F5 Administering BIG-IP
Course Overview
Once a BIG-IP system is racked, licensed, and carrying production traffic, somebody has to look after it. F5 Administering BIG-IP training is written for that person. It covers the daily work of BIG-IP administration: checking whether a pool member is up, reading the logs when users complain, backing up the configuration, and making sure the standby unit can take over.
A BIG-IP system is a full proxy that sits between clients and application servers. It accepts each request, applies the configuration you have built, and sends the traffic to a server that is healthy. Behind that idea sit a lot of objects. You will work with VLANs, self IPs and trunks, then build virtual servers, pools and nodes, choose load balancing methods, and attach health monitors, profiles and persistence.
NATs and SNATs get their own attention, because servers have to send replies back through the BIG-IP system for the design to work.
Operations carry equal weight. Learners use both the Configuration utility and tmsh, read statistics, set up logging, capture packets with tcpdump, and use iHealth to share diagnostics with F5 support. Configurations are archived as UCS files, so a failed change can be rolled back instead of rebuilt from memory. User roles and administrative partitions limit who can change what.
High availability finishes the picture. You will sync configuration between devices, set up device service clustering with active/standby failover, and use connection and persistence mirroring.
These skills apply wherever BIG-IP delivers applications, from enterprise server rooms to data centres and hybrid environments. The course also gives the groundwork for many of F5’s other BIG-IP instructor-led classes.
Course Objectives
- Describe the role of the BIG-IP system as a full proxy in an application delivery network.
- Complete initial setup, including licensing and resource provisioning, and archive the configuration as a UCS file.
- Configure VLANs, self IPs, and trunks, and administer the system through the Configuration utility and tmsh.
- Create virtual servers, pools, and nodes, and select a suitable load balancing method.
- Apply health monitors and read object status to see how the system is handling traffic.
- Use profiles, persistence, and SNAT to change how traffic is processed.
- Manage user roles and administrative partitions, and troubleshoot with logs, tcpdump, and iHealth.
- Deploy a high-availability pair with configuration sync, failover, and connection and persistence mirroring.
Prior Knowledge
The following free Self-Directed Training (SDT) courses, although optional, are helpful for any student with limited BIG-IP administration and configuration experience:
- Getting Started with BIG-IP
- Getting Started with Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
Target Audience
- F5 BIG-IP administrators: build a clear map of every object they already touch each day.
- Network engineers: see how BIG-IP sits between routing, switching and the application.
- Application delivery engineers: learn the operational baseline before designing traffic policies.
- Systems administrators: understand why a healthy server can still fail to receive traffic.
- Network security engineers: know how access, roles and logging are controlled on the platform.
- Data centre and infrastructure specialists: support high availability pairs and configuration backups with confidence.
- Operations staff: gain the monitoring and log-reading skills used during incidents.
- Teams planning a BIG-IP deployment: share one vocabulary before design work begins.
Course Content
3 modules · 66 topics01Module 1: BIG-IP Setup32 topics
- Introducing F5 Solutions
- Introducing the BIG-IP System
- Initially Setting Up a Standalone BIG-IP System
- Configuring the Management Interface
- Activating the Software License
- Provisioning Modules and Resources
- Importing a Device Certificate
- Specifying BIG-IP Platform Properties
- Configuring the Network
- Configuring Network Time Protocol (NTP) Servers
- Configuring Domain Name System (DNS) Settings
- Backing Up and Restoring BIG-IP Configuration Data
- Using Single Configuration Files (SCF)
- Overview of the BIG-IP High Availability Feature
- Configuring DSC Communication Settings
- Establishing Device Trust
- Establishing a Sync-Failover Device Group
- Synchronizing Configuration Data
- Securing Management Access
- Securing Self IP Addresses with Port Lockdown
- Securing SSH Administrative Traffic
- Securing HTTPS Administrative Traffic
- Securing NTP Services
- Running BIG-IP in Appliance Mode
- Securing the Automatic Update Check and Phone Home Features
- Securing the Default System Maintenance Accounts
- Restricting Command Line Access by User
- Tracking User Access and Actions
- Enforcing a Secure Password Policy
- Securing Persistence Cookies
- Securing BIG-IP Generated HTTP Server Header Information
- Getting Help If You Are Under Attack or Experiencing a Security Breach
02Module 2: Local Traffic Basics16 topics
- Understanding BIG-IP Local Traffic Processing Configuration Objects
- Load Balancing Traffic through a BIG-IP System
- Monitoring Traffic Processing and Performance Using Statistics
- Managing the Status of Nodes and Pool Members
- Using the TMOS Shell (TMSH)
- Managing the BIG-IP System's Configuration State and Files
- Mapping IP Addresses with NATs
- Solving Routing Issues with Source Address and Port Translation
- Introducing Local Traffic Monitoring on the BIG-IP System
- Deploying a Local Traffic Monitor
- Managing Local Traffic Monitors During Application Delivery
- Overview of Modifying Traffic Behavior with Profiles
- Introducing SSL Offload and Re-encryption
- Introducing Persistence on the BIG-IP System
- Persisting Traffic Based on Source IP Address (Source Address Affinity)
