F5 Logo MyF5
Search
  1. MyF5 Home
  2. BIG-IQ Centralized Management: Local Traffic and Network Implementations
  3. Managing Local Traffic Monitors
Manual Chapter : Managing Local Traffic Monitors

Applies To:

Show Versions Show Versions

BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 8.3.0, 8.2.0, 8.1.0, 8.0.0, 7.1.0
Manual Chapter

Managing Local Traffic Monitors

How do I manage the objects that reside on managed devices?

The workflows for creating a new object, or for changing the settings for objects that already reside on a managed device, are very similar. In each case, there are four tasks to perform.
This figure illustrates the workflow to manage the objects on BIG-IP devices. Changing the settings or creating the object is the second step in this process.
Change managed object workflow

What LTM monitor management tasks can I perform?

With HTTP and HTTPS monitors, you can track the availability of these services on the nodes, pools, or pool members to which you attach them. To add or edit monitors, you need to log in as an Administrator or ADC Editor.
You cannot make revisions to the root (or parent) monitors that ship with the product; you can only revise the child monitors that you (or another user) have created.

Create an LTM monitor

You add a new LTM monitor so that you can track the availability of these services on the nodes, pools, or pool members to which you attach that monitor.
This is a shared object. Shared objects do not deploy to a device unless they are attached to a device-specific object. The table lists device-specific and shared objects. When you create a shared object, remember that you must associate it with a device-specific object before you can deploy it to a device.
Device Specific Objects
Shared Objects
Node
Certificates and Keys
Pool
Eviction Policies
SNAT Pool
iRules
Virtual Server
Monitors
Profiles
  1. At the top of the screen, click
    Configuration
    , then, on the left, click
    LOCAL TRAFFIC
    Monitors
    .
    The screen displays the list of monitors defined on this device.
    If you select the check box for a monitor, you can delete it. You can also view details about other configuration objects to which this monitor relates.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
    The New Monitor screen opens.
  3. In the
    Name
     field, type in a name for the monitor you are creating.
  4. If the device for which you are creating this monitor is in a silo as part of a conflict resolution work flow, select that
    Silo
     here; otherwise, leave the default setting.
    For detailed work flows explaining how you can use a silo to resolve configuration object conflicts, refer to
    BIG-IQ: Resolving Device Object Conflicts
     on
    support.f5.com
    .
  5. For
    Partition
    , type the name of the BIG-IP device partition on which you want to create the monitor.
    In the AS3 user interface, the BIG-IP device partition to which services deploy is referred to as the
    tenant
    . Do not deploy any objects to a partition that has been used to deploy AS3 application services using the Configuration tab. For additional detail about partitions and tenants, refer to
    AS3 tenant name details
     in the
    Managing BIG-IQ AS3 templates
     article on
    support.f5.com
  6. Type a brief
    Description
    for the monitor you are creating.
  7. Select the type
    Type
     of monitor you want to create.
    The
    Monitor Template
     setting displays.
  8. From
    Monitor Template
    , select the parent monitor from which you want your monitor to inherit settings.
    Name
    ,
    Type
    , and
    Monitor Template
     are the only required parameters when you create a virtual server. The remaining parameters on this screen are optional and perform the same function as they do when you configure a virtual server on a BIG-IP device.
    A number of additional fields display. The fields that display depend on which monitor template you choose.
  9. Select the remaining settings needed to suit the requirements of this traffic monitor.
    For details about a particular setting, refer to the
    BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager: Monitors Reference
     on
    support.f5.com
    .
When you finish specifying the settings for the new monitor, you next need to evaluate and then deploy your changes to the target device. Until you deploy these changes, objects on the managed device are not changed.

