Certification Lab

[damonaniton]

What is a recommended lab setup for exam preperation these days?

[kiwi]

Hi @damonaniton ,

You have three primary methods for deploying lab environment... kinda depends on what you want to practice:

Local Hypervisor (Best for Individuals)

This is the most cost-effective method if you have a powerful local machine.

• PA-VM Image: You can download the PAN-OS VM-Series image (OVA file) directly from the Palo Alto Networks Customer Support Portal (CSP) if you have an account, or use a 30-day evaluation.

• Networking: You will use Host-Only or Custom (VMnet) networks within your hypervisor to create the isolated zones (Outside, Inside, DMZ).

Cloud Environment (Best for Full Feature Testing)

Licensing is the major hurdle. Most security features require a license, which is expensive for individuals. Cloud marketplaces offer pay-as-you-go licensed virtual firewalls.

• Provider: AWS or Azure Marketplace.

• Benefit: You can get full access to licensed features like WildFire, Threat Prevention, and URL Filtering for a small hourly cost (plus compute fees). This is necessary for practicing the "secret sauce" of the firewall, which is a major part of the exams.

Official Lab Environments (Least Hassle)

If you have access, these are the easiest, but typically time-limited.

• Palo Alto Networks Training: If you attend an official EDU-210 or EDU-330 course, you get access to a hosted lab environment.

• Virtual Test Lab (Fuel): The official Palo Alto LIVEcommunity (Fuel) offers access to a "Virtual Test Lab" (VTL) for free, usually in 4-hour increments, which is excellent for hands-on practice.