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Manual Chapter : Deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition in OpenStack

Applies To:

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BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 8.3.0, 8.2.0, 8.1.0, 8.0.0
Manual Chapter

Deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition in OpenStack

Before you get started, you need a security group, a key pair, and a floating IP address for each externally accessible interface. If you are unfamiliar with these prerequisites, refer to the OpenStack documentation for details. To deploy a BIG-IQ VE in your OpenStack environment, you perform the following tasks:
  • Upload a BIG-IQ disk image to the OpenStack environment Datastore.
  • Create a new disk volume instance.
  • Use the wizard to launch the new instance.
  • Power on the BIG-IQ VE virtual machine for the first time.
  • Set up the management network on the BIG-IQ virtual machine.
  • Determine whether you need to set the BIG-IQ VE MTU value and (it necessary) set it.

Upload a BIG-IQ image to your OpenStack environment

Before you can deploy a BIG-IP VE in the OpenStack environment, you need access to OpenStack environment you plan to deploy it in.
To install the BIG-IQ VE in OpenStack, the software image must be in the Openstack environment.
  1. In a browser, open the F5 Downloads page (
    https://downloads.f5.com
    ) and log in.
  2. On the Downloads Overview page, click
    Find a Download
    .
  3. Under Product Line, click
    Centralized Management
    .
  4. Click the link for the BIG-IQ version that you are installing.
  5. If the End User Software License is displayed, read it and then click
    I Accept
    .
  6. Determine which BIG-IQ Virtual Edition file package to download.
    • If you are deploying a BIG-IQ Centralized Management device, download the file name that ends in
      .qcow2.zip
      . This package creates a 95GB disk footprint at installation.
    • If you are deploying a Data Collection Device, download the file name that ends in
      LARGE.qcow2.zip
      . This package creates a 500GB disk footprint at installation.
  7. Extract the
    qcow2
     file from the Zip archive and save it temporarily to your workstation’s local storage.
  8. Log in to your OpenStack environment dashboard.
  9. Navigate to
    Project
    Compute
    Images
     to display the Images page, and then click
    Create Image
    .
  10. On the Create Image dialog box, type a name and an optional description for the VE in the
    Image Name
     and
    Image Description
     fields.
  11. Click
    Browse
    , and then navigate to the location to which you extracted the
    qcow2
     image and select it.
    To comply with your policies or business requirements, you can specify values for other fields on this page and on the next two pages, but these additional values are optional.
  12. Click
    Create Image
     to start the image upload to the OpenStack environment.
    Although an animation should display to indicate the progress of this process, timeouts in the OpenStack user interface do occur. If the process seems to be taking longer than it should, refresh to update the view.

Create a new disk volume

Before you can create a new disk volume for a BIG-IQ VE, you must have the F5 software image in your OpenStack environment.
You need a disk volume in your OpenStack environment that you can use to launch the new BIG-IQ VE instance.
Depending on your business practices, permissions, or personal preference, you might choose to create the new volume as part of the instance launch process, instead of as a separate task. The workflow provided here is just one way to get the job done.
  1. From the OpenStack dashboard, click
    Project
    Compute
    Volumes
     to display the Volumes page, and then click
    Create Volume
    .
  2. Type a
    Volume Name
     and
    Description
    .
  3. From
    Volume Source
    , select
    Image
    .
  4. From
    Use image as a source
    , select the image you uploaded for install.
  5. In
    Size (GiB)
    , type the minimum disk size for the new volume you are creating.
    The volume size you specify must not be less than the actual size of the original image (QCOW2) file.
    • For a BIG-IQ system, 95 GB is the recommended minimum size.
    • For a DCD, 500 GB is the recommended minimum size.
  6. Click
    Create Volume
     to start the process.
    Although an animation should display to indicate the progress of this process, timeouts in the OpenStack user interface do occur. If the process seems to be taking longer than it should, refresh to update the view.

