F5-CTS-LTM BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager Practice Question
An administrator implements a pool monitor using an HTTP GET request to verify application health. The application returns an HTTP 200 OK status, but the HTML body contains an error string indicating database connectivity failure. How should the administrator configure the monitor to mark the pool member down when this error appears?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse the 'Receive' string with the 'Receive Disable' string. They incorrectly assume that entering the error message in the 'Receive' field will mark the pool member down when it appears.
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
✓
Configure the monitor with a 'Receive Disable' string matching the database error message.
Advanced monitors support 'Send' and 'Receive' string configurations. By specifying a 'Receive' string, the BIG-IP inspects the response body for expected content. Conversely, using a 'Receive Disable' string allows the administrator to specify a string that, if matched in the body, immediately marks the pool member down.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configure the monitor with a 'Receive' string that matches the database error message to validate failure.
Why it's wrong here
A Receive string marks the member up when the pattern is present, so matching the database error text would keep the failing node in service. Receive strings are used to confirm a healthy response body, for example a specific success banner, not to detect an error string.
- ✓
Configure the monitor with a 'Receive Disable' string matching the database error message.
Why this is correct
The 'Receive Disable' string inverts the monitor's logic: the health check passes on HTTP 200 but is forced down when the response body contains the specified database error text. This satisfies the requirement to detect application-layer failures that the status code alone cannot reveal.
- ✗
Change the monitor type to ICMP to detect underlying TCP socket failures automatically.
Why it's wrong here
ICMP monitors only check basic network reachability via ping and cannot inspect HTTP response bodies or application status. An ICMP monitor would report the node as healthy because the web server daemon is still responding to pings.
- ✗
Enable reverse validation in the pool properties to invert HTTP status code return logic.
Why it's wrong here
Reverse validation inverts the expected status code logic, so an HTTP 200 would be treated as failure and every healthy response marked down. It applies when a service returns non-2xx codes on success, not when the failure signal lives in the response body.
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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 F5-CTS-LTM 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 F5-CTS-LTM exam.