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

Can use to install BNK (DPU) instances?

Yes

Not currently supported

Faster, easier installation?

Yes

No

Advanced control over the configuration of CNE-core components?

No

Yes

Advanced installation options for CNE instances such as node affinity and more granular container resource limits and requests?

No

Yes