Manual Chapter : Tenant Management

Applies To:

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F5OS-A

  • 1.3.2, 1.3.1, 1.3.0
Manual Chapter

Tenant Management

Tenants overview

A
tenant
is a guest system running software on the
F5OS
platform layer (for example, a
BIG-IP
system). You can run several tenants on most platforms, although the
F5
r2000 Series only supports a single tenant. For more information, see Tenant data.
The administrator can connect to the tenant’s webUI, CLI, or REST API and have the same experience as on their existing
F5
platforms. A tenant on the
rSeries
platform is managed similarly to how a vCMP guest is managed today on the VIPRION platform. The tenant is assigned dedicated vCPU and memory resources and is restricted to specific VLANs for network connectivity.
The admin is responsible for configuring tenant deployments within the appliance. Once a tenant has been deployed, there is a per-tenant administrator role, whose responsibilities include configuring the services that are available on that tenant.
Tenants inherit certain capabilities, such as the license, VLANs, and management interface speed, from the
system
. Do not try to install a new license or delete the existing license on the tenants. Tenant admins cannot configure global parameters. You configure these at the platform layer, and values are propagated to all tenants in the
system
.

Tenant data

This table lists tenant data specifications for
rSeries
systems.
Tenant data for F5 rSeries systems
Model
Maximum number of tenants
Maximum vCPUs per tenant
Minimum vCPUs per tenant
System memory
Memory reserved for tenants
Minimum memory per tenant
r2600
1
4
4
32 GB
24 GB
12288 MB
r2800
1
8
4
32 GB
24 GB
12288 MB
r4600
2
12
4
64 GB
48 GB
12288 MB
r4800
4
16
4
64 GB
48 GB
12288 MB
r5600
8
12
1
128 GB
104 GB
4096 MB
r5800
18
18
1
128 GB
104 GB
4096 MB
r5900
26
26
1
128 GB
104 GB
4096 MB
r10600
24
24
1
256 GB
224 GB
4096 MB
r10800
28
28
1
256 GB
224 GB
4096 MB
r10900
36
36
1
256 GB
224 GB
4096 MB

Tenants example

In this diagram, an rSeries system has eight tenants (red and blue).
Tenants on F5 rSeries
Each tenant has its own IP address, set of users, and software. You can access each tenant via the CLI, web-based user interface, or API.
After you have configured and deployed a tenant, you can use the tenant management IP address to connect to the tenant's web-based user interface, API, or CLI. A BIG-IP tenant is running standard TMOS and is managed like any other BIG-IP instance.

Tenant image overview

BIG-IP tenant images

These
BIG-IP
tenant images are available to deploy on
F5
rSeries
systems:
  • ALL-F5OS
  • T4-F5OS
  • T2-F5OS
  • T1-F5OS (see note)
T1-F5OS has limitations, so using the other images is recommended. Other images must be downloaded from the F5 downloads site.
Each image type has different uses so you need to be sure to use the correct type for your tenant needs. For additional information about BIG-IP tenant image types, see K45191957: Overview of the BIG-IP tenant image types.

Tenant usage

This table lists general use cases for tenant images.
Tenant image
Description of Use
ALL-F5OS
  • Use case: Needs multi-tenancy, multi-module, and service chaining
  • Supports provisioning rSeries-supported modules *
    (also called all-instance image)
  • Live-upgradable
*
The r2000 platform does not support multi-tenancy. See the F5 rSeries data sheet for all currently-supported features.
T4-F5OS
  • Use case: Single tenant with multiple modules
  • Supports provisioning all modules with increased capacity
  • Live-upgradable
T2-F5OS
  • Use case: Needs maximum tenant density, maximum tenants per system
  • Supports provisioning LTM or DNS only
  • Live-upgradable
T1-F5OS
  • Use case: Needs maximum tenant density, maximum tenants per system
  • Supports lightweight LTM or DNS only (also called micro-instance)
  • You cannot upgrade or apply a hotfix to the system

Tenant sizing

Each image has different sizing requirements. You will need to understand the system and the tenant requirements to determine the number and type of tenants you can deploy. The amount of memory and disk space that a tenant actually needs is dependent on the number of modules provisioned and its use.
Tenant image
Disk size
Minimum memory
Minimum # vCPUs
Max tenants per system
T1-F5OS
22GB
4GB
1
22
T2-F5OS
45GB
8GB
2
11
ALL-F5OS
76GB
8GB
2
9
T4-F5OS
142GB
8GB
2
4

Tenant resource allocation overview

These are recommended resource considerations for determining the amount of memory (RAM) and disk space to allocate when planning tenant deployments on
F5
rSeries
systems.

