Manual Chapter :
Deploying the BIG-IP
VE virtual machine: Common Elements
Applies To:
Show VersionsBIG-IQ Centralized Management
- 8.2.0, 8.1.0, 8.0.0
Deploying the BIG-IP
VE virtual machine: Common Elements
- From a browser window, open the F5 Downloads page (downloads.f5.com) and log in.
- From a browser window, open the F5 Downloads page (downloads.f5.com), but do not log in yet.Before you log in and download content that will impact your BIG-IQ, it is best practice to confirm the certificate information for this site.If you use a Chrome browser:
- In the browser address bar, just to the left of the login URL, click the lock icon to access the View site information popup.
- On the View site information popup, clickCertificateto view Certificate Information for this site.
- On the Certificate Information screen, confirm that theIssued toentry is a web address ending inf5.com.
- On the Certificate Information screen, confirm that theIssued byentry is a trusted certificate authority (such as Entrust).
- After confirming the certificate for this site, log in to downloads.f5.com.
If you use a Firefox browser:- In the browser address bar, just to the left of the login URL, click the lock icon to access the Site Information popup.
- On the Site Information popup, click>to view information about the certificate for this site.
- Confirm that the certificate is issued toF5 Networks Inc.
- Confirm that the certificate is verified by a trusted certificate authority (such as Entrust).
- After confirming the certificate for this site, log in to downloads.f5.com.
- 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 inide.ovaor-scsi.ova.qcow2.zipide.ovaor-scsi.ovaThe 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-ide.ovaorLARGE-scsi.ovaLARGE.qcow2.zipLARGE-ide.ovaorLARGE-scsi.ovaThe data collection device file package creates a 500Gb disk footprint at installation.
- Download the BIG-IQ Virtual Edition file package. The file name ends in.vhd.zipThe file package creates a 120Gb disk footprint at installation.
- Extract the file from the Zip archive.
- Extract the file from the Zip archive and save it where your VHD files reside on the Hyper-V server.In some packages there may be two VHD 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.
- 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.
- Extract the file from the Zip archive and save it where yourqcow2files reside on the Xen Project 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.
- Before starting the import wizard, review the prospective hypervisor environment and verify:
- A DHCP server is active on the same network as the XenServer host before you start the XenCenter OVF Appliance.
- There are no firewall or other restrictions between the required ports for connectivity between the XenCenter Client and XenServer. For more information and networking requirements, refer to theXenServer Virtual Machine Installation Guide.
- There is enough storage space available on the XenServer for the F5 virtual machine.
- Start theXenServerXenCenterweb-basedclient and log in.
- StartXenCenter, log in to the Hyper-V server, and from the Actions pane, click .The New Virtual Machine Wizard opens.
- On theSpecify Generationscreen, selectGeneration 1, and click Next.
- Use VNC to access the KVM server, and then startXenCenter.
- Use VNC to access the Xen Project server, and then convert theqcow2image to the raw format necessary for Xen Project, using the following syntax:# qemu-img convert<qcow_file_name>.qcow2 <raw_file_name>.raw
- 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.
- From the vSphere Client File menu, select Deploy OVF Template.The Deploy OVF Template wizard starts.
- Clickand on thevApp Templatestab, clickUpload.
- Browse for and select the extracted.ovffile, type a name for the template, and clickUpload.
- Type a name and optional description for the vApp template.
- Select a virtual data center and catalog.
- ClickUpload.If you want to track the progress, you can clickLaunch Uploads and Downloads Progress Window.
- From theXenCenter6.x File menu, click .The Import wizard starts.
- In the Source pane, clickDeploy from file or URL, and, using theBrowsebutton, locate the OVF file, open it, and then clickNext.For example:\MyDocuments\Work\Virtualization\<OVF_filename>The OVF Template Details pane opens.
- Click.
- ClickAdd vApp from Catalog.The add vApp from Catalog window opens.
- SelectMy organization's catalogsorPublic catalogsfrom the list, select a vApp template, and clickNext.You can also enter an optional description for the vApp.
- Verify that the OVF template details are correct, and clickNext.This displays the End-User License Agreement (EULA).
- For the file name, use theBrowsebutton to locate the OVF file, open it, and then clickNext.For example:\MyDocuments\Work\Virtualization\<F5_OVF_filename>The End-User License Agreement (EULA) displays.
