PAP-001 Certified Professional - PingAccess Questions and Answers

Processing Rulesin PingAccess apply transformations to HTTP traffic (requests or responses) in real time, such as modifying headers, handling CORS, or rewriting cookies.

Exact Extract:

“Processing rules allow PingAccess to modify HTTP requests and responses in real time, such as adding headers or enabling cross-origin requests.”

Option Ais incorrect — they are not for offline data collection.

Option Bis correct — their purpose is real-time modification of web traffic.

Option Cis incorrect — access control rules enforce or override authorization, not processing rules.

Option Dis incorrect — auditing is handled in log configurations, not processing rules.

PingAccess retains backup archives of its configuration in thedata/archivedirectory. The number of retained backups is controlled in therun.propertiesfile.

Exact Extract:

“The number of configuration backups retained in thedata/archivedirectory is controlled by thearchive.maxCountproperty inrun.properties.”

Option A (log4j2.db.properties)is incorrect; this file controls database logging, not archive retention.

Option B (jvm-memory.options)is incorrect; this file sets JVM heap and memory arguments.

Option C (run.properties)is correct — it contains system-level settings includingarchive.maxCount.

Option D (log4j2.xml)is incorrect; this file configures log appenders and levels, not archive backups.

PingAccess service scripts depend on knowing:

Where the Java runtime is installed (JAVA_HOME)

Where PingAccess itself is installed (PA_HOME)

Exact Extract:

“The PingAccess startup scripts require theJAVA_HOMEenvironment variable to locate the JDK/JRE and thePA_HOMEvariable to locate the PingAccess installation directory.”

Option A (J2EE_HOME)is irrelevant to PingAccess.

Option B (JAVA_HOME)is correct — needed for Java execution.

Option C (PA_PATH)is not a standard variable.

Option D (PA_HOME)is correct — required to point to the PingAccess installation root.

Option E (JAVA_PATH)is not valid;PATHcan include Java, butJAVA_HOMEis the correct environment variable.

TheSameSiteattribute is applied to session cookies to control cross-site behavior. In PingAccess, session cookie configuration (includingSameSite) is defined at theWeb Sessionlevel.

Exact Extract:

“Web session configuration includes cookie attributes such as name, domain, secure flag, HTTPOnly, and SameSite.”

Option A (Rules)is incorrect — rules govern access control, not cookies.

Option B (Sites)defines backend connections, not session cookies.

Option C (Applications)ties resources to sessions but does not define cookie behavior.

Option D (Web Sessions)is correct — session cookie SameSite settings are configured here.

PingAccess rules are categorized intoAccess Control RulesandProcessing Rules.

Processing Rulesmodify or add to HTTP requests and responses.

Cross-Origin Request (CORS)is specifically listed as aProcessing Rule, because it modifies response headers to support cross-origin requests.

Exact Extract:

“Processing rules apply to HTTP traffic, such as Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS), header injection, or response modification.”

Option A (Web Session Attribute)is an access control rule.

Option B (Cross-Origin Request)is correct — this is a processing rule.

Option C (HTTP Request Parameter)is an access control rule.

Option D (HTTP Request Header)is an access control rule.

When configuring PingAccess to use PingFederate as theStandard Token Providerfor runtime engines, PingAccess must know how to contact PingFederate. The configuration requires theHost(PingFederate base URL).

Exact Extract:

“When configuring the Standard Token Provider, specify the PingFederate host to which PingAccess engines will connect for token validation.”

Option A (Issuer)is part of OIDC metadata but not required explicitly in this configuration.

Option B (Client ID)is needed for OAuth clients but not when defining the token provider connection itself.

Option C (Host)is correct — this is required to connect to PingFederate.

Option D (Port)may be included within the host definition (host:port) but is not the required field.

When APIs are remote, latency is introduced by frequent token validation requests. EnablingCache Tokenon the OAuth Resource Server reduces repeated validation calls and improves performance.