Memory allocation

These are recommendations for determining the amount of memory (RAM) to allocate when planning tenant deployments on
rSeries
systems based on the number of vCPUs assigned.
Platform
Memory
Default memory allocation formula
r2000
32 GB
min-memory = (3.5 * 1024 * vcpu-cores-per-node)
r4000
64 GB
min-memory = (3.5 * 1024 * vcpu-cores-per-node)
r5000
128 GB
min-memory = (3.5 * 1024 * vcpu-cores-per-node) + 512
r10000
256 GB
min-memory = (3.5 * 1024 * vcpu-cores-per-node) + 512
The formula for finding vcpu-cores-per-node is:
multiples of 4 in range of [4, max-cores]
. The default value for
vcpu-cores-per-node
is 4, and the default value for
memory
is 12288.
There is also an advanced setting through which additional memory can be assigned out of the pool to a tenant. You can specify more than the minimum amount of memory when configuring a tenant, if needed.

Disk space

These are recommendations for determining the amount of disk space when planning tenant deployments on
rSeries
systems.
  • The amount of disk space that a tenant actually needs is dependent on the number of modules provisioned and its use.
  • As the aggregate disk usage within deployed tenants increases, the host disk can start to reach capacity on systems with many large tenants. The administrator will need to monitor disk usage to make sure there is sufficient space for the tenants.

Tenant management from the webUI

Manage tenant images from the webUI

You can add or delete tenant images from the webUI. You must use HTTPS image import or export. Note that tenant images are specific to the
rSeries
system, and the software version must be compatible with it.
  1. Log in to the webUI using an account with admin access.
  2. On the left, click
    TENANT MANAGEMENT
    Tenant Images
    .
  3. To upload an image, click
    Upload
    and browse to the image location.
  4. To import an image:
    1. Click
      Import
      .
      A popup opens.
    2. For
      URL
      , enter the URL of the remote image server.
      F5 recommends that the remote host be an HTTPS server with PUT/POST enabled and have a valid CA-signed certificate. You can opt to select the
      Ignore Certificate Warnings
      check box if you want to skip the certificate check.
    3. For
      Username
      , type the user name for an account on the remote image server, if required.
    4. For
      Password
      , type the password for the account, if required.
    5. Select
      Ignore Certificate Warnings
      to skip the certificate check.
    6. Click
      Import Image
      .
    Depending on the image file size and network availability, the import might take a few minutes. When the import is successful, the software image is listed in the webUI.
  5. To delete a tenant image, select the image and click
    Delete
    .
After you have added the tenant images that you want to use to the system, you can create and deploy tenants that will use that software image. The tenant image must be one that is listed as compatible with the
rSeries
system.

