You can see it againUnder pressure people bring back shapes and positions long after the wording has gone.
Picture superiority · Shepard 1967, Standing 1973
F5F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP
The F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP certification validates your ability to perform day-to-day operations, basic deployment, management, security, and support of BIG-IP in various application environments. This exam focuses on installing, configuring, and upgrading BIG-IP, covering security, licensing, software images, and module provisioning. Earning this credential demonstrates your competence in BIG-IP administration for both data plane and control plane.
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration30 minutes
DeliveryPearson VUE, Certiverse
Passing score245
Free questions479
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What F5CAB1 proves, and what it asks of you
What this certification covers, who it is written for, and what the exam itself looks like on the day.
5domains
30objectives
139concepts
US $50exam fee
What it is
What this certification is
What it validates, who it is written for, and the experience it assumes.
About this certification
The BIG-IP Administration Install, Initial Configuration, and Upgrade (F5CAB1) exam is one of five exams required to achieve the F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP credential. It validates your knowledge and skills in performing day-to-day operations and basic deployment, management, security, and support of BIG-IP in various application environments after it has been installed, configured, and implemented.
This exam is designed to test your understanding of BIG-IP Administration for Data Plane and Control Plane. It covers securing BIG-IP, identifying management connectivity and configurations, explaining licensing, managing software images, and identifying which modules are licensed and/or provisioned. Passing this exam demonstrates your ability to handle these tasks without assistance, proving your readiness for real-world BIG-IP administration.
Who it’s for
This certification is for network administrators, system engineers, and IT professionals who are responsible for the installation, configuration, and upgrade of F5 BIG-IP systems. It is ideal for those who perform day-to-day operations and basic deployment, management, security, and support of BIG-IP in various application environments. Candidates should have a basic understanding of how to install, configure, and upgrade BIG-IP, and be able to secure BIG-IP, identify management connectivity and configurations, explain licensing, manage software images, and identify which modules are licensed and/or provisioned without assistance.
Recommended experience
F5 recommends taking the Administering BIG-IP course and the F5 Certified! BIG-IP Administrator Accelerator to prepare for this exam. Administering BIG-IP course (Self-Directed or Instructor-Led); F5 Certified! BIG-IP Administrator Accelerator
The syllabus
What you’ll learn
Every domain and objective F5 measures, with the weight they carry on the exam.
The official F5 exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
Securing BIG-IP
- Securing Management-IP
- Port lockdown
- Firewall Rules for Self-IPs
- Configure DDOS Vectors
- Secure Password Policies
- SSHD ACLs
- HTTPd ACLs
- U/A
Identify management connectivity configurations
- Identify the configured management-IP address
- Interpret port lockdown settings to Self-IP
- Show remote connectivity to the BIG-IP Management interface
- Explain management IP connectivity issue
- Identify HTTP/SSH access list to management-IP address
- U/A
Explain the processes of licensing, license reactivation, and license modification
- Show where to license (activate.F5.com)
- Identify license issues
- Identify Service Check Date (upgrade)
- Show provisioned modules CLI/config/TMUI
- Report modules which are licensed for CLI/config/TMUI
- U/A
Apply procedural concepts required to manage software images
- Given an HA pair, describe the appropriate strategy for deploying a new software image
- Perform procedure to upload new software image
- Show currently configured boot location
- Demonstrate creating new volume for software images
- U/A
Identify which modules are licensed and/or provisioned
- Show provisioned modules
- Report modules which are licensed
- Show resource utilization of provisioned modules
- Report modules which are provisioned but not licensed
- U/A
On the day
The exam itself
Everything F5 publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
No mandatory prerequisites — this certification has no required predecessor exam or credential.
Exam codeF5CAB1
CertificationF5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration30 minutes
Questions30 questions
Passing score245
DeliveryPearson VUE, Certiverse
LanguagesEnglish
PricingUS $50
After you pass
Where this credential goes next
The path F5 lays out, how the credential is kept, and where to book.
