PCNSA Device Management and Services Practice Question
An administrator upgrades a firewall from PAN-OS 9.1 to 10.0, but a subsequent commit fails. Which log should the administrator examine first to find the cause of the failure?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates may mistakenly think the system log is the best place to look for commit failure details because it records operational events, but the config log provides specific configuration validation errors that cause commit failures.
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
✓
Config log
The config log records all configuration changes and commit attempts. When a commit fails after an upgrade, the config log provides details about configuration validation errors, dependency issues, or incompatible settings that caused the failure. Therefore, the administrator should examine the config log first to identify the root cause.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
System log
Why it's wrong here
System log covers general system events, not commit failures.
- ✓
Config log
Why this is correct
Config log contains commit results and configuration errors.
- ✗
Traffic log
Why it's wrong here
Traffic log shows network traffic flows.
- ✗
Threat log
Why it's wrong here
Threat log shows security threats detected.
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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.