Create a BIG-IP Next Instance Locally on VMware¶

Use these instructions to install a new BIG-IP Next Instance virtual machine on your vSphere hypervisor, set the password, and apply a base configuration. When the steps are completed, the BIG-IP Next Instance is ready to be discovered and managed by the BIG-IP Next Central Manager

Task Overview¶

%%{ init: { 'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': { 'fontSize': '16px', 'primaryColor': '#ECECFF', 'primaryTextColor': '#0083c0', 'primaryBorderColor': '#9370DB', 'lineColor': '#000000' }, 'flowchart': { 'defaultRenderer': 'elk'} } }%% graph LR PREREQ(<a>Review Prerequisites</a>) click PREREQ "./next_install_vmware_setup_script.html#prerequisites" DL(<a>Download OVA</a>) click DL "./next_install_vmware_setup_script.html#download-ova" DEPLOY(<a>Deploy OVA</a>) click DEPLOY "./next_install_vmware_setup_script.html#deploy-ova" CONSOLE(<a>Access<br>BIG-IP<br>Console</a>) click CONSOLE "./next_install_vmware_setup_script.html#launch-console-and-change-password" SETUP(<a>Run Setup Script</a>) click SETUP "./next_install_vmware_setup_script.html#run-the-setup-script" ADDCM("Ready to be added to<br>BIG-IP Next Central Manager") click ADDCM "../use_cm/cm_add_instance_to_big_ip_ma.html" PREREQ --> DL DL --> DEPLOY DEPLOY --> CONSOLE CONSOLE --> SETUP SETUP --> ADDCM

Prerequisites¶

VMware vSphere version 7.x
Instance - sizes for deployment:

vCPUs	Memory
2	8GB
4	8GB
6	12GB
8	16GB
12	24GB
16	32 GB
24	48GB

Disk resource: 80GB of disk per BIG-IP Next virtual machine
Inputs for the setup script from your network; refer to sections for type inputs
Use VLAN names with a maximum of 15 characters.
Configure one additional Network Adapter to attach to the traffic VLAN(s).
Review the appropriate Release Notes

Procedures¶

Complete the steps below to create a BIG-IP Next using VMware vSphere.

Download OVA¶

Log in to MyF5.
Scroll to Support Resources and click Downloads.
Accept the EULA and click Next.
Under Group, select BIG-IP_Next.
Under Product Line, select Virtual Edition.
Under Select a product container, choose the appropriate version.
Scan the area under Select a download file and click the radio button for the OVA file.
Under Download locations, select the appropriate location.
Click Download.
Repeat these steps to also download the appropriate checksum file.
Move the OVA file to a desired location.

Deploy OVA¶

Log in to VMware vSphere.
In the top or left pane, click ACTIONS > Deploy OVF Template.
Locate the previously downloaded OVA file to use to install a VM:
1. Select Local file and then click UPLOAD FILES.
2. Select the OVA file, and click Open.
Click NEXT.
Type a VM name and select a location. Click NEXT.
Important: Do not use the plus ( + ) sign in the VM name.
Select a location for the compute resource and click NEXT.
Verify the template details and click NEXT.
Select the storage for the configuration and disk files, and click NEXT.
Select a Destination Network and click NEXT.
If necessary, customize the deployment properties and click NEXT.

Note:
- Ensure that the default Network Adapter is connected to the management VLAN, serving as the management port for BIG-IP Next Central Manager.
- Configure at least one additional Network Adapter to attach to the traffic VLAN(s).
  - Additional Network Adapters can be utilized to establish a typical two-arm configuration.
Review the selections and click FINISH.

Launch console and change password¶

Navigate to the virtual machine.
Click the Start button at the top of the screen, then wait for the virtual machine to start.
Open the console for the VM.
For both login and Password, type admin.
Welcome to Ubuntu… displays.

Run the setup script¶

Use the setup script to configure management networking in a static IP address environment and also assist in creating data plane networking configuration.

Help text for the script:

This setup script will help you initially configure the basic network settings for this instance.

Please answer the questions below. A default value for each parameter is indicated within the brackets. Example inputs are included within parentheses.

At the prompt, type setup.
Type inputs.

Network with DHCP
- Hostname:
- Primary NTP server address (i.e. 0.pool.ntp.org) (optional):
- Alternate NTP server address (i.e. 1.pool.ntp.org (optional):
Network with a management IP address (No DHCP)
- Hostname:
- Management IP Address & Network Mask [192.168.1.245/24]:
- Management Network Default Gateway [192.168.1.1]:
- Primary DNS nameserver (i.e. 192.168.1.2):
- Alternate DNS nameserver (i.e. 192.168.1.3) (optional):
- Primary NTP server address (i.e. 0.pool.ntp.org) (optional):
- Alternate NTP server address (i.e. 1.pool.ntp.org (optional):
Configure Data Plane Networking

After configuring management networking, configure data plane networking.

Important: Use VLAN names with a maximum of only 15 characters; if longer, traffic originating from the debug sidecar will not work correctly and can cause issues when troubleshooting.
- VLAN1 name (external) (optional)
  - VLAN1 interface [1.1]
  - VLAN1 self IPv4 [10.0.0.1/24]
- VLAN2 name (internal) (optional)
  - VLAN2 interface [1.2]
  - VLAN2 self IPv4 [172.16.0.1/24]
- Configure Static Route? (Y/n) [N]
  - Data-Plane Route [0.0.0.0/0]
  - Data-Plane Route Gateway [10.0.0.254]
  - Data-Plane Interface [1.1]
Admin Password

There is a prompt to set an admin password used by both the API and Linux console. SSH access to the admin account is blocked in the SSH server configuration.
- Please enter a new password for the ‘admin’ user:
- Please confirm the new password for the ‘admin’ user:
  
  Note: The password must be a minimum of 8 characters and contain mixed-case letters, numbers, and special characters.
Summary

The Summary provides an opportunity to review the inputs. There is also the setup command with additional CLI arguments for running the setup script again or on another host (for example, set up a secondary instance).

Sample output
```
  Summary
   -------

   Hostname: bigipnext1
   Management Network Already Configured: False
   Management IP Address: 192.168.1.245/24
   Management Gateway: 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers: 192.168.1.1
   NTP Servers: 0.pool.ntp.org
```
- Would you like to complete configuration with these parameters (Y/n) [N]: –> type Y.
The script runs. It may take several minutes to complete.

Sample output
```
...
[info] Setting hostname to bigipnext1...
[info] Waiting for BIG-IP Next API to be ready.  This can take up to 5 minutes ...
[info] Setting admin password
[info] Getting login token
[info] Waiting for all services to be ready
[info] Sending initial onboarding request
[info] Sending data plane route request
[info] Setup completed successfully.
```

Add instance to BIG-IP Next Central Manager¶

Installation is now complete and the new instance is now ready to be added to BIG-IP Next Central Manager.

How to: Add a locally-onboarded BIG-IP Next instance to BIG-IP Next Central Manager

Previous Next