301b - BIG-IP LTM Specialist: Maintain and Troubleshoot

For engineers preparing for the F5 301b certification exam

Understand how LTM really behaves under real traffic.

Understand how to analyse, maintain, and troubleshoot BIG-IP LTM to 301b exam-level standards identifying root causes, resolving configuration issues, and validating traffic flow using structured diagnostic methods.

Join Wait List for early access list

Enrolment opens: February 1st 2026
Full course access: February 28th 2026

Pricing €499 > Full Course

Created by: Graham Mattingley (15+ years F5 consultant - banking, aviation, government & F5 instructor)"

Last Updated: Jab 30, 2026

Course Overview

In this course, you are provided with a structured understanding of how to maintain and troubleshoot BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) solutions in alignment with the 301b certification blueprint. The course includes video training, configuration analysis, traffic flow investigations, trace comparisons, and practical troubleshooting scenarios covering high availability behaviour, Virtual Server processing, SSL negotiation issues, persistence failures, SNAT behaviour, routing problems, and performance diagnostics. You will develop the structured troubleshooting methodology required to isolate root causes, validate configuration behaviour, and resolve complex LTM issues to 301b exam-level standards. This course is aligned to the official F5 301b BIG-IP LTM Specialist: Maintain and Troubleshoot certification exam blueprint.

What's Included

Instructor-led, self-paced video training with structured troubleshooting methodology
Traffic flow analysis and configuration diagnostics using the F5 GUI and TMSH
Step-by-step investigation walkthroughs covering SSL issues, persistence failures, SNAT behaviour, routing problems, and performance scenarios
Trace comparison exercises (client-side, BIG-IP, and server-side) aligned to blueprint objectives
Scenario-based troubleshooting demonstrations and multiple-choice tests to assess exam readiness
Real-world troubleshooting case studies drawn from banking, aviation, and enterprise environments
Private course community access for technical discussion and 301b exam support

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What You Will Be Able To Do?

Most engineers can deploy LTM. Fewer can confidently diagnose and resolve complex traffic issues when things go wrong. This course builds that structured troubleshooting capability.

After completing this course, you'll be able to:

✅ Analyse traffic flow end-to-end - Trace client-side, BIG-IP, and server-side traffic to understand exactly where behaviour changes, using TCPDUMP / SSLDUMP / CURL

✅ Isolate root causes methodically - Apply structured troubleshooting techniques instead of guessing and delaying fixes.

✅ Diagnose SSL negotiation and certificate issues - Identify handshake failures, protocol mismatches, and configuration errors quickly

✅ Diagnose and resolve session failures - Identify persistence misconfigurations, SNAT translation issues, and routing inconsistencies that cause intermittent or broken connections

✅ Interpret logs and system output confidently - Use TMSH, TCPDUMP, SSLDUMP, logs, and diagnostic tools to validate configuration behaviour

✅ Compare expected vs actual behaviour - Determine whether the issue is configuration, application, network, or external dependency

✅ Communicate technical findings with confidence - Clearly explain root causes and remediation steps to network engineers, developers, application owners, and security teams

You will leave this course with the confidence to approach LTM incidents calmly and systematically - reducing downtime, protecting availability, and demonstrating real troubleshooting authority in high-pressure environments.

Course Curriculum

▶️Section 1 – Troubleshoot Basic Virtual Server Connectivity Issues

11 Sub-Modules | 45 Lessons

Device-level configuration review and identifying misconfiguration patterns
Licensing and provisioning validation during module-related issues
High Availability troubleshooting (Device Trust, ConfigSync failures, failover behaviour analysis)
Administrative access issues and RBAC misconfiguration diagnosis
Logging interpretation, event correlation, and system diagnostic tools
Configuration management, UCS validation, and detecting configuration issues
Secure management access, troubleshooting (SSH, HTTPS, certificate issues, access restrictions)
TMSH diagnostic commands and advanced command-line troubleshooting techniques
System upgrades, hotfix considerations, and post-maintenance validation
TMM architecture analysis and resource constraint investigation (CPU, memory, connection limits)
Troubleshooting core device-level failures before escalation
Local Traffic Policies vs iRules behavioural conflicts and evaluation order
iRule logic interpretation and troubleshooting unexpected event behaviour

▶️Section 2 – Identify and Resolve Application Issues

11 Sub-Modules | 45 Lessons

Device-level configuration review and identifying misconfiguration patterns
Licensing and provisioning validation during module-related issues
High Availability troubleshooting (Device Trust, ConfigSync failures, failover behaviour analysis)
Administrative access issues and RBAC misconfiguration diagnosis
Logging interpretation, event correlation, and system diagnostic tools
Configuration management, UCS validation, and detecting configuration issues
Secure management access, troubleshooting (SSH, HTTPS, certificate issues, access restrictions)
TMSH diagnostic commands and advanced command-line troubleshooting techniques
System upgrades, hotfix considerations, and post-maintenance validation
TMM architecture analysis and resource constraint investigation (CPU, memory, connection limits)
Troubleshooting core device-level failures before escalation
Local Traffic Policies vs iRules behavioural conflicts and evaluation order
iRule logic interpretation and troubleshooting unexpected event behaviour

