PCNSE Practice Question: Managing Troubleshooting and High Availability
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit. admin@PA-5020> show high-availability state Group: 1 State: passive Active State: active Passive State: passive Last operational state change: 2025-02-10 10:15:23 HA1 link: up HA2 link: down HA3 link: up Session sync: not synchronized Configuration sync: synchronized Priority: 100 Preemptive: no
Based on the exhibit, what is the impact of the current HA state on the network?
⚠ Common exam trap
PCNSE HA questions require reading the exhibit carefully: distinguish between configuration synchronization (HA1 control link) and session synchronization (HA2 data link). A failed HA2 link or disabled session sync means sessions are not preserved on failover, but a failed HA1 link means configuration changes are not synchronized. Candidates must identify which link/state the exhibit actually shows before selecting an answer.
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
✓
Sessions will not be preserved during a failover
The exhibit shows that the HA pair's session synchronization is not synchronized (for example, the HA2 data link is down or session synchronization is disabled). In active/passive HA, session preservation requires session synchronization. Because sessions are not synchronized between the peers, a failover will drop existing sessions, so sessions will not be preserved.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configuration changes are not synchronized
Why it's wrong here
HA1 is up, so control traffic including configuration synchronization works. Configuration changes are synchronized.
- ✗
The passive firewall will preempt the active when the active fails
Why it's wrong here
Preemptive is disabled, so the passive firewall will not preempt the active upon recovery. This option describes a scenario that does not apply.
- ✓
Sessions will not be preserved during a failover
Why this is correct
HA2 is down, causing session synchronization to fail. Consequently, existing sessions are lost during a failover.
- ✗
The HA pair cannot perform a failover
Why it's wrong here
HA1 is up, so the HA pair can still detect failures and perform failover. The issue is only with session preservation, not with failover capability.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Palo Alto Networks exam blueprint
This PCNSE 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 PCNSE exam.