Palo Alto Networks Systems Engineer Professional - Software Firewall Exam Practice Test

Answer : A, C, D

Cloud NGFW for Azure and VM-Series share certain functionalities due to their common PAN-OS foundation.

Why A, C, and D are correct:

A . Panorama management: Both Cloud NGFW for Azure and VM-Series firewalls can be managed by Panorama, providing centralized management and policy enforcement.

C . Transparent inspection of private-to-private east-west traffic that preserves client source IP address: Both platforms support this type of inspection, which is crucial for security and visibility within Azure virtual networks.

D . Inter-VNet inspection through a transit VNet: Both can be deployed in a transit VNet architecture to inspect traffic between different virtual networks.

Why B and E are incorrect:

B . Inter-VNet inspection through Virtual WAN hub: While VM-Series can be integrated with Azure Virtual WAN, Cloud NGFW for Azure is directly integrated and doesn't require a separate transit VNet or hub for basic inter-VNet inspection. It uses Azure's native networking.

E . Use of routing intent policies to apply security policies: Routing intent is specific to Cloud NGFW for Azure's integration with Azure networking and is not a feature of VM-Series. VM-Series uses standard security policies and routing configurations within the VNet.

Palo Alto Networks Reference:

Cloud NGFW for Azure Documentation: This documentation details the architecture and integration with Azure networking.

VM-Series Deployment Guide for Azure: This guide covers deployment architectures, including transit VNet deployments.

Panorama Administrator's Guide: This guide explains how to manage both platforms using Panorama.

Answer : B, C, E

Memory scaling in PAN-OS 10.2 and later enhances capacity for certain functions.

Why B, C, and E are correct:

B . Increased maximum sessions with additional memory: More memory allows the firewall to maintain state for a larger number of concurrent sessions.

C . Increased maximum number of Dynamic Address Groups with additional memory: DAGs consume memory, so scaling memory allows for more DAGs.

E . Increased maximum security rule count with additional memory: More memory allows the firewall to store and process a larger number of security rules.

Why A and D are incorrect:

A . Increased maximum throughput with additional memory: Throughput is primarily related to CPU and network interface performance, not memory.

D . Increased number of tags per IP address with additional memory: The number of tags per IP is not directly tied to the memory scaling feature.

Palo Alto Networks Reference:

PAN-OS Release Notes for 10.2 and later: The release notes for PAN-OS versions introducing memory scaling explain the benefits in detail.

PAN-OS Administrator's Guide: The guide may also contain information about resource limits and the impact of memory scaling.

The release notes specifically mention the increased capacity for sessions, DAGs, and security rules as key benefits of memory scaling.

Answer : C, D

The VM-Series plugin enables integration between Panorama and VM-Series firewalls.

Why C and D are correct:

C . To use Panorama to configure public cloud VM-Series firewall integrations, the VM-Series firewall plugin must be installed on Panorama: The plugin on Panorama provides the necessary functionality for managing VM-Series deployments in cloud environments.

D . The VM-Series firewall plugin on Panorama is not built in and must be installed to enable communication and manage the environment: The plugin is a separate installation on Panorama.

Why A and B are incorrect:

A . The installed VM-Series firewall plugin on the VM-Series firewall can only be upgraded or deleted: There is no VM-Series plugin installed on the VM-Series firewall itself. The plugin resides on Panorama.

B . The Panorama plugin must be installed on the VM-Series firewall to enable communication with Panorama: As stated above, the plugin is installed on Panorama, not on the VM-Series firewall. Communication is established through API calls.

Palo Alto Networks Reference:

Panorama Administrator's Guide: This guide details plugin management and specifically mentions the VM-Series plugin for cloud integrations.

VM-Series Deployment Guides: These guides explain how to connect VM-Series firewalls to Panorama.

Answer : A, B, C

Dynamic Address Groups (DAGs) use tags to dynamically populate their membership.

Why A, B, and C are correct:

A . Static tags are part of the configuration on the firewall, while dynamic tags are part of the runtime configuration: Static tags are configured directly on objects. Dynamic tags are applied based on runtime conditions (e.g., by the VM Monitoring agent or User-ID agent).

B . Dynamic Address Groups that are referenced in Security policies must be committed on the firewall: Like any configuration change that affects security policy, changes to DAGs (including tag associations) must be committed to take effect.

C . To dynamically register tags, use either the XML API or the VM Monitoring agent on the firewall or on the User-ID agent: These are the mechanisms for dynamically applying tags based on events or conditions.

Why D and E are incorrect:

D . IP-Tag registrations to Dynamic Address Groups must be committed on the firewall after each change: While changes to the configuration of a DAG (like adding a new tag filter) require a commit, the registration of IP addresses with tags does not. The DAG membership updates dynamically as tags are applied and removed.

E . Dynamic Address Groups use tags as filtering criteria to determine their members, and filters do not use logical operators: DAG filters do support logical operators (AND, OR) to create more complex membership criteria.