▶️Section 3 – Identify and Resolve Device Issues

11 Sub-Modules | 55 Lessons

Deployment topology analysis (one-arm, inline, routed, HA models) and how the architecture affects troubleshooting
VLANs, trunks, and Self IP behaviour identifying Layer 1–3 misconfigurations and traffic drops
Nodes, Pools, and health monitors are diagnosing availability failures, improvments and unexpected monitor states
Virtual Server processing logic identifying misapplied and redundant profiles, policies, and configuration conflicts
LTM profile interaction (TCP, HTTP, OneConnect, caching, compression) and troubleshooting unexpected behaviour
SSL processing analysis (client-side, server-side, bridging, offload) and resolving handshake or certificate issues
Persistence, troubleshooting and session behaviour validation
SNAT behaviour analysis and identifying translation-related traffic failures
Routing diagnostics, asymmetric path identification, and return traffic validation
Full proxy architecture and TMM traffic flow interpretation during incident analysis
Configuration comparison techniques and identifying drift between expected and actual behaviour
Structured troubleshooting methodology and change validation under exam scenarios
TMOS upgrade impact analysis and strategies, understanding behavioural changes, version differences, and pre and post-steps and troubleshooting considerations

Want Personalised Support?

Add a 1:1 Strategy Session

Get a private hour with Graham to:
✅ Review your specific LTMb study and knowledge gaps
✅ Review specific areas of the blueprint that are blockers.
✅ Live question sessions to test exam readiness
Additional Costs: €100

Private Community Included with the Course

Share a private community with other members of this course.
Course community membership is permanent.

✅Ask questions and get practical advice from other course members on the same learning journey.

✅Share real-world scenarios, problems, and solutions.

16 Hours of Video Lessons

Presentations, F5 GUI and CLI demonstrations, real-world LTM Virtual deployment scenarios, profile configuration walkthroughs, traffic flow analysis, and architectural design examples aligned to the 301b blueprint.

Labs with GUI, CLI, TCP/SSL DUMP and Postman

Architectural presentations, F5 GUI and TMSH demonstrations, real-world deployment scenarios, profile implementation walkthroughs, traffic flow validation, and high availability configuration exercises aligned to the 301b blueprint.

Lesson Knowledge Checks

Targeted knowledge assessments after each module to reinforce key concepts and ensure you are progressing toward 301b exam readiness. The questions will also include production-level Q&A

Course FAQs

Is this a certification prep course?

How is this different from the 301b course?

Do I need prior BIG-IP certification?

Does this course include practical troubleshooting demonstrations?

Is this course suitable for real-world deployment work, or only the exam?

Instructor

Graham Mattingley

F5 Instructor

Graham Mattingley F5 Instructor

F5-certified expert with 30+ years in application development and 15 years specialising in F5 technologies. I've deployed and secured F5 solutions for banking, aviation, and government systems across Europe. I'm also an app developer and OWASP member, so I teach security from both sides: how apps work and how to protect them.

I don't teach exam shortcuts. I teach real-world security, how LTM actually behaves under production traffic, how to tune policies without breaking applications, and how to make confident decisions when it's 2 AM and something's on fire.

This is the operational knowledge I wish I'd had 15 years ago, distilled from production deployments you won't find in official training materials.

How this course is delivered

Instructor-led, structured video lessons aligned directly to the 301b blueprint
Step-by-step configuration walkthroughs using the F5 GUI and TMSH
Guided video lab demonstrations showing full architectural builds and validation
Clearly structured modules progressing from architecture fundamentals to deployment design
Self-paced access, allowing you to study around professional commitments
Practical architectural scenarios based on real-world LTM implementations

Prerequisites & Requirements

A valid F5 201 – TMOS Administration certification
Successful completion of the 301b – Architect, Setup and Deploy certification
Solid understanding of BIG-IP LTM architecture and deployment principles
Strong networking fundamentals (OSI Layers 2–4)
Familiarity with TCP/IP, SSL/TLS, and application delivery behaviour
Access to a BIG-IP lab environment is strongly recommended for troubleshooting practice

If you have not yet completed the 201 or 301a certifications, a structured 201 + 301a preparation pathway is available before progressing to 301b.

What happens next?

Join the waiting list to be notified when enrolment opens
Receive weekly, blueprint-aligned LTM troubleshooting scenarios and diagnostic insights while the course is in development
Get early access and priority enrolment before the public launch