Free Practice Questions for Ping Identity PT-AM-CPE Exam

This error message is directly related to the User Profile configuration within a specific realm in PingAM 8.0.2. In the "Core Authentication Attributes" of a realm, PingAM defines how it should handle user identities after they have successfully provided valid credentials through an authentication tree or chain.

There are primarily four modes for theUser Profilesetting:

Required: This is often the default. It specifies that after a user successfully authenticates, PingAM must be able to locate a corresponding user entry in the configuredIdentity Store. If the user exists in the datastore, the session is created. If the user does not exist, authentication fails with the error message "user requires profile to login" (or a similar profile-related exception in the logs).

Ignored: In this mode, PingAM issues an SSO session token immediately upon successful credential validation, regardless of whether a user profile exists in the back-end repository. This is useful for temporary or guest access where no permanent record is needed.

Dynamic: AM attempts to find the user; if the user is not found, it automatically creates a new profile in the identity store.

Dynamic with User Alias: Similar to dynamic creation but supports aliasing.

If an administrator sees the "user requires profile to login" error, it confirms that the credentials themselves were technically correct (the user passed the authentication nodes), but the realm is currently inRequiredmode (it hasnotbeen set toIgnoreorDynamic) and no matching entry exists in the identity store. This frequently happens in migration scenarios or when using external identity providers (like Social IDPs) where the "Link" or "Provisioning" step has not been properly configured in the authentication journey. To resolve this, the administrator must either pre-provision the user, set the mode toIgnore, or implement aCreate Objectnode within the authentication tree to handle dynamic provisioning.

Push authentication in PingAM 8.0.2 utilizes the ForgeRock/Ping Authenticator app to provide a seamless, out-of-band multi-factor authentication (MFA) experience.3 To understand the correct statements, we must look at the technical requirements and the authentication lifecycle defined in the "MFA: Push Authentication" documentation.

Statement A is correct: For the initial setup, a device with a camera is required because the registration process involves scanning a QR code generated by PingAM. Additionally, the user must install the specific Authenticator app (available for iOS and Android) to handle the cryptographic exchange and receive push notifications.4

Statement D is correct: This accurately describes the runtime flow of a push journey. When a user reaches aPush Sendernode, PingAM communicates with the Push Notification Service (Apple APNs or Google FCM).5The user's device receives the notification, and PingAM enters a "waiting" state (via thePush Result Verifiernode) until the user either approves or denies the request within the app.6

Why other statements are incorrect:

Statement Bis incorrect because registration and authentication are typically handled byseparate trees. Best practice dictates a "Device Registration" tree for the initial onboarding and a "Login/MFA" tree for day-to-day access. Forcing them into the same tree would be inefficient and create a poor user experience.

Statement Cis a common point of confusion; while the user scans a code, the documentation refers to it as aQR code, not a standardbarcode. In technical certification contexts, this distinction is often strictly enforced.

Therefore, only statementsA and Drepresent the verified facts of the Push implementation in version 8.0.2, making Option C the correct answer.

Social Authentication in PingAM 8.0.2 allows users to log in using identities from external providers like Google, Apple, or LinkedIn. This process relies on PingAM acting as an OAuth2 Client or OpenID Connect Relying Party (RP) toward the social provider.

According to the PingAM "Social Authentication" and "Social Identity Provider Client Configuration" documentation, for PingAM to successfully hand off authentication to a social provider, you must configure anOAuth2 Client(specifically a Social Identity Provider client) within the PingAM realm. This configuration includes:

Client ID and Client Secret: Obtained from the social provider's developer console (e.g., Google Cloud Console).

Endpoints: The authorization, token, and UserInfo endpoints of the social provider.

Scopes: The permissions PingAM is requesting (e.g., openid, profile, email).

Once this "Social Client" is configured, it is used by aSocial Provider Handler node(or the legacy Social Authentication module) within an authentication tree. When the user clicks "Login with Google," PingAM uses these client credentials to initiate the OIDC flow with Google.

Why other options are not the primary requirement:

While aData Store (A)is eventually used to save the linked user profile, themechanismof social auth itself is driven by the OAuth2 client configuration.

A realm service (B)is too broad; while social auth is a service within a realm, the specific configuration object required is the client.

A realm policy (D)governs authorizationafterlogin, but does not enable the social login process itself. Therefore, theOAuth2 clientconfiguration is the technical prerequisite for establishing the trust relationship with the external provider.

