F5 F5CAB4 - BIG-IP Administration Control Plane Administration (F5CAB4) exam

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From BIG-IP Administration Control Plane Administration documents:

On a BIG-IP system,NTP (Network Time Protocol) configurationis part of thesystem-level configuration settings. In the Configuration Utility, NTP servers are configured under theSystem configuration hierarchy.

The correct navigation path is:

System > Configuration > Device > NTP

This location allows the administrator to:

Add, modify, or remove NTP servers

Ensure accurate system time synchronization

Maintain proper time alignment required for features such asConfigSync,HA failover, logging, and certificate validation

Why the other options are incorrect:

A. System > Platformis used for hardware-related settings.

B. System > Preferencesmanages UI and user preferences.

C. System > Servicescontrols system daemons and services, not time configuration.

Therefore, the correct answer isD. System > Configuration.

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Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From BIG-IP Administration Control Plane Administration documents:To re27port the current status of high availability for specific traffic, an administrator must verify the Traffic Group association28. In the Configuration Utility, Virtual Server properties include the Virtual Address settings where the 'Traffic Group' is assigned29292929. If the Virtual Address is assigned to a floating traffic group (like traffic-group-1), it is configured to fail over to the standby member30303030.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From BIG-IP Administration Control Plane Administration documents: The BIG-IP Control Plane monitors the "Commit ID" of the configuration on all group members. When a change is made on the Standby unit, it becomes the member with the most recent configuration. The "Recommended Action" in the HA status dashboard will be to synchronize that specific device's configuration to the rest of the group to ensure consistency

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From BIG-IP Administration Control Plane Administration documents: The Control Plane is responsible for ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) management for Virtual Addresses. For a Virtual Server to be reachable, the BIG-IP must respond to ARP requests for that IP. If the "ARP" setting is disabled on the Virtual Address properties, upstream routers cannot resolve the MAC address of the BIG-IP, leading to connectivity failure even if the service itself is "Available."

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From BIG-IP Administration Control Plane Administration documents: In a High Availability pair, the "Force to Standby" action is a Control Plane command used to trigger a manual failover. This option is only logical and available on the device that is currently in the Active state. If the button is greyed out, it indicates that the administrator is already logged into the Standby unit, which has no active traffic groups to relinquish.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From BIG-IP Administration Control Plane Administration documents: Although /var/log/ltm is primarily associated with Local Traffic Manager events, it is also the primary destination for system-level alerts generated by the Control Plane's chmand (Chassis Manager Daemon). Hardware status changes, including power supply failures, fan speeds, and temperature warnings, are logged as "notice" or "critical" events within the LTM log file.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From BIG-IP Administration Control Plane Administration documents:

Traffic Groups are the mechanism BIG-IP uses to controlwhich device owns specific application trafficin a high-availability (HA) configuration. When maintenance is required on a device that iscurrently active for a traffic group, the correct and recommended action is tofail over that traffic groupto another device in the device group.

Failing over the traffic groupmoves ownership of that traffic group (and the virtual servers associated with it) to another available device without forcing the entire device into standby.

This allows targeted maintenance while minimizing impact to other traffic groups that may still be active on the device.

Why the other options are incorrect:

Ais unnecessary and incorrect; traffic groups are not recreated for routine maintenance.

Cforces theentire deviceto standby, which may move more traffic than intended.

D(Demote) affects device trust/priority behavior and is not the standard or recommended method for moving traffic group ownership.

Therefore, selecting theTraffic Group and choosing Failoveris the correct solution.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From BIG-IP Administration Control Plane Administration documents:Monitoring and reporting current device status involves tracking the health of traffic objects like Virtual Servers20. The Control Plane logs transition events—such as a Virtual Server moving from 'Available' (green) to 'Offline' (red) due to health monitor failures—in the /var/log/ltm file21212121. While the audit log tracks who changed a configuration, the LTM log tracks system-initiated status changes22222222.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From BIG-IP Administration Control Plane Administration documents:Reporting device status includes monitoring physical resource exhaustion, such as memory48. The Control Plane provides both a command-line method via TMSH (show /sys memory) and a graphical method under Statistics > Module Statistics > Memory to report on how memory is allocated across TMM and the Linux host494949494949494949. This is essential for identifying potential "Aggressive Mode" triggers or hardware performance bottlenecks50.