F5-CA (BIG-IP) · ● Active · Associate · F5
The F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP (F5-CA, BIG-IP) validates foundational competency in day-to-day BIG-IP operations, deployment, management, security, and support. As of 2025, this certification consists of five modular 30-minute exams replacing the legacy 101 and 201 structure, offering flexibility and focused skill validation.
Exam facts
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Cost | $180 per exam; $900 total for all five exams (F5CAB1–F5CAB5) |
| Duration | 30 minutes per exam |
| Questions | ~35–40 per exam; mix of multiple-choice and scenario-based questions |
| Passing | 700/1000 scaled score (approximately 70%) per exam |
| Format | Multiple choice, multiple response, and scenario-based questions |
| Delivery | Certiverse online proctored testing platform |
| Languages | English |
| Valid | 2 years from certification achievement date |
| Renewal | F5CABR Recertification exam (single exam) or complete F5-CA path again |
| Prerequisites | None formal; 3–6 months BIG-IP hands-on experience recommended |
| Released | 2025 (modernized modular structure) |
| Retiring | N/A — currently active |
Vendor source — F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP ↗
Official exam guide — F5 BIG-IP Certification Blueprint ↗
F5 Education Services — Education Portal ↗
Exam pricing — F5 Exam Fees ↗
About
The F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP (F5-CA, BIG-IP) is an associate-level certification launched in 2025, designed for IT professionals responsible for day-to-day operations and basic administration of F5 BIG-IP systems. The certification replaces the legacy single-exam model with a modular five-exam pathway (F5CAB1–F5CAB5), each focusing on a specific domain of BIG-IP administration. Candidates can take exams in any order, making the certification more accessible for working professionals. This credential validates foundational knowledge of virtual server management, traffic steering, data plane configuration, control plane operations, and troubleshooting techniques critical for application delivery networks.
Domain context — Application Delivery / Load Balancing
Application Delivery Networking (ADN) focuses on optimizing, securing, and accelerating application performance through load balancing, SSL/TLS termination, traffic management, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) mitigation. F5 BIG-IP is the market-leading Application Delivery Controller (ADC), widely deployed in enterprise, cloud, and hybrid environments.
Read full deep dive — F5 BIG-IP Ecosystem →
Topics covered
The F5-CA certification spans five modular exams, each with distinct objectives:
F5CAB1: BIG-IP Administration Install, Initial Configuration, and Upgrade
- Initial system setup and network configuration
- Interface and VLAN management
- Self-IP and routing configuration
- BIG-IP system upgrades and unit ID assignment
F5CAB2: BIG-IP Administration Data Plane Concepts
- VLAN, interface, and trunking concepts
- Self-IP, floating-IP, and routing fundamentals
- High Availability (HA) and failover concepts
- Health monitoring and virtual server pool relationships
F5CAB3: BIG-IP Administration Data Plane Configuration
- Virtual server creation and management
- Pool and pool member configuration
- Monitor creation and health check assignment
- Traffic steering and load-balancing algorithms
- Connection rate limiting and traffic control
F5CAB4: BIG-IP Administration Control Plane
- Administrative authentication and authorization (AAA)
- High Availability operations and synchronization (Config-Sync)
- NTP, DNS, SNMP, and syslog configuration
- UCS backup and recovery
- System services and resource management
F5CAB5: BIG-IP Administration Support and Troubleshooting
- Performance metrics and statistics collection
- PCAP (packet capture) analysis
- Load-balancing misconfiguration diagnosis
- Virtual server and pool-level troubleshooting
- Log analysis and common issue resolution
Source: F5 Certified Administrator Certification Blueprint ↗ · F5 Exam Preparation Resources ↗
Common skills at Application Delivery / Associate level
- Virtual server and pool configuration on load balancers
- TCP/IP networking and OSI model fundamentals
- VLAN segmentation and routing principles
- Health monitoring and failover mechanisms
- Traffic steering and load-balancing algorithms (round-robin, least connections, ratio)
- SSL/TLS certificate management and termination
- Network traffic analysis and packet inspection
- High-availability cluster design and failover testing
- Logging, monitoring, and alerting configuration
- Security best practices (ACLs, connection limits, DDoS mitigation)
Recommended courses at Application Delivery / Associate level
| Provider | Title | Cost | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBT Nuggets | BIG-IP Administration Install, Initial Configuration, and Upgrade (F5CAB1) | $99–$249 | ↗ |
| F5 Official | F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP Learning Path | Varies | ↗ |
| Udemy | Ultimate F5 LTM Training from Beginner to Expert | $15–$99 | ↗ |
| Udemy | BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) V16 Training | $15–$99 | ↗ |
| CBT Nuggets | F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator (201 TMOS) | $99–$249 | ↗ |
Practice exams
| Provider | Title | Cost | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| F5 Official (ADC Labs) | F5CAB1–F5CAB5 Practice Exams | $50–$150 | ↗ |
| Whizlabs | F5 BIG-IP Administrator Practice Exams | $49–$99 | ↗ |
| Udemy | F5 Certified Administrator F5CAB1/F5CAB2/F5CAB3 Exam Prep | $15–$99 | ↗ |
Books
| Title | Author(s) | Publisher | Year | ISBN | URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F5 Networks TMOS Administration Study Guide | Philip Jönsson, Steven Iveson | Self-published | 2017 | 978-0244371579 | ↗ |
| F5 Networks Application Delivery Fundamentals Study Guide | Philip Jönsson, Steven Iveson | Self-published | 2016 | 978-1512076509 | ↗ |
| F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator: 500 Study Notes for Faster Learning | Austin Pham | Self-published (Kindle) | 2022 | 978-8291239797 | ↗ |
Book note: No officially published study guide exists for the 2025 modular F5-CA structure (F5CAB1–F5CAB5). The Jönsson/Iveson guides, while valuable for foundational BIG-IP knowledge, reference legacy exam 101 and 201 content. The Austin Pham study notes provide modernized content aligned with current exam objectives.