Palo Alto Networks Reference:

PAN-OS Administrator's Guide: The section on Dynamic Address Groups provides details on how they work, including the use of tags as filters and the mechanisms for dynamic tag registration.

VM Monitoring and User-ID Agent Documentation: These documents explain how these components can be used to dynamically apply tags.

The documentation confirms the correct statements regarding static vs. dynamic tags, the need to commit DAG changes, and the methods for dynamic tag registration. It also clarifies that DAG filters do use logical operators and that IP-tag registrations themselves don't require commits.

Answer : A, B, D

VM-Series bootstrapping allows for automated initial configuration. Several methods exist for installing licensed content.

Why A, B, and D are correct:

A . Panorama 10.2 or later to use the content auto push feature: Panorama can push content updates to bootstrapped VM-Series firewalls automatically, streamlining the process. This requires Panorama 10.2 or later.

B . Complete bootstrapping and either Azure Blob storage or Amazon S3 bucket: You can store the content updates in cloud storage (like S3 or Azure Blob) and configure the VM-Series to retrieve and install them during bootstrapping.

D . Custom-AMI or Azure VM image, with content preloaded: Creating a custom image with the desired content pre-installed is a valid approach. This is particularly useful for consistent deployments.

Why C and E are incorrect:

C . Content-Security-Policy update URL in the init-cfg.txt file: The init-cfg.txt file is used for initial configuration parameters, not for direct content updates. While you can configure the firewall to check for updates after bootstrapping, you don't put the actual content within the init-cfg.txt file.

E . Panorama software licensing plugin: The Panorama software licensing plugin is for managing licenses, not for pushing content updates during bootstrapping.

Palo Alto Networks Reference:

VM-Series Deployment Guides (AWS, Azure, GCP): These guides detail the bootstrapping process and the various methods for installing content updates.

Panorama Administrator's Guide: The Panorama documentation describes the content auto-push feature.

These resources confirm that Panorama auto-push, cloud storage, and custom images are valid methods for content installation during bootstrapping.

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Answer : C

Ansible interacts with PAN-OS through its API.

Why C is correct: Ansible uses the PAN-OS XML API to manage configurations. This allows for programmatic interaction and automation.

Why A, B, and D are incorrect:

A . Ansible can only be used to automate configuration changes on physical firewalls but not virtual firewalls: Ansible can manage both physical (PA-Series) and virtual (VM-Series, CN-Series) firewalls.

B . Ansible requires direct access to the firewall's CLI to make changes: Ansible does not require direct CLI access. It uses the API, which is more structured and secure.

D . Ansible requires the use of Python to create playbooks: While Ansible playbooks are written in YAML, you don't need to write Python code directly. Ansible modules handle the underlying API interactions. The pan-os-python SDK is a separate tool that can be used for more complex automation tasks, but it's not required for basic Ansible playbooks.

Palo Alto Networks Reference:

Ansible Collections for Palo Alto Networks: These collections, available on Ansible Galaxy, provide modules for interacting with PAN-OS via the API.

Palo Alto Networks Documentation on API Integration: The API documentation describes how to use the XML API for configuration management.

Palo Alto Networks GitHub Repositories: Palo Alto Networks provides examples and resources on using Ansible with PAN-OS.

Answer : A, C, E

CN-Series firewalls are specifically designed for containerized environments.

Why A, C, and E are correct:

A . Prevention of sensitive data exfiltration from Kubernetes environments: CN-Series provides visibility and control over container traffic, enabling the prevention of data leaving the Kubernetes cluster without authorization.

C . Inbound, outbound, and east-west traffic between containers: CN-Series secures all types of container traffic: ingress (inbound), egress (outbound), and traffic between containers within the cluster (east-west).

E . Enforcement of segmentation policies that prevent lateral movement of threats: CN-Series allows for granular segmentation of containerized applications, limiting the impact of breaches by preventing threats from spreading laterally within the cluster.

Why B and D are incorrect:

B . All Kubernetes workloads in the public and private cloud: While CN-Series can protect Kubernetes workloads in both public and private clouds, the statement 'all Kubernetes workloads' is too broad. Its focus is on securing the network traffic around those workloads, not managing the Kubernetes infrastructure itself.

D . All workloads deployed on-premises or in the public cloud: CN-Series is specifically designed for containerized environments (primarily Kubernetes). It's not intended to protect all workloads deployed in any environment. That's the role of other Palo Alto Networks products like VM-Series, PA-Series, and Prisma Access.

Palo Alto Networks Reference: The Palo Alto Networks documentation on CN-Series firewalls clearly outlines these use cases. Look for information on:

CN-Series Datasheets and Product Pages: These resources describe the key features and benefits of CN-Series, including its focus on container security.

CN-Series Deployment Guides: These guides provide detailed information on deploying and configuring CN-Series in Kubernetes environments.

These resources confirm that CN-Series is focused on securing container traffic within Kubernetes environments, including data exfiltration prevention, securing all traffic directions (inbound, outbound, east-west), and enforcing segmentation