F5CAB4 Control Plane Administration Practice Question
Which THREE services are categorized as control plane services that can be managed via TMSH?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often include traffic-related services like 'tmm' or 'httpd'. They fail to distinguish between core system control plane services and the traffic processing engines.
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
✓
snmpd
TMSH provides a unified interface for managing various control plane services. These services are essential for system-wide operations, including platform monitoring (SNMP), time synchronization (NTP), and DNS resolution. Managing these through TMSH ensures that changes are validated, logged, and synchronized across high-availability pairs. This consistency is vital for maintaining a stable infrastructure, as incorrectly configured time or DNS settings can lead to certificate validation errors, log timestamp discrepancies, and failure of remote authentication systems.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
snmpd
Why this is correct
SNMP is a standard management service used for monitoring device health and state. Managing it via TMSH allows for centralized control of community strings, trap destinations, and access control, ensuring that monitoring data is sent securely and correctly to the network management station, which is a crucial control plane function.
- ✓
ntpd
Why this is correct
Time synchronization via NTP is critical for certificate validity, logging, and security handshakes. Managing NTP servers through TMSH ensures that the BIG-IP system maintains accurate time across the cluster, preventing issues with time-dependent protocols and ensuring that logs are accurate for audit and forensic analysis in enterprise environments.
- ✗
tmm
Why it's wrong here
TMM is the data plane service, not a control plane service. It handles traffic processing and packet forwarding. While it can be monitored via TMSH, it is not a 'service' in the same sense as an administrative daemon like NTP or DNS, and it cannot be reconfigured via standard service management commands.
- ✓
named
Why this is correct
The BIG-IP system uses the named service for DNS resolution. Managing DNS via TMSH ensures that the device can correctly resolve hostnames for pool members, remote authentication servers, and logging targets. Proper DNS configuration is vital for the correct operation of many features that rely on external lookups, making it a key control plane service.
- ✗
httpd
Why it's wrong here
While httpd is a control plane service, it is primarily managed via system settings and GUI configuration profiles rather than as a standard 'service' managed for operational settings in the same way as SNMP or NTP. While it exists as a service, it's not the target of general TMSH service-level management commands.
Visual reference
About these practice questions
This F5CAB4 question is part of Courseiva's 40-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam 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.