XSOAR-Engineer Planning Installation And Maintenance Practice Question
An administrator needs to back up the Cortex XSOAR application data, including incident history, playbooks, and configuration settings. Which tool is officially recommended for taking a consistent backup of the internal configuration and database?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
demisto-ctl backup
The demisto-ctl script includes built-in backup routines to safely export the system state and database.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
tar -czvf /backup/xsoar.tar.gz /var/lib/demisto
Why it's wrong here
Raw file archiving while the database is running can lead to file corruption and inconsistent backups.
- ✗
pg_dump demisto > backup.sql
Why it's wrong here
While PostgreSQL holds data, demisto-ctl backup captures necessary file assets and configurations alongside the database.
- ✓
demisto-ctl backup
Why this is correct
demisto-ctl backup is the native, supported command to create an application-consistent backup of Cortex XSOAR.
- ✗
XSOAR Web UI > Settings > Maintenance > Export Snapshot
Why it's wrong here
Snapshots in the UI are for content packs, not a full system database and configuration backup.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every XSOAR-Engineer question from scratch — 219 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official Palo Alto Networks exam blueprint
This XSOAR-Engineer practice question is part of Courseiva's free Palo Alto Networks certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the XSOAR-Engineer exam.