BIG-IP Controller

Overview

The Cloud-Native Network Functions (CNFs) BIG-IP Controller, Edge Firewall, and Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM) Proxy Pods are the primary CNFs software components, and install together using Helm. Once integrated, Edge Firewall and the TMM Proxy Pods can be configured to process and protect high-performance 5G workloads using CNFs CRs.

This document guides you through creating the CNFs installation Helm values file, installing the Pods, and creating TMM’s clientside (upstream) and serverside (downstream) F5BigNetVlan interfaces.

Requirements

Ensure you have:

• Installed the CNFs Software.
• Installed the CNFs Cert Manager.
• Completed the CNFs Licensing.
• A Linux based workstation with Helm installed.

Procedures

The CNFs Pods rely on a number of custom Helm values to install successfully. Use the steps below to obtain important cluster configuration data, and create the proper BIG-IP Controller Helm values file for the installation.

1. If you haven’t already, create a new Project for the CNFs Pods:

   oc new-project <project>
   

   In this example, a new Project named cnf-gateway is created:

   oc new-project cnf-gateway
   

2. Switch to the CNFs Project:

   In this example, the cnf-gateway Project is selected:

   oc project cnf-gateway
   

TMM values

1. To ensure Helm can obtain the TMM image from the local image registry, add the following Helm values:

   tmm:
     image:
       repository: "local.registry.com"
   

2. Add the ServiceAccount for the TMM Pod to the privileged security context constraint (SCC):

   A. By default, TMM uses the default ServiceAccount:

   oc adm policy add-scc-to-user privileged -n <project> -z default
   

   In this example, the default ServiceAccount is added to the privileged SCC for the cnf-gateway Project:

   oc adm policy add-scc-to-user privileged -n cnf-gateway -z default
   

   B. To use a custom ServiceAccount, you must also update the BIG-IP Controller Helm values file:

   In this example, the custom spk-tmm ServiceAccount is added to the privileged SCC.

   oc adm policy add-scc-to-user privileged -n cnf-gateway -z spk-tmm
   

   In this example, the custom spk-tmm ServiceAccount is added to the Helm values file.

   tmm:
     serviceAccount:
     name: spk-tmm
   

3. As described in the Networking Overview, the Controller uses OpenShift network node policies and network attachment definitions to create the TMM Proxy Pod interface list. Use the steps below to obtain the node policies and attachment definition names, and configure the TMM interface list:

   A. Obtain the names of the network attachment definitions:

   oc get net-attach-def
   

   In this example, the network attachment definitions are named clientside-netdevice and serverside-netdevice:

   clientside-netdevice
   serverside-netdevice
   

   B. Obtain the names of the network node policies using the network attachment definition resourceName parameter:

   oc describe net-attach-def | grep openshift.io
   

   In this example, the network node policies are named clientsideNetPolicy and serversideNetPolicy:

   Annotations:  k8s.v1.cni.cncf.io/resourceName: openshift.io/clientsideNetPolicy
   Annotations:  k8s.v1.cni.cncf.io/resourceName: openshift.io/serversideNetPolicy
   

   C. Create a Helm values file named ingress-values.yaml and set the node attachment and node policy names to configure the TMM interface list:

   In this example, the cniNetworks: parameter references the network attachments, and orders TMM’s interface list as: 1.1 (clientside) and 1.2 (serverside):

   tmm:
     cniNetworks: "namespace/clientside-netdevice,namespace/serverside-netdevice”
   
     customEnvVars:
       - name: OPENSHIFT_VFIO_RESOURCE_1
         value: "internalNetPolicy"
       - name: OPENSHIFT_VFIO_RESOURCE_2
         value: "externalNetPolicy"
   

4. CNFs supports Ethernet frames over 1500 bytes (Jumbo frames), up to a maxiumum transmission unit (MTU) size of 9000 bytes. To modify the MTU size, adapt theTMM_DEFAULT_MTU parameter:

   Important: The same MTU value must be set in each of the installed F5BigNetVlan CRs. CNFs does not currently support different MTU sizes.

   tmm:
     customEnvVars:
     - name: TMM_DEFAULT_MTU
       value: "9000"
   

5. The Controller relies on the OpenShift Performance Addon Operator to dynamically allocate and properly align TMM’s CPU cores. Use the steps below to enable the Performance Addon Operator:

