How to: Create a BIG-IP Next instance on rSeries system from BIG-IP Next Central Manager¶
Overview¶
You can easily create a BIG-IP Next VE instance on an rSeries appliance from BIG-IP Next Central Manager using an rSeries template.
Prerequisites¶
Before you create an instance from BIG-IP Next Central Manager, you must:
Have an active MyF5 account for licensing and provisioning this BIG-IP Next instance, or access to a JSON License Web Token (LWT)
Download the rSeries F5OS-A file
Have Postman
Complete the initial configuration of an rSeries system
Connect a console or terminal server to the console port of the rSeries appliance
Run the Setup wizard to enable DHCP, and configure DNS and NTP
-OR-Configure static IP addresses (does not enable DHCP): F5 rSeries Planning Guide > Initial Setup of rSeries F5OS Platform Layer > IP Address Assignment & Routing
Only if you did not run the Setup wizard to configure DNS, NTP, and external logging, use the CLI, webUI, or API to Configure system settings
Limitations¶
The BIG-IP Next Central Manager is unable to add rSeries systems as a virtualization provider, thus preventing the creation of new BIG-IP Next instances on rSeries systems. Refer to the following link for information regarding the workaround in Known issue.
Limitations for rSeries 2K and 4K platforms:
Link Aggregation (LAG) is not currently supported.
The first active interface must be assigned to Control-Plane High Availability.
Additional details on interface modes are available for the 2K and 4K series devices.
Procedure¶
Log in to BIG-IP Next Central Manager as admin, click the Workspace icon next to the F5 icon, and click Infrastructure.
If you have not added any BIG-IP Next instances previously, click the + Start Adding Instances button.
Click the Create a New Instance button. Review the requirements.
Enter a hostname and an optional description to identify this instance.
From the Instance Template list, select the rSeries Standalone template.
Click the Start Creating button.
Choose the VE/VELOS/rSeries Providers from the dropdown and click Next.
If you have not added any Providers previously, refer to the document on How to add a Provider for rSeries from BIG-IP Next Central Manager.
In rSeries Properties, enter the below details:
Specify the Disk Size, this should be greater than or equal to 22.
Specify the CPU Cores.
Select the Tenant Image Name and Tenant Deployment File from the dropdown. The tenant image and deployment file are pre-configured in the rSeries Partition.
Select the VLAN IDs from the dropdown.
Click Next.
In BIG-IP Next Instance Properties, provide the Management IP Address, Management Network Prefix Width, and the Gateway IP Address for the instance and click the Next button.
Click Networking, to configure the L1 Networks, VLANs and IP Addresses.
Click L1 Networks
By default, one L1 Network is pre-configured in server settings with the Interface Name set as 1.1. You can modify the L1 Network Name and Interface Name, if required.
Click + Create, to create one or more L1 Networks, if required.
Note: For rSeries platforms 5K, 10K, and 12K, the Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM) presents only a single virtual interface (1.1), regardless of the number of physical interfaces on the system. This is intended functionality and not a system issue. While TMM shows only one virtual interface, the system can still utilize multiple physical interfaces. The platform’s FPGAs automatically select the appropriate physical interfaces for traffic handling.
Note: For rSeries platforms 2K and 4K , each BIG-IP Next tenant is allocated one Virtual Function (VF) from every physical interface, ranging from 1.0 to 8.0.
For example:
interface 1.1 corresponds to physical interface 1.0
interface 1.2 corresponds to physical interface 2.0, and so on, up to
interface 1.8 corresponds to physical interface 8.0.
If interface 1.0 is assigned to a VLAN in F5OS, interface 1.1 should be used within the tenant to create an L1 network connecting the interface 1.1 to that VLAN. Similarly, if interface 2.0 is assigned to a different VLAN, a second L1 network should be created to connect interface 1.2 to that VLAN.
The VLANs are pre-configured from the rSeries Partition.
Choose the L1 Network from the dropdown.
Click IP Addresses to configure IP Addresses then click + Create.
