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Manual Chapter : Deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition in Linux KVM

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BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 7.1.0
Manual Chapter

Deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition in
Linux KVM

How do I deploy a BIG-IQ VE in
Linux KVM
?

  • Verify that the host machine requirements are satisfied.
  • Deploy a BIG-IQ system as a virtual machine.
  • Deploy the BIG-IP systems you intend to manage.
  • After you have deployed the virtual machines, log in to the BIG-IQ VE system and run the Setup utility. Using the Setup utility, you perform basic network configuration tasks, such as assigning VLANs to interfaces.
  • Configure secure communication between the BIG-IQ system and the BIG-IP device.

Host machine requirements and recommendations

To successfully deploy and run the
BIG-IQ
 VE system, the host system must satisfy minimum requirements.
The host system must include these elements:
  • RHEL, Ubuntu, Debian, or CentOS with the KVM package. The
    BIG-IQ Virtual Edition and Supported Hypervisors Matrix
    , published on the AskF5 web site,
    support.f5.com
     identifies the Linux versions that are supported.
  • Virtual Machine Manager
  • Connection to a common NTP source (this is especially important for each host in a redundant system configuration).
The hypervisor CPU must meet the following requirements:
  • Use a 64-bit architecture.
  • Have support for virtualization (AMD-V or Intel VT-x) enabled.
  • Support a one-to-one thread-to-defined virtual CPU ratio, or (on single-threading architectures) support at least one core per defined virtual CPU.
  • Intel processors must be from the Core (or newer) workstation or server family of CPUs.

Deploy a BIG-IQ VE virtual machine in Linux KVM

The first steps in deploying BIG-IQ® VE are to download the Zip file and then extract the
.qcow2
 file, and save it to the KVM server. Next, you configure the virtual machine using Virtual Machine Manager.
Do not modify the configuration of the
Linux KVM
 guest environment with settings less powerful than the ones recommended in this document. This includes the settings for the CPU, RAM, and network adapters. Doing so might produce unexpected results.
  1. In a browser, open the F5 Downloads page (
    ://downloads.f5.com
    ).
  2. On the Downloads Overview page, select
    Find a Download
    .
  3. Under Product Line, select
    Centralized Management
    .
  4. Under Name, select the release you want to install.
  5. If the End User Software License is displayed, read it and then click
    I Accept
    .
  6. Select the BIG-IQ Virtual Edition file package to download.
    • If you are installing a BIG-IQ, download the file name that ends in
      .qcow2.zip
      .
      The BIG-IQ file package creates a 120Gb disk footprint at installation.
    • If you are installing a data collection device, download the file name that ends in
      LARGE.qcow2.zip
      .
      The data collection device file package creates a 500Gb disk footprint at installation.
  7. Extract the file from the Zip archive and save them where your
    qcow2
     files reside on the KVM server.
    In some packages there may be two
    qcow2
     files. The larger of the two is the one that is required. The smaller, if it exists, will have “DATASTORE.LTM” or “DATASTORE.ALL” in its name. It has been deprecated and should not be used.
  8. Use VNC to access the KVM server, and then start
    XenCenter
    .
  9. Right click
    localhost (QEMU)
    , and from the popup menu, select
    New
    .
    The Create a new virtual machine, Step 1 of 4 dialog box opens.
  10. In the
    Name
     field, type a name for the connection.
  11. Select
    import existing disk image
     as the method for installing the operating system, and click
    Forward
    .
    The Create a new virtual machine, Step 2 of 4 dialog box opens
  12. Type in the path to the larger of the two extracted
    qcow
     files, or click
    Browse
    to navigate to the path location; select the file, and then click the
    Choose Volume
     button to fill in the path.
    The file name will be similar to
    BIG-IQ-
    <version_number>.<build_number>
    .qcow2
    .
  13. In the
    OS type
     setting, select
    Linux
    , for the
    Version
     setting, select
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
    , and click
    Forward
    .
    The Create a new virtual machine, Step 3 of 4 dialog box opens.
  14. In the
    Memory (RAM)
     field, type the appropriate amount of memory (in megabytes) for your deployment. (For example,
    32768
     for a 32 Gb deployment). From the
    CPUs
     list, select the appropriate number of CPUs, and click
    Forward
    .
    For production use, CPU, RAM, and disk space requirements for deploying a BIG-IQ are determined by a number of factors. For details about the ideal settings for your use, refer to
    When do I need extra resources?
     on
    support.f5.com
    . You can adjust the CPU and memory settings after you complete the initial deployment and power off the virtual machine.
    The Create a new virtual machine, Step 4 of 4 dialog box opens.
  15. Select
    Customize configuration before install
    , and click the
    Advanced options
     arrow.
  16. Select the network interface adapter that corresponds to your management IP address, and click
    Finish
    .
    The Virtual Machine configuration dialog box opens.
  17. Click
    Add Hardware
    . When The Add New Virtual Hardware dialog box opens, select
    Network
     to access controls for specifying a new network interface device.
  18. From the
    Host device
     list, select the network interface adapter that corresponds to your external network, and from the
    Device model
     list, select
    virtio
    . Then click
    Finish
    .
  19. Repeat the last two steps, but this time select the network interface adapter that corresponds to your internal network.
  20. From the left pane, select
    Disk 1
    .
  21. Click the
    Advanced options
     button.
  22. From the
    Disk bus
     list, select
    Virtio
    .
  23. From the
    Storage format
     list, select
    qcow2
    .
  24. Click
    Apply
    .
  25. Click
    Begin Installation
    .
    Virtual Machine Manager creates the virtual machine just as you configured it.

Power on the BIG-IQ VE virtual machine for the first time

You power on the virtual machine so that you can make the BIG-IQ Virtual Edition (VE) accessible from the console.
  1. Open Virtual Machine Manager.
  2. Right click the virtual machine that you want to power on, and then from the popup menu, select
    Open
    .
    The virtual machine opens, but in a powered-off state.
  3. From the toolbar, select
    Power on the virtual machine
     (right-arrow).
    The virtual machine boots and then displays a login prompt.
After the system completes the initialization process, two built-in user accounts are enabled that provide you with the access you need to complete initial configuration and setup:
  • The root account provides initial user access to command shells. You can use a local console connection, or you can use SSH. This account also provides access to the F5 Configuration utility. The initial root account password is
    default
    .
  • The admin account provides initial user access through the web interface. The initial admin account password is
    admin
    .
You should change passwords for both accounts before bringing a system into production.

Set up the management network on the BIG-IQ virtual machine

If your network has DHCP, an IP address is automatically assigned to BIG-IQ VE during deployment. You can use this address to access the BIG-IQ VE user interface or
tmsh
 command-line utility.
If no IP address was assigned, you can assign one by using the Configuration utility.
  1. At the login prompt, type
    root
    .
  2. At the password prompt, type
    default
    .
  3. Type
    config
     and press Enter.
    The F5 Management Port Setup screen opens.
  4. Click
    OK
    .
  5. Determine how to assign the management port:
    • If you want DHCP to automatically assign an address for the management port, select
      Yes
      .
    • To manually assign an IP address and netmask for the management port, select
      No
       and follow the instructions to set the IPv4 address, network mask, and management route (gateway address).
You can use the shell command
tmsh list sys management-ip
 to confirm that the management IP address has been properly assigned.
You can now log in to the BIG-IQ VE user interface, and license and provision the VE.
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