F5-CTS-LTM BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager Practice Question
An administrator needs to ensure that a pool member remains part of the load balancing rotation only if it responds to specific HTTP GET requests on port 80, rather than just TCP SYN. Which action should the administrator perform?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often try to use a basic TCP monitor for application-level requirements. A TCP monitor only checks for a port, failing to verify if the application is actually providing content.
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
✓
Create and assign an HTTP monitor with a specific 'Send' and 'Receive' string.
To validate application-level health rather than just network reachability, a custom monitor is required. By creating an HTTP or HTTPS monitor, the BIG-IP sends specific requests and verifies the content of the response. This ensures that the web service itself is functional, not just the underlying operating system or network stack, preventing the delivery of requests to unresponsive or malfunctioning application 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.
- ✗
Configure an ICMP monitor on the pool member.
Why it's wrong here
ICMP monitors only verify network layer connectivity by sending echo requests. This method does not confirm that the web service is listening or processing HTTP traffic correctly, as the device might respond to pings even if the web service process has crashed or is hung.
- ✗
Enable the 'Priority Group Activation' feature on the pool.
Why it's wrong here
Priority Group Activation is used for failover scenarios between groups of pool members, not for health verification. It ensures that traffic is only sent to lower-priority members if the number of available members in the higher-priority group falls below a specified threshold, rather than validating service health.
- ✓
Create and assign an HTTP monitor with a specific 'Send' and 'Receive' string.
Why this is correct
An HTTP monitor allows the BIG-IP to perform a layer 7 health check. By defining a specific 'Send' string and a 'Receive' string, the administrator ensures the web application is actively serving pages, which is critical for maintaining high availability for web-based services.
- ✗
Change the pool's Load Balancing method to 'Least Connections'.
Why it's wrong here
The load balancing method dictates how traffic is distributed among already active members, not whether they are healthy. Changing the algorithm will not trigger any active health checks or verify the application-level integrity, as it only impacts the selection logic used when multiple members are available.
Visual reference
About these practice questions
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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.