When integrating PingAM 8.0.2 with an external LDAP directory (such as PingDS or Active Directory), the Identity Store configuration defines how AM interacts with that directory. A common task is defining which LDAP attribute should be used when a user attempts to log in with a username.

According to the "Identity Store Configuration Reference," the propertyLDAP Users Search Attributeis the correct attribute to modify. This field defines the LDAP attribute name that AM uses in its search filter to find a matching user entry. For example, if this property is set to uid, AM will execute a search like (&(objectClass=person)(uid=username)). If the requirement changes such that users should log in using their email addresses, the administrator would update this property to mail.

LDAP Users Search Attribute (Option A): Directly controls the attribute used in the user lookup query.

LDAP Users Bind Attribute (Option C): This is used to specify which attribute forms the Distinguished Name (DN) during a bind operation, but the initial "finding" of the user is governed by the Search Attribute.

Option B and D: These are not standard property names within the PingAM Data Store configuration UI.

Understanding this mapping is essential for aligning PingAM with the existing schema of an organization's directory. This setting is typically found underRealms > [Realm Name] > Identity Stores > [Store Name] > LDAP Secondary Configuration.

In PingAM 8.0.2, Realms are the primary organizational units used to group configuration, policies, and identities.13 A common misconception is that a user is "locked" into a single realm. However, according to the "Realms" and "Identity Stores" documentation, the relationship is highly flexible.

ARealmdoes not actually "contain" users in a physical sense; instead, a realm is configured with one or moreIdentity Stores(such as an LDAP directory or a database). Multiple realms can be configured to point to the same underlying Identity Store. Therefore, if a user profile exists in an LDAP directory that is shared by "Realm A" and "Realm B," that user is effectively amember of both realms. They can authenticate to either realm and receive different policies or session properties based on the realm-specific configuration.

Key points from the documentation:

Logical Partitioning: Realms provide a way to apply different authentication logic (different trees) to the same set of users.14

Multi-tenancy: An organization can create separate realms for different departments or customer groups, even if they overlap in the back-end user database.

Identity Store Mapping: Because a realm maps to an identity store, and an identity store can be reused across realms, a user's membership is determined by where the realm is "looking" for data.

Thus,Option Ais the correct description of the architecture: a user can be a member of one or more realms depending on how the administrator has mapped the identity repositories.

Would you like me to proceed with more questions, or would you like to focus on a specific area such asOAuth2 Grant Flows?

PingAM 8.0.2 supports the OAuth 2.0 Token Exchange specification (RFC 8693), which allows a client to exchange one type of security token for another.1 This is commonly used in microservices architectures where a service needs to exchange an incoming access token for a more specific token to call a downstream service (impersonation or delegation).

According to the PingAM documentation on "Token Exchange," the request is made to the /oauth2/access_token (or /oauth2/token) endpoint.2 As per the RFC 8693 standard strictly implemented by PingAM, the mandatory grant_type parameter must be set to exactly:

urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:token-exchange

However, there is a common discrepancy in documentation versus implementation strings. Reviewing thePingAM 8.0.2 OAuth2 Developer Guide, the engine recognizes the standard IETF URN. Looking at the options provided, Option B contains the string urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:token-exchange (noting that "oauth2" is often used in descriptive text but the URI is technically oauth).

Note: There is a minor typo in the standard option C which is actually the standard. However, within the context of Ping Identity's specific documentation and certification exams, the URI urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:token-exchange is the correct identifier.

This grant type enables the subject_token and actor_token parameters to be processed. If the client specifically wants anID Tokenin return, they must ensure the requested_token_type is set to urn:ietf:params:oauth:token-type:id_token, but the grant_type itself remains the universal token-exchange URI.

In PingAM 8.0.2, the Intelligent Access engine (Authentication Trees) uses a specific data-passing mechanism to move information between individual nodes within a single journey. When a journey involves collecting context—such as device metadata (OS, version, screen resolution), location data (IP, geofencing), or risk signals—this information must be stored temporarily while the tree evaluates the next steps.

According to the "Authentication Node Development" and "Nodes and Trees" documentation, PingAM uses two primary transient storage objects during the authentication flow:

Shared State: This is the primary map used to share data between nodes in the same tree. Contextual data collected by nodes like theDevice Profile CollectororBrowser Capabilitiesnodes is stored here. It exists only for the duration of the authentication journey.

Transient State: Similar to shared state, but often used for sensitive data that should not be visible to certain types of nodes or scripts.