   A. Obtain the full performance profile name from the runtimeClass parameter:

   oc get performanceprofile -o jsonpath='{..runtimeClass}{"\n"}'
   

   In this example, the performance profile name is performance-cnf-loadbalancer:

   performance-cnf-loadbalancer
   

   B. Use the performance profile name to configure the runtimeClassName parameter, and set the the parameters below in the Helm values file:

   tmm:
     topologyManager: "true"
     runtimeClassName: "performance-cnf-loadbalancer"
   
     pod:
       annotations:
       cpu-load-balancing.crio.io: disable
   

6. To advertise routing information between networks, or to scale TMM beyond a single instance, the f5-tmm-routing container must be enabled, and a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) session must be established with an external neighbor. The parameters below configure an external BGP peering session:

   Note: For additional BGP configuration parameters, refer to the BGP Overview guide.

   tmm:
     dynamicRouting:
       enabled: true
       exportZebosLogs: true
       tmmRouting:
         image:
           repository: "registry.com"
         config:
           bgp:
             asn: 123
             neighbors:
             - ip: "192.168.10.100"
               asn: 456
               acceptsIPv4: true
   
       tmrouted:
         image:
           repository: "registry.com"
   

7. The f5-toda-logging container is enabled by default, and requires setting the f5-toda-logging.fluentd.host parameter.

   A. If you installed the Fluentd Logging collector, set the host parameters:

   controller:
     fluentbit_sidecar:
       fluentd:
         host: 'f5-toda-fluentd.cnf-utilities.svc.cluster.local.'
       image:
         repository: "local.registry.com"
   
   f5-toda-logging:
     fluentd:
       host: 'f5-toda-fluentd.cnf-utilities.svc.cluster.local.'
     sidecar:
       image: 
         repository: "local.registry.com"
   

   B. If you did not install the Fluentd Logging collector, set the f5-toda-logging.enabled parameter to false:

   f5-toda-logging:
     enabled: false
   

AFM values

1. To enable the Edge Firewall feature, and to ensure Helm can obtain the image from the local image registry, add the following Helm values:

   f5-afm:
     enabled: true
     afm:
       pccd:
         enabled: true
         image:
           repository: "local.registry.com"
   

2. The Edge Firewall’s default firewall mode accepts all network packets not matching an F5BigFwPolicy firewall rule. You can modify this behavior using the F5BigContextGlobal Custom Resource (CR). For addition details about the default firewall mode and logging parameters, refer to the Firewall mode section of the F5BigFwPolicy overview:

3. The Fluentd Logging collector is enabled by default, and requires setting the f5-toda-logging.fluentd.host parameter. If you installed Fluentd, ensure the host parameter targets the BIG-IP Controller Namespace:

   In this example, the host value includes the Fluentd Pod’s cnf-gateway Namespace.

   f5-afm:
     afm:
       fluentbit_sidecar:
         fluentd:
           host: 'f5-toda-fluentd.cnf-gateway.svc.cluster.local.'
         image:
           repository: "local.registry.com"
   

IPSD values

Use these steps to enable and configure the Intrusion Prevention System Helm values for your environment.

1. To enable the IPSD Pod, and to ensure Helm can obtain the image from the local image registry, add the following Helm values:

   f5-ipsd:
     enabled: true
     ipsd:
       image:
         repository: "local.registry.com"
   

2. The Fluentd Logging collector is enabled by default, and requires setting the f5-toda-logging.fluentd.host parameter. If you installed Fluentd, ensure the host parameter targets the BIG-IP Controller Namespace:

   In this example, the host value includes the cnf-gateway Namespace.

   f5-ipsd:
     ipsd:
       fluentbit_sidecar:
         fluentd:
           host: "f5-toda-fluentd.cnf-gateway.svc.cluster.local."
         image:
             repository: "local.registry.com"
   

OTEL values

Use these steps to enable and configure the OTEL Helm values for your environment.

