Manual Chapter : BIG-IQ Solution Setup and Configuration Overview

Applies To:

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BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 8.2.0, 8.1.0
Manual Chapter

BIG-IQ Solution Setup and Configuration Overview

BIG-IQ navigation and customization

BIG-IQ includes navigation, search tools, and a customizable user interface to help you complete your tasks efficiently and find objects easily. The icons listed here are displayed from left to right on most BIG-IQ screens.
  • Menu Finder
    To quickly locate a particular menu item, click the grid icon in the left corner of the screen and type a term in the field. This search is a simple text search. BIG-IQ displays links to all screens and on line help that contains that term anywhere in the string.
  • Customized system user preferences
    You can specify the amount of time that passes before BIG-IQ logs you out when the system is idle, what default screen displays when you log back in, or change your password by clicking the arrow at the upper-right corner of the screen and select
    User Preferences
    .
  • Global search, related content, and preview pane
    BIG-IQ has a robust and interactive global search feature that allows you to easily find a specific content and related content. From any screen, you can click the magnifying glass icon in the upper-right corner of the screen and type a search string. Search results are grouped by content type. From the results, you can click an object to go directly to that object's properties screen in BIG-IQ.
  • Product documentation, F5 modules for Ansible, and online help
    To access BIG-IP, API, Ansible documentation, and F5 modules for Ansible, click the book icon in the upper-right corner of any screen.
  • Online help
    To view the context-sensitive online help, click the question mark in the upper-right corner on any screen.
  • Filters
    For each screen that contains a list, you can use a context-sensitive filter to search on a term, and then narrow your search further to view only those items that are relevant to you at the moment. For example, say you wanted to see local traffic and network audit logs. You can use the search on local traffic, and further refine what is displayed by filtering again on network audit logs.
  • Customized log in screen
    To customize your log in screen for users (for example, if you want to provide special guidance or make sure all users see a certain message), you can navigate to
    System
    THIS DEVICE
    General Properties
    , click the
    Edit
    button and type your message (up to 8,192 characters) in the
    Custom Login Message
    field.
  • Flexible access to objects and configuration options
    For some objects, you can view and edit settings that are located in other places in the user interface, without having to stop what you're doing and navigate to another part of BIG-IQ. For example, you could be editing a firewall policy and find an address list in the toolbox that you want to look at. Right there, you can click the address to access the details, and then view or edit it as you want.
    You can also configure some types of objects from different places in BIG-IQ, depending on what your user role is or what work flow you're in. For example, you can create an access group from the Configuration area of BIG-IQ, as well as from the Devices area. This makes it convenient for you to access during other tasks you're doing in different areas of BIG-IQ.
  • Customizing and sorting columns
    You can customize the columns that display in each screen that has a list by clicking the gear icon at the top right side of the screen, next to the filter, hiding any information that isn't important to you. You can also rearrange columns by dragging and dropping them to a different location or sort objects by clicking the arrow at the top of a column. This helps you to focus on only those attributes that are relevant to you.

Overview of the BIG-IQ solution setup and configuration process

Before you install a BIG-IQ solution, review the planning steps in the
Planning a Centralized Management & Visibility Deployment
guide on
support.f5.com
and confirm that all infrastructure requirements are in place by coordinating with your IT staff to set up the necessary network subnets and ports.
The sequence of tasks you need to complete to install, setup, and configure a BIG-IQ solution are listed here:
Task Sequence
Documentation for each task
Analyze your needs and determine which components to include in your solution and what infrastructure configuration needs to be completed before you can start.
Planning a Centralized Management & Visibility Deployment
on
support.f5.com
For an end-to-end workflow detailing how to deploy BIG-IQ as a license administrator for un-managed BIG-IP devices, refer to:
Deploy BIG-IQ to manage licenses for BIG-IP VE devices
on
support.f5.com
.
Confirm that all infrastructure requirements are in place
Configuring the network subnets and port requirements often requires scheduling and close coordination with your IT staff.
For optimum performance, F5 makes the following maximum round trip latency recommendations:
For connections between these components
Round trip latency cannot exceed
between any two DCD or BIG-IQ devices in a DCD cluster
75 ms.
between the BIG-IQ CM and the BIG-IP devices it manages
250 ms.
between the managed BIG-IP devices and the DCDs that collect their data
250 ms.
License your primary and secondary BIG-IQ systems.
Deploy your data collection device(s) (DCD) (optional).
Set up your BIG-IQ
Set up your BIG-IQ DCD cluster.
Connect BIG-IP devices to your BIG-IQ DCD cluster.
Set up analytics collection, monitor data, and navigate statistics reports and dashboards.
Set up disaster recovery scenarios.