Create and deploy tenants from the webUI

You must have imported the tenant images that you want to use for the tenant deployments into the system. You must also have previously created any required VLANs. Before you can create and deploy tenants, you also need to estimate resource requirements so you know how many vCPUs, memory, and other resources to assign to the tenant.
An administrator can deploy tenants from the webUI.
  1. Log in to the webUI using an account with admin access.
  2. On the left, click
    TENANT MANAGEMENT
    Tenant Deployments
    .
    The Tenant Deployment screen displays showing the existing tenant deployments and associated details.
  3. To add a tenant deployment, click
    Add
    .
    The Add Tenant Deployment screen displays.
  4. For
    Name
    , enter a name for the tenant deployment (up to 49 characters).
    The first character in the name cannot be a number. After that, only lowercase alphanumeric characters and hyphens are allowed.
  5. For
    Type
    , keep the default setting of
    BIG-IP
    .
  6. For
    Image
    , select the software image that was previously imported onto the system.
    Ensure that the image you selected meets your tenant deployment needs.
  7. For
    IP Address
    , enter the IPv4 address, IPv6 address, or Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) for the tenant.
  8. For
    Prefix Length
    , enter a number for the length of the prefix. The maximum prefix length is 32 for IPv4 and 128 for IPv6.
    The maximum prefix length is 32 for IPv4 and 128 for IPv6.
  9. For
    Gateway
    , enter the IPv4 address or IPv6 address of the gateway.
  10. For
    VLANs
    , select one or more VLANs that are available to the tenant.
    You can assign VLANs to more than one tenant.
  11. For
    Virtual Wires
    , select configured virtual wires for the tenant.
    This field displays only when virtual wires are configured on the system.
  12. For
    Resource Provisioning
    , select one of these options:
    Option
    Description
    Recommended
    Recommended values for vCPUs and memory for the tenant.
    Advanced
    Enables you to configure custom values for vCPUs and memory on the tenant. For example, if you want to configure a single vCPU tenant, or a tenant that uses more than the recommended amount of memory.
  13. For
    vCPUs
    , select the number of vCPUs to provide to the tenant.
    The minimum recommended number of vCPUs per typical tenant is two (one vCPU is sufficient only for lightweight tenants that cannot be updated). The number of vCPUs needed depends on the amount of traffic the tenant will be handling. More vCPUs provide faster throughput.
  14. For
    Memory
    , specify the amount of RAM, in MB, to allocate to the tenant.
    The amount of memory needed depends on the number of vCPUs assigned. The minimum amount of memory needed is determined by the formula
    [(3.5 * 1024 * #ofvCPUs) + 512]
    .
    If you do not allocate sufficient memory, you may receive a warning message.
  15. For
    Virtual Disk Size
    , specify the storage quota, in GB, for the tenant virtual disk.
    The default size is 77 GB, and the disk size range is from 22 GB to 700 GB.
  16. For
    State
    , choose one of these options:
    Options
    Description
    Configured
    The tenant configuration exists on the system, but the tenant is not running, and no hardware resources (CPU, memory) are allocated to it. This is the initial state and the default.
    Provisioned
    Moves the tenant into the Provisioned state, which causes the system to install the software, assign the tenant to nodes, and create virtual disks for the tenant on those nodes. If you choose this option, it takes a few minutes to complete the provisioning. The tenant does not run while in this state.
    Deployed
    Changes the tenant to the Deployed state. The tenant is set up, resources are allocated to the tenant, the image is moved onto the system, the software is installed, and after those tasks are complete, the tenant is fully deployed and running. If you choose this option, it takes a few minutes to complete the deployment and bring up the system.
    Once a tenant is Deployed (and is up and running), changing its state back to Configured or Provisioned stops the tenant. You will receive a warning message before this occurs.
  17. For
    Crypto/Compression Acceleration
    , select
    Enabled
    if the tenant requires high-performance crypto processing and compression.
    When this option is enabled, the tenant receives dedicated crypto devices proportional to the number of vCPU cores. Crypto processing and compression are off-loaded to the hardware. When the option is disabled, the tenant receives no crypto devices.
  18. To restrict usage of the Bash shell for tenant administrators, set
    Appliance Mode
    to
    Enabled
    (this is
    Disabled
    by default.)
  19. Click
    Save & Close
    .
The tenant is now configured and in the Deployed state. When the status says Running, the tenant administrator can log in to the tenant webUI or CLI using the management IP address (with HTTPS or SSH) and continue configuring the tenant system.
If the Status says Pending instead of Running, this may mean that there are not enough resources (vCPUs, memory, or other resources) for the tenant to be deployed. See the Tenant Details screen in the webUI for more information about the specific tenant.