Edit an LTM monitor

You revise HTTP or HTTPS LTM monitors when you want to change the details of how the monitor determines when a service is operational.
You cannot edit root monitors.
  1. At the top of the screen, click
    Configuration
    , then, on the left, click
    LOCAL TRAFFIC
    Monitors
    .
    The screen displays the list of monitors defined on this device.
    If you select the check box for a monitor, you can delete it. You can also view details about other configuration objects to which this monitor relates.
  2. Select the monitor you want to edit.
    The Monitor Properties screen opens to display the current settings for the selected monitor.
  3. If you have imported multiple versions of this object, select the
    Version
     you want to edit.
    The screen displays parameter values for the version you selected. Changes you make to these values impact only that version of the object.
  4. If this BIG-IQ is no longer managing devices for the selected version of an object, you can remove that version of the object by clicking
    Delete Version
    .
    If this BIG-IQ is managing devices with the selected version, the delete fails.
  5. If this is not an imported profile, you can add or revise a brief
    Description
    for the monitor you are editing.
  6. For
    Interval
    , specify, in seconds, the frequency at which the system issues the monitor check when either the resource is down, or the status of the resource is unknown.
    The default is 5 seconds.
  7. For
    Up Interval
    , specify which interval the system uses to perform the health check when a resource is up.
    Disabled
    Specifies that the system uses the interval specified in
    Interval
     to check the health of the resource.
    Enabled
    Enables specification of a different interval to use when checking the health of a resource that is up.
  8. For
    Time Until Up
    , specify the number of seconds to wait after a resource first responds correctly to the monitor before setting the resource to up.
    During the interval, all responses from the resource must be correct. When the interval expires, the resource is marked up. The default is 0, meaning that the resource is marked up immediately when the first correct response is received.
  9. From
    Timeout
    , specify the number of seconds the target has in which to respond to the monitor request.
    The default is 16 seconds. If the target responds within the set time period, it is considered up. If the target does not respond within the set time period, it is considered down. Note that
    Timeout
     and
    Time Until Up
     combine to control when a resource is set to up.
  10. For
    Manual Resume
    , specify whether the system automatically changes the status of a resource to
    Enabled
     at the next successful monitor check.
    If you set this option to
    Yes
    , you must manually re-enable the resource before the system can use it for load balancing connections. The default is
    No
    .
  11. For
    Send String
    , specify the text string that the monitor sends to the target object.
    You must include
    \r\n
     at the end of a non-empty
    Send String
    . The default setting is
    GET /\r\n
    , which retrieves a default HTML file for a web site. To retrieve a specific page from a web site, specify a fully-qualified path name, for example: 
    GET /www/siterequest/index.html\r\n
  12. For
    Receive String
    , specify a regular expression to represent the text string that the monitor looks for in the returned resource.
    The most common receive expressions contain a text string that is included in an HTML file on your site. The text string can be regular text, HTML tags, or image names.
    If you do not specify both a
    Send String
     and a
    Receive String
    , the monitor performs a simple service check and connect only.
  13. For
    Receive Disable String
    , specify a regular expression to represent the text string that the monitor looks for in the returned resource.
    This setting works like
    Receive String
    , except that the system marks the node or pool member disabled when its response matches
    Receive Disable String
    .
    To use this setting, you must specify both
    Receive String
     and
    Receive Disable String
    .
  14. If you selected
    HTTPS
    , for
    Cipher List
    , specify the list of ciphers for this monitor.
    The default list is
    DEFAULT:+SHA:+3DES:+kEDH
    .
  15. If the monitored target requires authentication, specify the
    User Name
    .
  16. If the monitored target requires authentication, specify the
    Password
    .
    For imported monitors that use passwords:
    • If the monitor was imported from a version 12.0.0 or later device, you do not need to re-enter the password.
    • If the monitor was imported from a device earlier than version 12.0.0 and you plan to make changes to the monitor (or if you associate the monitor with an LTM object or child monitor), then you must supply the password for the imported monitor.
    • If you do not change any of the parameters for the monitor or associate the monitor with an LTM object or child monitor, then you do not need to re-enter the password.
  17. If you selected
    HTTPS
    , for
    Compatibility
     specify the SSL option setting.
    If you select
    Enabled
    , the SSL option (in OpenSSL) is set to
    ALL
    .
  18. If you selected
    HTTPS
    , for
    Client Certificate
    , select the client certificate that the monitor sends to the target SSL server.
    The default is
    None
    .
  19. If you selected
    HTTPS
    , for
    Client Key
    , select the key for the client certificate that the monitor sends to the target SSL server.
    The default is
    None
    .
  20. For
    Reverse
    , specify whether the system marks the target resource down when the test is successful.
    This setting is useful, for example, if the content on your web site home page is dynamic and changes frequently. You might want to set up a reverse ECV service check that looks for the string Error. A match for this string means that the web server was down. To use this option, you must specify values for
    Send String
     and
    Receive String
    .
  21. For
    Transparent
    , specify whether the system operates in transparent mode.
    A monitor in transparent mode directs traffic through the associated pool members or nodes (usually a router or firewall) to the aliased destination (that is, it probes the Alias Address-Alias Service Port combination specified in the monitor). If the monitor cannot successfully reach the aliased destination, the pool member or node through which the monitor traffic was sent is marked down.
  22. For
    Alias Address
    , specify an alias IP address for the monitor to check, on behalf of the pools or pool members with which the monitor is associated.
    The default setting is
    *All Addresses
    . If the health check for the alias address is successful, the system marks all associated objects up. If the health check for the alias address is not successful, then the system marks all associated objects down.
  23. For
    Alias Service Port
    , specify an alias port or service for the monitor to check, on behalf of the pools or pool members with which the monitor is associated.
    The default setting is
    *All Ports
    . If the health check for the alias port or service is successful, the system marks all associated objects up. If the health check for the alias port or service is not successful, then the system marks all associated objects down.
  24. For
    IP DSCP
    , specify the differentiated services code point (DSCP).
    DSCP is a 6-bit value in the Differentiated Services (DS) field of the IP header. It can be used to specify the quality of service desired for the packet. The valid range for this value is 0 to 63 (hex 0x0 to 0x3f). The default is 0 (zero).
  25. For
    Adaptive
    , specify whether adaptive response time monitoring is enabled for this monitor.
    Enabled
    The monitor determines the state of a service based on how divergent from the mean latency a monitor probe for that service is allowed to be. When enabled, you can set values for the
    Allowed Divergence
    ,
    Adaptive Limit
    , and
    Sampling Timespan
     monitor settings.
    Disabled
    The monitor determines the state of a service based on the
    Interval
    ,
    Up Interval
    ,
    Time Until Up
    , and
    Timeout
     monitor settings.
    If you select
    Enabled
     for this control, three additional controls are displayed.
  26. If you enabled
    Adaptive
    , for
    Allowed Divergence
    , specify the type of divergence used for adaptive response time monitoring.
    Absolute
    The number of milliseconds the latency of a monitor probe can exceed the mean latency of a monitor probe for the service being probed. Tip: In typical cases, if the monitor detects three probes in a row that miss the latency value you set, the pool member or node is marked down.
    Relative
    The percentage of deviation the latency of a monitor probe can exceed the mean latency of a monitor probe for the service being probed.
  27. If you enabled
    Adaptive
    , for
    Allowed Divergence
    , specify the absolute number of milliseconds that may not be exceeded by a monitor probe, regardless of
    Allowed Divergence
    .
    For a probe to be considered successful, this value applies regardless of the value of the
    Allowed Divergence
     setting.
  28. If you enabled
    Adaptive
    , for
    Sampling Timespan
    , length, in seconds, of the probe history window that the system uses to calculate the mean latency and standard deviation of a monitor probe.
  29. Click
    Save & Close
    .
Changes that you make are made only to the pending version. The
pending version
 serves as a repository for changes you stage before deploying them to the managed device. Object settings for the pending version are not the same as the object settings on the actual BIG-IP device until they are deployed or discarded.
When you finish revising the settings for this monitor, you need to evaluate and then deploy your changes to the target device. Until you deploy these changes, objects on the managed device are not changed.

