PCNSA Managing Objects Practice Question
A network administrator manages a Palo Alto Networks firewall in a datacenter. They have configured dynamic address groups (DAGs) to automatically include servers based on tags. The tags are assigned via User-ID from Active Directory. The administrator notices that some servers that should be in the DAG are not appearing, while others are correctly added. The firewall is configured to receive User-ID information from a domain controller via the PAN-OS Agent. The tags are correctly assigned in Active Directory. What should the administrator verify first?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often assume the problem must be with the User-ID data source (AD or agent) or licensing, when in fact the most direct and likely cause is a simple mismatch in the DAG filter expression itself.
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
✓
The dynamic address group's filter expression is correct and uses the tag.
The most common cause when tags are correctly assigned in Active Directory but servers are missing from a dynamic address group (DAG) is an incorrect filter expression on the DAG itself. The DAG uses a tag-based filter (e.g., 'tag1' or 'tag1 AND tag2') to match registered IP-address-to-tag mappings; if the filter syntax or tag name does not exactly match what is being registered via User-ID, the servers will not be included. The administrator should verify the DAG's filter expression first before investigating other components.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The firewall's User-ID agent is configured to fetch tags from the correct domain.
Why it's wrong here
If tags are correctly assigned in AD, the agent is likely configured correctly, but this is not the first thing to check.
- ✓
The dynamic address group's filter expression is correct and uses the tag.
Why this is correct
The filter expression must exactly match the tag name; even a minor typo can cause the DAG to not include the intended servers.
- ✗
The firewall's license for User-ID is active.
Why it's wrong here
If the firewall is already receiving User-ID information, the license is likely active; this is less probable.
- ✗
The security policies using the DAG are committed.
Why it's wrong here
DAG membership is dynamic and does not require policy commit to update.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PCNSA 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 PCNSA exam.