Modify tenant deployments from the webUI

Depending on the state that the tenant is in, you can change certain tenant settings from the webUI. A warning displays if you try to make any other changes.
  • Deployed
    : You can change the
    State
    only while tenants are running.
    Once a tenant is Deployed (and is up and running), changing its state back to Provisioned or Configured stops the tenant. You will receive a warning message before this occurs.
  • Provisioned
    : You can change all settings except
    Image
    .
  • Configured
    : You can change all settings except
    Image
    .
  1. Log in to the webUI using an account with admin access.
  2. On the left, click
    TENANT MANAGEMENT
    Tenant Deployments
    .
    The Tenant Deployment screen displays showing the existing tenant deployments and associated details.
  3. Click the name of the tenant deployment you want to modify.
    The Edit Tenant Deployment screen displays.
  4. For
    Image
    , select a different software image to use for the tenant, if in Configured state.
  5. You can change the
    IP Address
    ,
    Prefix Length
    (1-32), and
    Gateway
    for the tenant, if in Configured or Provisioned state. Enter an IPv4 address or IPv6 address.
  6. For
    VLANs
    , you can select different VLANs for the tenant, if in Configured or Provisioned state.
  7. For
    Virtual Wires
    , select configured virtual wires for the tenant.
    This field displays only when virtual wires are configured on the system.
  8. For
    MAC Data/MAC Block Size
    , select One, Small, Medium, or Large.
    Option
    Description
    One
    Represents a block with one MAC. This is used when l2-inline-device functionality is not needed. This is the default value.
    Small
    Represents a block of 8 MACs. When this value is used, the l2-inline-device is enabled, and the tenant gets a block of 8 contiguous MACs.
    Medium
    Represents a block of 16 MACs. When this value is used, the l2-inline-device is enabled, and the tenant gets a block of 16 contiguous MACs.
    Large
    Represents a block of 32 MACs. When this value is used, the l2-inline-device is enabled, and the tenant gets a block of 32 contiguous MACs.
  9. For
    Resource Provisioning
    , if changing resources, select either:
    Recommended
    (to use recommended values) or
    Advanced
    (to customize values), if in Configured or Provisioned state.
  10. For
    vCPUs
    , select the number of vCPUs for the tenant, if in Configured or Provisioned state.
    The minimum recommended number of vCPUs per typical tenant is two (one vCPU is sufficient only for lightweight tenants that cannot be updated). The number of vCPUs needed depends on the amount of traffic the tenant will be handling. More vCPUs provide faster throughput.
  11. For
    Memory
    , specify the amount of RAM in MB to allocate to the tenant, if in Configured or Provisioned state.
    The amount of memory needed depends on the number of vCPUs assigned. The minimum amount of memory needed is determined by the formula
    [(3.5 * 1024 * #ofvCPUs) + 512]
    , so a two vCPU tenant needs a minimum of 7680 MB, and a four vCPU tenant needs a minimum of 14,848MB.
  12. Change
    State
    (with caution!):
    Option
    Description
    Configured
    If tenant has been Provisioned or Deployed, the virtual disk is deleted.
    Provisioned
    If Deployed, this option stops the tenant from running, but maintains the configuration. If Configured, causes the system to install the software, assign the tenant to nodes, and create virtual disks for the tenant on those nodes. The tenant does not run, consume resources, or pass traffic.
    Deployed
    Directly deploys the tenant. This sets up the tenant, allocates resources, moves the image onto the system, and installs the software. When these tasks are complete, the tenant is fully deployed and running.
  13. Change
    Crypto/Compression Acceleration
    only if the tenant is in either the Configured or Provisioned state.
  14. To restrict usage of the Bash shell for tenant administrators, set
    Appliance Mode
    to
    Enabled
    (this is
    Disabled
    by default.)
  15. Click
    Save & Close
    .
The tenant is reconfigured according to the changes made.

Tenant management from the CLI

Display tenant resources from the CLI

Before creating a tenant, you can display total and available tenant resources, such as vCPUs, memory, and disk space from the CLI. You can also display storage and tenant volume size from the CLI.
  1. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system using an account with admin access.
    When you log in to the system, you are in user (operational) mode.
  2. Show the storage and tenant volume size.
    show components component storage
    This example displays the storage and tenant volume size:
    appliance-1# show components component storage components component platform storage state disks disk nvme0n1 state model Micron_7300_MTFDHBA480TDF state vendor Micron state version 954300T0 state serial-no 213931BC1153 state size 480.00GB

Import a tenant image from the CLI

Before you get started, you might want to upload the tenant image you want to use to a local Linux server that uses HTTPS, so you can more easily import it to the
rSeries
system.
You can import a tenant image onto the system from the CLI.
  1. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system using an account with admin access.
    When you log in to the system, you are in user (operational) mode.
  2. Import a tenant image to the system.
    file import remote-port <
    port-number
    > username <
    user
    > password <
    password
    > remote-host <
    ip-address-or-fqdn
    > remote-file <
    remote-file-path
    > remote-url <
    full-remote-url
    > local-file images
    This example imports a
    BIG-IP
    tenant image from server.company.com:
    appliance-1(config)# file import username admin password remote-url https://server.company.com/images/BIGIP-1x.x.x-x.x.x.ALL-F5OS.qcow2.zip.bundle local-file images