Exact Extract:

“The OAuth Resource Server configuration includes aCache Tokenoption that improves performance by reducing round trips for token validation.”

Option Ais incorrect — key rolling affects cryptographic keys, not API latency.

Option Bis incorrect — virtual hosts control external FQDNs, not performance.

Option Cis incorrect — token attribute size does not significantly affect remote latency.

Option Dis correct — caching tokens reduces validation overhead.

When upgrading a PingAccess cluster, theAdmin Console node must always be upgraded firstbefore any replica admin or engine nodes. This ensures that the configuration and schema changes introduced in the new version are properly applied and replicated.

Exact Extract (from PingAccess documentation):

“In a clustered environment, you must first upgrade theadministrative console nodebefore upgrading any replica administrative nodes or engine nodes.”

Why A is correct:

A. Upgrade the Admin Console— This is correct because the admin console node acts as the configuration master in a PingAccess cluster. Upgrading it first ensures the new version schema is available to replicas and engines.

Why the other options are incorrect:

B. Disable cluster communication— This is not required for standard upgrades. Cluster communication remains in place to synchronize changes after the upgrade.

C. Disable Key Rolling— Key rolling is unrelated to the upgrade process. It is a feature used for key rotation, not version upgrades.

D. Upgrade the Replica Admin— This is incorrect because upgrading a replica admin before the primary administrative console is against the documented procedure and would cause replication issues.

To enforcestep-up authenticationfor selected resources, PingAccess usesAuthentication Challenge Policies. These policies allow different challenge methods to be applied depending on the resource.

Exact Extract:

“Authentication challenge policies define how PingAccess challenges users for authentication and are often applied when step-up authentication is required for specific resources.”

Option A (Authentication Challenge Policy)is correct — it ensures only certain resources trigger step-up MFA.

Option Bis incorrect; the reserved resource base path is unrelated to authentication.

Option Cis incorrect; changing the context root just changes the URL path prefix.

Option Dis incorrect; manual ordering of resources is unrelated to enforcing MFA.

The pattern/images/sitel/*matches all subpaths and files under the/images/sitel/directory, including nested paths.

Exact Extract:

“The asterisk (*) matches zero or more characters within the path. For example,/images/sitel/*matches all resources under thesitelfolder.”

Option Ais incorrect — it references/aitel/instead of/sitel/.

Option Bis incorrect —/site*matches strings beginning with “site”, but may also match “siteX” incorrectly.

Option Cis incorrect — it only matches resources under/english/, missing other folders.

Option Dis correct —/images/sitel/*covers all given examples.

PingAccess must trust the back-end site’s certificate to establish TLS. For internally issued certificates, the administrator imports thecertificate chaininto aTrusted Certificate Group.

Exact Extract:

“When a target site uses an internal CA, import the certificate or chain into a Trusted Certificate Group and assign that group to the site.”

Option Ais incorrect — the Java trust store does not contain the internal CA by default.

Option Bis incorrect — Key Pairs store private keys for SSL termination, not trusted CA certs.

Option Cis incorrect — engine listeners use key pairs for inbound SSL, not site trust.

Option Dis correct — the certificate must be imported into Trusted Certificate Groups.

Applications in PingAccess can be associated with multipleVirtual Hosts. Each virtual host defines an FQDN and port combination through which the application is exposed, allowing protection across multiple domains or hostnames.

Exact Extract:

“Virtual hosts specify the fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) and ports that PingAccess uses to expose applications.”

Option A (Sites)represent the target back-end servers, not the external FQDN.

Option B (Virtual Hosts)is correct — use multiple virtual hosts for multiple domains.

Option C (Redirects)are unrelated to multi-domain application protection.

Option D (Rules)define access policies, not hostnames.

PingAccess allows fine-grained authentication enforcement by applyingAuthentication Requirement rulesat the resource level. These rules can invoke MFA flows based on request context or policy.