In Address, specify the IP address.
In Device Name, no need to specify the name.
Choose the VLAN from the dropdown.
Specify the network settings and click the Next button.
Provide the username and password for administration for this BIG-IP Next instance, confirm the password, and click Next.
Review the summary of the configuration you created and if you’re ready to create this BIG-IP Next instance, click the Deploy button. Deployment can take up to 15 minutes.
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.
Before creating an instance, you can get the list of available templates, images, nodes, slot IDs, and VLANs using the respective endpoints.
a. Get the available templates by sending a GET request to
/api/v1/spaces/default/instances/initialization/templates
endpoint.GET https://{{bigip_next_cm_mgmt_ip}}/api/v1/spaces/default/instances/initialization/templates
The default template will be
rSeries
.For more information about templates using BIG-IP Next Central Manager APIs, see OpenAPI documentation.
b. Get the available images and deployment file by sending a GET request to
/api/v1/spaces/default/providers/f5os/{{provider_id}}/images
endpoint.GET https://{{bigip_next_cm_mgmt_ip}}/api/v1/spaces/default/providers/f5os/{{provider_id}}/images
A list of images on the Provider will be populated, select the desired image name and .yml file.
For more information about available images and deployment file using BIG-IP Next Central Manager APIs, see OpenAPI documentation.
c. Get the
slot_ids
, by sending a GET request to/api/v1/spaces/default/providers/f5os/{{provider_id}}/nodes
endpoint.GET https: //{{bigip_next_cm_mgmt_ip}}/api/v1/spaces/default/providers/f5os/{{provider_id}}/nodes
For more information about this API request, see OpenAPI documentation.
This will list the blades in the system along with blade information. Select the slot Number value to use in the
slot_ids
.d. Get the VLAN ids by sending a GET request to
/api/v1/spaces/default/providers/f5os/{{provider_id}}/vlans
endpoint.GET https://{{bigip_next_cm_mgmt_ip}}/api/v1/spaces/default/providers/f5os/{{provider_id}}/vlans
The VLAN list is created on the provider. Use the value in the
vlan_id
field of the desired VLAN.For more information about VLAN id request using BIG-IP Next Central Manager APIs, see OpenAPI documentation
Create an instance by sending a POST request to
/api/v1/spaces/default/instances/initialization
endpoint.POST https://{{bigip_next_cm_mgmt_ip}}/api/v1/spaces/default/instances/initialization
For the request payload, use the following example, modifying the values as required.
Click for payload ▶
{ "template_name": "default-standalone-rseries", "parameters": { "instantiation_provider": [ { "id": "{{provider_id}}", "name": "myrseries", "type": "rseries" } ], "rseries_properties": [ { "tenant_image_name": "BIG-IP-Next-20.2.1-2.430.2+0.0.37", "tenant_deployment_file": "BIG-IP-Next-20.2.1-2.430.2+0.0.37.yaml", "vlan_ids": [ 1709, 1710, 1711, 1712 ], "disk_size": 30, "cpu_cores": 4 } ], "default_gateway": "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx", "management_address": "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx", "management_network_width": 22, "l1Networks": [ { "vlans": [ { "defaultVrf": true, "selfIps": [], "name": "mcp-1709", "tag": 1709 }, { "defaultVrf": true, "selfIps": [], "name": "mdp-1710", "tag": 1710 }, { "defaultVrf": true, "selfIps": [ { "address": "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" } ], "name": "mExternal-name", "tag": 1711 }, { "defaultVrf": true, "selfIps": [ { "address": "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" } ], "name": "mInternal-name", "tag": 1712 } ], "l1Link": { "linkType": "Interface", "name": "1.1" }, "name": "DefaultL1Network" } ], "management_credentials_username": "admin-cm", "management_credentials_password": "******", "instance_one_time_password": "********", "hostname": "moo-ha" } }
