PCNSA Device Management and Services Practice Question
An organization is implementing a high availability pair of Palo Alto firewalls in active/passive mode. Which three actions are necessary for proper failover functionality? (Choose three.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse configuration synchronization (which is automatic) with a manual step, or mistakenly think both firewalls can share the same data interface IP address, not realizing that only the active firewall uses the floating IP while each unit has its own unique management and interface IPs.
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
✓
Set the firewall priority to determine the active role.
In an active/passive HA pair, the firewall priority (1-100, lower is higher priority) determines which firewall assumes the active role. The firewall with the numerically lower priority value becomes the active unit, ensuring deterministic failover behavior.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Set the firewall priority to determine the active role.
Why this is correct
Priority determines which firewall becomes active.
- ✓
Enable session synchronization.
Why this is correct
Preserves sessions during failover.
- ✗
Assign the same IP address to both firewalls for the data interface.
Why it's wrong here
Each firewall has its own IP for data interfaces.
- ✗
Sync the running configuration to the passive firewall.
Why it's wrong here
Configuration sync is automatic upon commit.
- ✓
Configure the HA interface IP addresses.
Why this is correct
Required for control and data link communication.
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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.