Copy an LTM monitor from one device to existing objects on another

Before you can copy a monitor from one device to another, there must be objects on the target device that use the monitor. If these objects do not exist on the target device, you can create them as part of the workflow. Refer to
Copy an LTM monitor from one device to new objects on another
, on
support.f5.com
 for that workflow.
Copying monitors between devices helps insure a consistent setup and keeps you from having to repeat the same task over and over again. To copy a monitor from one device to another, you import the monitor from the source device, associate the monitor to selected objects on the target device, and then deploy your changes to the target device.
  1. Identify your source and target BIG-IP devices, as well as the name of the monitor you want to copy, and the objects that you want to attach the monitor to.
    1. Identify the source BIG-IP device (the device that has the monitor you want to copy).
    2. Identify the name of the monitor that you want to copy.
    3. Identify the target BIG-IP device (the device to which you want to copy the monitor).
    4. Identify the objects on the target device that you want to attach the monitor to.
  2. If you have not already discovered and imported services for both the source and target device, do that now.
    For details on how to discover a device and import services, refer to
    Device Discovery and Basic Device Management
     on
    support.f5.com
    .
    When discovery and import is complete, both devices will be under management, the BIG-IQ will have all of the monitors from the source device, and the BIG-IQ will have all of the objects from the target device that you want to use the monitor with.
  3. At the top of the screen, click
    Configuration
    , then, on the left, click
    LOCAL TRAFFIC
    .
  4. Click the name of a local traffic object that you want to associate the monitor with when you copy it to the target BIG-IP device.
    For example, if you plan to associate the monitor with a pool, click
    Pools
    .
    The screen displays the list of objects of the type you selected (pools in this case) that reside on the devices managed by this BIG-IQ.
  5. Click the name of the object that you want to associate with the copied monitor.
    The properties screen for the selected object opens.
  6. The steps for identifying which monitor you want to copy depend on the type of object you are going to associate the monitor with.
    To copy a monitor to a pool
    • For Health Monitors, select the specific monitor you want to copy to the selected device.
    • To specify an additional monitor to copy to this device, click (+) and then repeat the previous step.
    • To remove a monitor you have specified to copy to this device, click (X).
    To copy a monitor to a pool member
    • For Health Monitors, select
      Member Specific
      .
    • From
      Select Monitors
       , select the specific monitors you want to copy to the selected device.
    • To specify an additional monitor to copy to this device, click (+) and then repeat the previous step.
    • To remove a monitor you have specified to copy to this device, click (X).
    To copy a monitor to a node
    • For Health Monitors, select
      Node Specific
      .
    • From Select Monitors, select the specific monitors you want to copy to the selected device.
    • T o specify an additional monitor to copy to this device, click (+) and then repeat the previous step.
    • To remove a monitor you have specified to copy to this device, click (X).
  7. When you are finished assigning monitors to this object, click
    Save & Close
    .
  8. Repeat the preceding three steps for the other object types that you want to use to copy monitors to the target device.
    For example, you might specify pools first and then define monitors for pool members and nodes.
  9. When you have specified all of the objects and monitors that you want to copy, deploy these changes to the target device.
    For details on deploying changes to a managed device, refer to
    Deploying Changes
     on
    support.f5.com
    .

