F5-CTS-LTM BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager Practice Question
Exhibit
config # tmsh show ltm pool web_pool -------------------------------------------- Ltm::Pool: web_pool -------------------------------------------- Status Availability : offline State : enabled Reason : The children of the pool are down Active Members : 0 Total Members : 2
Refer to the exhibit. The web_pool is currently offline with zero active members. An LTM Specialist checks the backend servers and finds they are both responding to pings. What is the most likely reason for the pool being offline?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume that because a server responds to ICMP (ping), it is fully functional, failing to realize that the application service (HTTP/HTTPS) might be down.
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 health monitor is misconfigured or the service is down.
The pool status is 'offline' and 'children are down' despite servers being reachable via ping. This indicates the health monitor configured on the pool is failing, likely because the specific service (e.g., HTTP on port 80) is not responding or the monitor is misconfigured. Ping only tests network layer connectivity, whereas LTM monitors test application-layer availability, which is the standard for determining if a server can actually process traffic.
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 virtual server is disabled.
Why it's wrong here
A disabled virtual server would not impact the availability status of the backend pool members. The pool members would still be reported as 'up' or 'down' based on their individual health monitors, regardless of whether the virtual server object itself is enabled or disabled in the configuration.
- ✓
The health monitor is misconfigured or the service is down.
Why this is correct
Since servers respond to pings but are marked down by the pool, the health monitor is clearly failing. This means the specific application service the monitor is checking (like port 80/443) is not responding, or the monitor's parameters do not match the expected response from the backend server.
- ✗
The default route on the BIG-IP is missing.
Why it's wrong here
If the default route were missing, the BIG-IP would likely be unable to reach the servers at all, even for ping. Because the specialist can ping the servers, the routing table is correctly configured to reach the subnet where the backend servers reside.
- ✗
The SNAT pool is exhausted.
Why it's wrong here
SNAT pool exhaustion prevents the BIG-IP from translating client source IPs, but it does not cause the health monitor to mark pool members as offline. Health monitors function independently of the data plane traffic and would continue to report the status correctly even if a SNAT pool were full.
About these practice questions
One of 119 original F5-CTS-LTM practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. 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 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.