F5 BigIP LTM v11.5.3 Virtual Appliance HA Configuration – Part 1

BIG-IP Virtual Edition (VE) is a version of the BIG-IP system that runs as a virtual machine. Supported modules include Local Traffic Manager, BIG-IP DNS (formerly Global Traffic Manager), Application Security Manager, Access Policy Manager, Application Acceleration Manager, Policy Enforcement Manager, Application Firewall Manager, and Analytics. BIG-IP VE includes all features of device-based BIG-IP modules running on standard BIG-IP TMOS, except as noted in release notes and product documentation. BIG-IP VE includes all features of device-based BIG-IP modules running on standard BIG-IP TMOS, except as noted in release notes and product documentation.

There are some related posts in this site regarding F5 BigIP LTM configuration:

• F5 Big IP 2000s Appliance Initial Configuration
• F5 BigIP LTM v11.5.3 Virtual Appliance Configuration – Part 1
• F5 BigIP LTM v11.5.3 Virtual Appliance Configuration – Part 2
• F5 BigIP LTM Basic Configuration Steps
• F5 Big-IP 2500 Appliance System Initial Configuration
• Download and Install F5 BIG-IP v11.x / Virtual Edition 11.3.x into Vmware Workstation

 

2. Deploy VE

Check Virtual Edition and Supported Hypervisors Matrix before deployment.

2.1 Import into Vmware ESXi

Follow the screenshots to import OVA file into my lab environment Vmware ESXi 5.5. This lab are using default settings for CPU, Memory and Hard drive.

 

 

 

Note: If Memory of VE is  4 GB or less

The following guidelines apply to VE guests provisioned with 4 GB or less of memory.

• No more than two modules may be configured together.
• AAM should not be provisioned, except as Dedicated.

 

Network Settings are most critical parts for your VM environment.
Network adapter 1 – > F5’s Management NIC  – > ESXi’s VM Internet network.
Network adapter 2 – > F5’s Internal NIC          – > ESXi’s VM DMZ network
Network adapter 3 – > F5’s External NIC         – > ESXi’s VM Internal network
Network adapter 4 – > F5’s HA NIC                 – > ESXi’s VM LAN1

You will find topology with IP address details in next post:

• F5 BigIP LTM v11.5.3 Virtual Appliance Configuration – Part 2

 

 

2.2  Import into Citrix Xen
Similar steps in Citrix Xen server environment. Here are some screenshots from Citrix Xen Center:

 

 

  

2.3 Start Virtual Appliance:

 

 

3. Management Configuration

Log in as root with default as password for cli:

login as: root Using keyboard-interactive authentication. Password:default Last login: Fri Apr  1 07:47:22 2016 [root@localhost:NO LICENSE:Standalone] config # [root@localhost:NO LICENSE:Standalone] config # tmsh root@(localhost)(cfg-sync Standalone)(NO LICENSE)(/Common)(tmos)# show sys version Sys::Version Main Package   Product  BIG-IP   Version  11.5.3   Build    2.10.196   Edition  Engineering Hotfix HF2   Date     Thu Sep 24 12:44:06 PDT 2015 Hotfix List ID515139-4   ID516075-5   ID527649-1   ID534630-3   ID491771-1  ID497564-5 ID495702-3   ID454086-4   ID526419-2   ID525595-1   ID512383-4  ID517872-2 …

Change Management IP from default 192.168.1.245/24 to your management zone ip

root@(localhost)(cfg-sync Standalone)(NO LICENSE)(/)(tmos.sys)# delete /sys management-ip 192.168.1.245/24 root@(localhost)(cfg-sync Standalone)(NO LICENSE)(/)(tmos.sys)# create /sys management-ip 10.9.12.26/24 root@(localhost)(cfg-sync Standalone)(NO LICENSE)(/Common)(tmos)# list /sys management-ip sys management-ip 10.9.12.26/24 { } root@(localhost)(cfg-sync Standalone)(NO LICENSE)(/Common)(tmos)# list /sys management-route sys management-route default {     gateway 10.9.12.1     network default }

Create a default route for management interface to 10.9.12.1

Log in Web GUI using admin/admin as username and password:

Reference:

• SOL15040: Configuring and displaying the management IP address for the BIG-IP system
• F5 Big-IP 2500 Appliance System Initial Configuration