F5CAB4 Control Plane Administration Practice Question
An administrator is unable to access the GUI, but SSH access is still functioning. What is the most appropriate next step for diagnosing the issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
When the GUI fails but SSH works, candidates often assume the entire device is dead and attempt a reboot instead of troubleshooting the specific httpd service.
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
✓
Check the status of the httpd service using tmsh.
When SSH is available but the GUI is not, it indicates that the underlying operating system and management network are functional, but the specific web server (httpd) or management service is failing. Using SSH to check the status of the 'httpd' service is the most direct way to isolate the problem. This is a common control plane troubleshooting scenario requiring knowledge of how F5 manages services.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reboot the entire BIG-IP system.
Why it's wrong here
Rebooting should be the last resort, as it is disruptive and does not help identify the root cause of the issue. The administrator should first attempt to diagnose and restart the specific service that is failing, which is faster and maintains system availability for the traffic-processing TMM.
- ✓
Check the status of the httpd service using tmsh.
Why this is correct
The httpd service provides the web-based GUI. If the GUI is down but SSH is up, the httpd service has likely crashed or hung. Checking its status via the CLI is the proper diagnostic step to determine if it needs to be restarted, restoring GUI access without affecting traffic.
- ✗
Fail over the BIG-IP unit immediately.
Why it's wrong here
Failover is a drastic measure that should only be taken if the service cannot be recovered and the device is currently failing to process traffic. Since only the GUI is affected, failing over would be an unnecessary disruption that does not address the underlying issue with the web service.
- ✗
Re-license the BIG-IP device.
Why it's wrong here
A GUI failure is rarely related to licensing. If the license were invalid, the system would typically provide clear error messages regarding the license status rather than just failing to load the GUI. Re-licensing would not fix a service-level failure, making it an inappropriate step for this specific symptom.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every F5CAB4 question from scratch — 40 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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 F5CAB4 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 F5CAB4 exam.