PCNSE Practice Question: Managing Troubleshooting and High Availability
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit. 2019-03-15 10:30:15.123 high-availability: HA state change from active to passive (reason: path-monitor-group-down) 2019-03-15 10:30:15.124 high-availability: Path monitoring group 'ISP1' failed: 0 out of 1 destinations reachable
Refer to the exhibit. Based on the log, what triggered the failover?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse path monitoring with simple link monitoring or HA1 heartbeat loss, but the log entry's explicit reference to a 'path monitoring group' is the key differentiator that points to upstream unreachability rather than local interface or HA communication issues.
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
✓
A path monitoring group determined that the upstream ISP is unreachable
The log entry indicates that the failover was triggered by a path monitoring group, which detected that the upstream ISP became unreachable. Path monitoring actively probes the next-hop gateway or a target IP address; when the probe fails, the firewall considers the path down and initiates a failover to the passive peer. This is distinct from HA1 heartbeat loss or link failure, as the log explicitly references the path monitoring group.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Loss of HA1 heartbeat from the peer
Why it's wrong here
The reason is path-monitor-group-down, not heartbeat loss.
- ✗
A link failure on ethernet1/1
Why it's wrong here
No interface down event is logged.
- ✗
An administrator manually triggered a failover
Why it's wrong here
Manual failover logs show 'admin' reason.
- ✓
A path monitoring group determined that the upstream ISP is unreachable
Why this is correct
The log explicitly states path monitoring group failure.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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