Step-by-step path to F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP
Credential earnedF5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP Certification Lifecycle status
This certification is currently active and available. F5 maintains this certification to validate current skills and industry relevance.
Exam status: ActiveMaintained by F5
Exam registration
Register for the exam through Pearson VUE, Certiverse, F5’s authorized testing partner.
Schedule your examVisit the official F5 certification page for exam policies and requirements.
View the official pageYour coach
And when you are serious, your coach Pip takes over
Your coach in the app reads what you have answered with the book closed and tells you one thing to do tonight. It will not count an answer you gave with the page open, and it will tell you when you are not ready.
See how the coach worksBefore you book
Questions people ask
How does F5CAB1 relate to the other exams required for the F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP credential?
F5CAB1 is one of five exams required for the F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP credential. The exams can be taken in any order, and you must pass all five to earn the certification.
Do I need to earn a lower-level F5 certification before taking F5CAB1?
No. F5 does not require any prerequisite certifications for this exam. You can take F5CAB1 directly.
What are the retake policies if I fail the F5CAB1 exam?
After the first failure, you must wait 15 days. The second failure requires a 30-day wait, the third a 45-day wait, the fourth a one-year wait, and the fifth or more a 90-day wait. You can schedule a retake during the wait period but cannot sit for the exam until the wait period ends. Your retake count resets only by passing the exam.
Can I reschedule or cancel my F5CAB1 exam appointment?
Yes, but you must reschedule or cancel at least 48 hours before your appointment. Rescheduling under 48 hours is subject to a fee. You must modify your appointment yourself; F5 Support, Pearson VUE, and Certiverse cannot process rescheduling or cancellation requests.
What are the identification requirements for taking the F5CAB1 exam?
For in-person exams, you must bring two forms of valid, signed ID, one government-issued with photo. For online exams, you must have a valid, signed government-issued ID, and the name on your ID must match the name on your F5 Certified account.
Is there a hands-on or lab component in the F5CAB1 exam?
No. The F5CAB1 exam consists of 30 multiple-choice questions and does not include a hands-on or lab component.
How soon will I receive my score report after taking the F5CAB1 exam?
F5 does not publish specific timing for score report availability. You will receive an email when you are eligible to schedule a retake if you fail, but detailed score breakdowns are not specified.
What job roles does the F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP credential map to?
This credential is designed for network administrators, system engineers, and IT professionals responsible for the installation, configuration, and upgrade of F5 BIG-IP systems, as well as day-to-day operations and support.
Can I recertify by passing a different F5 exam?
F5 does not publish a specific recertification path for this credential. Refer to F5's official certification policies for renewal requirements.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 479 questions, free, no account needed.
The curriculum
The whole exam, mapped and written
Every domain, every objective, and every concept F5 measures — each one written out.
5domains
30objectives
139concepts
109free pages
The domains, and what sits inside them
Every objective below is a page you can open and practise now, without an account.
The official F5 exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
1Securing BIG-IP139 questions
Securing Management-IP5 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Port lockdown5 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Firewall Rules for Self-IPs5 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →Configure DDOS Vectors5 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Secure Password Policies5 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →SSHD ACLs7 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →HTTPd ACLs4 concepts · 2 pagesOpen →U/A5 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →
2Identify management connectivity configurations92 questions
Identify the configured management-IP address5 concepts · 2 pagesOpen →Interpret port lockdown settings to Self-IP7 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Show remote connectivity to the BIG-IP Management interface5 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →Explain management IP connectivity issue5 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Identify HTTP/SSH access list to management-IP address3 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →U/A7 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →
3Explain the processes of licensing, license reactivation, and license modification74 questions
Show where to license (activate.F5.com)2 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →Identify license issues3 concepts · 2 pagesOpen →Identify Service Check Date (upgrade)5 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →Show provisioned modules CLI/config/TMUI3 concepts · 2 pagesOpen →Report modules which are licensed for CLI/config/TMUI4 concepts · 2 pagesOpen →U/A3 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →
4Apply procedural concepts required to manage software images106 questions
Given an HA pair, describe the appropriate strategy for deploying a new software image5 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Perform procedure to upload new software image6 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →Show currently configured boot location4 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →Demonstrate creating new volume for software images3 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →U/A8 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →
5Identify which modules are licensed and/or provisioned68 questions
Not a table of contents
Every line on this map already opens
In front of every objective the practice pages are already there, free and without an account. This is one objective, opened.
