PCNSE Practice Question: Managing Troubleshooting and High Availability
Which TWO of the following are prerequisites for configuring high availability on Palo Alto Networks firewalls? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
A common pitfall is assuming that different models can form an HA pair as long as they run the same PAN‑OS version, but Palo Alto Networks requires both firewalls to be the exact same model for HA.
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
✓
Both firewalls must run the same software version
Both firewalls in a high availability (HA) pair must run the same PAN-OS software version to ensure configuration synchronization and stateful failover compatibility. The HA synchronization process uses the HA2 link to replicate configurations and session state, and version mismatches can cause sync failures or unexpected behavior during failover.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Both firewalls must have management IPs in different subnets
Why it's wrong here
They must be in the same subnet for HA1 communication.
- ✗
Both firewalls must have the same interface naming
Why it's wrong here
Interface naming can vary as long as the configuration matches.
- ✗
Both firewalls must have the same licenses
Why it's wrong here
Licenses can differ; HA does not require identical licenses.
- ✓
Both firewalls must run the same software version
Why this is correct
Same PAN-OS version is required.
- ✓
Both firewalls must be the same model
Why this is correct
Different models are not supported for HA.
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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.