Use the wizard to launch a new instance

Before you launch a new instance, you must have created the disk volume in your OpenStack environment.
To use a BIG-IQ instance in your OpenStack environment, you need to launch the instance.
Do not use configuration settings (CPU, RAM, and network adapters) that provide fewer resources than those recommended and described here.
  1. From the OpenStack dashboard, click
    Project
    Compute
    Instances
     to display the Instances page, and then click
    Launch Instance
    .
    The Launch Instance dialog box opens on the Details page.
  2. Type an
    Instance Name
    , and make sure the
    Count
     reflects how many instances you want to create, then click
    Next
    .
    The Source page opens.
  3. From
    Select Boot Source
    , choose
    Volume
    .
    Other options are supported for this control, but this is the most straightforward way to get up and running.
  4. Identify the volume you want, click
    +
     to select it, and then click
    Next
    .
    If you have a lot of available volumes and want to find the one you want faster, you can type into the filters box so only volumes that match your filter criteria are listed. Then, you can sort the columns so that the volume you are looking for is easier to find.
    The Flavor page opens. In the OpenStack environment, a
    Flavor
     is a predefined virtual hardware profile that you can launch.
  5. Identify the flavor you want to use, click
    +
     to select it, and then click
    Next
    .
    Again, you can use the filter and column sort to find the image more quickly.
    The Networks page opens.
  6. Starting with the management network, identify the network interfaces that you want the instance to have, and click
    +
     to add them.
    It is essential that you add the management network first.
    If the new instance requires further customization to comply with your business processes, you can use the
    Next
     and
    Back
     buttons to access the remaining pages and specify additional detail. Otherwise, this instance is ready to launch.
  7. When you are satisfied with the specifications for the new instance, click
    Launch Instance
    .
    Although an animation should display to indicate the progress of this process, timeouts in the OpenStack user interface do occur. If the process seems to be taking longer than it should, refresh to update the view.

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. From the OpenStack dashboard, click
    Project
    Compute
    Instances
    to display the Instances page, and then click
    Start Instance
    .
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.
Before you can access this BIG-IQ VE instance, you must set up the management interface.
You might also need to modify this instance's MTU settings before you can connect to it.
  • To configure external access to the Web interface using a floating IP address, you must modify this instance's MTU settings. Refer to
    Set BIG-IQ VE MTU values to pass traffic between tenant and external networks
     on
    support.f5.com
     for details.
  • To configure a connection using a direct uplink between the external network and the BIG-IQ VE management interface, it might not be necessary to change the MTU settings. With a direct uplink, traffic does not pass through an Open-vSwitch router.

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

If no IP address was assigned, you can assign one by using the Configuration utility.
How you set up the BIG-IQ Virtual Edition (VE) management user interface depends on how the network interfaces are attached.
  • If the interfaces attach to a tenant network subnet that allocates IP addresses from a pre-defined static IP pool, an IP address is automatically assigned to the interface during deployment. In this case, you must use this address to access the BIG-IQ VE user interface or
    tmsh
     command-line utility.
  • If the interfaces (whether attached to tenant or external networks) are allocated their IP addresses using a DHCP server, then an IP address is automatically assigned to the BIG-IQ VE interface during deployment. You can use this address to access the BIG-IQ VE user interface or
    tmsh
     command-line utility.
  • If the interfaces attach to a tenant or external network without a mechanism for allocating IP addresses, you must manually assign an unused address to the network interface that complies with the required subnet criteria.
In your initial access to the BIG-IQ VE user interface, you should set the management address as manual (static).
  1. From the OpenStack dashboard, click
    Project
    Compute
    Instances
    to display the Instances page, and then select the check box for the instance you want to access.
  2. On the right side of the screen, from the Actions list, select
    Console
     to open a console session for this BIG-IQ VE instance.
  3. At the login prompt, type
    root
    .
  4. At the password prompt, type
    default
    .
  5. Type
    config
     and press Enter.
    The F5 Management Port Setup screen opens.
  6. Click
    OK
    .
  7. 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).
    DHCP is disabled by default to avoid assigning both IPv4 and IPv6 management addresses. F5 does not support setting
    mgmt-dhcp
     to 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.
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