Manual Chapter : Visual Policy Editor Concepts

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BIG-IP APM

  • 17.0.0, 16.1.5, 16.1.2, 16.1.1, 16.1.0
Manual Chapter

Visual Policy Editor Concepts

About the visual policy editor

The visual policy editor is a screen on which to configure a per-session policy (also known as an access policy) or a per-request policy using visual elements.

Visual policy editor conventions

This table provides a visual dictionary for the visual policy editor.
Visual element
Element type
Description
Green Start icon
Initial access policy and initial per-request policy
When an access profile is created, usually an initial access policy is also created. A per-request policy starts with similar initial elements.
Green Start icon
Start
Every access policy and per-request policy contains a start.
branch connects one object to another
Branch
A branch connects an action to another action or to an ending.
branch connects one object to another
Add an action
Clicking this icon causes a screen to open with available actions for selection.
Logon page action displays as a rectangle
Action
Clicking the name of an action, such as
Logon Page
, opens a screen with properties and rules for the action. Clicking the
x
deletes the action from the access policy.
Red asterisk in AD Auth action
Action that requires some configuration
The red asterisk indicates that some properties must be configured. Clicking the name opens a screen with properties for the action.
Ending
Ending
Each branch has an ending. An access policy includes
Allow
or
Deny
endings. A per-request policy includes
Allow
or
Reject
endings.
Configure an ending
Configure ending
Clicking the name of an ending opens a popup screen.
Configure a macrocall
Add a macro for use in the access policy
Opens a screen for macro template selection. After addition, the macro is available for configuration and for use as an action item.
Macro ready to configure
Macro added for use
Added macros display under the access policy. Clicking the plus (
+
) sign expands the macro for configuration of the actions in it.
Logon page action displays as a rectangle
Macrocall in an access policy
Clicking the macrocall name expands the macro in the area below the access policy.
Logon page action displays as a rectangle
Apply Access Policy
Clicking it commits changes. The visual policy editor displays this link when any changes remain uncommitted.

About actions on the add item screen

The actions that are available on any given tab of the add item screen depend on the access profile type, such as LTM-APM (for web access) or SSL-VPN (for remote access), and so on. Only actions that are appropriate for the access profile type will display.
Add action item screen
branch connects one object to another

About macros and macrocalls

A
macro
is a collection of access policy actions that provide common access policy functions. For example, AD auth and resources is a preconfigured macro template. It supplies a logon page, an Active Directory authentication action, and a resource assignment action. The properties and rules for the actions are configurable.
After a macro is configured, it can be placed into the access policy by adding a macrocall. A
macrocall
is an action that performs the functions defined in a macro.
A macro contains actions and terminals and can include macrocalls.
You cannot use subroutines in macros within per-request policies.
Access policy actions
Any available action or series of actions.
Macrocalls
Calls to other macros (nested macros).
Terminals
An endpoint in a macro. Default terminals are
Successful
and
Failure
. Terminals are configurable and can be added and deleted.
Terminals defined in the macro display as the branches that follow the macrocall after it has been added to the access policy.

About macrocalls on the add item screen

The Macrocalls tab displays when one or more macros has been added for use in the access policy. When adding an access policy item to a macro, the Macrocalls tab displays unless adding a macrocall would create a misconfiguration, such as causing a macro loop or causing a series of macrocalls to exceed a depth of three.
Macrocalls can be added to any access policy. Macrocalls cannot be shared across access policies.
Macrocalls tab on the add item screen
branch connects one object to another

About maximum depth for nested macros in an access policy

In an access policy, a macro can make a macrocall to another macro until up to three macros have been called in series.
The maximum depth of macrocalls
shows macros 1 through macro 4, the equivalent of 3 macros deep

About access policy endings

An ending provides a result for an access policy branch. An ending for an access policy branch can be one of three types.
Allow
Starts the SSL VPN session and loads assigned resources and a webtop, if assigned, for the user. Typically, you assign this when the user passes specific checks.
Deny
Disallows the SSL VPN session and shows the user an access denied web page. Typically, you assign this when the user does not have access to resources, or fails authentication. Alternatively after a session starts, shows a URL filter denied web page after a per-request policy rejects a request for a URL.
Redirect
Redirects the client to the URL specified in the ending configuration. You can define a redirect URL for each redirect ending. Typically, you can assign a redirect when the user requires remediation or a separate resource. For example, a user who fails the antivirus check because virus definitions are out of date can be redirected to the software manufacturer's site to get an antivirus update.

About maximum expression size for visual policy editor

The maximum size for an expression in the visual policy editor is 64 KB. The visual policy editor cannot save an expression that exceeds this limit.

