Deploying Application Services to Your Devices

Deploying Application Services to your Devices

How do service catalog templates work?

A service catalog template allows you to create and deploy the application services to individual BIG-IP devices or to the auto-scaled BIG-IP VE devices in your cloud. When you create an application service, you decide which objects to include and which settings to revise, and then identify the device, or service scaling group (SSG) to which you want it to deploy.

Note: Both service catalog templates and AS3 templates deploy application services to managed devices. However, the work flow for using each template type is significantly different. For details about how AS3 templates work, refer to Managing BIG-IQ AS3 Templates on support.f5.com.

Create and deploy an application service

Creating a new application service from a template allows you to start from the set of objects defined in the template, modify or add objects, and then deploy the application service to your BIG-IP devices. As you create the application service, you define which of the template objects you want to include and revise the settings that need to be customized.

Note: Your service template must have an HTTP profile associated with its virtual server, or you will not be able to deploy it.

1. At the top of the screen, click Applications, then, on the left, click APPLICATION TEMPLATES.

   The screen lists the AS3 and service catalog templates defined on this BIG-IQ.

2. Under Service Catalog Templates, click Create.

   The Create Service Template screen opens to General Properties.

3. Use the Application Name and Description settings under Application Properties to identify this application.

4. For the Template Type, select the service catalog template you want to use to create this application from.

5. Use the Application Service Name and Description settings under General Properties to identify the application service.

6. For Traffic Service Environment, select Service Scaling Group and then select the name of the service scaling group (SSG) to which you want to deploy this application service.

7. Determine the objects that you want to deploy in this application service.

   1. To omit any of the objects defined in this template, click the (X) icon that corresponds to that object.

   2. To create additional copies of any of the objects defined in this template, click the (+) icon that corresponds to that object.

   3. For each object that you decide to include in the application service, revise the settings that you need to change.

      Note: When you specify values for fields that reference other configuration objects, you can select objects that already exist in BIG-IQ configuration. But you can also specify objects that are created when this application service is deployed. These objects that don’t yet exist in BIG-IQ configuration, but are created when this application service is deployed are prefixed with a pound sign (#). For example, a template could define a pool MyPool1 and a node 45.54.45.54. To specify the application service-created object, you select the value prefixed with a pound sign (#) when you select the value for that node. (That option would appear as #45.54.45.54 in the example cited here.

8. When you have configured the objects that you want to include in this application service, click Create.

   BIG-IQ creates the application service and deploys it to the SSG you specified.