Create and deploy tenants from the CLI

Before you get started, import the tenant images you want to use for the tenant deployments. You must already have created VLANs on the system. Before you can create and deploy tenants, you also need to estimate resource requirements so you know how many vCPUs, memory, and other resources to assign to the tenant.
You can create and deploy tenants from the CLI.
  1. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system using an account with admin access.
    When you log in to the system, you are in user (operational) mode.
  2. Change to config mode.
    config
    The CLI prompt changes to include
    (config)
    .
  3. Create and deploy the tenant.
    tenants tenant <
    name
    > config <
    options
    >
    These options are available:
    Option
    Description
    appliance-mode
    Enable or disable root and bash access for the tenant.
    cryptos
    Enable or disable crypto device support for the tenant.
    gateway
    User-specified gateway for the tenant management IP address.
    image
    User-specified image for the tenant.
    memory
    User-specified memory in MBs for the tenant.
    mgmt-ip
    User-specified management IP address for tenant management access.
    name
    User-specified name for the tenant.
    nodes
    User-specified node numbers to schedule the tenant.
    prefix-length
    User-specified prefix length for the tenant management IP address.
    running-state
    User-specified state for the tenant: configured, provisioned, or deployed.
    storage
    Storage quota for the tenant.
    trust-mode
    User-specified state for the tenant: enabled (trusted) or disabled (not trusted). The default state is disabled (not trusted).
    Trust-mode is only available on r2000/r4000 platforms.
    MAC masquerade, which is required for High Availability (HA) on r2000/r4000 platforms, can only be configured on trusted tenants.
    type
    Tenant type. The default value is BIG-IP.
    vcpu-cores-per-node
    User-specified number of logical CPU cores for the tenant.
    vlans
    User-specified vlan-id from VLAN table for the tenant.
    This example creates a BIG-IP tenant called
    big-ip
    that is in the configured running-state, by default:
    appliance-1# tenants tenant big-ip config type BIG-IP image BIGIP-15.1.6-0.0.3.ALL-F5OS.qcow2.zip.bundle mgmt-ip 192.0.2.200 prefix-length 24 gateway 192.0.2.254 nodes 1
    Only trusted tenants (trust-mode option enabled) can be configured with MAC masquerade, which is required for High Availability (HA) on r2000/r4000 platforms. If you plan to configure HA on an r2000 or r4000 platform, be sure to enable trust-mode. For more information about configuring MAC masquerade, see K13502: Configuring MAC masquerade (11.x - 16.x).
    Other reasons for configuring MAC masquerade include:
    • You want to minimize Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) communication or dropped packets during traffic group failover events.
    • You want to improve reliability and failover speed in lossy networks.
    • You want to improve interoperability with switches that are slow to respond to gratuitous ARP requests.
  4. Commit the configuration changes.
    commit
  5. Return to user (operational) mode.
    end
  6. You can monitor the operational state of the tenant and move the tenant into the provisioned running-state.
    tenants tenant big-ip config running-state provisioned
    This causes the system to assign the tenant to nodes and create virtual disks for the tenant on those nodes.
  7. Show the current status for the tenant:
    show tenants tenant big-ip
    When the system is creating the virtual disk and installing the image on a disk, the operational state of the tenant shows this information:
    • PHASE – Allocating resources to the tenant is in progress
    • status – Provisioning
    A summary similar to this example displays:
    appliance-1# show tenants tenant big-ip tenants tenant big-ip state name big-ip state unit-key-hash PcPJWXRSLgdL3FRivOJODwrIZdYLncH3rqrjkW0X03uKHZFSLPjAc3d3E3Pbgd+Piq8p86LsMgma/kHoRdd+Kg== state type BIG-IP state image BIGIP-15.1.6-0.0.3.ALL-F5OS.qcow2.zip.bundle state mgmt-ip 192.0.2.200 state prefix-length 24 state gateway 192.0.2.254 state cryptos disabled state vcpu-cores-per-node 2 state memory 7680 state running-state provisioned state mac-data mgmt-mac 00:0a:49:ff:20:0c state mac-data base-mac 00:0a:49:ff:20:0d state mac-data mac-pool-size 1 state appliance-mode disabled state status Provisioning INSTANCE CREATION READY MGMT NODE POD NAME ID PHASE TIME TIME STATUS MAC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 big-ip-1 1 Allocating resources to tenant is in progress -
    When the system completes the virtual disk creation, the operational state shows this information:
    • PHASE – Ready to deploy
    • status – Provisioned
    A summary similar to this example displays:
    appliance-1# show tenants tenant big-ip tenants tenant big-ip state name big-ip state unit-key-hash PcPJWXRSLgdL3FRivOJODwrIZdYLncH3rqrjkW0X03uKHZFSLPjAc3d3E3Pbgd+Piq8p86LsMgma/kHoRdd+Kg== state type BIG-IP state image BIGIP-15.1.6-0.0.3.ALL-F5OS.qcow2.zip.bundle state mgmt-ip 192.0.2.200 state prefix-length 24 state gateway 192.0.2.254 state cryptos disabled state vcpu-cores-per-node 2 state memory 7680 state running-state provisioned state mac-data mgmt-mac 00:0a:49:ff:20:0c state mac-data base-mac 00:0a:49:ff:20:0d state mac-data mac-pool-size 1 state appliance-mode disabled state status Provisioned INSTANCE CREATION READY MGMT NODE POD NAME ID PHASE TIME TIME STATUS MAC -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 big-ip-1 1 Ready to deploy -
  8. Change to config mode.
    config
    The CLI prompt changes to include
    (config)
    .
  9. You can then deploy the tenant.
    tenants tenant big-ip config running-state deployed
    This example moves the tenant into the deployed state, which causes the system to start and maintain VMs on each node to which the tenant is assigned.
  10. Commit the configuration changes.
    commit
  11. Return to user (operational) mode.
    end
  12. You can check the status of the tenant.
    show tenants tenant big-ip state instances
    A summary similar to this example displays:
    appliance-1# show tenants tenant big-ip state instances INSTANCE NODE POD NAME ID PHASE CREATION TIME READY TIME STATUS MGMT MAC --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 big-ip-1 1 Running 2022-04-08T15:30:20Z 2022-04-08T15:30:21Z Started tenant instance 00:94:a1:69:34:25
Once you configure and deploy the tenant, and the Status is updated to Running, then you can use the management IP address to access the tenant system using SSH, the web-based interface, or TMOS Shell (
tmsh
).
Once a tenant is Deployed (and is up and running), changing its state back to Configured or Provisioned stops the tenant. You will receive a warning message before this occurs.
If the Status is Pending instead of Running, this might mean that there are not enough resources (vCPUs, memory, or other resources) for the tenant to be deployed. See the Tenant Details screen in the webUI for more information about the specific tenant.

