PCNSA App-ID and Content-ID Practice Question
A network administrator notices that traffic for a custom business application is being incorrectly identified as 'ssl' by the firewall. What is the most efficient way to ensure this application is accurately identified without impacting other SSL traffic?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse App-ID override with service definitions or disabling App-ID, thinking that changing port-based classification or updating signatures will fix custom application identification, when in fact only a direct application override provides precise control without collateral impact.
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
✓
Create an App-ID override for the application's specific IP addresses and ports.
An App-ID override allows you to manually assign a specific application signature to traffic matching defined IP addresses and ports, ensuring the custom business application is correctly identified without altering the global App-ID database or affecting other SSL traffic. This is the most efficient method as it directly overrides the incorrect identification at the application level, preserving the integrity of other SSL-based application detection.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Disable App-ID for the security policy rule that allows this traffic.
Why it's wrong here
Disabling App-ID removes all application identification, which is too broad.
- ✗
Upgrade the App-ID database to the latest version.
Why it's wrong here
Upgrading the database may not help if the application is custom and not in the database.
- ✓
Create an App-ID override for the application's specific IP addresses and ports.
Why this is correct
An App-ID override forces the firewall to identify the traffic as the specified application.
- ✗
Add the application's TCP port to the service definition in the security policy.
Why it's wrong here
This would only match based on port, not application.
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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.