1. To enable the OTEL Pod, and to ensure Helm can obtain the image from the local image registry, add the following Helm values:

   f5-stats_collector:
     enabled: true
     stats_collector:
       image:
         repository: "local.registry.com"
   

2. To enable the OTEL collector, and to enable forwarding TMM statistics (tmstats) to OTEL, set the f5-toda-logging parameter in the BIG-IP Controller Helm values file:

   f5-toda-logging:
     fluentd:
      host: "f5-toda-fluentd.cnf-gateway.svc.cluster.local."
     sidecar:
      image:
        repository: "local.registry.com"
      tmstats:
        enabled: true
        config:
          image:
          repository: "local.registry.com"
   

Controller values

1. To ensure Helm can obtain the image from the local image registry, add the following Helm values:

   The example below also includes the CNFs CWC values.

   controller:
     image:
       repository: "local.registry.com"
   
     f5_lic_helper:
       enabled: true
       rabbitmqNamespace: "cnf-telemetry"
       image:
         repository: "local.registry.com"
   

2. The Fluentd Logging collector is enabled by default, and requires setting the f5-toda-logging.fluentd.host parameter. If you installed Fluentd, ensure the host parameter targets the BIG-IP Controller Namespace:

   In this example, the host value includes the cnf-gateway Namespace.

   controller:
     fluentbit_sidecar:
       fluentd:
         host: 'f5-toda-fluentd.cnf-gateway.svc.cluster.local.'
       image:
         repository: "local.registry.com"
   

Completed values

The completed Helm values file should appear similar to the following:

tmm:
  image:
    repository: "local.registry.com"

  hugepages:
    enabled: true

  sessiondb:
    useExternalStorage: "true"

  topologyManager: true
  runtimeClassName: "performance-cnf-loadbalancer"

   pod:
     annotations:
       cpu-load-balancing.crio.io: disable

  cniNetworks: "cnf-gateway/clientside-netdevice,cnf-gateway/serverside-netdevice"

  sessiondb:
    useExternalStorage: "true"

  customEnvVars:
  - name: OPENSHIFT_VFIO_RESOURCE_1
    value: "clientsideNetPolicy"
  - name: OPENSHIFT_VFIO_RESOURCE_2
    value: "serversideNetPolicy"
  - name: TMM_DEFAULT_MTU
    value: "9000"
  - name: SESSIONDB_DISCOVERY_SENTINEL
    value: "true"
  - name: SESSIONDB_EXTERNAL_SERVICE
    value: "f5-dssm-sentinel.cnf-gateway"
  - name: SSL_SERVERSIDE_STORE
    value: "/tls/tmm/mds/clt"
  - name: SSL_TRUSTED_CA_STORE
    value: "/tls/tmm/mds/clt"

   dynamicRouting:
     enabled: true
     tmmRouting:
       image:
         repository: "local.registry.com"
       config:
         bgp:
           asn: 123
           neighbors:
           - ip: "192.168.10.200"
             asn: 456
             acceptsIPv4: true
 
     tmrouted:
       image:
         repository: "local.registry.com"

f5-afm:
  enabled: true
  afm:
    pccd:
      enabled: true
      image:
        repository: "local.registry.com"
    fluentbit_sidecar:
      fluentd:
        host: 'f5-toda-fluentd.cnf-gateway.svc.cluster.local.'
      image:
        repository: "local.registry.com"

f5-ipsd:
  enabled: true
  ipsd:
    image:
      repository: "local.registry.com"
    fluentbit_sidecar:
      fluentd:
        host: "local.registry.com"
      image:
         repository: "local.registry.com"

controller:
  image:
    repository: "local.registry.com"

      f5_lic_helper:
        enabled: true
        rabbitmqNamespace: "cnf-telemetry"
        image:
          repository: "local.registry.com"

      fluentbit_sidecar:
        enabled: true
        fluentd:
          host: 'f5-toda-fluentd.cnf-utilities.svc.cluster.local.'
        image:
          repository: "local.registry.com"

f5-toda-logging:  
  fluentd:
    host: "f5-toda-fluentd.cnf-utilities.svc.cluster.local."

  sidecar:
    image: 
      repository: "local.registry.com"

  tmstats:
    config:
      image:
        repository: "local.registry.com"
 
debug:
  rabbitmqNamespace: "cnf-telemetry"
  image:
    repository: "local.registry.com"

stats_collector:
  enabled: true
  image:
    repository: "local.registry.com"