Display tenant information from the CLI

You can display detailed information about configured tenants from the CLI.
  1. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system using an account with admin access.
    When you log in to the system, you are in user (operational) mode.
  2. Show the tenants that are currently configured.
    show tenants
    This example displays the operational data for a
    BIG-IP
    tenant. It uses one VLAN, no cryptos, two vCPU cores, and appliance mode is not enabled. The Instance table in the output displays the live health of the tenant running on the
    rSeries
    system.
    appliance-1# show tenants tenant big-ip tenants tenant bigip state unit-key-hash oa9gv8VYHcSoApv1234GQMn2uM9UzNKiDz78cIbqKv26LVjlIo9TCdp56z5UnXcVvr3hj0/ym2kbdWyBhPbkLA== state type BIG-IP state image BIGIP-15.1.6-0.0.3.ALL-F5OS.qcow2.zip.bundle state mgmt-ip 192.0.2.59 state prefix-length 24 state gateway 192.0.2.254 state cryptos enabled state vcpu-cores-per-node 2 state memory 7680 state storage size 77 state running-state deployed state mac-data base-mac 00:12:a1:8e:70:0a state mac-data mac-pool-size 1 state appliance-mode disabled state status Starting INSTANCE CREATION READY MGMT NODE POD NAME ID PHASE TIME TIME STATUS MAC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 big-ip-1 1 Allocating resources to tenant is in progress -
  3. Show the running configuration of the tenants.
    show running-config tenants tenant
    A summary similar to this example displays:
    appliance-1# show running-config tenants tenant tenants tenant big-ip config name big-ip config type BIG-IP config image BIGIP-15.1.6-0.0.3.ALL-F5OS.qcow2.zip.bundle config nodes [ 1 ] config mgmt-ip 192.0.2.59 config prefix-length 24 config gateway 192.0.2.254 config cryptos enabled config vcpu-cores-per-node 2 config memory 7680 config storage size 77 config running-state deployed config appliance-mode disabled !