- Right clicklocalhost (QEMU)and from the popup menu, selectNew.The Create a new virtual machine, Step 1 of 4 dialog boxes opens.
- Generate a MAC address for the network interface card associated with the management interface.Be sure that the MAC address you create starts with the prefix00:16:3e:.To create this address, you can use a tool such as MAC Address Generator (http://www.miniwebtool.com/mac-address-generator/).
- Use an editor to create a BIG-IQ VM definition file that specifies the required parameters for your VM.# vi /etc/xen/<config_file_name>For example:The sample configuration file provided here serves only as an example of the kinds of parameters you need to specify for your virtual machine. The actual file that you create will likely contain different parameters and settings.name = <config_file_name> maxmem = 16384 memory = 16384 vcpus = 4 builder = "hvm" boot = "c" pae = 1 acpi = 1 apic = 1 hpet = 1 localtime = 0 on_poweroff = "destroy" on_reboot = "restart" on_crash = "restart" sdl = 0 vnc = 1 vncunused = 1 keymap = "en-us" disk = [ 'tap:qcow2:/<vdisk_path>/BIG-IQ-<version_number>.<bld_number>.qcow2,hda,w',] vif = [ "mac=00:16:<mgmt_interface_mac>,bridge=mgmtbr,script=vif-bridge", "mac=00:16:3e:<external_interface_mac>,bridge=ext_bridge,script=vif-bridge", "mac=00:16:3e:<internal_interface_mac>,bridge=int_bridge,script=vif-bridge",] parallel = "none" serial = "pty" #pci = [ '05:10.0', '05:10.1' ]The last line of the example configuration file contains an optional entry that specifies the IDs for PCI external and internal network interface cards (NIC). This optional entry is required for SR-IOV support. Naturally, if you use this entry, you omit the external and internal bridges specified in thevifsection.Once you have perfected and saved your configuration file, you are ready to create the BIG-IQ VM.
- Run the configuration file using an open source tool such asxm.xm create /etc/xen/<config_file_name>The console should indicate a successful startup by displaying something similar to this:Started domain <config_file_name>(id=444).
- 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.
- ClickBegin Installation.Virtual Machine Manager creates the virtual machine just as you configured it.
- Read and accept the license agreement, and clickNext.The Name and Location pane opens.
- Read and accept the license agreement, and clickNext.The Location window opens.
- In theNamefield, type a name for the F5 VE virtual machine, such as:smith_f5_ve.
- Under Home Server, select the home server for the F5 VE virtual machine from the list, and clickNext.
- In theNamefield, type a name for the F5 VE virtual machine, such as:smith_f5_veand clickNext.
- In the Specify Name and Location pane, type a name for the F5 VE virtual machine, such as:smith_f5_veand clickNext.
- In the Inventory Location area, select a folder name and clickNext.
- On the Storage window, clickPlace imported virtual disks onto specified target SRs, select the 100 GB storage size (for Data Collection Devices, select 500 GB) and location for the F5 VE virtual machine, and then clickNext.
- In theMemoryfield, type16384or32768and clickNext.To increase performance, you can specify a value up to65535.
- In the Assign Memory field, type4096and clickNext.For workloads higher than 1Gbps, we suggest deploying with8192.
- If the host system is controlled by VMware vCenter Server, the Host Cluster screen opens. Choose the preferred host and clickNext. Otherwise, proceed to the next step.
- From theConfigurationlist, select the number of CPUs and disks required for your system, and then clickNext.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.
- In theDatastorefield, type the name of data source your system will use, in theAvailable spacefield, type in the amount of space your system needs (in Gigabytes), and then clickNext.The Network Mapping dialog box opens.
- On the Networking window, assign the Management, Internal, External, and HA virtual machines to their respective Target Networks and clickNext.There is no need to enter MAC addresses, MAC addresses will be assigned automatically.
- For theConnectionsetting, selectManagementand clickNext.
- In the Configure Networking pane, chooseManagement Networkand clickNext.
- Map the Source Networks to the Destination Networks in your inventory:
- Map the source networkManagementto 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.
- If you choose to manage the BIG-IP devices using an interface other than management, you can map the source networkInternalto that non-management network.An example of a destination internal network isPrivate Access.
- Leave the source networkExternalat its default setting. This network is not used in most configurations.An example of a destination external network isPublic Access.
- When you have the destination networks correctly mapped, clickNext.The Ready to Complete screen opens.
