Panorama "Non Functional" state with error: "Peer version not compatible"

• When upgrading a Panorama server in an HA pair, a feature release upgrade (for example, 11.1. x to 11.2.x), the Panorama server with the higher release will enter a "Non Functional" state with the error: "Peer version not compatible" 

• In the system logs, we will see the following error:

  Peer device running degraded HA version 11.1.13; incompatible version causes local device to stay in Non-Functional state unless peer is put into Suspended state

   

• In ha_gent.log, we will see the following logs:
  • Panorama 1 - with the higher version (In this example, 11.2.10-h3)

    2026-04-20 18:40:05.225 +0300 debug: ha_sysd_general_vers_peer_conn_str(src/ha_sysd_version.c:911): Build Release peer value ignored from sysd (NONE), taken from peer conn info (11.1.13)
    2026-04-20 18:40:05.225 +0300 Warning:  ha_event_log(src/ha_event.c:59): Build Release version does not match
    2026-04-20 18:40:05.226 +0300 Warning:  ha_event_log(src/ha_event.c:59): Peer device running degraded HA version 11.1.13; incompatible version causes local device to stay in Non-Functional state unless peer is put into Suspended state
    2026-04-20 18:40:05.226 +0300 HA1 connection up
    2026-04-20 18:40:05.226 +0300 debug: ha_state_cfg_sync_allowed(src/ha_state_cfg.c:205): Group 0: other side doesn't have compatible version so don't send automatic config sync

  • Panorama 2 - with the lower  version (In this example, 11.1.13)

    2026-04-20 18:40:05.224 +0300 debug: ha_sysd_general_vers_peer_conn_str(src/ha_sysd_version.c:911): Build Release peer value ignored from sysd (NONE), taken from peer conn info (11.2.10-h3)
    2026-04-20 18:40:05.224 +0300 Warning:  ha_event_log(src/ha_event.c:59): Build Release version does not match
    2026-04-20 18:40:05.226 +0300 Setting degraded version to 11.1.13
    2026-04-20 18:40:05.226 +0300 Peer device running a compatibile but different version 11.2.10-h3
    2026-04-20 18:40:05.226 +0300 HA1 connection up
    2026-04-20 18:40:05.226 +0300 debug: ha_rts_local_update(src/ha_rts.c:281): Group 0: actually change local status HA1-peer-disconnected to new local status User-disabled
    2026-04-20 18:40:05.227 +0300 debug: ha_sysd_dev_peer_state_update(src/ha_sysd.c:1663): Set dev peer state to Non-Functional
    2026-04-20 18:40:05.228 +0300 debug: ha_state_move(src/ha_state.c:1532): Group 0: moving from state Initial to Active

• Panorama HA
• PAN-OS upgrade

This is expected behavior. Panorama HA requires version parity for the control plane and database synchronization. When versions differ across a feature release boundary, the HA state machine intentionally suspends synchronization to protect the integrity of the configuration database.

• There are two valid options
  • Manual Failover: Manually suspend the lower-version Panorama to force the higher-version node into the Active role.
  • Direct Upgrade: Continue upgrading the secondary node. HA synchronization will restore naturally after the process finishes.

• Upgrade Panorama in an HA Configuration - Step 1