Installation

1. Change into the local directory with the CNFs files, and list the files in the tar directory:

   cd <directory>
   

   ls -1 tar
   

   In this example, the CNFs files are in the cnfinstall directory:

   cd cnfinstall
   

   ls -1 tar
   

   In this example, Controller and TMM Proxy Pod Helm chart is named f5ingress-7.0.13.tgz:

   csrc-0.1.4.tgz
   cwc-0.5.0.tgz
   f5-cert-gen-0.2.4.tgz
   f5-dssm-0.22.18.tgz
   f5-toda-fluentd-1.10.1.tgz
   f5ingress-7.0.13.tgz
   cnf-docker-images.tgz
   

2. Install the BIG-IP Controller, TMM Proxy and Edge Firewall Pods, referencing the Helm values file created in the previous procedure:

   helm install f5ingress <helm chart> -f <values file> -n <namespace>
   

   In this example, Controller installs using Helm chart version 7.0.13 to the cnf-gateway namespace.

   helm install f5ingress tar/f5ingress-7.0.13.tgz -f ingress-values.yaml -n cnf-gateway
   

3. Verify the Pods have installed successfully, and all containers are Running:

   oc get pods -n cnf-gateway
   

   In this example, all containers have a STATUS of Running as expected:

   NAME                                   READY   STATUS    
   f5-afm-d67cd45d5-z6tch                 2/2     Running
   f5-ipsd-d886bbb78-wb5w7                2/2     Running
   f5-tmm-7458484b8c-fmbgd                4/4     Running
   f5ingress-f5ingress-76d8679d4b-w989t   2/2     Running
   

4. Continue to the next procedure to configure the TMM interfaces.

Interfaces

The F5BigNetVlan Custom Resource (CR) applies TMM’s interface configuration; IP addresses, VLAN tags, MTU, etc. Use the steps below to configure and install clientside and serverside F5BigNetVlan CRs:

1. Configure external and internal F5BigNetVlan CRs. You can place both of the example CRs into a single YAML file:

   Important: Set the cmp_hash parameter values to SRC_ADDR on the clientside (upstream) VLAN, and DST_ADDR on the serverside (downstream) VLAN.

   apiVersion: "k8s.f5net.com/v1"
   kind: F5BigNetVlan
   metadata:
     name: "subscriber-vlan"
     namespace: "cnf-gateway"
   spec:
     name: clientside
     interfaces:
       - "1.1"
     selfip_v4s:
       - 10.10.10.100
       - 10.10.10.101
     prefixlen_v4: 24
     selfip_v6s:
       - 2002::10:10:10:100
       - 2002::10:10:10:101
     prefixlen_v6: 116
     mtu: 9000
     cmp_hash: SRC_ADDR
   ---
   apiVersion: "k8s.f5net.com/v1"
   kind: F5BigNetVlan
   metadata:
     name: "application-vlan"
     namespace: "cnf-gateway"
   spec:
     name: serverside
     interfaces:
       - "1.2"
     selfip_v4s:
       - 192.168.10.100
       - 192.168.10.101
     prefixlen_v4: 24
     selfip_v6s:
       - 2002::192:168:10:100
       - 2002::192:168:10:101
     prefixlen_v6: 116
     mtu: 9000
     cmp_hash: DST_ADDR
   

2. Install the VLAN CRs:

   kubectl apply -f cnf_vlans.yaml
   

3. List the VLAN CRs:

   kubectl get f5-big-net-vlan -n cnf-gateway
   

   In this example, the VLAN CRs are installed:

   NAME
   vlan-client
   vlan-server
   

4. If the Debug Sidecar is enabled (the default), you can verify the f5-tmm container’s interface configuration:

   kubectl exec -it deploy/f5-tmm -c debug -n cnf-gateway -- ip a
   

   The interfaces should appear at the bottom of the list:

   8: clientside: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 9000
       inet 10.10.10.100/24 brd 192.168.10.0 scope global client
          valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
       inet6 2002::192:168:10:100/112 scope global
          valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
   9: serverside: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 9000
       link/ether 1e:80:c1:e8:81:15 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
       inet 192.168.10.100/24 brd 10.10.10.0 scope global server
          valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
       inet6 2002::10:10:10:100/112 scope global
          valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
   

Next step

To begin processing application traffic, continue to the CNFs CRs guide.

Feedback

Provide feedback to improve this document by emailing cnfdocs@f5.com.

Supplemental

• About Single Root I/O Virtualiztion
• Using Helm