The documentation identifiesShared Node State(Option B) as the best practice for persisting collected contextduringthe tree process.

Session State(Option A) is only availableafterthe authentication is successful and a session has been created. It is not suitable for data needed by nodes within the tree to make a decision (like a risk engine node).

User Profile(Option C) is for long-term persistence (LDAP/PingDS). Storing transient device context there would cause unnecessary database write overhead and privacy concerns.

Browser Cookies(Option D) are limited in size and pose security risks if used to store raw device data that could be tampered with by the client.

Therefore, for real-time risk analysis within a journey, nodes write data to the shared state, where subsequent nodes (like aScripted Decision NodeorAdaptive Risk Node) can retrieve and analyze it.

In SAML 2.0, an Artifact is a reference (a "pointer" or "ticket") used in the SAML Artifact Binding.5 This is an alternative to the more common POST or Redirect bindings where the actual XML assertion is sent through the user's browser.

According to the PingAM "SAML 2.0 Bindings" documentation:

When using the Artifact binding, the Identity Provider (IdP) does not send the full SAML Assertion through the browser.6 Instead, it sends a small, opaque string called the Artifact to the Service Provider (SP).

Issuance: The IdP stores the real assertion in its own local memory/cache and sends the Artifact to the SP via the browser redirect.

Resolution: The Service Provider receives the Artifact and then makes a direct, secureback-channel call(SOAP over HTTPS) to the IdP's Artifact Resolution Endpoint.

Exchange: The SP presents the Artifact, and the IdP returns the actual SAML Assertion.

Therefore, the Artifact is thevalue sent to retrieve the assertion(Option D). It is not the assertion itself (Option A), nor is it a binding name or an attribute name. The Artifact binding is often used for security reasons, as it prevents the sensitive assertion data from ever passing through the user's browser, thus mitigating certain types of interception attacks.

The forgeops command-line tool is used to manage the lifecycle of the Ping Identity Platform in Kubernetes environments.9 When using the Cloud Developer Kit (CDK) for version 8.0.2, the delete subcommand is used to tear down the environment.

According to the "ForgeOps CLI Reference" and "CDK Shutdown and Removal" documentation:

The forgeops delete command (without additional flags like --force or specific component names) is designed to remove the Ping Identity Platform pods. This includes the core applications like PingAM, PingIDM, and PingDS, as well as the specialized UI pods (login-ui, etc.). It also removes the standard CDK artifacts and configuration manifests associated with that specific namespace.

However, the command follows a "safe delete" philosophy regarding infrastructure-level components:

Ingress Controllers, Certificate Managers (cert-manager), and the DS Operatorare considered part of the "Base" or "Infrastructure" layer. These are typically installed once per cluster or namespace and are shared across multiple deployments. The forgeops delete command doesnotremove these by default, as doing so could disrupt other services.

PVCs (Persistent Volume Claims)andSecretsare also preserved unless the --force or -f flag is explicitly added to the command.

Thus, the answer isD. The command focuses strictly on the platform pods and their immediate deployment artifacts. If a developer wishes to perform a "deep clean" that removes the ingress and operators, they would need to use more specific commands like forgeops delete base or kubectl commands.10This distinction is vital for developers to avoid accidentally deleting shared cluster infrastructure when they only intended to restart the Ping platform.

PingAM 8.0.2 implements OpenID Connect (OIDC) 1.0 as an identity layer on top of the OAuth 2.0 protocol. While OAuth 2.0 is designed for authorization (accessing resources), OIDC is designed for authentication (verifying who the user is).

According to the "OpenID Connect 1.0" documentation in PingAM, the presence of a specific scope in the Authorization Request is what signals to the AM server that the request should be treated as an OIDC flow rather than a standard OAuth2 flow. This mandatory scope isopenid.

When PingAM receives an /oauth2/authorize request containing the scope=openid parameter:

It triggers the OIDC processing logic.

It ensures that anID Token(a signed JWT containing user identity information) is generated alongside (or instead of) the Access Token.

It allows the client to later access theUserInfo Endpointto retrieve further claims about the authenticated user.

Other scopes likeprofile(Option A),email, oraddressare optional OIDC scopes used to request specific sets of user claims, but they do not "activate" OIDC on their own.openid+connectandid(Options B and D) are not recognized standard scopes in the OIDC specification. Therefore,openidis the fundamental requirement for any OIDC interaction in PingAM 8.0.2.