CIS Installation

Overview

CIS can be configured in multiple ways depending on the customer scenario. CIS can be deployed on Kubernetes and OpenShift platform. CIS installation may differ based on the resources (for example: ConfigMap, Ingress, Routes, and CRD) used by the customer to expose the Kubernetes services. CIS installation also depends on BIG-IP deployment (stand alone and HAproxy configuration) and Kubernetes cluster networking (Flannel/Calico).


Prerequisites

These are the mandatory requirements for deploying CIS:

  • OpenShift/Kubernetes Cluster must be up and running.

  • AS3: 3.18+ must be installed on your BIG-IP system.

  • Use the latest TLS version and cipher suites in Kubernetes for kube-api.

  • Create a BIG-IP partition to manage Kubernetes objects. This partition can be created either via the GUI (System > Users > Partition List) or via our TMOS CLI:

    create auth partition <cis_managed_partition>
    
  • You need a user with administrative access to this partition.

  • If you need to pull the k8s-bigip-ctlr image from a private Docker registry, store your Docker login credentials as a Secret.

Additionally, if you are deploying CIS in Cluster Mode you need to have following prerequisites. For more information, see Deployment Options.


Installing CIS Using Helm Charts

This is the simplest way to install CIS on OpenShift/Kubernetes cluster. Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes. Helm is Kubernetes version of yum or apt. Helm deploys something called charts, which you can think of as a packaged application. It is a collection of all your versioned, pre-configured application resources which can be deployed as one unit.

  1. Optionally, add BIG-IP credentials as K8S secrets.

    For Kubernetes, use the following command:

    kubectl create secret generic bigip-login -n kube-system --from-literal=username=admin --from-literal=password=<password>
    

    For Openshift, use the following command:

    oc create secret generic bigip-login -n kube-system --from-literal=username=admin --from-literal=password=<password>
    
  2. Add the CIS chart repository in Helm using following command:

    helm repo add f5-stable https://f5networks.github.io/charts/stable
    
  3. Create values.yaml as shown below:

values.yaml
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bigip_login_secret: f5-bigip-ctlr-login
bigip_secret:
  create: false
  username:
  password:
rbac:
  create: true
serviceAccount:
  # Specifies whether a service account should be created
  create: true
  # The name of the service account to use.
  # If not set and create is true, a name is generated using the fullname template
  name: k8s-bigip-ctlr
 # This namespace is where the Controller lives;
namespace: kube-system
ingressClass:
  create: true
  ingressClassName: f5
  isDefaultIngressController: true
args:
  # See https://clouddocs.f5.com/containers/latest/userguide/config-parameters.html
  # NOTE: helm has difficulty with values using `-`; `_` are used for naming
  # and are replaced with `-` during rendering.
  # REQUIRED Params
  bigip_url: <ip_address-or-hostname>
  bigip_partition: <name_of_partition>
  # OPTIONAL PARAMS -- uncomment and provide values for those you wish to use.
  # verify_interval:
  # node-poll_interval:
  # log_level:
  # python_basedir: ~
  # VXLAN
  # openshift_sdn_name:
  # flannel_name:
  # KUBERNETES
  # default_ingress_ip:
  # kubeconfig:
  # namespaces: ["foo", "bar"]
  # namespace_label:
  # node_label_selector:
  # pool_member_type: nodeport
  # resolve_ingress_names:
  # running_in_cluster:
  # use_node_internal:
  # use_secrets:
  # insecure: true
  # custom-resource-mode: true
  # log-as3-response: true
  # gtm-bigip-password
  # gtm-bigip-url
  # gtm-bigip-username
  # ipam : true
image:
  # Use the tag to target a specific version of the Controller
  user: f5networks
  repo: k8s-bigip-ctlr
  pullPolicy: Always
version: latest
# affinity:
#   nodeAffinity:
#     requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution:
#       nodeSelectorTerms:
#       - matchExpressions:
#         - key: kubernetes.io/arch
#           operator: Exists
# securityContext:
#   runAsUser: 1000
#   runAsGroup: 3000
#   fsGroup: 2000
# If you want to specify resources, uncomment the following
# limits_cpu: 100m
# limits_memory: 512Mi
# requests_cpu: 100m
# requests_memory: 512Mi
# Set podSecurityContext for Pod Security Admission and Pod Security Standards
# podSecurityContext:
#   runAsUser: 1000
#   runAsGroup: 1000
#   privileged: true