Modify tenant configuration from the CLI

You can modify a tenant configuration from the CLI.
The administrator is able to modify only these fields while the tenant is running:
  • Running-state
  • VLANS
  • Nodes
  1. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system using an account with admin access.
    When you log in to the system, you are in user (operational) mode.
  2. Show configuration information for the tenant you want to update.
    show tenants tenant <
    name
    >
  3. Change to config mode.
    config
    The CLI prompt changes to include
    (config)
    .
  4. You can modify these options while the tenant is running:
    vlans
    ,
    nodes
    , or
    running-state
    .
    tenants tenant <
    name
    > config {
    vlans
    <
    vlan-id
    > |
    nodes
    {
    1
    2
    } |
    running-state
    {
    configured
    |
    provisioned
    |
    deployed
    } ]
  5. To modify any of the other options, first change the running state of the tenant to
    provisioned
    .
    tenants tenant <
    name
    > config running-state provisioned
    Make the desired changes. For more information, see the
    Tenant CLI command syntax
    section.
  6. Commit the configuration changes.
    commit

Resize tenant virtual disk from the CLI

You can resize the storage quota for a tenant virtual disk from the CLI.
  1. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system using an account with admin access.
    When you log in to the system, you are in user (operational) mode.
  2. Display configuration information for the tenant you want to update.
    show tenants tenant <
    name
    >
  3. Change to config mode.
    config
    The CLI prompt changes to include
    (config)
    .
  4. Change the storage quota, in GB, for the virtual disk for a specified tenant.
    The default size is 77 GB, and the disk size range is from 22 GB to 700 GB.
    tenants tenant big-ip config storage size 80
    You cannot modify the size of the virtual disk when the tenant is in the deployed running-state. The tenant must be in a configured or provisioned running-state.
  5. Commit the configuration changes.
    commit

Delete a tenant from the CLI

You can delete tenant configurations from the CLI.
  1. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system using an account with admin access.
    When you log in to the system, you are in user (operational) mode.
  2. Show the tenants that are currently configured in the system to check the names of the tenants.
    show tenants
  3. Change to config mode.
    config
    The CLI prompt changes to include
    (config)
    .
  4. Remove a tenant configuration.
    no tenants tenant <
    tenant-name
    >
  5. Commit the configuration changes.
    commit
The tenant deployment is removed from the system.

Tenant CLI command syntax

Use the
tenants
command from the CLI to configure a cluster of virtual machines (VMs) that run on one or more nodes within the system
The
tenant
command includes this syntax and these options:
tenants tenant <
options
>
Option
Value
Description
appliance-mode
enabled or disabled (default)
When enabled, appliance-mode disallows root and Bash access for the tenant.
cryptos
enabled or disabled (default)
Specifies the crypto device support for the tenant. When enabled, the tenant receives dedicated crypto devices proportional to the number of vCPU cores. When disabled, the tenant receives no crypto device support.
gateway
IP address
Specifies the IPv4/IPv6 address of the default gateway for the management network. This IP address can be changed on the tenant itself. This field is required.
image
Image name for the tenant
Specifies which software image to install on newly-created virtual disks for this tenant. This field is required.
memory
Memory allocated for the tenant
Specifies the memory in MBs for the tenant. For the commit to succeed, tenant configuration requires the minimum MBs depending on the number of cores specified for the tenant. The administrator must decide what amount of dedicated memory is needed to satisfy the requirements of the modules that will be provisioned within the tenant. For more information on resource allocation, see the
Tenant resource allocation overview
section.
mgmt-ip
IP address
Specifies the management IP address to the tenant. This address applies to the primary node of the tenant. The address can be changed on the tenant. This field is required.
name
Name of the tenant
Specifies the name of the tenant. This field is required.
nodes
Node numbers in square brackets separated by a space. For example, [1 2]
Lists the nodes that the tenant can be assigned to. This field is required.
prefix-length
Decimal value
Specifies the prefix length of the management network. This field is required.
running-state
Configured (default), provisioned, or deployed
Specifies the state of a tenant: configured, provisioned, or deployed. Tenants are in the configured state by default. Configured means the tenant exists but has no hardware resources (CPU or memory) allocated to it and is not running. When the tenant is provisioned, the system assigns the tenant to nodes and creates virtual disks for the tenant on those nodes. In the deployed state, allocated resources are used to launch the tenant VM. Note that specifying deployed causes the actions that occur in the configured and provisioned states. To shut down the tenant VM without removing the virtual disk, change the running-state from deployed to provisioned. Changing the tenant running-state to configured from provisioned or deployed causes its virtual disk to be deleted.
storage
Storage quota in GB for the tenant (The default value is 77 GB)
Specifies how much storage quota a tenant is allocated. The range is from 22 to 700 GB.
trust-mode
Disabled (default) or enabled (F5 r2000/r4000 platforms only)
Trust-mode is only available on F5 r2000/r4000 platforms. Indicates if the tenant is trusted (enabled) or not trusted (disabled). The default state is not trusted (disabled).
MAC masquerade (MM), which is required for High Availability (HA) on F5 r2000/r4000 platforms, can only be configured on trusted tenants.
For more information about configuring MM, see K13502: Configuring MAC masquerade (11.x - 16.x).
Enabling trust mode might reduce the security profile of the platform.
type
BIG-IP
(default)
Specifies the supported tenants on the system. The field is not required.
vcpu-cores-per-node
Decimal number (The default value is 2)
Specifies how many cores a tenant is allocated from each node that it is assigned to. Use tab completion to see a list of possible values on the current
rSeries
system.
vlans
VLAN ID
Specifies the VLAN ID to be used for tenant traffic. To process the traffic through the tenant, make sure the VLAN is configured on the system.

