How to: Generate a QKView file for BIG-IP Next Central Manager and upload to F5 iHealth

A QKView file is a compressed archive that contains configuration and runtime data from the BIG-IP Next Central Manager.

Prerequisites

  • You must have installed BIG-IP Next Central Manager.

  • You need an iHealth account.
    Note: iHealth is free but requires registration. Access iHealth to either authenticate or register for your account.

Procedures

Generate a QKView file

Prerequisite

Authenticate with the BIG-IP Next Central Manager API. For details refer to How to: Authenticate with the BIG-IP Next Central Manager API

Access BIG-IP Next Central Manager (CM) QKViews using following APIs:

  1. Check for any existing QKViews by sending the GET request to /system/qkviews endpoint.

    GET https://{cm_mgmt_ip}/api/v1/system/qkviews
    

    You will get an empty response, when there is no QKView.

    For more information about retrieving existing CM QKviews using CM APIs, see OpenAPI documentation.

  2. Generate the CM QKView by sending the POST request to /system/qkviewsendpoint.

    POST https://{cm_mgmt_ip}/api/v1/system/qkviews
    

    For the request payload, use the following example, modifying the values as required. Provide a valid filename that consists of alphanumeric characters and symbols like ‘_’, ‘-’, ‘.’, and ‘ ‘ with the recommended file extension ‘.tgz’.

    {
    "filename": "cm-qkview-filename.tgz"
    }
    

    Note: The filename is optional. If you don’t provide one, it will take a default file name: qkview.{timestamp}.tgz. The timestamp format is yyyy-MM-dd’T’HH:mm:ss.SSS’Z’.

    Sample response:

    {
     "creation_date_time": "2024-10-10T10:07:44.06925503Z",
     "filename": "cm-qkview-filename.tgz",
     "id": "cb11a430-39a0-444c-bf6d-333b99ce31a6"
    }
    

    Note: When you generate a new QKView, it will replace any existing ones.

    For more information about generating a new CM QKview using CM APIs, see OpenAPI documentation.

  3. Retrieve the status of the CM QKViews by sending the GET request to /system/qkviews endpoint.

    GET https://{cm_mgmt_ip}/api/v1/system/qkviews
    
    Click for sample successful response ▶
       {
                 "action": "CREATE",
                 "creation_date_time": "2024-10-10T10:07:44.06925503Z",
                 "files": [
                     {
                         "name": "cm-qkview-filename.tgz"
                     }
                 ],
                 "id": "cb11a430-39a0-444c-bf6d-333b99ce31a6",
                 "source": "CM",
                 "status": "RUNNING"
       }
    

    Identify the QKView id from the response.

    Periodically check the QKView generation status by sending this request until the status shows COMPLETED or FAILED.

    Note:

    • If the status of the QKView generation task is RUNNING, you cannot generate a new QKView or download or delete an existing QKView.

    • If the QKView generation fails, the response will show both the previous successful QKView and latest attempt with a status of FAILED.

    • When the status of a newly generated QKView is RUNNING, the response will contain the details of previous successful QKView as well. Once the status changes to COMPLETED, it will contain only the latest QKView details.

  4. Download a specific CM QKView file by sending the GET request to /system/qkviews/{id}/download endpoint.

    Replace the id with the QKView id you want to download from the step 3 response’s payload.

    GET https://{cm_mgmt_ip}/api/v1/system/qkviews/{id}/download
    

    After the download is complete, save the response as a file on your local machine.

    Note: You can only download the QKView if the task status in step 3 is COMPLETED.

    For more information about downloading a specifi CM QKView file using CM APIs, see OpenAPI Documentation.

  5. Delete a specific CM QKView by sending the DELETE request to system/qkviews/{id} endpoint. Replace the id with the QKView id you want to delete from the previous response.

    DELETE https://{cm_mgmt_ip}/api/v1/system/qkviews/{id}
    

    For more information about deleting specific CM QKViews using CM APIs, see OpenAPI documentation.

  6. To check if the QKView has been deleted, send a GET request to the /system/qkviews endpoint.

    GET https://{cm_mgmt_ip}/api/v1/system/qkviews
    

To create a QKView file for a BIG-IP Next Central Manager using CLI script:

  1. Log in as an administrator to the terminal console.

  2. Run the following to create the QKView:

    /opt/cm-bundle/cm qkview
    

    When run successfully, this produces output that ends with a message similar to:

    info: QKView archive created at /opt/cm-QKView/QKView.<20220321-181700>.tgz
    
  3. Copy the QKView file from the BIG-IP Next Central Manager to your computer so that you can send it to F5 support. Use a command similar to:

    scp admin@<BIG-IP Next Central Manager IP address>:/opt/cm-qkview/qkview.<20220321-181700>.tgz .
    