About per-session and per-request policies

Access Policy Manager (APM) provides two types of policies.
Per-session policy
The per-session policy runs when a client initiates a session. (A per-session policy is also known as an access policy.) Depending on the actions you include in the access policy, it can authenticate the user and perform other actions that populate session variables with data for use throughout the session.
Per-request policy
After a session starts, a
per-request policy
runs each time the client makes an HTTP or HTTPS request. Because of this behavior, a per-request policy is particularly useful in the context of a Zero Trust scenario, where the client requires re-verification on every request. A per-request policy can include a subroutine, which starts a subsession. Multiple subsessions can exist at one time.
You cannot use subroutines in macros within per-request policies.
You can associate one access policy and one per-request policy with a virtual server.

About per-request policies and the Apply Access Policy link

The Apply Access Policy link has no effect on a per-request policy. Conversely, updates made to a per-request policy do not affect the state of the Apply Access Policy link.

About per-request policies and nested macros

Access Policy Manager® (APM®) supports calling a macro from a per-request policy and calling a subroutine macro from a per-request policy subroutine. However, APM does not support calling any type of macro from a per-request policy macro or from a per-request policy subroutine macro.

About per-request policy subroutines

A per-request policy
subroutine
is a collection of actions. What distinguishes a subroutine from other collections of actions (such as macros), is that a subroutine starts a subsession that, for its duration, controls user access to specified resources. If a subroutine has an established subsession, subroutine execution is skipped. A subroutine is therefore useful for cases that require user interaction (such as a confirmation dialog or a step-up authentication), since it allows skipping that interaction in a subsequent access.
You cannot use subroutines in macros within per-request policies.
Subroutine properties specify subsession timeout values, maximum macro loop count, and gating criteria. You can reauthenticate, check for changes on the client, or take other actions based on timeouts or gating criteria.

About subsessions

A
subsession
starts when a subroutine runs and continues until reaching the maximum lifetime specified in the subroutine properties, or until the session terminates. A subsession populates subsession variables that are available for the duration of the subsession. Subsession variables and events that occur during a subsession are logged.
Multiple subsessions can exist at the same time. The maximum number of subsessions allowed varies across platforms. The total number of subsessions is limited by the session limits in APM (128 * max sessions). Creating a subsession does not count against the license limit.

Additional resources and documentation for BIG-IP Access Policy Manager

You can access all of the BIG-IP system documentation from the AskF5 Knowledge Base located at
https://support.f5.com/
.
Document
Description
BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: Application Access
This guide contains information for an administrator to configure application tunnels for secure, application-level TCP/IP connections from the client to the network.
BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: Authentication Essentials
This guide contains information to help an administrator understand authentication concepts, such as AAA server, SSL certificate, local user database, and so on.
BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: Authentication Methods
This guide contains information describes different types of authentication, including Active Directory, LDAP and LDAPS, RSA SecurID, RADIUS, OCSP, CRLDP, Certificate, TACACS+, and so on.
BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: OAuth Concepts and Configuration
This guide describes OAuth concepts and explains how to configure the system to use OAuth authorization servers, resource servers, and other examples.
BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: SAML Configuration
This guide introduces SAML concepts and provides several examples using APM as a SAML IdP, as a SAML service provider, and others.
BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: Single Sign-On Concepts and Configuration
This guide describes how to configure different types of single sign-on methods, such as HTTP basic, HTTP forms-based, NTLMV1, NTLMV2, Kerberos, OAuth Bearer.
BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: Customization
This guide provides information about using the APM customization tool to provide users with a personalized experience for access policy screens, and errors. An administrator can apply your organization's brand images and colors, change messages and errors for local languages, and change the layout of user pages and screens.
BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: Edge Client and Application Configuration
This guide contains information for an administrator to configure the BIG-IP system for browser-based access with the web client as well as for access using BIG-IP Edge Client and F5 Access Apps. It also includes information about how to configure or obtain client packages and install them for BIG-IP Edge Client for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and Edge Client command-line interface for Linux.
BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: Implementations
This guide contains implementations for synchronizing access policies across BIG-IP systems, hosting content on a BIG-IP system, maintaining OPSWAT libraries, configuring dynamic ACLs, web access management, and configuring an access policy for routing.
BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: Network Access
This guide contains information for an administrator to configure APM Network Access to provide secure access to corporate applications and data using a standard web browser.
BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: Portal Access
This guide contains information about how to configure APM Portal Access. In Portal Access, APM communicates with back-end servers, rewrites links in application web pages, and directs additional requests from clients back to APM.
BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: Secure Web Gateway
This guide contains information to help an administrator configure Secure Web Gateway (SWG) explicit or transparent forward proxy and apply URL categorization and filtering to Internet traffic from your enterprise.
BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: Third-Party Integration
This guide contains information about integrating third-party products with Access Policy Manager (APM). It includes implementations for integration with VMware Horizon View, Oracle Access Manager, Citrix Web Interface site, and so on.
BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: Visual Policy Editor
This guide contains information about how to use the visual policy editor to configure access policies.
Release notes
Release notes contain information about the current software release, including a list of associated documentation, a summary of new features, enhancements, fixes, known issues, and available workarounds.
KB articles
Knowledge base articles are responses and resolutions to known issues, additional configuration instructions, and how-to information.