  1. Installing Helm charts:

    1. Install the Helm chart using the following command if BIG-IP credential secrets are created manually:

      helm install -f values.yaml <new-chart-name> f5-stable/f5-bigip-ctlr
      
    2. Install the Helm chart with --skip crds if BIG-IP credential secrets are created manually (without Custom Resource Definitions installations):

      helm install --skip-crds -f values.yaml <new-chart-name> f5-stable/f5-bigip-ctlr
      
    3. If you want to create the BIG-IP credential secret with Helm charts, use the following command:

      helm install --set bigip_secret.create="true" --set bigip_secret.username=$BIGIP_USERNAME --set bigip_secret.password=$BIGIP_PASSWORD -f values.yaml <new-chart-name> f5-stable/f5-bigip-ctlr
      

Note

For Kubernetes versions lower than 1.18, please use Helm chart version 0.0.14 as follows: helm install --skip-crds -f values.yaml <new-chart-name> f5-stable/f5-bigip-ctlr --version 0.0.14.


Chart parameters

Parameter Required Default Description
bigip_login_secret Optional f5-bigip-ctlr-login Secret that contains BIG-IP login credentials.
bigip_secret.create Optional false Create Kubernetes secret using username and password.
bigip_secret.username Optional N/A BIG-IP username to create the Kubernetes secret.
bigip_secret.password Optional N/A BIG-IP password to create the Kubernetes secret.
args.bigip_url Required N/A The management IP for your BIG-IP device.
args.bigip_partition Required f5-bigip-ctlr BIG-IP partition the CIS Controller will manage.
args.namespaces Optional N/A List of Kubernetes namespaces which CIS will monitor.
rbac.create Optional true Create ClusterRole and ClusterRoleBinding.
serviceAccount.name Optional f5-bigip-ctlr- serviceaccount Name of the ServiceAccount for CIS controller.
serviceAccount.create Optional true Create service account for the CIS controller.
namespace Optional kube-system Name of namespace CIS will use to create deployment and other resources.
image.user Optional f5networks CIS Controller image repository username.
image.repo Optional k8s-bigip-ctlr CIS Controller image repository name.
image.pullPolicy Optional Always CIS Controller image pull policy.
image.pullSecrets Optional N/A List of secrets of container registry to pull image.
version Optional latest CIS Controller image tag.
nodeSelector Optional N/A Dictionary of Node selector labels.
tolerations Optional N/A Array of labels.
limits_cpu Optional 100m CPU limits for the pod.
limits_memory Optional 512Mi Memory limits for the pod.
requests_cpu Optional 100m CPU request for the pod.
requests_memory Optional 512Mi Memory request for the pod.
affinity Optional N/A Dictionary of affinity.
securityContext Optional N/A Dictionary of deployment securityContext.
podSecurityContext Optional N/A Dictionary of pod securityContext.
ingressClass.ingressClassName Optional f5 Name of ingress class.
ingressClass.isDefaultIngressController Optional false CIS will monitor all the ingress resources if set true.
ingressClass.create Optional true Create ingress class.

Note

The parameters bigip_login_secret and bigip_secret are mutually exclusive. If both are defined in the values.yaml file, bigip_secret will be given priority.


