The home side reached 346-5 at stumps on day one with Mitchell Marsh (15) and Alex Carey (14) on the crease.
In the lead-up, former paceman Mitchell Johnson questioned whether Warner deserved a hero´s farewell given his recent poor red-ball form and involvement in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.
The 37-year-old Warner, in his 110th Test, responded in typical swashbuckling fashion, scoring 164 runs while hitting 16 fours and four sixes in his 211-ball knock.
After struggling to pick up wickets in the first two sessions, Pakistan bowlers improved considerably to claim three wickets in the post-tea session.
Aamer Jamal claimed two wickets, dismissing Warner and a dangerous-looking Travis Head (40).
Steve Smith was sent back to the hut after scoring 31 runs by Khurram Shahzad.
Lineups
Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Aamer Jamal, Khurram Shahzad
Series schedule
First Test: December 14-18, Perth
Second Test: December 26-30, Melbourne
Third Test: January 3-7, Sydney