Introduction to F5 BIG-IP APIs

The F5 BIG-IP offers many programmable interfaces, from control-plane to data-plane. The documentation in this section focuses on these areas:

  • iApps - customizable template driven configuration tools that allow you to deploy an application service as a single object
  • iControlREST - REST-based API for imperative configuration and service control of BIG-IP from remote applications
  • iControl (SOAP) - SOAP-based API for imperative configuration and service control of BIG-IP from remote applications
  • iHealth - REST-based API for working progammatically with the F5 iHealth diagnostics site.
  • iRules - A Tcl-based event-driven programming API for manipulating data-plane traffic in real time.
  • iRulesLX - A Node.js-based event-driven programming API for manipulating data-plane traffic in real time.
  • tmsh (scripting) - A Tcl-based scripting environment within the traffic management shell that supports control-plane actions. Deploying as iCall scripts unlocks event-driven actions as well.

The BIG-IP API Reference documentation contains community-contributed content. F5 does not monitor or control community code contributions. We make no guarantees or warranties regarding the available code, and it may contain errors, defects, bugs, inaccuracies, or security vulnerabilities. Your access to and use of any code available in the BIG-IP API reference guides is solely at your own risk.