F5CAB1 Install, Initial Configuration, and Upgrade Practice Question
A network administrator is upgrading a BIG-IP from version 15.1 to 17.1 using the default upgrade process. After the upgrade, the administrator notices that the configuration from the previous version is not fully loaded and some objects are missing. The administrator checks the upgrade logs and sees a message about a configuration conversion failure. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that a conversion failure means the configuration was not saved or that a manual reload is needed, rather than investigating the specific incompatibility.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The configuration contains objects or features that are deprecated or unsupported in the new version, causing the conversion to fail.
Configuration conversion failures during upgrades are typically caused by deprecated or unsupported objects in the new version. The BIG-IP upgrade process automatically converts the configuration, but if an object cannot be converted, it is skipped and an error is logged. The administrator must review the logs to identify the problematic objects and manually update or remove them. This ensures a clean configuration load.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The administrator did not run the 'tmsh save sys config' command before the upgrade, so the configuration was not saved to the new version.
Why it's wrong here
The upgrade process automatically saves the configuration to the new version's format. Running 'tmsh save sys config' before the upgrade is good practice but not the cause of a conversion failure. The error is about conversion, not about saving. The configuration is saved as part of the upgrade, but conversion issues prevent full loading.
- ✗
The upgrade was performed without first installing the latest hotfix for the current version, leading to an incompatible upgrade path.
Why it's wrong here
While installing hotfixes is recommended, the upgrade path from 15.1 to 17.1 is supported. Missing hotfixes might cause issues, but the specific error is a conversion failure, which points to configuration incompatibility, not a missing hotfix. The upgrade logs would show a different error if the path were unsupported.
- ✓
The configuration contains objects or features that are deprecated or unsupported in the new version, causing the conversion to fail.
Why this is correct
When upgrading across major versions, some configuration objects may be deprecated or changed. The upgrade process attempts to convert them, but if an object is no longer supported, the conversion fails and that part of the configuration is not loaded. The logs will indicate which objects caused the failure. The administrator must review and manually adjust those objects.
- ✗
The upgrade process requires a manual re-import of the configuration using 'tmsh load sys config' from a backup.
Why it's wrong here
The upgrade process automatically migrates the configuration. A manual re-import is not typically required unless the automatic conversion fails. In this case, the conversion failure indicates a specific incompatibility, not a need for manual reload. The administrator should investigate the conversion error rather than blindly reloading.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official F5 exam blueprint
This F5CAB1 practice question is part of Courseiva's free F5 certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the F5CAB1 exam.