Configure Static Active-Standby Interface Bonding on BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes

Overview

Use this guide to configure static active-standby interface bonding on F5 BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes. This bonding mode groups exactly two interfaces into a single trunk. One interface handles traffic at a time (the active interface), while the other interface stays on standby. If the active interface fails, a standby interface takes over.

This mode does not use Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) and does not distribute traffic across interfaces at the same time. It provides link redundancy for high availability (HA) environments.

Before you begin

• Exactly two identical physical interfaces available for bonding. Both interfaces must be of the same type and speed to ensure predictable failover behavior.

• Administrative access to BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes

Configure the VLAN CRD for Active-standby Bonding

Configure Static Trunking

Configure the trunk to operate in static mode by setting the trunk_hash parameter:

trunk_hash: static

Set the Preferred Active Interface

When you create an active-standby trunk, you can choose which interface handles traffic first. If you don’t set a preferred active interface, the system uses the first interface in the list.

To specify the preferred active interface, set the active_interface field to one of the interfaces in your interfaces list:

active_interface:
  type: string
  default: ""
  description: >
    Preferred active interface for ACTIVE_STANDBY LAG mode. Must be one
    of the interfaces listed in the interfaces array. If not specified,
    the first interface in the list will be used as the initial active
    interface.