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Exam Information
Official specifications published by F5
Exam Format
90 min
80
69-70%
Administrator
Registration
$180 USD
Pearson VUE or online proctoring
English
Validity
3 years
Pass F5CABR - F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP Recertification exam (available March 2025); Pass any Expert-level F5 exam; Complete the new five-exam BIG-IP Administrator track
201 Exam Topics and Domains
201 is organized into 8 weighted domains. Expect to work with BIG-IP Dashboard, BIG-IP Pool Management, F5 Support Portal, Pool Management, and more.
1
Troubleshoot basic virtual server connectivity issues
20%
Packet and virtual server processing order
Packet processing flow
- Explain how a packet is processed once it arrives at device
- Explain how a virtual server processes a request
- Given a specific connectivity issue, isolate where the problem might be according to the processing order
Virtual server troubleshooting
Virtual server state and configuration
- Determine the state of a virtual server
- Determine if a virtual server is configured for the proper listening port
- Determine if a virtual server is configured with the proper IP address
- Determine if the virtual server is configured with the appropriate profiles
Health monitor troubleshooting
Pool member health status
- Discuss the effects of health monitors on the status of pool members/nodes
- Determine the state and availability of the pool member/node in question
- Verify the pool member/node Ratio configuration
- Verify the pool member/node connection configuration and count
Priority groups
Active priority group identification
Identify a pool member not in the active priority group
Persistence
Persistence troubleshooting
- Explain the concept of persistence
- Verify the type of persistence profile assigned to the virtual server
- Validate the expected persistence behavior
- Differentiate between fallback and primary persistence
- Identify traffic diverted due to persistence record
- Identify persistence issues
Pool member state
Configured state identification
Identify the current configured state of the pool member
2
Troubleshoot basic hardware issues
10%
End User Diagnostics (EUD)
EUD execution and interpretation
- Perform an End User Diagnostic per F5 documentation
- Reboot an F5 platform into the EUD
- Download output from the unit an EUD was run on
- Interpret the output from an EUD and determine if the test passed or failed
LCD Warning Messages
LCD interpretation
- Locate the LCD on an F5 Platform
- Correlate the LCD message to message in the corresponding log file
- Identify which tasks the buttons on the LCD perform
Hardware issue identification
Log file analysis for hardware issues
- Indicate which logs would contain debugging information
- Given a log file, determine the nature of a hardware issue
- Given a possible issue, determine which log file entries to review
High Availability management
Failover operations
Force an active unit to standby under the appropriate circumstances
Network components
Interface and VLAN relationships
Understand the relationship between interfaces, trunks, VLANs and their status/statistics
3
Troubleshoot basic performance issues
10%
Packet capture for performance
Performance issue packet captures
Recognize when a packet capture is needed within the context of a performance issue
BIG-IP performance tools
Performance monitoring and analysis
- Use BIG-IP tools to identify potential performance issues
- Differentiate between performance issue types
- Explain how to get performance statistics in addition to those shown in dashboard
4
Troubleshoot basic device management connectivity issues
10%
Remote connectivity verification
Management connectivity troubleshooting
- Verify remote connectivity to the BIG-IP to determine management connectivity issue cause
- Plan client network access, device network access, network topologies
- Choose appropriate tools (SSH/HTTPS, console access) for the situation
Port lockdown and packet filters
Self-IP connectivity issues
- Check and interpret port lockdown settings to determine connectivity issue cause
- Review port lockdown settings on Self-IP
- Determine whether a filter is enabled
- Interpret a packet filter rule list
Remote authentication dependencies
DNS and NTP for authentication
Verify proper DNS and NTP settings when using remote authentication server
5
Open a support ticket with F5
10%
Support ticket components
Support case requirements
- Identify the appropriate supporting components for an F5 support ticket
- Identify necessary components for all support cases
Severity levels
Severity determination
- Identify severity levels and associated response times
- Determine appropriate severity according to F5 guidelines
Problem description
Accurate problem reporting
- Provide quantitative and relevant information for issues
- Distinguish between qualitative/quantitative statements
- Distinguish between relevant/irrelevant information
6
Identify and report current device status
10%
Network Map interpretation
Object status identification
- Review the Network Map to determine status of objects
- Explain the status icons of objects on the map
Dashboard usage
System status monitoring
- Explain what virtual servers, pools, nodes and pool members are
- Use dashboard to gauge current running status
- Interpret each statistic type displayed by dashboard
- Predict appropriate dashboard statistics for situations
Log file analysis
Event identification in logs
- Review log files and identify possible events
- Given log file snippets, describe an event sequence
- Given log file snippets, identify critical events
iApps Analytics
Application service monitoring
- Use iApps Analytics to gauge current running status of application services
- Describe how to capture application statistics
7
Maintain system configuration
15%
UCS archive management
UCS backup and restore
- Create and restore UCS archive under appropriate circumstances
- Discuss scenarios for restoring UCS archives
- Discuss tasks involved in successfully restoring UCS archive
- Discuss when appropriate to create UCS archive
BIG-IQ automation
BIG-IQ capabilities
Identify which high-level tasks can be automated using BIG-IQ
Software management
Software image management
- Manage software images
- Given an HA pair, describe appropriate strategy for deploying new software image
Licensing
License management
- Understand processes of licensing, license reactivation, and modifications
- Identify which modules are licensed and/or provisioned
User management
User administration
- Explain how to create a user
- Explain how to modify user properties
8
Manage existing system and application services
15%
Virtual server management
Virtual server modification
- Modify and manage virtual servers
- Outline scope of virtual server configuration changes
- Identify correct virtual server configured for application
- Determine why configuration changes didn't take effect immediately
Pool management
Pool member operations
- Modify and manage pools
- Distinguish between disabling a member and forcing it down
- Determine use cases for disabling vs forcing down
- Articulate characteristics of disabled or forced offline members
- Troubleshoot disabled members receiving traffic
How do I earn this certification?
Passing 201 earns the F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator certification. It sits in the BIG-IP Administration track.
Current Level Exams
Next Level Options
- 301A - BIG-IP LTM Specialist: Architect, Setup, and Deploy
- 301B - BIG-IP LTM Specialist: Maintain and Troubleshoot
- 302 - BIG-IP DNS Specialist
- 303 - BIG-IP ASM Specialist
- 304 - BIG-IP APM Specialist
Alternative Paths
- 401 - Security Solution ExpertAdvanced security specialization
- 402 - Cloud Solution ExpertCloud deployment expertise
Practice with Precision
The PlanetCert Simulator mirrors the real exam environment with authentic questions and timed pressure.
How to study for this exam?
The most effective way to prepare for 201 is by using the PlanetCert Simulator to practice questions and review detailed explanations.
What's changed on this exam?
Current Status
- ACTIVE
- Last content update: 2024-01-01
Updates
- nCino IQ 2.0 New AI features likely in next exam update • Release date: 2024-07-01
- Portfolio Analytics 3.5 Enhanced reporting capabilities to be tested • Release date: 2024-06-01
- Mobile Banking Integration 4.0 Mobile features now part of functional requirements • Release date: 2024-05-15
Who should take this exam?
This exam is typically taken by Network administrators and System administrators.
101 - Application Delivery Fundamentals (passed within 24 months)
- 6+ months hands-on experience with BIG-IP systems
- Experience with networking concepts and protocols
- Basic understanding of Linux command line
- Familiarity with HTTP/HTTPS and SSL/TLS