Copy an LTM monitor from one device to new objects on another

Copying monitors between devices helps insure a consistent setup and keeps you from having to repeat the same task over and over again. To copy a monitor from one device to another, you import the monitor from the source device, associate the monitor to selected objects on the target device, and then deploy your changes to the target device.
  1. Identify your source and target BIG-IP devices, as well as the name of the monitor you want to copy, and the objects that you want to attach the monitor to.
    1. Identify the source BIG-IP device (the device that has the monitor you want to copy).
    2. Identify the name of the monitor that you want to copy.
    3. Identify the target BIG-IP device (the device to which you want to copy the monitor).
    4. Identify the objects on the target device that you want to attach the monitor to.
  2. If you have not already discovered and imported services for both the source and target device, do that now.
    For details on how to discover a device and import services, refer to
    Device Discovery and Basic Device Management
     on
    support.f5.com
    .
    When discovery and import is complete, both devices will be under management, and the BIG-IQ will have all of the monitors from the source device.
  3. At the top of the screen, click
    Configuration
    , then, on the left, click
    LOCAL TRAFFIC
    .
  4. Click the name of a local traffic object type that you want to associate the monitor with when you copy it to the target BIG-IP device.
    To add a monitor to a new pool member, these two steps are a little different. You don't add a new pool member from the Pool Members screen; instead, you add new pool members by editing an existing pool or adding a new pool and then creating a new member from the pools screen.
    For example, if you plan to associate the monitor with a pool, click
    Pools
    .
    The screen displays a list of objects of the type you selected (pools in this case) that reside on the devices managed by this BIG-IQ displays.
  5. Click
    Create
    .
    The create screen for the selected object opens.
  6. Type a
    Name
     for the object you are creating.
  7. Select the
    Device
     on which to create the new object.
  8. If you are adding a new node, type the IP address for the node in the
    Address
     field.
  9. The steps for identifying which monitor you want to copy depends on the type of object you are going to associate the monitor with.
    To copy a monitor to a pool
    • For Health Monitors, select the specific monitor you want to copy to the selected device.
    • To specify an additional monitor to copy to this device, click (+) and then repeat the previous step.
    • To remove a monitor you have specified to copy to this device, click (X).
    To copy a monitor to a pool member
    • Remember, to access the New Pool Member properties screen, you need to add a new member by either editing an existing pool or creating a new pool, and then clicking
      New Member
      .
    • For Health Monitors, select
      Member Specific
      .
    • From Select Monitors, select the specific monitors you want to copy to the selected device.
    • To specify an additional monitor to copy to this device, click (+) and then repeat the previous step.
    • To remove a monitor you have specified to copy to this device, click (X).
    To copy a monitor to a node
    • For Health Monitors, select
      Node Specific
      .
    • From Select Monitors, select the specific monitors you want to copy to the selected device.
    • To specify an additional monitor to copy to this device, click (+) and then repeat the previous step.
    • To remove a monitor you have specified to copy to this device, click (X).
  10. Specify any additional settings needed to suit the requirements for this object.
    For details about the purpose or function of a particular setting, refer to the BIG-IP reference information on
    support.f5.com
    .
  11. When you are finished assigning monitors to this object, click
    Save & Close
    .
  12. Repeat the preceding six steps for the other object types that you want to use to copy monitors to the target device.
    For example, you might specify pools first and then define monitors for pool members and nodes.
  13. When you have specified all of the objects and monitors that you want to copy, deploy these changes to the target device.
    For details on deploying changes to a managed device, refer to
    Deploying Changes
     on
    support.f5.com
    .
Contact Support Contact Support

Have a Question?

Support and Sales >

About F5

Education

F5 Sites

Support Tasks




©2023 F5, Inc. All rights reserved.


Trademarks Policies Privacy California Privacy Do Not Sell My Personal Information