Manual Chapter : Working with Folders

Applies To:

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BIG-IP AAM

  • 15.1.9, 15.1.8, 15.1.7, 15.1.6, 15.1.5, 15.1.4, 15.1.3, 15.1.2, 15.1.1, 15.1.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0

BIG-IP APM

  • 17.1.0, 17.0.0, 16.1.5, 16.1.4, 16.1.3, 16.1.2, 16.1.1, 16.1.0, 16.0.1, 16.0.0, 15.1.9, 15.1.8, 15.1.7, 15.1.6, 15.1.5, 15.1.4, 15.1.3, 15.1.2, 15.1.1, 15.1.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0

BIG-IP Analytics

  • 17.1.0, 17.0.0, 16.1.5, 16.1.4, 16.1.3, 16.1.2, 16.1.1, 16.1.0, 16.0.1, 16.0.0, 15.1.9, 15.1.8, 15.1.7, 15.1.6, 15.1.5, 15.1.4, 15.1.3, 15.1.2, 15.1.1, 15.1.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0

BIG-IP Link Controller

  • 17.1.0, 17.0.0, 16.1.5, 16.1.4, 16.1.3, 16.1.2, 16.1.1, 16.1.0, 16.0.1, 16.0.0, 15.1.9, 15.1.8, 15.1.7, 15.1.6, 15.1.5, 15.1.4, 15.1.3, 15.1.2, 15.1.1, 15.1.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0

BIG-IP LTM

  • 17.1.0, 17.0.0, 16.1.5, 16.1.4, 16.1.3, 16.1.2, 16.1.1, 16.1.0, 16.0.1, 16.0.0, 15.1.9, 15.1.8, 15.1.7, 15.1.6, 15.1.5, 15.1.4, 15.1.3, 15.1.2, 15.1.1, 15.1.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0

BIG-IP PEM

  • 17.1.0, 17.0.0, 16.1.5, 16.1.4, 16.1.3, 16.1.2, 16.1.1, 16.1.0, 16.0.1, 16.0.0, 15.1.9, 15.1.8, 15.1.7, 15.1.6, 15.1.5, 15.1.4, 15.1.3, 15.1.2, 15.1.1, 15.1.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0

BIG-IP AFM

  • 17.1.0, 17.0.0, 16.1.5, 16.1.4, 16.1.3, 16.1.2, 16.1.1, 16.1.0, 16.0.1, 16.0.0, 15.1.9, 15.1.8, 15.1.7, 15.1.6, 15.1.5, 15.1.4, 15.1.3, 15.1.2, 15.1.1, 15.1.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0

BIG-IP DNS

  • 17.1.0, 17.0.0, 16.1.5, 16.1.4, 16.1.3, 16.1.2, 16.1.1, 16.1.0, 16.0.1, 16.0.0, 15.1.9, 15.1.8, 15.1.7, 15.1.6, 15.1.5, 15.1.4, 15.1.3, 15.1.2, 15.1.1, 15.1.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0

BIG-IP ASM

  • 17.1.0, 17.0.0, 16.1.5, 16.1.4, 16.1.3, 16.1.2, 16.1.1, 16.1.0, 16.0.1, 16.0.0, 15.1.9, 15.1.8, 15.1.7, 15.1.6, 15.1.5, 15.1.4, 15.1.3, 15.1.2, 15.1.1, 15.1.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0
Manual Chapter

Working with Folders

About folders on the BIG-IP system

A
folder
is a container for BIG-IP configuration objects and files on a BIG-IP device. Virtual servers, pools, and self IP addresses are examples of objects that reside in folders on the system.
In the context of the BIG-IP system, a folder is a container for BIG-IP system objects. Folders resemble standard UNIX directories, in that the system includes a hierarchy of folders and includes a
root
folder (represented by the
/
symbol) that is the parent for all other folders on the system.
You can create sub-folders within a high-level folder. For example, if you have a high-level folder (partition) within the
root
folder named
Customer1
, you can create a sub-folder, such as
App_B
, within
Customer1
.
A folder can contain other folders.
One of the important ways that you can use folders is to set up full or granular synchronization and failover of BIG-IP configuration data in a device group. You can synchronize and fail over all configuration data on a BIG-IP device, or you can synchronize and fail over objects within a specific folder only.
You manage BIG-IP folders and sub-folders using the Traffic Management Shell (
tmsh
) command line interface.

About folder attributes for redundancy

Folders have two specific redundancy attributes that enable granular synchronization and failover of BIG-IP system data within a device group. These two attributes are a device group name and a traffic group name.

Device group name

This attribute determines the scope of the synchronization, that is, the specific devices to which the system synchronizes the contents of the associated folder. When you create a Sync-Failover device group on a BIG-IP device, the system assigns that device group name as an attribute of folder
root
. Any other folders that you subsequently create on a device group member then inherit that same device group name, by default.
The result is that when you enable config sync for the local device, the contents of the
root
folder and any sub-folders are synchronized across the members of the specified device group.
The device group assigned to a folder must contain the local BIG-IP device. Also, you cannot remove the local BIG-IP device from the Sync-Failover device group assigned to a folder.

Traffic group name

This attribute determines the scope of a failover action, that is, the specific configuration objects that will fail over if the device becomes unavailable. If you enabled failover on a device (as part of running the Setup utility or upgrading from a previous BIG-IP version), the device contains the default traffic group named
traffic-group-1
. The system assigns this traffic group name by default as an attribute of folder
root
. Any other folders that you subsequently create on a device group member inherit that same traffic group name, by default. The result is that when the local device is a member of a Sync-Failover device group, all failover objects within the
root
folder and its hierarchy fail over based on the definition of the specified traffic group.
You can assign a different traffic group to a specific sub folder. For example, you can create an iApps application in a sub folder and change the inherited traffic group value of
traffic-group-1
to a traffic group that you create, such as
traffic-group-2
. You can then manually cause
traffic-group-2
to fail over to another device so that the iApp application runs on a separate device from
traffic-group-1
.

About the root folder

At the highest-level, the BIG-IP® system includes a
root
folder. The
root
folder contains all BIG-IP configuration objects on the system, by way of a hierarchical folder and sub-folder structure within it.
By default, the BIG-IP system assigns a Sync-Failover device group and a traffic group to the
root
folder. All folders and sub-folders under the
root
folder inherit these default assignments.

Viewing redundancy attributes for the root folder

You can view the device group and traffic group attributes assigned to the
root
folder. All eligible configuration objects in the
root
folder hierarchy synchronize to the named device group, and all failover objects in the hierarchy fail over with the named traffic group.
All folders and sub-folders in the root folder hierarchy inherit these attribute values, by default.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    System
    Platform
    .
    The Platform screen opens.
  2. For the
    Redundant Device Configuration
    setting, view the device group and the traffic group attributes.

Configuring the traffic group attribute for the root folder

If you have two or more traffic groups defined on the BIG-IP system, you can configure the traffic group attribute assigned to the
root
folder. By default, this value is
traffic-group-1
.
All folders and sub folders in the
root
folder hierarchy inherit this attribute value, by default.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    System
    Platform
    .
    The Platform screen opens.
  2. If the system includes two or more traffic groups, then for the
    Default traffic group
    setting, select a traffic group from the list.
  3. Click
    Update
    .
By default, all failover objects in the
root
folder hierarchy fail over with the named traffic group, when failover occurs.