- Understanding the Impact of Object State on Persistence
03Module 3: Administering BIG-IP18 topics
- Overview of Using TCPDUMP on a BIG-IP System
- Interpreting TCPDUMP Output
- Understanding TCPDUMP Filters and Options
- Analyzing TCPDUMP captures with WireShark
- Introducing BIG-IP System Logging Features
- Logging Locally on the BIG-IP System
- Logging Remotely Using High-Speed Logging (HSL)
- Configuring Audit Logging for the BIG-IP System
- Creating and Uploading a QKView
- Viewing Diagnostics and Status Information
- Troubleshooting
- Examining the BIG-IP Configuration
- Defining User Roles and Administrative Partitions
- Overview of Upgrading a BIG-IP System
- Planning for a BIG-IP System Upgrade
- Preparing to Upgrade a BIG-IP System
- Installing an Upgrade on a BIG-IP System
- Considerations when Upgrading a Sync-Failover Device Group
Schedule Dates
4 upcoming batches| Batch Dates | Duration | Batch Options | Language | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 November 2026 - 24 November 2026 | 2 Days | 4 hours & 8 hours | English / Arabic | |
| 01 March 2027 - 02 March 2027 | 2 Days | 4 hours & 8 hours | English / Arabic | |
| 07 June 2027 - 08 June 2027 | 2 Days | 4 hours & 8 hours | English / Arabic | |
| 13 September 2027 - 14 September 2027 | 2 Days | 4 hours & 8 hours | English / Arabic |
Can’t find a suitable date? Request a schedule that fits your team.
Request More InformationBIG-IP Administration Course for Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Teams
Teams that run BIG-IP rarely work in one place. An application may be served from a primary data centre, a disaster recovery site, and a public cloud, and the same operating skills are needed at each. F5 Administering BIG-IP training gives administrators a shared baseline, so the engineer on shift in one time zone configures pools, monitors, and failover pairs the same way as a colleague in another. If your organisation is standardising how it runs application delivery across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, a common starting point makes handovers and documentation easier. Anyone choosing a BIG-IP administration course can compare it with our wider F5 training courses and look at BIG-IP LTM training for deeper traffic management work later on. Companies sending several people at once can read about corporate IT training options or ask the team about group arrangements.
FAQs
What is the F5 Administering BIG-IP course?
It is an F5 course that teaches you to set up and run a BIG-IP system day-to-day. You learn how BIG-IP processes traffic, how its configuration objects fit together, and how routine administrative tasks are done. Topics run from initial setup and licensing to virtual servers, pools, monitoring, logging, and high availability. Learning combines lectures with hands-on labs.
What does a BIG-IP system do, and which topics does the course cover?
A BIG-IP system manages application traffic between users and servers, acting as a full proxy. It distributes requests across pool members, checks server health, and can fail over to a standby unit. The course covers setup, networking objects, virtual servers and pools, NATs and SNATs, monitors, profiles, persistence, logging, user roles, and high availability.
Who should attend?
Network administrators, operators, and engineers who handle day-to-day BIG-IP operations should attend. The course also suits systems administrators and application delivery engineers who are taking over an existing deployment. Teams planning a first rollout benefit as well, because everyone shares the same vocabulary before design starts. Prior BIG-IP experience is not required.
What are the recommended prerequisites?
F5 lists no required F5 prerequisites, but general networking knowledge is recommended. That covers the OSI model, routing and switching, Ethernet and ARP, TCP/IP, IP addressing and subnetting, NAT, default gateways, firewalls, and LAN versus WAN. F5 also offers free, optional Getting Started web-based courses for anyone with limited BIG-IP experience.
What skills will learners develop?
You will be able to set up a BIG-IP system and keep it running. Practical skills include creating virtual servers and pools, attaching health monitors, applying persistence and profiles, and configuring SNAT. You will also back up with UCS archives, manage users and partitions, read logs and tcpdump output, and configure a high availability pair.
Does the course lead to an F5 certification?
No. Attending the course does not award a certification. F5 certification requires passing the applicable exams separately. F5’s current BIG-IP Administrator credential is made up of five exams, and F5 lists Administering BIG-IP among its suggested courses. Training, passing an exam, and earning certification are three different steps, so check F5’s exam pages for current requirements.
Why do load balancing, health monitoring and high availability matter?
They keep applications reachable when something fails. Load balancing spreads requests across servers, health monitors remove a failing server from rotation, and a high-availability pair lets a standby unit take over if the active one stops. Without them, one server fault becomes an outage users notice. Administrators who understand all three find and fix problems faster.
How does the course support professional development?
It gives administrators a structured foundation in BIG-IP operations that they can apply to their own systems. Many of F5’s other BIG-IP instructor-led courses build on this material, so it can be a starting point for further study. It does not guarantee certification, a new role or a pay change, because those depend on experience, exams and employers.
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