BIG-IP Device and Data Center Management¶

Overview¶

The BIG-IP Settings page allows you to onboard BIG-IP devices to F5 Insight and organize them by data center location. Devices can be added manually, one at a time, or bulk imported via YAML configuration, providing flexibility for both small deployments and large-scale fleet onboarding.

Benefits and Key Features¶

Flexible Onboarding - Add devices manually for quick setup or use YAML import for bulk onboarding of large fleets.
Data Center Organization - Group devices by physical or logical data center for easier management, filtering, and reporting.
Module-level Control - Select which BIG-IP modules to monitor per device, collecting only the telemetry you need.
Enhanced AI Insights - Data center organization provides valuable location context that enhances LLM Insights and MCP queries, delivering more intelligent, location-aware recommendations

Prerequisites¶

Before adding devices, ensure you have:

BIG-IP Credentials – Administrative username and password with appropriate access policies
Network Connectivity – HTTPS connectivity (port 443) between F5 Insight and your BIG-IP devices
CA Certificate (Optional) – Certificate Authority certificate if using custom TLS certificates on BIG-IP devices

Accessing BIG-IP Settings¶

To access the BIG-IP configuration interface:

Navigate to the Manage section in the left toolbar
Select BIG-IP Settings

Managing Data Centers¶

Data centers allow you to organize BIG-IP devices by location, environment, or any logical grouping that fits your infrastructure.

Creating a Data Center¶

Select the Data Centers tab
Click Add New Data Center
Enter a Data Center Name (for example, US-East-1, Production-DC, Azure-Central)
Click Add Data Center

A default data center is provided for devices that do not require specific location grouping.

Adding BIG-IP Devices¶

Manual Entry (Option 1)¶

Select the Devices tab
Click Add New Device
Select Manual Entry
Complete the required fields (reference the table below)
Click Validate and Add

Device Configuration Fields:

Field	Description	Required
Endpoint	BIG-IP hostname or IP address	Yes
Username	Administrative username	Yes
Password	Administrative password	Yes
Certificate Authority	CA certificate for TLS validation (leave blank for self-signed certificates)	No
Modules to Monitor	Select which BIG-IP modules to collect telemetry from	Yes
Data Center	Assign device to a data center	Yes

Note

Validation: F5 Insight automatically tests connectivity to your BIG-IP device before adding it. If validation fails, verify your network connectivity and credentials are correct.

Available Modules¶

Select the modules that match your BIG-IP deployment and monitoring requirements:

APM (Access Policy Manager)
DNS (Global Traffic Manager)
AFM (Advanced Firewall Manager)
Policy API Protection
Policy AFM
Policy NAT
CGNAT (Carrier-Grade NAT)
DoS (Denial of Service Protection)
Policy Advanced WAF
Policy IP Intelligence
Profile DoS

Important

No modules are enabled by default. Select only the modules you need to optimize telemetry collection.

YAML Import (Option 2)¶

For bulk onboarding or infrastructure-as-code workflows, import devices using YAML configuration. Using YAML streamlines bulk onboarding, ensures consistency, improves scalability, simplifies automation, and increases accuracy. It also ensures integration with IaC workflows and CI/CD pipelines - enabling reusable, version-controlled configurations.

To import devices via YAML:

Select the Devices tab
Click Add New Device
Select Paste YAML
Paste your YAML configuration
Click Validate and Add

Example YAML Configuration¶

# F5 Insight Configuration Export

licensing:
  mode: connected
  devices:
    - hostname: bigip-prod-01.example.com
      username: admin
      password: your-password-here
      port: 443
      modules:
        - LTM (Local Traffic Manager)
        - DNS

features:
  high_availability:
    enabled: false
  llm_insights:
    enabled: false
  f5_aidf:
    enabled: false

data_retention:
  enabled: false

YAML import also supports configuring F5 Insight features such as high availability, LLM Insights, AIDF, and data retention policies alongside device definitions.

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