Choose an installation method¶
Lifecycle-management tools¶
You can use either of the following tools to manage the lifecycle (clean installation, upgrade, and uninstallation) of F5 BIG-IP Cloud-Native Edition:
F5 Lifecycle Operator
Helm
Note
Using Helm to install BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes (DPU) instances is not currently supported.
Decide which lifecycle-management tool is better for you¶
The lifecycle-management tool that’s right for you depends on several criteria. Use this table to help you decide which tool is more appropriate:
Comparing… |
F5 Lifecycle Operator |
Helm |
|---|---|---|
Faster, easier installation? |
Yes |
No |
Can use to install BNK (DPU) instances? |
Yes |
Not currently supported |
Supports later configuration of BNK instances using Gateway API? |
Yes |
Not currently supported |
Advanced control over the configuration of CNE-core components during installation? |
No |
Yes |
Advanced installation options for CNE instances such as node affinity and more granular container resource limits and requests? |
No |
Yes |