palo Alto Networks recommends following a specific upgrade path when upgrading PAN-OS to ensure compatibility and minimize the risk of issues. The recommended path involves sequential upgrades through major releases.

B. The detailed upgrade path from PAN-OS 10.1 to 11.0.x involves:

First, upgrading to the latest preferred maintenance release of the current PAN-OS version (10.1) to ensure that all the latest fixes and improvements are applied.

Next, upgrading to the base version of the next major release (PAN-OS 10.2.0), followed by upgrading to the latest preferred maintenance release of PAN-OS 10.2. This step ensures that the firewall is on a stable and supported version before proceeding to the next major release.

Finally, upgrading to the base version of PAN-OS 11.0 (11.0.0), followed by the desired PAN-OS 11.0.x version. This step completes the upgrade to the new major version, providing access to new features and improvements, such as TLSv1.3 support for management access.

This sequential upgrade path is designed to ensure a smooth transition between major versions, maintaining system stability and security.

A, C, and D are the correct answers because they are the parts of a template that an engineer can configure in Panorama. A template is a collection of device and network settings that can be pushed to multiple firewalls from Panorama1. A template can contain settings such as2:

A: NTP Server Address: This is the address of the Network Time Protocol server that synchronizes the time on the firewall.

C: Authentication Profile: This is the profile that defines how the firewall authenticates users and administrators.

D: Service Route Configuration: This is the configuration that specifies which interface and source IP address the firewall uses to access external services, such as DNS, email, syslog, etc.

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/10-2/pan-os-admin/user-id/map-ip-addresses-to-users/configure-user-id-to-monitor-syslog-senders-for-user-mapping#iddb1a7744-17c6-4900-a2cb-5f3511fef60f

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/compatibility-matrix/ipv6-support-by-feature/ipv6-support-by-feature-table

Regardless of whether you generate Forward Trust certificates from your Enterprise Root CA or use a self-signed certificate generated on the firewall, generate a separate subordinate Forward Trust CA certificate for each firewall. The flexibility of using separate subordinate CAs enables you to revoke one certificate when you decommission a device (or device pair) without affecting the rest of the deployment and reduces the impact in any situation in which you need to revoke a certificate. Separate Forward Trust CAs on each firewall also helps troubleshoot issues because the CA error message the user sees includes information about the firewall the traffic is traversing. If you use the same Forward Trust CA on every firewall, you lose the granularity of that information.

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/10-2/pan-os-admin/decryption/configure-ssl-forward-proxy

One of the potential causes of a failed install when upgrading Panorama to PAN-OS is having outdated plugins. Plugins are software extensions that enable Panorama to interact with Palo Alto Networks cloud services and third-party services. Plugins have dependencies on specific PAN-OS versions, so they must be updated before or after upgrading Panorama, depending on the plugin compatibility matrix2. If the plugins are not updated accordingly, the upgrade process may fail or cause issues with Panorama functionality3. References: Panorama Plugins Upgrade/Downgrade Considerations, Troubleshoot Your Panorama Upgrade, PCNSE Study Guide (page 54)

https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/kCSArticleDetail?id=kA10g000000PMiD

For IPsec VPN reliability, Option B enhances failover speed by adding a backup tunnel and tuning tunnel monitoring. Reducing the interval (e.g., to 2 seconds) and threshold (e.g., to 3 retries) ensures quick detection and failover to the backup tunnel, minimizing disruption.

Option A (HA and rekey interval) addresses session continuity, not tunnel failure detection. Option C (disable monitoring) risks missing real failures. Option D (Fail Over profile) helps but lacks the proactive tuning of B. Documentation recommends this approach.

Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) ensures unique session keys per VPN session, enabled under the IKE Gateway advanced options (Option A) by selecting a Diffie-Hellman (DH) group. This resolves Phase 2 mismatches if the peer requires PFS.

Option B (IPsec Tunnel) doesn’t directly control PFS. Option C (DH Group in IPsec Crypto) is related but not the enablement point. Option D (authentication algorithm) is unrelated. Documentation specifies IKE Gateway for PFS.

To facilitate the integration with external log parsing systems, the firewall allows you to customize the log format; it also allows you to add custom Key: Value attribute pairs. Custom message formats can be configured under DeviceServer ProfilesSyslogSyslog Server ProfileCustom Log Format. https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/11-1/pan-os-admin/monitoring/use-syslog-for-monitoring/syslog-field-descriptions/custom-logevent-format

Step-by-Step

Understanding Log Forwarding in PAN-OS:

Palo Alto Networks firewalls allow forwarding logs to external systems like syslog servers, SNMP servers, or email systems for external analysis or compliance.

Traffic logs can be customized to include additional information that meets the audit or operational requirements.

Syslog Server Profiles:

Syslog Server Profiles specify the format and destination of the log data sent to the syslog server.

These profiles allow customization through the Custom Log Format option, where the firewall engineer can add or modify log fields (e.g., source address, destination address, URL category).

Custom Log Format:

Navigate to Device > Server Profiles > Syslog.

Within the Syslog Server Profile, define a Custom Log Format for traffic logs.

Using this feature, the engineer can include additional fields requested by the internal audit team, such as threat severity, application details, or user ID.

Field Specification:

In the Custom Log Format, fields are defined using variables corresponding to the log fields in PAN-OS.

Example:

$receive_time,$src,$dst,$app,$action,$rule

The engineer can include specific details as requested by the audit team.

Comparison of Other Options:

Option B: Built-in Actions within Objects > Log Forwarding Profile

Log Forwarding Profiles are used to specify what logs are forwarded based on security policy matches. However, they do not control the format of logs.

Log Forwarding Profiles define actions (e.g., forwarding to syslog, SNMP), but customization of log data happens within Syslog Server Profiles.

Option C: Logging and Reporting Settings within Device > Setup > Management

These settings control general logging behavior and settings but do not allow customization of log data for syslog forwarding.

Option D: Data Patterns within Objects > Custom Objects

Data Patterns are used for identifying sensitive data or patterns in data filtering. They are unrelated to log customization.

Why A is Correct?

The Custom Log Format under Device > Server Profiles > Syslog is the only place where additional information can be defined and added to forwarded traffic logs.

This flexibility allows the firewall engineer to meet specific compliance or audit requirements.

Documentation Reference:

PCNSA Study Guide: Logging and Monitoring section discusses Syslog Server Profiles and log forwarding configurations​.

PAN-OS Admin Guide: Covers Custom Log Format configuration under the Syslog Server Profile.