PAP-001 Certified Professional - PingAccess Questions and Answers

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.

Theadmin.authsetting in therun.propertiesfile is used to specify a fallback authentication method for the administrative console.

Exact Extract from official documentation:

“To define a fallback administrator authentication method if the OIDC token provider is unreachable, enable the admin.auth=native property in the run.properties file. This overrides any configured administrative authentication to basic authentication.”

This makes it clear that the purpose ofadmin.authis tooverrideany configured SSO for the admin UI and enforce native (basic) authentication instead.

Option Ais incorrect because theadmin.authsetting does not configure SSO. SSO for the admin UI is configured separately.

Option Bis incorrect because this setting does not apply to the administrative API; it specifically applies to the admin UI console.

Option Cis correct because it directly reflects the documented behavior:admin.authoverrides SSO configuration for the administrative UI and enables native authentication.

Option Dis incorrect because the setting does not enable automatic authentication. It still requires credentials, but falls back to basic auth.

When PingAccess is first installed, theAdministrative Console(the web-based UI for managing configuration) is bound to adefault port of 9000. This is documented in the installation and configuration guides:

Exact Extract from documentation:

“By default, the administrative console is available athttps:// :9000.”

(PingAccess Installation Guide – Default Ports)

This means that unless the administrator has explicitly changed the port inrun.propertiesor during installation, the console will always be available onport 9000.

Option Analysis:

A. 9000✅Correct. Default administrative console port.

B. 3000❌Incorrect. This is not a PingAccess default port.

C. 9090❌Incorrect. Sometimes used by other Ping products for APIs, but not the PingAccess admin console.

D. 3030❌Incorrect. Not a default PingAccess port.

Identity Mapping in PingAccess relies on attributes provided by thetoken provider(e.g., PingFederate, OIDC provider). If the desired attributes are not present in the dropdown, it means they are not being provided in the token or userinfo response.

Exact Extract:

“Attributes available in identity mappings are those provided in the web session by the token provider. If attributes are missing, they must be added to the token by the identity provider.”

Option Ais correct — the token provider administrator must configure the IdP to include the additional attributes.

Option Bis incorrect — rewrite rules modify content but do not supply new identity attributes.

Option Cis incorrect — developers cannot directly add identity attributes; they must come from the IdP.

Option Dis incorrect — Web Session Attribute rules only evaluate available attributes; they don’t create new ones.

For PingAccess to terminate SSL for a proxied application, it requires access to theprivate key and certificate chain. These are stored asKey Pairs.

Exact Extract:

“For SSL termination, you must import the server certificate and its private key as a PKCS#12 file intoKey Pairs.”

Option Ais incorrect — a public key alone cannot terminate SSL.

Option Bis incorrect — PKCS#12 files must go intoKey Pairs, not Certificates.

Option Cis incorrect — public keys alone are insufficient; PingAccess must have the private key.

Option Dis correct — the PKCS#12 file with full chain and private key is imported intoKey Pairs.

All onboarding in PingAccess begins with defining anApplication. Once the application exists, the administrator can defineResourceswithin it and assign different rules to those resources.

Exact Extract:

“Before you can configure resources and rules, you must first create an application in PingAccess.”

Option A (Identity Mapping)may be required later but not the first step.

Option B (Web Session)can be shared but is not the first onboarding step.

Option C (Application)is correct — the starting point for onboarding.

Option D (Resource)comes after creating the application.

PingAccess automatically creates configurationarchive backupswhenever changes are made. These are stored in thedata/archivedirectory.

Exact Extract:

“PingAccess stores configuration archive files in thePA_HOME/data/archivedirectory.”

Option A (tools)is incorrect — contains administrative scripts.

Option B (conf)is incorrect — holds configuration files likerun.properties.

Option C (data)is correct — archives are stored underdata/archive.

Option D (bin)is incorrect — contains executables and scripts.

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.

When using theAuthorization Code Flowfor authentication, PingAccess must be configured with:

AnOAuth Client IDthat identifies the application to the IdP.

TheOpenID Connect Login Typeset to Authorization Code.

Exact Extract:

“When configuring an OIDC web session, specify the OAuth client ID and select the OpenID Connect login type (Authorization Code, Hybrid, or Implicit).”

Option A (OAuth Token Introspection Endpoint)is not required for Authorization Code flow — token introspection is used in other cases.

Option B (OAuth Client ID)is correct — required for OIDC authorization requests.

Option C (OpenID Connect Issuer)is discovered automatically via metadata when you configure the token provider.

Option D (Virtual Host)is required for application exposure but not specific to OIDC flow.

Option E (OpenID Connect Login Type)is correct — must be set to “Authorization Code.”

PingAccess officially supportsGoogle ChromeandMicrosoft Edgefor the administrative console. Other browsers (Safari, Opera, Brave) may work but are not officially supported.

Exact Extract:

“The PingAccess administrative console is supported on current versions of Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.”