- Map the source networkHAto the name of a high-availability network in your inventory.An example of a destination high-availability network isHA.
- In the OS Fixup Settings window, make sure theUse Operating System Fixupcheck box is cleared, and clickNext.TheUse Operating System Fixupcheck box is selected by default.
- Select theUse an existing virtual hard diskcheck box, browse to the location where you saved your VHD file, select the larger of the two files, open it, and clickNext.The file name will be similar toBIG-IQ-.<version_number>.<build_number>.vhd
- In the Connect Virtual Hard Disk pane, select theUse an existing virtual hard diskcheck box, browse to the location where you saved your VHD file, and clickNext.
- Verify that all deployment settings are correct, and clickFinish.
- On the Transfer VM Settings window, clickNext, then on the Finish window, review your settings before continuing.The recommended settings in production scenarios are 4 CPU and 16 GB RAM as minimum, or 8 CPU and 32 GB RAM for better performance. A lower setting of 2 CPU and 4 GB RAM can be used for evaluation purposes, but as of version 5.2.0 is deprecated and no longer supported.
- ClickFinish.The progress bar and text in the Progress pane indicate when the F5 virtual machine creation is complete.
- In the Summary screen, review your settings and clickFinish.The New Virtual Machine Wizard closes, and the new F5 VE shows in the Virtual Machines list.
- In the Summary screen, review your settings, and clickFinish.The New Virtual Machine Wizard closes and F5 VE shows in the list of virtual machines.
- From the Virtual Machines list, select the new F5 VE.The name of the F5 VE appears in the bottom half of the Actions pane.
- In the lower half of the Actions pane, clickSettings.The Settings window for the selected F5 VE opens.
- From the Hardware list, selectProcessor, and then change theNumber of logical processorsto4, and increase theVirtual machine reserve (percentage)to100.
- Decide whether you need a CD/DVD drive for this VE.If you do not need a CD/DVD drive
- From the Hardware list, under IDE Controller 1, selectDVD Drive.
- ClickRemove, and thenApply.
If you need a CD/DVD drive- From the Hardware list, under IDE Controller 1, selectDVD Drive.
- Under Media, selectImage file.
- ClickBrowse, then select a valid .ISO media file, and clickApply.
You cannot have an empty CD/DVD device attached to a BIG-IQ VE until after the virtual machine has been started for the first time and the virtual disk is successfully initialized. If you need an empty-state CD/DVD device on this BIG-IQ VE, you can add it to the device after start up and initialization. - ClickAdd Hardware, selectNetwork Adapterand clickAdd. Repeat this for a total of three adapters (or four, for a high-availability configuration).
- Click the second Network Adapter, and then from the Network list selectExternal.
- Click the third Network Adapter, and then from the Network list selectInternal.
- If the F5 VE will be used in a high-availability configuration, click the fourth Network Adapter, and then from the Network list selectHA.
- UnderConfigure Virtual Machines, specify the full name and computer name for the vApp, and configure the network settings.
- Select the network for NIC0 from the list of networks.This network is used to manage the VE system. TheSelect IP Assignment – Staticsettings have no effect, so you should configure IP address for management interface through the console after the VM starts. When using DHCP, you should have a DHCP server on that network.
- Select the networks for NIC1, NIC2, and NIC3.
- ClickNext.
- Configure organizational settings, such asFence vAppandIP persistencefor example, and clickNext.
- Verify the settings and clickFinishto start deployment.
- In the Management area, clickAutomatic Stop Actionand selectShut down the guest operating system.This setting ensures that the F5 virtual machine restarts with all previously-configured virtual hardware, and at the current system time.
- ClickOKto save your changes and close the Settings window.
- In the Processor pane, change theNumber of logical processorsto2and increase theVirtual machine reserveto100.
- In the Add Hardware pane, selectNetwork Adapterand clickAdd. Repeat this for a total of three adapters (or four, for a high-availability configuration).
- Click the secondNetwork Adapterto connect to an external network from theNetworklist.
- Click the thirdNetwork Adapterto connect to an internal network from theNetworklist.
- If the F5 VE will be used in a high-availability configuration, click the fourthNetwork Adapterto connect to an internal network from theNetworklist.
- In the Management area, clickAutomatic Stop Actionand selectShut down the guest operating system.This setting ensures that the F5 VE virtual machine restarts with all previously configured virtual hardware and at the current system time.
- ClickOKto save your changes and close the Settings window.
- 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.