Manual Chapter : Getting started with F5 rSeries

Applies To:

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F5OS-A

  • 1.7.0, 1.5.0, 1.3.0, 1.2.0
Manual Chapter

Getting started with
F5
rSeries

F5
rSeries
platforms are powerful systems that are designed specifically for application delivery performance and scalability.
This guide walks you through getting started with a new installation of an
rSeries
platform, including essential steps like configuring DHCP, network settings, and tenants. After you complete these procedures, your system will be running a basic configuration that includes a tenant.
Before you begin, be sure that you have this information:
  • Proposed new passwords for
    rSeries
    admin and root accounts
  • Proposed management IP addresses for the system (if not using DHCP)
  • Proposed static management IP addresses for tenants (if not using DHCP)
  • IP address of DHCP server running in network (if using DHCP)
  • IP address of NTP server
  • IP address of DNS server
  • BIG-IP base registration key
For additional information on installing and configuring F5OS on
rSeries
systems, see the documentation on the F5OS Knowledge Center at techdocs.f5.com. For information about
F5OS
software, see K03278510: F5OS-A and F5OS-C software for F5 hardware platforms.

Platform
installation overview

For detailed information about installing your platform, see the document titled
Setting Up the F5 r2000/r4000 rSeries Platform
or
Setting Up the F5 r5000/r10000/r12000 rSeries Platform
that is included with the chassis.
At a high level, to install the chassis into your data center, you perform these tasks:
  1. Rack the chassis using the rack mount kit provided.
  2. Connect the power cables to the power supply units (PSUs) and apply power to the chassis.
  3. Connect the serial console cables, management interfaces, and networking cables.

Internal
platform
network overview

The
rSeries
system uses an internal
platform
network for control plane and management plane communication. Traffic on this internal network is firewall-protected and is not exposed to a customer’s management network. The internal network uses a predefined range of IP addresses, using 100.64.0.0/12 addressing, by default.
IP addresses in the predefined range are reserved for internal networking and cannot be used for any of the following:
  • Management IP addresses for the system and tenants
  • Any external service configured on the
    rSeries
    system, such as a DNS server and NTP server
  • Source IP addresses of any device used to communicate with the
    rSeries
    system (such as a laptop, workstation, or other device that connects)
If your network uses addresses in the predefined range for any of the above, you will not be able to access the
rSeries
system from the management interfaces (including the CLI, webUI, or RESTCONF APIs). This is only an issue if using 100.64.0.0/12 addresses for management IP addresses, external servers, or source IP addresses described here. This does not affect data plane/in-band interfaces.
To prevent this issue,
F5
provides a procedure that enables you to select a different internal IP address range during initial provisioning of a system, as an alternative to using the default range. For more information on how to change the internal network IP address range, see
F5 rSeries Systems: Administration and Configuration
on techdocs.f5.commy.f5.com.