Option A (Safari)is not officially supported.

Option B (Opera)is not supported.

Option C (Google Chrome)is correct.

Option D (Microsoft Edge)is correct.

Option E (Brave)is not officially supported.

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.

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.

When a back-end site requires HTTP Basic Authentication, PingAccess supports this via aBasic Authentication Site Authenticator. The authenticator is configured with credentials so that PingAccess can successfully authenticate to the target site.

Exact Extract:

“PingAccess can authenticate to target sites using a Site Authenticator. Use the Basic Authentication Site Authenticator when the site requires a username and password.”

Option Ais incorrect — identity mappings are used to forward user attributes, not for site-to-site authentication.

Option Bis incorrect — web sessions represent end-user sessions, not back-end credentials.

Option Cis correct — the Basic Authentication Site Authenticator should be configured on the Site.

Option Dis incorrect — mTLS authenticates with certificates, not username/password.

PingAccess enforces step-up or multi-factor authentication usingAuthentication Requirements, which can be applied to specific resources within an application.

Exact Extract:

“Authentication requirements allow administrators to configure additional authentication (for example, MFA) when accessing sensitive application resources.”

Option A (UI Authentication)applies to access to theadmin console, not application resources.

Option B (Auth Token Management)relates to OAuth token lifetimes and refresh, not MFA enforcement.

Option C (Authentication Requirements)is correct — these rules enforce MFA or step-up auth for specific URLs/resources.

Option D (Authentication Challenge Policy)governs how failed auth challenges are presented but does not enforce MFA.

When usingHTTP Basic Authentication(admin.auth=native), PingAccess only supports asingle administrative account(the default admin user). For multiple administrators, SSO integration (e.g., OIDC) is required.

Exact Extract:

“When admin authentication is set to native (HTTP Basic), only one administrative user is supported. For multiple admins, configure UI authentication with an OIDC provider.”

Option A (1000)is incorrect.

Option B (1)is correct — only one basic auth admin account.

Option C (10)andOption D (100)are incorrect.

When applications require additional attributes:

TheWeb Sessionmust be configured to retrieve those attributes from the token provider (OIDC or PingFederate).

TheIdentity Mappingmust be updated to forward those attributes to the application (e.g., as headers).

Exact Extract:

“Web sessions define how user attributes are retrieved from the token provider. Identity mappings determine how those attributes are inserted into requests to applications.”

Option Ais not necessarily required; attributes can be retrieved via userinfo endpoint or access token, not only ID tokens.

Option Bis correct — Identity Mappings must be updated to pass attributes to the app.

Option Cis incorrect — Site Authenticators define how PingAccess authenticates to apps, not attribute handling.

Option Dis incorrect unless the architecture specifically requires access token updates; PingAccess often uses the Web Session to fetch attributes.

Option Eis correct — Web Session must be updated to retrieve additional attributes.

Mutual TLS (mTLS) is used to establishtwo-way authenticationwhere both the client and the server present certificates to prove their identity. In the case of PingAccess, aMutual TLS Site Authenticatoris configured when PingAccess acts as a reverse proxy making requests to a backend (target) server.

Exact Extract from PingAccess documentation:

“Mutual TLS site authenticators provide client certificate authentication when PingAccess connects to a backend site. This allows PingAccess to present its certificate to the target server during the TLS handshake.”

This means the purpose is forPingAccess (client) to authenticate itself to the backend server (target resource)when establishing a secure connection.

Why other options are wrong:

A. Allows the backend server to authenticate to PingAccess

Incorrect. That’s normal server-side TLS authentication (the server presents a cert to the client), not mutual TLS initiated by PingAccess.

B. Allows the user to authenticate to the backend server

Incorrect. End users do not directly use this setting; this is between PingAccess and the backend application server.

C. Allows PingAccess to authenticate to the backend server

Correct. This is exactly the definition of a Mutual TLS Site Authenticator in PingAccess.

D. Allows PingAccess to authenticate to the token provider

Incorrect. That would involve OIDC/OAuth token exchange and possibly TLS trust, but it’s not the role of the Site Authenticator.

Thus, the correct answer isC. Allows PingAccess to authenticate to the backend server.

Applications consuming signed JWTs need theJSON Web Key Set (JWKS)endpoint to retrieve the public keys used for validating JWT signatures. PingAccess exposes this at/pa/authtoken/JWKS.

Exact Extract:

“When using JWT identity mapping, applications can obtain the signing keys from the/pa/authtoken/JWKSendpoint to validate the JWT signature.”

Option Ais correct —/pa/authtoken/JWKSprovides the key set for signature validation.

Option Bis incorrect — that’s an administrative API for configuring identity mappings, not a runtime validation endpoint.

Option Cis incorrect —/pa/aidc/cbis the OIDC callback endpoint.

Option Dis incorrect —/pa-admin-api/v3/authTokenManagementis for admin token management, not JWT validation.