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 BIG-IP Administration Data Plane Configuration exam validates your ability to perform day-to-day operations and basic deployment, management, security, and support of BIG-IP in various application environments. It is one of five exams required to earn the F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP credential. Passing this exam demonstrates your competence in configuring and managing virtual servers and pools, essential for any BIG-IP administrator.
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration30 minutes
DeliveryPearson VUE, Certiverse
Passing score245
Free questions222
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What F5CAB3 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.
2domains
13objectives
73concepts
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 F5 BIG-IP Administration Data Plane Configuration exam (F5CAB3) is designed to test the knowledge, skills, and abilities of candidates who administer BIG-IP systems. It focuses on the data plane, covering the configuration and management of virtual servers and pools, which are core components of application delivery. Passing this exam shows that you can competently perform 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 one of five required to achieve the F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP (F5-CA) credential. The five exams can be taken in any order, but all must be passed to earn the certification. The F5-CA credential validates your expertise in manipulating the entire application stack, from traditional network knowledge to advanced application-layer understanding, making you a valuable asset in any organization that relies on F5 solutions.
Who it’s for
This certification is for network administrators, system administrators, and IT professionals who are responsible for the day-to-day operation, deployment, and support of F5 BIG-IP systems. It is ideal for those who have a basic understanding of how to install, configure, and upgrade BIG-IP and want to validate their skills in managing the data plane. Candidates should be comfortable applying procedural concepts to modify and manage virtual servers and pools without assistance. The exam is also suitable for those who are beginning their journey toward the F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP credential and want to demonstrate their foundational knowledge of BIG-IP administration.
Recommended experience
F5 recommends that candidates have practical, hands-on experience with F5 products and have completed the recommended training courses, such as Administering BIG-IP and Troubleshooting BIG-IP. Basic understanding of how to install, configure, and upgrade BIG-IP; Ability to apply procedural concepts to modify and manage virtual servers; Ability to apply procedural concepts to modify and manage pools; Completion of the F5 Certified! BIG-IP Administrator Accelerator or equivalent training
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
Apply procedural concepts required to modify and manage virtual servers
- Apply appropriate persistence profile
- Apply appropriate HTTPS encryption profile
- Apply appropriate protocol specific profile
- Identify iApp configured objects
- Report use of iRules
- Show default pool configuration
Apply procedural concepts required to modify and manage pools
- Determine configured health monitor
- Determine the load balancing method for a pool
- Determine the active nodes in a priority group configuration
- Determine pool member service port configuration
- Apply appropriate health monitor
- Apply load balancing method for a pool
- Apply pool member service port configuration
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 codeF5CAB3
CertificationF5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration30 minutes
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 F5CAB3 relate to the other exams required for the F5-CA credential?
F5CAB3 is one of five exams required to achieve the F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP credential. The five exams can be taken in any order, but all must be passed to earn the certification.
Do I need to pass a lower-level certification before taking F5CAB3?
No. There are no mandatory prerequisites for this exam. You can take it without holding any prior F5 certification.
What are the retake policies if I fail the exam?
After the first failed attempt, 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. Your retake count resets only when you pass the exam.
Is there a hands-on or lab component in the exam?
The official exam page does not mention a hands-on or lab component. The exam is delivered as a proctored test, either online via Certiverse or at a Pearson VUE test center.
What job roles does the F5-CA credential map to?
The F5-CA credential is designed for network and system administrators who manage F5 BIG-IP systems. It validates skills in day-to-day operations, deployment, management, security, and support of BIG-IP in various application environments.
Can I recertify by passing a different exam?
F5 does not publish a renewal model for this certification. The official exam page does not provide information on recertification options.
What are the scheduling and cancellation policies?
Exams must be rescheduled or canceled no less than 48 hours before your appointment. Cancellations and rescheduling must be initiated prior to 48 hours before the scheduled exam appointment. Appointments rescheduled under 48 hours beforehand are subject to a rescheduling fee. Candidates must modify their exam appointment themselves.
What are the identification requirements for the exam?
For in-person exams, you must bring two forms of valid, signed ID, one of which must be government-issued and include a photo. For online exams, you must have a valid, signed government-issued ID when checking in. The name on your ID must match the name listed on your F5 Certified account.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 222 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.
2domains
13objectives
73concepts
50free 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
1Apply procedural concepts required to modify and manage virtual servers123 questions
Apply appropriate persistence profile6 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Apply appropriate HTTPS encryption profile5 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →Apply appropriate protocol specific profile6 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Identify iApp configured objects6 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →Report use of iRules7 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Show default pool configuration3 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →
2Apply procedural concepts required to modify and manage pools99 questions
Determine configured health monitor3 concepts · 2 pagesOpen →Determine the load balancing method for a pool10 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Determine the active nodes in a priority group configuration6 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Determine pool member service port configuration6 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Apply appropriate health monitor5 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Apply load balancing method for a pool5 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →Apply pool member service port configuration5 concepts · 2 pagesOpen →
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.
Apply appropriate persistence profile5 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
25 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
222 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.
222questions
50pages
13objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Apply procedural concepts required to modify and manage virtual servers123 questions
2Apply procedural concepts required to modify and manage pools99 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.
73concepts
222free 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.
4official links
73concepts 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 — 13 objectives, 73 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When F5 changes the outline, this page changes with it.
13objectives on the outline→73concepts written→222free 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.