Quick Start¶

Prerequisites and Requirements¶

The following are prerequisites for using the F5 CLI:

Python 3.7+. For installation instructions, see python download documentation.
A Python virtual environment, for details see python venv documentation.
Optional: Ignore untrusted TLS certificate warnings during HTTPS requests to BIG-IP. See the Troubleshooting section for more details.

Installation¶

There are multiple methods for installing F5 CLI. You can install using pip:

pip install f5-cli

You can also run F5 CLI as a Docker image. For example, you can run the F5 CLI interactively from inside the docker container:

docker run -it -v "$HOME/.f5_cli:/root/.f5_cli" -v "$(pwd):/f5-cli" f5devcentral/f5-cli:latest /bin/bash

For more information, see our Docker Hub at https://hub.docker.com/r/f5devcentral/f5-cli.

Quick Start¶

This example shows how to configure authentication with an existing BIG-IP system, and query the BIG-IP to determine whether AS3 is already installed. If it is not already installed, it will install and send a declaration.

f5 login --authentication-provider bigip --host 192.0.2.10 --user myuser

Password: <type your password here>

Response:

{
    "message": "Logged in successfully"
}

Verify command:

f5 bigip extension as3 verify

Response:

{
    "installed": false,
    "installed_version": "",
    "latest_version": "3.17.1"
}

If you have an AS3 declaration in a local file (as3.json), install the AS3 extension and post a declaration to it all at once:

f5 bigip extension as3 create --declaration as3.json

Response:

{
    "declaration":
  {        ...    }
}

Getting Help¶

The F5 CLI includes a help option, which will display relevant help information, and can be used to provide help information for each command.

The CLI will provide help information for any sub-commands, as well as relevant options. For example, providing the help option without specifying any commands will show you information on the available commands:

f5 --help

Response:

Usage: f5 [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

Welcome to the F5 command line interface.

Options:
--version  Show the version and exit.
--help     Show this message and exit.

Commands:
login           Login to BIG-IP, F5 Cloud Services, etc.
bigip           Manage BIG-IP
cs              Manage F5 Cloud Services
config          Configure CLI authentication and configuration

The CLI will also provide help information for any commands, for example, how to use the f5 bigip extension command:

f5 bigip extension --help

Response:

Usage: f5 bigip extension [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

Manage extensions, such as AS3, DO, TS and CF

Options:
--help  Show this message and exit.

Commands:
as3  Manage AS3, perform installation and service operations
cf   Manage CF, perform installation and service operations
do   Manage DO, perform installation and service operations
ts   Manage TS, perform installation and service operations

Note

The F5 CLI is currently in early development and we want to hear from you! To provide feedback on F5 CLI or this documentation, you can file a GitHub Issue.

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