Updated Date: 04/27/2026
Getting started with F5 VELOS
F5 VELOS platforms are a modular (chassis and blade) form factor, designed to meet the needs of large enterprise networking environments that require the ability to scale and process a large volume of increasing application workloads.
This guide walks you through getting started with a new installation of a VELOS platform, including essential steps like configuring DHCP, network settings, chassis partitions, and tenants. After you complete these procedures, your system will be running a basic configuration that includes a chassis partition and a tenant.
Note: F5OS architecture consists of two implementations: F5OS-C (chassis) for VELOS and F5OS-A (appliance) for rSeries Appliances. For VELOS, be sure to use F5OS-C images. For information about F5OS software, see K03278510: F5OS-A and F5OS-C software for F5 hardware platforms.
Important: F5 strongly recommends that you upgrade to the latest F5OS-C software version after you complete initial configuration. For more information, see VELOS Systems: Installation and Upgrade on the Documentation - F5OS-C and VELOS.
Before you begin, be sure that you have this information:
- Proposed new passwords for VELOS admin and root accounts
- Proposed static management IP addresses for (if not using DHCP)
- system controllers
- chassis partitions
- tenants
- Proposed cluster IP addresses for tenants K15930: Overview of vCMP configuration considerations
- IP address of DHCP server running in network (if using DHCP)
- IP address of NTP server
- IP address of DNS server
- Tenant base registration key
For additional information on installing and configuring F5OS on VELOS systems, refer to the documentation on at Documentation - F5OS-C and VELOS.
For more information on configuring cluster IP addresses for tenants, see support.f5.com/csp/article/K14392.
These are some of the terms and taxonomy that you will encounter when configuring the VELOS system.
For detailed information about installing your platform, see the document titled Setting Up the VELOS CX Series AC and DC Platforms that is included with the chassis.
At a high level, to install the chassis into your data center, you perform these tasks:
- Rack the chassis using the rack mount kit provided.
- Connect the power cables to the power supply units (PSUs) and apply power to the chassis.
- Insert blades into the chassis, starting at slot 1.
- Ensure the front bezel with LCD is secured to the chassis.
- Connect the serial console cables, management interfaces, and networking cables.
The VELOS system uses an internal chassisplatform 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 controllers, chassis partitions, and tenants
- Any external service configured on the VELOS system, such as a DNS server and NTP server
- Source IP addresses of any device used to communicate with the VELOS 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 VELOS 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 VELOS Systems: Administration and Configuration on Documentation - F5OS-C and VELOS.
These are some of the terms and taxonomy that you will encounter when configuring the VELOS system.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| chassis | The main component of the unit that houses the blades, system controllers, and other components. The chassis can be divided into multiple chassis partitions. |
| system controllers | Components of the chassis that provide a unified point for external management and connectivity to the platform and applications running in the chassis. The chassis contains a redundant pair of system controllers that provides a high bandwidth interconnect between blades and high availability. The system controllers also provide REST APIs, a system controller CLI, and a webUI. |
| blade | The primary hardware component that handles traffic management including disaggregation, packet classification, and traffic-steering for the VELOS system. The CX410 chassis has eight available blade slots, and the CX1610 chassis has 32 available blade slots. Runs chassis partition software, on which tenants are deployed. |
| chassis partition | A chassis partition is a grouping of blades that can be isolated from other blades within the same chassis. Each chassis partition is a separate managed system, unlike the tenant system’s administrative partitions within a single managed system. Chassis partitions are commonly use to allow for further isolation than just tenancy between different environments and can include one or more blades. You can manage a chassis partition using a REST API, CLI, and webUI. |
| tenant | A guest system (a virtualized BIG-IP instance similar to a vCMP guest) running software within a chassis partition. You can deploy multiple tenants in one chassis partition. BIG-IP is the F5 TMOS-based tenant, and BIG-IP Next is the next generation, modularized version of the BIG-IP tenant. |
| chassis terminal service | Built into the system controller software, the chassis terminal service provides a way to access the console for the system controllers and all blades. |