For more information about creating instance using BIG-IP Next Central Manager APIs, see OpenAPI documentation
Check the status of the instance creation job using the path by sending a GET request to
/api/v1/spaces/default/instances/initialization/tasks/path
endpoint.GET https://{{bigip_next_cm_mgmt_ip}}/api/v1/spaces/default/instances/initialization/tasks/path
Click for sample response ▶
{ "_links": { "self": { "href": "/v1/instances/tasks/d67bc289-21a0-4653-964c-b994505e3c3a" } }, "created": "2024-05-23T20:29:41.951762Z", "id": "d67bc289-21a0-4653-964c-b994505e3c3a", "name": "instance creation", "payload": { "discovery": { "port": 5443, "address": "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx", "device_user": "admin", "device_password": "*****", "management_user": "admin-cm", "management_password": "*****" }, "onboarding": { "mode": "STANDALONE", "nodes": [ { "password": "*****", "username": "admin", "managementAddress": "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" } ], "l1Networks": [ { "name": "DefaultL1Network", "vlans": [ { "tag": 3651, "name": "ext-vlan-3651", "selfIps": [ { "address": "1.2.3.4/24" } ], "defaultVrf": true }, { "tag": 3652, "name": "int-vlan-3652", "selfIps": [ { "address": "5.6.7.8/24" } ], "defaultVrf": true } ], "l1Link": { "name": "1.1", "linkType": "Interface" } } ], "platformType": "RSERIES" }, "instantiation": { "Request": { "F5osRequest": { "provider_id": "10101569-0abb-42ce-a279-8af83586386b", "provider_type": "rSeries", "next_instances": [ { "nodes": [ 1 ], "vlans": [ 3651, 3652 ], "mgmt_ip": "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx", "timeout": 600, "hostname": "myrseriesinstance", "cpu_cores": 4, "disk_size": 16, "mgmt_prefix": 24, "mgmt_gateway": "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx", "admin_password": "*****", "tenant_image_name": "BIG-IP-Next-20.3.0-2.435.1", "tenant_deployment_file": "BIG-IP-Next-20.3.0-2.435.1.yaml" } ] }, "VsphereRequest": null }, "BaseTask": { "id": "", "payload": null, "provider_id": "10101569-0abb-42ce-a279-8af83586386b", "provider_type": "rseries" }, "VsphereRequest": null } }, "stage": "Instantiation", "state": "instantiateInstances", "status": "running", "task_type": "instance_creation", "updated": "2024-05-23T20:29:42.454429Z" }
For more information about instance creation status using BIG-IP Next Central Manager APIs, see OpenAPI documentation
Check the status of the instance creation until the following status is displayed.
"stage": "Discovery", "state": "discoveryDone", "status": "completed",
Check the instance details by sending a GET request to
/api/v1/spaces/default/instances?filter=address eq '{{bigip_next_mgmt_ip}}'
endpoint.GET https://{{bigip_next_cm_mgmt_ip}}/api/v1/spaces/default/instances?filter=address eq '{{bigip_next_mgmt_ip}}'
Click for sample response ▶
{ "_embedded": { "devices": [ { "_links": { "self": { "href": "/api/v1/spaces/default/instances?filter=address+eq+%27xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx%27/3bf570b6-7763-4e70-a3b5-4c07492c2c06" } }, "address": "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx", "certificate_validated": "2024-05-23T20:39:08.611071Z", "certificate_validity": false, "hostname": "myrseriessinstance", "id": "3bf570b6-7763-4e70-a3b5-4c07492c2c06", "mode": "STANDALONE", "platform_name": "RSERIES", "platform_type": "CHASSIS", "port": 5443, "short_id": "2UVWZSAG", "version": "20.3.0-2.435.1" } ] }, "_links": { "self": { "href": "/api/v1/spaces/default/instances?filter=address+eq+%27xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx%27" } }, "count": 1, "total": 1 }
For more information about instance creation status using BIG-IP Next Central Manager APIs, see OpenAPI documentation.
Result¶
You can now manage this BIG-IP Next instance from BIG-IP Next Central Manager.