Tenant high availability (HA) overview

You can configure tenants for high-availability (HA) on an
rSeries
system similar to how it is done on a
BIG-IP
system or for vCMP guests. To implement high-availability, you set up device service clustering or DSC. DSC provides synchronization and failover of
BIG-IP
configuration data and traffic groups on two or more tenants. The tenant administrator sets up DSC on the tenants.
If you plan to set up mirroring, you must use an additional
system
. Connection mirroring requires that both
rSeries
systems have identical hardware platforms.
Tenants must have identical resources to ensure seamless HA failover. F5 does not support HA between tenants on disparate platforms.
For more information, see these guides at my.f5.com:

Configure High Availability (HA) for
BIG-IP
tenants

Before you begin, you must set up two
rSeries
systems with initial configuration, management IP addresses, gateways, DNS servers, and licensing. For more information, see
F5 rSeries Systems: Software Installation and Upgrade
and other sections in this guide.
F5 r2000/r4000 platforms require that MAC masquerade is configured for high availability (HA). MAC masquerade can only be configured on trusted tenants. Ensure that you have enabled trust-mode for any tenant on which you plan to configure HA (see the
Create and deploy tenants from the CLI
section of this document). For more information about configuring MM, see K13502: Configuring MAC masquerade (11.x - 16.x).
You can set up High Availability for two
BIG-IP
tenants that reside on two separate systems.
  1. Log in to the system and deploy a
    BIG-IP
    tenant.
    Make sure that both tenants are running the same
    BIG-IP
    software version and that it is compatible with F5 rSeries systems.
  2. On the tenants, set up L2 network connectivity between the two tenants including setting up VLANs and self IPs for ConfigSync, failover, and mirroring.
    For example, create the same VLAN on both tenants with management IP addresses that can communicate with each other.
  3. Log in to each tenant and set the failover ConfigSync address to the self IP addresses on both sides.
  4. Establish device trust: On one of the tenants, go to
    Device Management
    Device Trust
    , create a device trust, and add the management IP of the other tenant.
  5. Create a Sync-Failover device group: On the tenants, go to
    Device Management
    Device Group
    and create a device group with the
    Group Type
    option set to
    Sync-Failover
    .
    For more information, see the "Working with Device Groups" section in
    BIG-IP Device Service Clustering: Administration
    at my.f5.com).
  6. On the tenants, go to
    Device Management
    Devices
    , select the device and initiate the first ConfigSync manually.
  7. For tenants on F5 r2000/r4000 platforms, configure MAC masquerade.
    For more information, see the "Managing Failover" section in
    BIG-IP Device Service Clustering: Administration
    at support.f5.com).
    For information about configuring MAC masquerade, see K13502: Configuring MAC masquerade (11.x - 16.x).
After setting up HA for tenants, you can optionally create traffic groups, enable mirroring on the virtual servers, and sync the configurations.
Understand that there are many ways to configure HA, and this summary explains the general work flow for how to approach tenant HA. Your environment might require additional steps.