Palo Alto Networks PSE-SoftwareFirewall Exam Overview:
| Certification Vendor: | Palo Alto Networks |
| Exam Name: | Palo Alto Networks Systems Engineer Professional – Software Firewall |
| Exam Number: | PSE-SWFW-Pro-24 / PSE-SoftwareFirewall |
| Available Languages: | English |
| Exam Duration: | 80 (plus 5 minutes for NDA) |
| Related Certifications: | PSE-Strata PSE-Prisma Cloud PSE-Platform |
| Real Exam Qty: | 63–65 |
| Exam Price: | $200 USD (standard, regionally adjusted) |
| Certificate Validity Period: | 2 years |
| Passing Score: | 700 / 1000 scaled score |
| Exam Format: | Multiple Choice, Multiple Select, Scenario-based |
| Recommended Training: | PSE Software Firewall Study Guide EDU-210: VM-Series and CN-Series Configuration |
| Exam Registration: | Palo Alto Certification Portal Pearson VUE Registration |
| Sample Questions: | Palo Alto Networks PSE-SoftwareFirewall Sample Questions |
| Exam Way: | In-person at Pearson VUE authorized test centers |
| Pre Condition: | No formal prerequisites; recommended 6–12 months experience with Palo Alto firewalls and networking fundamentals |
| Official Syllabus URL: | https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/services/education/certification/pse-software-firewall-professional |
Palo Alto Networks PSE-SoftwareFirewall Exam Syllabus Topics:
| Section | Weight | Objectives |
|---|---|---|
| Topic 1: Competitive Differentiators | 22% | - Licensing and subscription models - App-ID, Content-ID, User-ID technologies - Palo Alto NGFW architecture advantages |
| Topic 2: Troubleshooting & Optimization | 5% | - Performance tuning - Traffic flow and session troubleshooting - Common deployment issues resolution |
| Topic 3: Architecture & Deployment Planning | 23% | - Private cloud / virtualization platforms (VMware, NSX-T) - CN-Series for Kubernetes / container environments - High availability and scalability design - VM-Series deployment on AWS, Azure, GCP |
| Topic 4: Operations & Management | 18% | - Backup and restore procedures - Panorama centralized management - Monitoring, logging, and reporting - Software updates and upgrades |
| Topic 5: Business Value & Solution Overview | 12% | - ROI and TCO analysis - Use cases for VM-Series / CN-Series - Software firewall value proposition |
| Topic 6: Implementation & Configuration | 20% | - VPN and remote access configuration - Security policy creation and NAT - Threat prevention, URL filtering, decryption - Initial setup and licensing activation |
Palo Alto Networks Systems Engineer (PSE): Software Firewall Professional Sample Questions:
1. What is a design consideration for a prospect who wants to deploy VM-Series firewalls in an Amazon Web Services (AWS) environment?
A) Resources are shared within the cluster.
B) Only active-passive high availability (HA) is supported.
C) Special AWS plugins are needed for load balancing.
D) High availability (HA) clusters are limited to fewer than 8 virtual appliances.
2. Which technology allows for granular control of east-west traffic in a software-defined network?
A) Routing
B) MAC Access Control List
C) Microsegmentation
D) Virtualization
3. Which two criteria are required to deploy VM-Series firewalls in high availability (HA)? (Choose two.)
A) Deployment on a different host
B) Configuration of asymmetric routing
C) Assignment of identical licenses and subscriptions
D) Deployment on same type of hypervisor
4. Which element protects and hides an internal network in an outbound flow?
A) User-ID
B) App-ID
C) NAT
D) DNS sinkholing
5. What are two requirements for automating service deployment of a VM-Series firewall from an NSX Manager? (Choose two.)
A) vCenter has been given Palo Alto Networks subscription licenses for VM-Series firewalls.
B) Panorama can establish communications to the public Palo Alto Networks update servers.
C) The deployed VM-Series firewall can establish communications with Panorama.
D) Panorama has been configured to recognize both the NSX Manager and vCenter.
Solutions:
| Question # 1 Answer: B | Question # 2 Answer: C | Question # 3 Answer: C,D | Question # 4 Answer: C | Question # 5 Answer: C,D |
We're so confident of our products that we provide no hassle product exchange.


By Yale