Exact Extract:

“Authentication requirement rules determine whether PingAccess challenges a user to authenticate again (for example, with MFA) before allowing access to a protected resource.”

Option Ais incomplete. Creating a requirement does nothing unless it is applied.

Option Bis correct because applying the Authentication Requirement rule to thespecific resource (URL)enforces MFA only for that resource.

Option Cis incorrect; Web Session Attribute rules are about evaluating existing session attributes, not triggering MFA.

Option Dis incorrect; HTTP Request Parameter rules are used to evaluate request data, not enforce MFA policies.

PingAccess distinguishes betweengateway rulesandagent rules. Some processing rules, such asRewrite Cookie Domain, only apply when PingAccess is acting as areverse proxy (gateway), not when protecting applications viaagents.

Exact Extract:

“Rewrite Cookie Domain rules are not supported for agent applications. They are only available for proxied (gateway) applications.”

Option A (Rewrite Cookie Domain)is correct — unavailable with agent applications.

Option B (Network Range)is available for both agents and gateways.

Option C (Rate Limiting)is supported on both application types.

Option D (Cross-Origin Request)is also supported in both.

The requirement is:

Allow access ifuser is in sales

OR ifuser is in marketing AND is a manager

This is logically represented as:

(A) OR (B AND C)

To configure this in PingAccess:

Rule Set (D) = ANY (A)

Rule Set (E) = ALL (B, C)

Rule Set Group (F) = ANY (D, E)

Assign Group (F) to the resource

This exactly matchesOption D.

Option Ais incorrect — requires both A and (B AND C), which is stricter than the requirement.

Option Bis incorrect — ANY(A, B, C) would allow users in marketing or managers without requiring both.

Option Cis incorrect — it uses ALL(D, E), which would require both conditions instead of OR.

Option Dis correct — it models (A OR (B AND C)).

For SSL termination, PingAccess requires aKey Pair(certificate + private key). During a POC/demo, when aself-signed certificateis used, the administrator can create it directly in theKey Pairssection of the console.

Exact Extract:

“Use the Key Pairs section to create self-signed certificates for testing or proof-of-concept deployments. For production, import a PKCS#12 file containing a certificate chain and private key.”

Option Ais incorrect — Certificates store trust anchors (CAs), not SSL termination certs.

Option Bis incorrect — an internal CA-signed cert requires PKCS#12 import, not self-signed creation.

Option Cis incorrect — a publicly trusted CA is not used for a demo phase.

Option Dis correct — creating a new certificate in Key Pairs generates a self-signed cert suitable for demos.

To pass user attributes into HTTP headers for applications, PingAccess usesIdentity Mappings. When attributes need to be passed specifically as headers, the administrator must update theHeader Identity Mapping.

Exact Extract:

“Header identity mappings map attributes from a user’s web session to HTTP headers that are then sent to the back-end application.”

Option A (HTTP Request Header Rule)is incorrect — this adds or modifies static request headers, not user attributes.

Option B (Header Identity Mapping)is correct — this maps identity attributes into headers dynamically.

Option C (JWT Identity Mapping)is incorrect — that’s used for passing attributes as claims in JWTs.

Option D (Web Session Attribute Rule)is incorrect — that is for access control evaluation, not propagation of attributes.

Step-up authentication in PingAccess is enforced throughAuthentication Requirement Rules. If users are not prompted, the likely issues are:

The rule is missing from the application/resource.

The rule’s minimum authentication context does not include MFA.

Exact Extract:

“Authentication requirement rules determine whether PingAccess will challenge a user with additional authentication (such as MFA). Ensure that the rule is applied to the resource and that the authentication context is set correctly.”

Option Ais incorrect — rejection handlers define error handling, not MFA enforcement.

Option Bis correct — verify the authentication requirement rule is applied.

Option Cis correct — ensure the rule contains the right MFA requirements.

Option Dis incorrect — identity mappings do not enforce step-up authentication.

Option Eis incorrect — token validation rules check validity, not MFA levels.