Typical job titles at Application Delivery / Associate level
Network Administrator · Systems Administrator · F5 Administrator · Load Balancer Administrator · Application Delivery Engineer · Infrastructure Support Specialist · Network Operations Center (NOC) Technician
(Job titles drawn from current job-board postings on Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn that list F5 BIG-IP certification as required or preferred.)
Salary
| Region | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| USD | $64,000 – $150,000 | ZipRecruiter ↗ · Indeed ↗ · Glassdoor ↗ |
| ZAR | R233,741 – R658,807 | PayScale ZA ↗ · Jobted.co.za ↗ · SalaryExpert ZA ↗ |
Salary note: USD figures reflect F5 Administrator and Load Balancer Administrator roles as of April 2026. ZAR figures reflect Network Administrator salaries in South Africa (comparative role at similar level), ranging from entry-level (~R165,000) to mid-career (~R350,000) to senior roles (R469,000+). Certified F5 professionals command the higher end of these ranges, particularly in enterprise finance, telecoms, and cloud environments.
Skills validated
- BIG-IP system installation, configuration, and initial setup
- Virtual server and pool member lifecycle management
- Health monitor design and pool-level troubleshooting
- VLAN, self-IP, and floating-IP configuration
- Traffic steering algorithms and persistence profiles
- High-availability cluster setup and failover verification
- Administrative authentication and role-based access control (RBAC)
- Configuration synchronization across HA pairs
- Network troubleshooting with packet capture (PCAP) and system metrics
- UCS backup/restore procedures and disaster recovery
- Common load-balancing misconfigurations and diagnostics
Related certifications
- Stacks with: F5 Certified BIG-IP LTM Specialist (Exam 301a) — next career step for ADC specialization
- Prerequisite for: F5 Certified Solutions Architect (Exam 401) — design-level BIG-IP and ADN architecture
- Replaces: F5 Application Delivery Fundamentals (Exam 101) and legacy TMOS Administration (Exam 201) — retired 2024
- Renewal: F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP Recertification (F5CABR) ↗ — single exam recertification
- Equivalents at this level: Citrix Certified Associate – Virtualization (CCA-V) · CompTIA Network+ (N10-008) — foundational networking comparables
- Vendor overview: F5 Vendor Overview ↗
Sources
- F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP Learning Path
- F5 Education Services Support Portal
- BIG-IP Certified Administrator Certification Blueprint BETA
- F5 Exam Fees and Pricing
- F5 Exam Preparation Resources
- What is the F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP (F5-CA, BIG-IP) certification?
- Updates to the F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP Certification (F5-CA)
- CBT Nuggets: F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP Roadmap
- ZipRecruiter: F5 Administrator Jobs and Salary
- Indeed: F5 Big Ip Administrator Jobs
- Glassdoor: F5 Administrator Salary
- PayScale: Network Administrator Salary South Africa
- Jobted.co.za: Network Administrator Salary
- SalaryExpert: Network Administrator South Africa
- ADC Labs: F5CAB1 Exam Guide and Blueprint
- Amazon: F5 Networks TMOS Administration Study Guide
- Amazon: F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator Study Notes
Last verified: 2026-05-01
Parent ecosystem: F5 BIG-IP Ecosystem
Parent domain: Application Delivery / Load Balancing
Vendor overview: F5 Vendor Overview