PCNSA Device Management and Services Practice Question
During a firewall upgrade from PAN-OS 9.1 to 10.0, the administrator receives an error that the upgrade cannot proceed because there is a pending commit. The administrator checks the commit status and sees that a commit was initiated but has not completed. What is the best course of action?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume a reboot is a safe generic fix for any stuck operation, but in PAN-OS, rebooting does not resolve a pending commit and can cause configuration corruption, whereas 'commit force yes' is the intended recovery command.
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
✓
Run 'commit force yes' from the CLI to force the commit
The 'commit force yes' command overrides a stuck or incomplete commit by forcing the commit operation to proceed, which clears the pending commit state and allows the upgrade to continue. In PAN-OS, a pending commit blocks administrative operations like upgrades, and forcing the commit is the safest way to resolve this without disrupting the firewall's operational state.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reboot the firewall to clear the pending commit
Why it's wrong here
Rebooting could cause configuration loss and is not recommended.
- ✓
Run 'commit force yes' from the CLI to force the commit
Why this is correct
Forcing the commit will complete or abort the pending commit, clearing the block.
- ✗
Wait for the commit to complete automatically
Why it's wrong here
If the commit is hung, waiting may not help.
- ✗
Cancel the upgrade and restart
Why it's wrong here
The pending commit must be resolved first.
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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.