Uninstalling Helm Chart

Run the following command to uninstall the chart.

helm uninstall <new-chart>

Installing CIS Manually

  1. Add BIG-IP credentials as K8S secrets.

    • For Kubernetes, use the following command:
    kubectl create secret generic bigip-login -n kube-system --from-literal=username=admin --from-literal=password=<password>
    
    • For Openshift, use the following command:
    oc create secret generic bigip-login -n kube-system --from-literal=username=admin --from-literal=password=<password>
    
  2. Create a service account for deploying CIS.

    • For Kubernetes, use the following command:
    kubectl create serviceaccount bigip-ctlr -n kube-system
    
    • For Openshift, use the following command:
    oc create serviceaccount bigip-ctlr -n kube-system
    
  3. Fetch the latest RBAC for both Kubernetes and Openshift.

    • For Kubernetes, use the following command.
    kubectl create -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/F5Networks/k8s-bigip-ctlr/2.x-master/docs/config_examples/rbac/k8s_rbac.yml
    
    • For Openshift, use the following command.
    oc create -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/F5Networks/k8s-bigip-ctlr/2.x-master/docs/config_examples/rbac/openshift_rbac.yaml
    

  1. For Openshift, you need to create the Cluster admin privileges for the BIG-IP service account user with the following command:

    oc adm policy add-cluster-role-to-user cluster-admin -z bigip-ctlr -n kube-system
    
  2. Create a CIS deployment using cis_deploy.yaml as shown below:

    For Kubernetes, use the following command:

    kubectl apply -f  cis_deploy.yaml
    

    For Openshift, use the following command:

    oc apply -f cis_deploy.yaml
    
cis_deploy.yaml
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 apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: Deployment
 metadata:
   name: k8s-bigip-ctlr-deployment
   namespace: kube-system
 spec:
 # DO NOT INCREASE REPLICA COUNT
   replicas: 1
   selector:
     matchLabels:
     app: k8s-bigip-ctlr-deployment
   template:
     metadata:
       labels:
         app: k8s-bigip-ctlr-deployment
     spec:
       # Name of the Service Account bound to a Cluster Role with the required
       # permissions
       containers:
         - name: k8s-bigip-ctlr
           image: "f5networks/k8s-bigip-ctlr:latest"
           env:
             - name: BIGIP_USERNAME
               valueFrom:
                 secretKeyRef:
                 # Replace with the name of the Secret containing your login
                 # credentials
                   name: bigip-login
                   key: username
             - name: BIGIP_PASSWORD
               valueFrom:
                 secretKeyRef:
                 # Replace with the name of the Secret containing your login
                 # credentials
                   name: bigip-login
                   key: password
           command: ["/app/bin/k8s-bigip-ctlr"]
           args: [
             # See the k8s-bigip-ctlr documentation for information about
             # all config options
             # When insecure=true, this enables insecure SSL communication to the BIG-IP system."
             # https://clouddocs.f5.com/containers/latest/userguide/config-parameters.html
             "--bigip-username=$(BIGIP_USERNAME)",
             "--bigip-password=$(BIGIP_PASSWORD)",
             "--bigip-url=<ip_address-or-hostname>",
             "--bigip-partition=<name_of_partition>",
             "--pool-member-type=nodeport",
             "--insecure",
             ]
       serviceAccountName: bigip-ctlr

Installing CIS using Operators on OpenShift Cluster

An Operator is a method of packaging, deploying, and managing a Kubernetes application. A Kubernetes application is an application that is both deployed on Kubernetes and managed using the Kubernetes APIs and kubectl/oc tooling. You can think of Operators as the runtime that manages this type of application on Kubernetes. Conceptually, an Operator takes human operational knowledge and encodes it into software that is more easily packaged and shared with consumers.

The F5 BIG-IP CIS (k8s-bigip-ctlr) is a cloud-native connector that can use either Kubernetes or OpenShift as a BIG-IP orchestration platform. F5 BIG-IP CIS Operator is a Service Operator which installs F5 BIG-IP CIS on OpenShift platforms 4.x.

Before you install CIS using Operators on OpenShift, you must create BIG-IP login credentials to use with Operator Helm Charts:

oc create secret generic <SECRET-NAME> -n kube-system
--from-literal=username=<USERNAME> --from-literal=password=<PASSWORD>
  1. Access the OCP web console: From CLI, login as admin using CRC given credentials. In the example below, the username is kubeadmin and the password is db9Dr-J2csc-8oP78-9sbmf.

    $ eval $(crc  oc-env)
    $ oc login -u kubeadmin -p db9Dr-J2csc-8oP78-9sbmf https://api.crc.testing:6443
    
  2. Within the OCP web console, in the left Menu bar, click Operator Hub and search for “f5” to see the Certified F5 BIG-IP CIS Operator.

