A Palo Alto Networks NAT policy rule logically identifies traffic based on its original packet characteristics. The absolute minimum requirements for matching traffic, as stated in official documentation, are the source and destination zones. To create a specific, functional rule (rather than one matching all traffic between zones), at least one address parameter is necessary. The destination address is a fundamental matching criterion, especially for Destination NAT (DNAT), where traffic to a specific public IP is translated. Therefore, the source zone, destination zone, and destination address represent the core information required to define the traffic flow that the NAT rule will act upon.

A. name: While the configuration utility requires a name for any rule, it is administrative metadata, not a logical criterion for matching network traffic.

C. destination interface: This is an optional field. The firewall determines the egress interface through a route lookup based on the destination zone and address.

1. Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS® 10.2 Administrator’s Guide. In the section on NAT configuration

the guide outlines the necessary information.

Section: NAT > NAT Policy > NAT Policy Rules.

Content: "The Original Packet section of a NAT policy rule defines the match criteria for traffic that will be subject to NAT. At a minimum

you must specify the source and destination zones of the traffic." This directly supports the requirement for Source Zone (B) and Destination Zone (E).

2. Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS® 10.2 Administrator’s Guide. The guide further details the information needed to create a meaningful rule.

Section: NAT > Configure NAT.

Content: The workflow prerequisites state an administrator must have: "The source zones and destination zones for the traffic you want to apply NAT to. The source addresses and destination addresses of the traffic you want to apply NAT to." This supports the inclusion of Destination Address (D) as a fundamental piece of required information for defining the rule's logic.