F5 Application Delivery Controller Solutions > Resilient Data Center Architectures with F5 BIG-IP Source | Edit on

Getting Started¶

You will be using an ssh client to access all components of this lab. All configuration will be done via the CLI.

Please follow the instructions provided by the instructor to start your lab and access your jump host.

Note

All work for this lab will be performed exclusively from the Linux Jumphost via ssh.

No installation or interaction with your local system is required. If you do not have an ssh client you can install the freeware putty.: https://putty.org

Lab Topology¶

biohazard

The following components have been included in your lab environment:

4 x F5 BIG-IP VE (v13.1)
7 x CSR 1000v Virtual Routers
1 x Linux Webserver (xubuntu 14.04)
1 x Linux Jumphost

Lab Components¶

The following table lists the management IP Addresses and Credentials for all components:

Management interfaces. All other interfaces are on diagram¶
Host	Management IP	Credentials
Linux Jumphost	<Public IP on worksheet>	ubuntu:Agility2018f5
W_A_BIGIP	192.168.1.3	root:default
W_B_BIGIP	192.168.1.6	root:default
W_CPE_A_CSR1K	192.168.1.9	root:default
W_CPE_B_CSR1K	192.168.1.7	root:default
E_A_BIGIP	192.168.1.8	root:default
E_B_BIGIP	192.168.1.4	root:default
E_CPE_A_CSR1K	192.168.1.14	root:default
SP_A_CSR1K	192.168.1.10	root:default
SP_B_CSR1K	192.168.1.5	root:default
SP_C_CSR1K	192.168.1.15	root:default
Web Service	10.3.99.200

Note

Additional Credentials - enable password or priveleged mode on the CSR1000v routers: san-fran

Priveleged mode allows you to run commands that might be disruptive to network traffic or enter configuration mode.

BIG-IP CLI Primer¶

bash shell¶

Default linux shell when you log in to the BIG-IP as root

Common commands you can run from here:

ping
traceroute
tcpdump
imish (used to access the ZebOS router shell)
tmsh (used to access the traffic management shell for BIG-IP configuration)

tm shell (tmsh)¶

From bash any command you know the syntax of can be entered directly by preceding it with the 'tmsh' command

[admin@BIGIP131:Active:In Sync] ~ # tmsh run sys failover standby

For context based help and tab completion you can enter the 'tmsh' command and go directly to the prompt.

[admin@BIGIP131:Active:In Sync] ~ # tmsh
admin@(BIGIP131)(cfg-sync In Sync)(Active)(/Common)(tmos)#

Using the '?' for context aware help

admin@(BIGIP131)(cfg-sync In Sync)(Active)(/Common)(tmos)# create ltm ?
Modules:
  auth              Virtual server authentication configuration
  cipher            Cipher Rule and Group configuration
  classification    Traffic Classification
  data-group        Data group configuration
  dns               DNS configuration
  html-rule         Generalized HTML rule-based patcher
  message-routing   Message routing framework configuration
  monitor           LTM monitor templates
  persistence       Virtual server persistence configuration
  profile           Virtual server profile configuration
  tacdb             TACDB configuration.
Components:
  eviction-policy   Defines an eviction policy, used to select which flows to evict when approaching limits.
  ifile             iFile Configuration
  nat               Network address translation configuration
  node              Node specific pool member configuration
  policy            Centralized Policy Matching configuration
  policy-strategy   Centralized Policy Matching rule selection strategy
  pool              Load balancing pool configuration
  rule              iRules configuration
  rule-profiler
  snat              Secure network address translation (SNAT) configuration
  snat-translation  SNAT translation address configuration
  snatpool          Collections of SNAT translation addresses
  traffic-class     Traffic Class Configuration
  virtual           Virtual server configuration
  virtual-address   Virtual server IP address configuration

Using 'tab' to offer possible completions

admin@(BIGIP131)(cfg-sync In Sync)(Active)(/Common)(tmos)# create ltm
Modules:
  auth               classification     dns                message-routing    persistence        tacdb
  cipher             data-group         html-rule          monitor            profile
Components:
  eviction-policy    nat                policy             pool               rule-profiler      snat-translation   traffic-class      virtual-address
  ifile              node               policy-strategy    rule               snat               snatpool           virtual

By partially typing a keyword you can use 'tab' to either auto-complete or give you the list of options.

admin@(BIGIP131)(cfg-sync In Sync)(Active)(/Common)(tmos)# create ltm po
Components:
  policy            policy-strategy   pool

To exit the tmsh shell just type 'quit':

admin@(BIGIP131)(cfg-sync In Sync)(Active)(/Common)(tmos)# quit
[admin@BIGIP131:Active:In Sync] ~ #

ZebOS router shell (imish)¶

From the BIG-IP bash cli you can enter the ZebOS router shell by typing the command 'imish'. If you have multiple route domains, you can specify which by adding the '-r #'

Route domain '0' is default.

[admin@BIGIP131:Active:In Sync] ~ # imish -r 0

From there you can enter priveleged mode which will allow you do run administrative level commands and also enter in to the configuration mode.

Note how the prompt changes from '>' to '#'. This is how you can determine which mode you are in. If a command fails, it may be because you do not have sufficient priveleges. There is no enable password on the ZebOS instances for this lab.

[root@E_A_BIGIP-13:Active:Standalone] log # imish
E_A_BIGIP-13.local[0]>enable
E_A_BIGIP-13.local[0]#

From priveleged mode, you can type 'configure terminal' to enter configuration mode. You can shorten this as shown below with the command 'config t' as you will see often in this lab.

E_A_BIGIP-13.local[0]#
E_A_BIGIP-13.local[0]#conf t
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.

Note

Cisco devices in this lab behave similar to the ZebOS cli with the exception of requiring a secondary enable password to access priveleged mode.

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