    ../_images/ocp-bigip-controller.jpeg
  3. Click Install to go through the guided installation process.

    ../_images/create-operator-subscription.jpeg

    When Operator is Subscribed, Operator is installed based on approval strategy. The default approval strategy is Automatic.

    • Manual: Requires administrator approval to install new updates.
    • Automatic: When a new release is available, updated automatic.

Creating VXLAN Tunnels

Creating VXLAN Tunnels on Kubernetes Cluster

This configuration is for Standalone BIG-IP.

  1. Log in to BIG-IP and create a partition called kubernetes for CIS.

    tmsh create auth partition kubernetes
    
  2. Create a VXLAN profile.

    tmsh create net tunnels vxlan fl-vxlan port 8472 flooding-type none
    
  3. Create a VXLAN tunnel.

    tmsh create net tunnels tunnel fl-vxlan key 1 profile fl-vxlan local-address 10.1.1.4
    
  4. Create the VXLAN tunnel self IP.

    tmsh create net self 10.1.1.4 address 10.244.20.4/255.255.0.0 allow-service none vlan fl-vxlan
    
  5. Save the configuration.

    tmsh save sys config
    
  6. Before deploying CIS in ClusterIP mode, you need to configure BIG-IP as a node in the Kubernetes cluster. To do so you will need to modify bigip-node.yaml with the MAC address auto-created from the previous steps. From the jumpbox terminal, run the following command at bigip1. Copy the displayed MAC Address.

    tmsh show net tunnels tunnel k8s-tunnel all-properties
    
  7. Update the MAC address obtained in the previous step to the following YAML file:

    bigip-node.yaml
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    apiVersion: v1
    kind: Node
    metadata:
      name: bigip1
      annotations:
        #Replace IP with self IP for your deployment
        flannel.alpha.coreos.com/public-ip: "10.1.1.4"
        #Replace MAC with your BIG-IP Flannel VXLAN Tunnel MAC
        flannel.alpha.coreos.com/backend-data: '{"VtepMAC":"2c:c2:60:23:0c:58"}'
        flannel.alpha.coreos.com/backend-type: "vxlan"
        flannel.alpha.coreos.com/kube-subnet-manager: "true"
    spec:
      #Replace Subnet with your BIG-IP Flannel Subnet
      podCIDR: "10.244.20.0/24"
    
  8. Create the BIG-IP node:

    kubectl create -f bigip-node.yaml
    
  9. Verify “bigip1” node is created:

    kubectl get nodes
    

Creating VXLAN Tunnels on Openshift Cluster

This configuration is for Standalone BIG-IP.

  1. Log in to the BIG-IP and create net tunnels vxlan vxlan-mp flooding-type multipoint on BIG-IP.

    create net tunnels vxlan vxlan-mp flooding-type multipoint
    
    create net tunnels tunnel openshift_vxlan key 0 profile vxlan-mp local-address 10.1.1.4
    
  2. Add the BIG-IP device to the OpenShift overlay network.

    create net self 10.131.0.83/14 allow-service all vlan openshift_vxlan
    
  3. Create a new HostSubnet for BIG-IP on the OpenShift/Kubernetes cluster. This will provide the subnet for creating the tunnel self IP.

    oc create -f openshift-hostsubnet.yaml
    
openshift-hostsubnet.yaml
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apiVersion: network.openshift.io/v1
kind: HostSubnet
metadata:
  name: openshfit-f5-node
  annotations:
    pod.network.openshift.io/fixed-vnid-host: "0"
    pod.network.openshift.io/assign-subnet: "true"
# provide a name for the node that will serve as BIG-IP's entry into the cluster
host: openshfit-f5-node
# The hostIP address will be the BIG-IP interface address routable to the
# OpenShift Origin nodes.
# This address is the BIG-IP VTEP in the SDN's VXLAN.
hostIP: 10.1.1.4
subnet: "10.131.0.0/23"
../_images/f5-oc-hostsubnet2.png

Note

To provide feedback on Container Ingress Services or this documentation, please file a GitHub Issue.