How to Deploy a BIG-IP VE instance and set up a basic load balancer¶

OpenStack version(s)	F5 Agent \| F5 Driver
Queens	v9.8.1	v13.x
Pike	v9.6.x \| v12.x +———– \| v11.x
Ocata
Newton	v10.x
Mitaka	v9.x

This guide demonstrates how to use the OpenStack Heat orchestration service to onboard, deploy, and provision a F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition (VE) instance. We provide instructions for deploying the Heat templates via the OpenStack Horizon dashboard.

This guide uses the following F5 Heat templates:

BIG-IP VE image patch and upload: Add an OpenStack-ready BIG-IP VE image to Glance.
BIG-IP VE Standalone, 3-nic: Deploy a standalone, 3-nic BIG-IP VE instance.
Deploy basic load balancer: Deploy a simple load balancer on the BIG-IP VE instance.

Before You Begin¶

In addition to the basic F5 Heat prerequisites, you will need the following to follow this guide:

An external network set up in Neutron that can access the internet.
F5 Heat Plugins for OpenStack installed on the Neutron controller.
SSH key(s) set up in OpenStack.
(Optional) Add the F5 flavors to OpenStack.

Caveats¶

The Heat engine needs to access the BIG-IP VE image file via “http”. The F5 Heat templates cannot retrieve files via “https” and do not support file uploads.

Add the BIG-IP VE image to Glance¶

Add a Ubuntu image¶

The BIG-IP image patch and upload template uses a Ubuntu server to run a patch script on the BIG-IP VE qcow image. If you don’t already have a Ubuntu image in Glance, you’ll need to add one.

Copy the download URL for a Ubuntu 14.04 server image. [1]
Add the image to Glance:
- In Horizon, go to Compute –> Images.
- Click Create Image and paste the image URL in the Image Location field.
- Enter the requested information, including the minimum requirements for your image (we used 7GB disk and 520MB RAM).
- Click Create to add the image to Glance.

[1]	Ubuntu 14.04 is the only version verified by the OpenStack development team. Other versions may work, but deployments using unverified versions are not supported by F5.

Patch and upload the BIG-IP VE image¶

Download the BIG-IP VE image patch and upload heat template.

Define the stack parameters in a YAML file.

Tip

The sample environment file below shows the values you’ll need to provide when deploying the BIG-IP VE image patch and upload heat stack.

Before you deploy your stack, replace the example values with the correct information for your environment.

parameters:
  onboard_image: ubuntu-14.04.5-server-amd64.iso
  # provide the name of a private network in your OpenStack cloud
  private_network: mgmt_net
  # provide your Keystone authentication URL
  f5_image_import_auth_url: http://1.2.3.4:5000/v2.0
  # provide the name of the OpenStack tenant (project) you want to import the
  # image to
  f5_image_import_tenant: admin
  # provide your OpenStack user name
  f5_image_import_user: admin
  # provide your OpenStack password
  # (TIP: use an environment variable)
  # This value is set to be hidden
  f5_image_import_password: $MY_PASSWORD
  # DO NOT CHANGE THIS ENTRY
  # This F5 Networks GitHub repo contains the image patch script
  image_prep_url: https://github.com/F5Networks/f5-openstack-image-prep.git
  # Provide the URL for your BIG-IP qcow.zip image
  # Must be accessible via http
  f5_ve_image_url: http://path/to/my/big-ip-ve-image
  f5_ve_image_name: BIGIP-12.1.2.0.0.249.LTM.qcow2.zip
  # Provide the name of an SSH key configured in OpenStack
  # This key will be used to authenticate to the Ubuntu server
  image_prep_key: my-openstack-ssh-key

Sample image patch and upload env file

Deploy the Heat stack using the OpenStack CLI.

openstack stack create -f patch_upload_ve_image.yaml -e patch-upload-ve-image.params.yaml

Deploy a BIG-IP VE instance¶

Download the BIG-IP VE Standalone, 3-nic heat template.

Define the stack parameters in a YAML file.

Tip

The sample environment file below shows the values you’ll need to provide when deploying the BIG-IP VE standalone, 3-nic heat stack.

