PCNSE Practice Question: Managing Troubleshooting and High Availability
Which TWO conditions can cause an HA pair to enter an 'active/active' state? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to think only a complete HA1 link failure (option E) causes active/active, but they overlook that loss of keepalive on both sides (option A) is the underlying mechanism—and both conditions are correct because HA1 link failure directly causes loss of keepalive on both sides.
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
✓
Loss of HA keepalive on both sides
A is correct because when both firewalls lose the HA keepalive (sent over HA1 link), each firewall assumes the peer is dead and transitions to active state to ensure traffic continuity. This is a fail-safe mechanism: without keepalive, each unit independently becomes active, resulting in an active/active condition that can cause duplicate IP addresses and traffic loops.
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 HA keepalive on both sides
Why this is correct
If keepalives are lost, each firewall assumes the other is dead and becomes active.
- ✗
License expiration on one firewall
Why it's wrong here
License expiration does not cause active/active.
- ✗
Session synchronization failure
Why it's wrong here
Session sync failure does not affect HA state.
- ✗
Configuration mismatch between peers
Why it's wrong here
Configuration mismatch does not cause active/active state.
- ✓
HA1 link failure
Why this is correct
If HA1 fails, firewalls cannot exchange heartbeats and may both become active.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.