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Manual Chapter : Deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition in VMware ESXi

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BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 7.1.0
Manual Chapter

Deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition in
VMware ESXi

How do I deploy a BIG-IQ VE in
VMware ESXi
 ?

The tasks you perform to deploy the BIG-IQ Virtual Edition (VE) system on
VMware ESXi
, depend on what you plan to do with the
VMware ESXi
:
If you plan to manage BIG-IP devices with the BIG-IQ system
If you plan to manage applications in a service scaling group housed in a VMware cloud
  • 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.
  • Verify that the host machine requirements are satisfied.
  • Deploy a BIG-IQ system in the VMware cloud as a virtual machine.
  • 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 an SSG to manage your applications. For detailed instructions, refer to
    F5 BIG-IQ Centralized Management: Managing Applications in an Auto-Scaled VMware Cloud
     on
    support.f5.com
    .
When you deploy a VE for managing applications in an SSG, some parameter settings you specify are different. These settings are noted where appropriate.

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:
  • VMware ESX or ESXi. The
    BIG-IQ Virtual Edition and Supported Hypervisors Matrix
    , published on the AskF5 web site,
    support.f5.com
     identifies the versions that are supported.
  • VMware vSphere client
  • 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 VMware ESXi BIG-IQ VE virtual machine

The first step in deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition (VE) is to download the OVA file to your local system. Next, you can run the Deploy OVF Template wizard from within the ESXi vSphere client or vCenter vSphere Web client. Follow the steps in this procedure to create an instance of the BIG-IQ system that runs as a virtual machine on the host system.
Do not modify the configuration of the BIG-IQ VE 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. From a browser window, open the F5 Downloads page (
    downloads.f5.com
    ) and log in.
  2. On the Downloads Overview page, click
    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
      ide.ova
       or
      -scsi.ova
      .qcow2.zip
      ide.ova
       or
      -scsi.ova
      -vCloud.zip
      The BIG-IQ file package creates a 95GB disk footprint at installation.
    • If you are installing a data collection device, download the file name that ends in
      LARGE-ide.ova
       or
      LARGE-scsi.ova
      LARGE.qcow2.zip
      LARGE-ide.ova
       or
      LARGE-scsi.ova
      LARGE-vCloud.zip
      The data collection device file package creates a 500GB disk footprint at installation.
  7. Start your vSphere Client and log in.
    If the ESXi host is being managed by vCenter Server, you should complete the deployment from the vCenter vSphere Web Client instead.
  8. From the vSphere Client File menu, select Deploy OVF Template.
    The Deploy OVF Template wizard starts.
  9. In the Source pane, click
    Deploy from file or URL
    , and, using the
    Browse
     button, locate the OVF file, open it, and then click
    Next
    .
    For example:
    \MyDocuments\Work\Virtualization\<
    BIG-IQ_OVF_filename
    >
    The OVF Template Details pane opens.
  10. Verify that the OVF template details are correct, and click
    Next
    .
    This displays the End-User License Agreement (EULA).
  11. Read and accept the license agreement, and click
    Next
    .
    The Name and Location pane opens.
  12. In the
    Name
     field, type a name for the F5 VE virtual machine, such as:
    smith_f5_ve
    .
  13. In the Inventory Location area, select a folder name and click
    Next
    .
  14. From the
    Configuration
     list, select the number of CPUs and disks required for your system, and then click
    Next
    .
    The Configuration pane appears only when you use the SCSI version of the OVA packages: it is absent when you deploy with one of the IDE packages. The IDE packages will deploy their VE with 2 CPUs and 4 GB RAM. For production use, F5 Networks recommends 4 CPUs and 16 GB RAM. (For higher performance and scale, F5 Networks recommends 8 CPUs and either 32 GB or 64 GB RAM). You can adjust the CPU and memory settings after you complete the initial deployment and power off the virtual machine.
  15. If the host system is controlled by VMware vCenter Server, the Host Cluster screen opens. Choose the preferred host and click
    Next
    . Otherwise, proceed to the next step.
  16. In the
    Datastore
     field, type the name of data source your system will use, in the
    Available space
     field, type in the amount of space your system needs (in Gigabytes), and then click
    Next
    .
    The Network Mapping dialog box opens.
  17. Map the Source Networks to the Destination Networks in your inventory:
    1. Map the source network
      Management
       to the name of the appropriate management network in your inventory.
      The network used for this interface is usually the same subnet as the vCenter Server, ESXi Host and NSX Manager.
    2. If you choose to manage the BIG-IP devices using an interface other than management, you can map the source network
      Internal
       to that non-management network.
      An example of a destination internal network is
      Private Access
      .
    3. Leave the source network
      External
       at its default setting. This network is not used in most configurations.
      An example of a destination external network is
      Public Access
      .
    4. When you have the destination networks correctly mapped, click
      Next
      .
      The Ready to Complete screen opens.
  18. Verify that all deployment settings are correct, and click
    Finish
    .

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. In the main vSphere client window, click the Administration menu.
  2. Select the virtual machine that you want to power on.
  3. Click the Summary tab, and in the Commands area, click
    Power On
    .
    The status icon changes to indicate that the virtual machine is on. Note that the system will not process traffic until you configure the virtual machine from its command line or through its web interface.
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.
Do not use VMware tools to configure the IP address: the BIG-IQ system will not use these changes.
  1. In the vSphere client, click
    Launch Virtual Machine Console
    .
    The console screen opens. After a few seconds, a login prompt appears.
  2. At the <username> login prompt, type
    root
    .
  3. At the password prompt, type
    default
    .
  4. Type
    config
     and press Enter.
    The F5 Management Port Setup screen opens.
  5. Click
    OK
    .
  6. 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).
When assigned, the management IP address appears in the Summary tab of the vSphere client. Alternatively, you can use a hypervisor generic statement, such as
tmsh list sys management-ip
.
You can now log in to the BIG-IQ VE user interface, and license and provision the VE.

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