Securing Management-IP3 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
11 questions on this objective, five to a page. Every range above is a real page, open now, with no account.
Reading the map is not the same as knowing the ground
The curriculum tells you what is on the exam. Proving you know it is a different job — and it is the one the closed-book run does.
Free questions
479 questions. No account, no card.
The whole bank is open. 5 questions to a page, every answer explained, and a discussion thread on each one.
479questions
109pages
30objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Securing BIG-IP139 questions
2Identify management connectivity configurations92 questions
3Explain the processes of licensing, license reactivation, and license modification74 questions
4Apply procedural concepts required to manage software images106 questions
5Identify which modules are licensed and/or provisioned68 questions
What a practice page gives you
1Five to a page
Short enough to finish, long enough to matter.
2Every answer explained
Not only which one is right — why the others are wrong.
3A discussion on each
Ask, answer, and vote. Every question has its own thread.
A question, and the idea behind it
Every question comes from a concept
These are not trivia. Each one is written against a concept in the book, so when you get one wrong there is somewhere to go and find out why.
The visual book
See it once. Carry it into the exam.
The pages shown here come from our AI-900 book — an example of how each concept is written in plain language and, where the idea needs one, drawn as a full page you can take in at a glance.
139concepts
479free questions
Why a picture, and not another paragraph
Three reasons, and each one is a real finding rather than a slogan.
You can see it againThe whole idea at onceWhere it starts, what happens in the middle, what comes out, and the mistake to avoid.
Multimedia principle · MayerThe look-alikes sit togetherThe pairs the exam tests are drawn side by side, so the difference is seen, not told.
Dual coding · PaivioWhat one page is made of
You are never asked to read a poster here — only to see how one is built. After that, every other page is legible at a glance.
1A numbered strip on top
The idea as a sequence, followed with a finger before a word is read.
2Panels for the parts
What it is, how the machine learns it, when it is the right tool.
3The trap, framed
The distinction the exam tests, given its own box instead of buried in prose.
4One line at the bottom
The sentence to carry into the exam room.
Open book, on purpose
Answer it with the picture beside you
This is the part that teaches. The illustration and the written explanation stay where they are while you work, so a scenario stops being a memory test and becomes something you can simply look at.
It teaches · it does not count
A smartphone uses AI to unlock when the owner looks at the camera. Which AI capability is being used?
AImage classification
BFacial recognition
COptical character recognition
DObject detection
Look at the five steps. Detect finds a face, align straightens it, encode turns it into numbers, search compares it with a stored face, and decide answers one question: is this the same person? Classification would only say “a face”. Detection would only draw a box. Neither decides whose.
Then the page shuts, and it starts counting
The same questions come back with the book closed — that run is the one that counts. After it, your coach picks one thing for tonight, sized to the time you have, and brings pages back before you lose them.
Testing effect · Roediger & Karpicke 2006 · spacing effect · Cepeda et al. 2006
Official resources
Straight from F5
Where the exam is defined, scheduled and scored.
3official links
139concepts mapped
The source
F5’s own pages
We link to them rather than repeat them, so nothing here goes stale behind them.
Checked against the source
Every objective on the official F5 outline already has questions here
We build from the official skills outline, not from a summary of it — 30 objectives, 139 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When F5 changes the outline, this page changes with it.
30objectives on the outline→139concepts written→479free questions
An official page tells you what will be asked. It cannot tell you what you will get right.
That is the only question worth answering the night before, and no link answers it. You answer it by taking the questions with the book closed, and seeing what comes back.