Before you deploy your stack, replace the example values with the correct information for your environment.

parameters:
  ve_image: BIGIP-12.1.2.0.0.249.LTM.qcow2
  # Default is m1.medium
  # F5 flavor to use with BIG-IP VE LTM image is "f5-ltm"
  ve_flavor: m1.medium
  # Provide the name of an SSH key configured in OpenStack
  # This key will be used to authenticate to the BIG-IP VE instance
  f5_ve_os_ssh_key: my-openstack-ssh-key
  # Create a password for the BIG-IP admin user account
  # (TIP: use an environment variable)
  # This value is set to be hidden
  admin_password: $ADMIN_PASSWORD
  # Create a password for the BIG-IP root user account
  # (TIP: use an environment variable)
  # This value is set to be hidden
  root_password: $ROOT_PASSWORD
  # Enter your BIG-IP license key
  license: <license_string>
  # Provide the name of the Neutron network that has access to the internet
  external_network: neutron.ext.network
  # Provide the name of a Neutron network to assign to the BIG-IP mgmt interface
  mgmt_network: test
  # Provide the name of an existing Neutron network to connect to the BIG-IP 1.1
  # interface
  network_1: tmm_network
  # Assign a name to the 1.1 network on the BIG-IP instance
  network_1_name: network-1.1
  # Provide the name of an existing Neutron network to connect to the BIG-IP 1.2
  # interface
  network_2: tmm_network
  # Assign a name to the 1.2 network on the BIG-IP instance
  network_2_name: network-1.2
  # Provide the default gateway IP or hostname; defaults to 'none'
  default_gateway: none

Sample BIG-IP VE standalone 3-nic env file

Deploy the Heat stack using the OpenStack CLI.

openstack stack create -f f5_ve_standalone_3_nic.yaml -e f5_ve_standalone_3_nic.params.yaml

Assign a Floating IP Address to the BIG-IP instance¶

Use the OpenStack Horizon dashboard to assign a floating IP address to the BIG-IP VE instance.

Go to Project ‣ Compute ‣ Instances, then choose Associate Floating IP from the drop-down menu in the Actions column.
Select a Floating IP from the IP Address drop-down menu.
In the port drop-down, select a port for your BIG-IP instance that corresponds to the external VLAN.
Click Associate.
Tip

If there aren’t any floating IP addresses available in the drop-down menu:
- Click + to generate a floating IP address.
- Click Allocate.
The availability of these actions may depend on your OpenStack user privileges.

Create a basic load balancer on the BIG-IP VE instance¶

Download the Deploy basic load balancer heat template.

Define the stack parameters in a YAML file.

Tip

The sample environment file below shows the values you’ll need to provide when deploying the Basic Load Balancer heat stack. Before you deploy your stack, replace the example values with the correct information for your environment.

parameters:
  client_server_image: <image-name>
  client_server_flavor: <nova-flavor>
  key_name: <ssh-hey-name>
  client_server_sec_group: open
  client_network: <client_vlan>
  server_network: <server_vlan>
  bigip_un: $BIGIP_USER
  bigip_pw: $BIGIP_PASS
  vs_name: virtual_server1
  pool_name: pool1
  bigip_fip:
  vs_vip:
  vs_port: 443
  pool_member_port: 8080

Sample Deploy Basic Load Balancer env file

Deploy the Heat stack using the OpenStack CLI.
openstack stack create -f deploy_lb.yaml -e deploy_lb.params.yaml

Next Steps¶

Configure your BIG-IP device.
Tip
- You can access the BIG-IP from the OpenStack dashboard via System ‣ Instances ‣ Console.
- To log in to the BIG-IP configuration utility, copy its floating IP address from the Instance screen in the dashboard, then paste it into your browser’s address bar. You must use https to access the BIG-IP configuration utility.
- You can connect to the BIG-IP instance via ssh using the floating IP address and the ssh key you provided in the environment file.
Set up the F5 Integration for OpenStack Neutron LBaaS to communicate with your new BIG-IP instance.