Generate a HA QKView file using BIG-IP Next Central Manager API

Prerequisites

Authenticate with the BIG-IP Next Central Manager API. For details refer to How to: Authenticate with the BIG-IP Next Central Manager API

Note: If you generate a QKView file using Node 1’s IP address, you can access, download, and delete the QKView files using any node’s IP address, as they are interchangeable.

Access BIG-IP Next Central Manager (CM) QKViews using following APIs:

  1. Check for any existing QKViews by sending the GET request to /system/qkviews endpoint.

    GET https://{cm_mgmt_node_ip}/api/v1/system/qkviews
    

    You will get an empty response, when there is no QKView.

  2. Generate the CM QKView by sending the POST request to /system/qkviewsendpoint.

    POST https://{cm_mgmt_node_ip}/api/v1/system/qkviews
    

    For the request payload, use the following example, modifying the values as required. Provide a valid filename that consists of alphanumeric characters and symbols like ‘_’, ‘-’, ‘.’, and ‘ ‘ with the recommended file extension ‘.tgz’.

    {
    "filename": "cm-qkview-filename.tgz"
    }
    

    Note: The filename is optional. If you don’t provide one, it will take a default file name: qkview.{timestamp}.tgz. The timestamp format is yyyy-MM-dd’T’HH:mm:ss.SSS’Z’.

    Sample response:

    {
     "creation_date_time": "2024-10-10T10:07:44.06925503Z",
     "filename": "cm-qkview-filename.tgz",
     "id": "cb11a430-39a0-444c-bf6d-333b99ce31a6"
    }
    

    Note:

    • When you generate a new QKView, it will replace any existing ones.

    • The QKView generation may take longer than expected.

    • Even if the access token expires, QKView generation will continue.

  3. Retrieve the status of the CM QKViews by sending the GET request to /system/qkviews endpoint.

    GET https://{cm_mgmt_node_ip}/api/v1/system/qkviews
    
    Click for sample successful response ▶
    {
                 "action": "CREATE",
                 "creation_date_time": "2024-10-10T10:07:44.06925503Z",
                 "files": [
                     {
                         "name": "cm-qkview-filename.tgz"
                     }
                 ],
                 "id": "cb11a430-39a0-444c-bf6d-333b99ce31a6",
                 "source": "CM",
                 "status": "RUNNING"
    }
    

    Identify the QKView id from the response.

    Periodically check the QKView generation status by running the request until the status shows COMPLETED or FAILED.

    Note:

    • If the status of the QKView generation task is RUNNING, you cannot generate a new QKView or download or delete an existing QKView.

    • If the QKView generation fails, the response will show both the previous successful QKView and the latest attempt with a status of FAILED.

    • When the status of a newly generated QKView is RUNNING, the response will contains the details of previous successful QKView as well. Once the status changes to COMPLETED, it will contain only the latest QKView details.

  4. Download a specific CM QKView file by sending the GET request to /system/qkviews/{id}/download endpoint.

    Replace the id with the QKView id you want to download from the step 3 response’s payload.

    GET https://{cm_mgmt_node_ip}/api/v1/system/qkviews/{id}/download
    

    After the download is complete, save the response as a file on your local machine.

    Note: You can download the QKView only if the task status in step 3 is COMPLETED.

  5. Delete a specific CM QKView by sending the DELETE request to system/qkviews/{id} endpoint. Replace the id with the QKView id you want to delete from the previous response.

    DELETE https://{cm_mgmt_node_ip}/api/v1/system/qkviews/{id}
    
  6. To check that QKView has been deleted, send a GET request to the /system/qkviews endpoint.

    GET https://{cm_mgmt_node_ip}/api/v1/system/qkviews
    

Upload a QKView file to iHealth

Upload your QKView file to iHealth so that you can view the collected configuration and runtime data.

  1. Navigate to ihealth.f5.com.
    The link redirects to the F5 Login page.

  2. Log in using your Email and Password.
    F5 iHealth opens.

  3. On the top left of the page, click Upload.
    Upload a QKView displays.

  4. Next to File(s), click Choose.

  5. Navigate to the QKView file that you created and downloaded through the above procedures, select the file, and click Open.

  6. Click Upload QKView(s).
    On the main iHealth window, the extraction process starts.

  7. When the file extraction finishes, you can use the iHealth user interface to view the collected configuration and runtime data.