Manual Chapter :
Deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition in Linux KVM
Applies To:
Show VersionsBIG-IQ Centralized Management
- 8.3.0, 8.2.0, 8.1.0, 8.0.0
Deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition in Linux KVM
Linux KVM
How do I deploy a BIG-IQ VE in Linux KVM ?
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. TheBIG-IQ Virtual Edition and Supported Hypervisors Matrix, published on the AskF5 web site,support.f5.comidentifies 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.- From a browser window, open the F5 Downloads page (downloads.f5.com) and log in.
- On the Downloads Overview page, clickFind a Download.
- Under Product Line, selectCentralized Management.
- Under Name, select the release you want to install.
- If the End User Software License is displayed, read it and then clickI Accept.
- 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 inLARGE.qcow2.zip.The data collection device file package creates a 500Gb disk footprint at installation.
- Extract the file from the Zip archive and save them where yourqcow2files reside on the KVM server.In some packages there may be twoqcow2files. 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.
- Use VNC to access the KVM server, and then startXenCenter.
- Right clicklocalhost (QEMU)and from the popup menu, selectNew.The Create a new virtual machine, Step 1 of 4 dialog boxes opens.
- In theNamefield, type a name for the connection.
- Selectimport existing disk imageas the method for installing the operating system, and clickForward.The Create a new virtual machine, Step 2 of 4 dialog box opens
- Type in the path to the larger of the two extractedqcowfiles, or clickBrowseto navigate to the path location; select the file, and then click theChoose Volumebutton to fill in the path.The file name will be similar toBIG-IQ-.<version_number>.<build_number>.qcow2
- In theOS typesetting, selectLinux, for theVersionsetting, selectRed Hat Enterprise Linux 6, and clickForward.The Create a new virtual machine Step 3 of 4 dialog box opens.
- In theMemory (RAM)field, type the appropriate amount of memory (in megabytes) for your deployment. (For example16384, for a 16GB deployment). From theCPUslist, select4, and clickForward.The Create a new virtual machine Step 4 of 4 dialog box opens.
- SelectCustomize configuration before install, and click theAdvanced optionsarrow.
- Select the network interface adapter that corresponds to your management IP address, and clickFinish.The Virtual Machine configuration dialog box opens.
- ClickAdd Hardware. When The Add New Virtual Hardware dialog box opens, selectNetworkto access controls for specifying a new network interface device.
- From theHost devicelist, select the network interface adapter that corresponds to your external network, and from theDevice modellist, selectvirtio. Then clickFinish.
- Repeat the last two steps, but this time select the network interface adapter that corresponds to your internal network.
- From the left pane, selectDisk 1.
- Click theAdvanced optionsbutton.
- From theDisk buslist, selectVirtio.
- From theStorage formatlist, selectqcow2.
- ClickApply.
- ClickBegin 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.
- Open Virtual Machine Manager.
- Right click the virtual machine that you want to power on, and then from the popup menu, selectOpen.The virtual machine opens, but in a powered-off state.
- From the toolbar, selectPower 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 isdefault.
- The admin account provides initial user access through the web interface. The initial admin account password isadmin.
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.
- At the login prompt, typeroot.
- At the password prompt, typedefault.
- Typeconfigand press Enter.The F5 Management Port Setup screen opens.
- ClickOK.
- Determine how to assign the management port:
- If you want DHCP to automatically assign an address for the management port, selectYes.
- To manually assign an IP address and netmask for the management port, selectNoand follow the instructions to set the IPv4 address, network mask, and management route (gateway address).
DHCP is disabled by default to avoid assigning both IPv4 and IPv6 management addresses. F5 does not support settingmgmt-dhcpto enabled from the command line.
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.