Check status of F5 instances before proceeding.

From the AWS Web Console => Services => EC2 => INSTANCES => Instances. Select the Big-IP1… Select the “Status Check” tab below.

From the AWS Web Console => Services => EC2 => INSTANCES => Instances. Select the Big-IP2… Select the “Status Check” tab below.

Attention

Ensure both the System Status Checks and the Instance Status Checks have passed (green font) before proceeding.

Create terraform data resource to read CloudFormation outputs.

From the Visual Studio Code Terminal, enable the f5-cft-outputs.tf terraform file.

mv f5-cft-outputs.tf.zzz f5-cft-outputs.tf

terraform init

terraform init

terraform validate

terraform validate

terraform plan

terraform plan -var 'bigip_admin_password=f5letme1n'

terraform apply

terraform apply -var 'bigip_admin_password=f5letme1n' -auto-approve

terraform apply completed.

SSH to Big-IP1 and Big-IP2

Run the create-ssh-to-bigip-alias.sh shell script to create convenient command aliases for bigip1 and bigip2.

source create-ssh-to-bigip-alias.sh

Confirm the bigip1 and bigip2 aliases were created.

type bigip1
type bigip2

SSH to Big-IP1 to confirm state and change the admin password.

Attention

Ensure the system status prompt is either Active or Standby before proceeding. All other status prompts indicate the system is not ready. Use the screenshots as a guide.

bigip1

Acknowledge the ssh remote host when prompted “Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?”

yes
modify auth user admin password f5letme1n
modify /sys global-settings gui-setup disabled
save /sys config
quit

SSH to Big-IP2 to confirm state and change the admin password.

Attention

Ensure the system status prompt is either Active or Standby before proceeding. All other status prompts indicate the system is not ready. Use the screenshots as a guide.

bigip2

Acknowledge the ssh remote host when prompted “Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?”

yes
modify auth user admin password f5letme1n
modify /sys global-settings gui-setup disabled
save /sys config
quit

Configuration Utility (WebUI) HTTPS access to Big-IP1 and Big-IP2

We need the management address to connect to the Configuration utility (WebUI). Invoke terraform output and look for:

Bigip1Url

Bigip2Url

terraform output

From the Visual Studio Code Terminal, Ctrl + click to follow link for “BigIP1Url” =

We are using self-signed certificates in the lab. Bypass the TLS warnings. “Accept the Risk and Continue”.

Login to the Big-IP1 Configuration Utility (WebUI):

Username: admin

Password: f5letme1n

Look in the upper-left-hand corner. Note whether this is the active or standby unit.

From the Visual Studio Code Terminal, Ctrl + click to follow link for “BigIP2Url” =

We are using self-signed certificates in the lab. Bypass the TLS warnings. “Accept the Risk and Continue”.

Login to the Big-IP2 Configuration Utility (WebUI):

Username: admin

Password: f5letme1n

Look in the upper-left-hand corner. Note whether this is the active or standby unit.

Attention

Make sure Big-IP1 is active and Big-IP2 is standby before proceeding. To force Big-IP2 to standby: “Device Management” => “Devices” => bigip2.f5lab.dev => [Force to Standby].