is a kind of virtual system or
subset of the chassis that handles the management and separation of disjoint sets of
blades within the chassis. The chassis has eight slots, which can contain up to eight
blades. One or more slots are assigned to a chassis partition, which then controls
whatever blade is inserted into it (if any).
The chassis can be divided into multiple chassis partitions, and a
chassis partition can have multiple tenants. A
tenant
is a guest system running software (for example, a
BIG-IP
system).
The chassis, chassis partitions, and tenants in the chassis partitions
each have separate sets of users, and they have different functions at the different
levels. The chassis administrator manages the whole chassis and creates chassis
partitions. The chassis partition administrator manages their chassis partition
only.
Within the
VELOS
system, a
chassis administrator can create chassis partitions, then allocates one or more slots
that work as separate computing clusters for traffic. A chassis might contain multiple
chassis partitions, and a slot might belong to only one chassis partition at a time. For
example, an 8-slot chassis could potentially have up to 8 chassis partitions, one slot
each.
The
VELOS
system comes
initially preconfigured with one
default
chassis partition. The slots for all blades are automatically
assigned as members of the default chassis partition. The blades in the chassis can be
used that way, so they work together as one powerful system to process network traffic,
or reconfigured into multiple chassis partitions that are organized into smaller subsets
of the chassis.
These are chassis partition attributes:
A chassis is divided into distinct sets of slots called chassis
partitions.
A slot (and the blade it contains, if any) can be part of only
one chassis partition.
Each chassis partition is an independently managed entity with
its own addressable management stack. The system controller is responsible for
isolating traffic between chassis partitions.
Each chassis partition provides REST APIs, a CLI, and a webUI to
use to perform management tasks.
The chassis partition administrator configures L2 networking,
deploys tenants, and performs other administrative duties within the chassis
partition.
Each chassis partition can have multiple tenants.
Tenants can span multiple slots in a chassis partition.
The
VELOS
platform
supports
F5
-signed tenants only.
"None" partition overview
F5 ships blades with no software image installed and no configuration.
If a newly installed blade is not assigned to a defined chassis partition, it is
assigned automatically to the “none” partition (partition 0).
When you add a blade to the chassis, an automatic PXE boot from a
system controller installs the chassis partition image from that controller. If one
controller has been replaced but has a chassis partition image from another chassis, the
other controller recognizes the image and boots that image using PXE. If there is a
software mismatch, the system automatically upgrades the software to match the chassis
partition.
Before you remove a blade from a chassis partition, moving the blade
to the “none” partition clears the blade data so the blade can then be moved to another
chassis or chassis partition. Otherwise, you must boot the blade manually using PXE
after installation.
Chassis partition high availability (HA) overview
The chassis partition is designed so that all of the chassis
partition configuration data is constantly stored in an active location and
replicated to a standby location. It is already configured for high
availability. The active and standby instances of a single partition are
always on different system controllers—one is on system controller 1, and the
other is on system controller 2. The active chassis instance, however, might
not always reside on the active system controller. The active and standby
chassis partition instances swap roles during a failover event.
Configuration data is not shared between chassis partitions.
Each chassis partition runs its own software image. Chassis partition
configuration data is kept independent from other chassis partitions.
Chassis partition management from the webUI
Display chassis partition information from the
webUI
You can view details on how the chassis partitions
are configured on your
VELOS
system from the system controller
webUI.
Log in to the VELOS system controller webUI using an account with admin access.
On the left, click
CHASSIS PARTITIONS
.
The Chassis Partitions screen opens.
Review the chassis partition data:
Examine the graphic to see how
many slots are in use. Those in use are highlighted.
Review the chassis partition
list to see how many chassis partitions currently exist, which
slots are associated with each partition, the management IP
address of each, whether the chassis partition is Enabled or
Disabled, and the operational status.
Perform other tasks as needed regarding
chassis partition management:
From here, you can create,
edit, or delete chassis partitions.
You can
Enable
or
Disable
a chassis partition using the
Enable/Disable
partition list.
Here is a sample Chassis Partitions screen with two
chassis partitions: one named custpart, which uses the two slots that contain blades,
and the other, default, which is assigned four empty slots. The custpart partition is
Enabled and running. Additional information may also be available on this screen.
Example of chassis partitions screen
Create a chassis partition from the webUI
Before creating a chassis partition,
make sure you have chassis partition software images in the Software
Management area. You can download the latest versions from F5 downloads site. When creating a chassis
partition, you will need to specify which image to install and run.
The
VELOS
system initially comes preconfigured with one
default
chassis
partition that you can use instead of having to create custom chassis
partitions. The slots for all blades are automatically assigned as members
of the default chassis partition. The blades in the chassis can be used
that way or reconfigured into multiple chassis partitions that are
organized into smaller subsets of the chassis.
You create chassis partitions by
dividing the chassis into subsets of blades from the system controller webUI.
You assign one or more blades to form the chassis partition. Associating more
blades with a chassis partition provides greater computing power to
accommodate the workload requirements for tenants deployed on that chassis
partition.
Log in to the VELOS system controller webUI using an account with admin access.
On the left, click
CHASSIS PARTITIONS
.
The Chassis Partitions screen displays a graphical view of the VELOS chassis, which shows available slots, which slots contain blades, how many chassis partitions currently exist, which slots are associated with the chassis partition, and whether the chassis partitions are enabled or disabled.
If all slots are assigned to the default
chassis partition, the
Create
button will be unavailable. Before you can
create a new chassis partition, you first need to select one or more
slots and remove them from the default chassis partition.
On the chassis graphic, select the slots to associate with the chassis partition you are creating.
Make sure the slots you select are not already in use by other partitions.
The slots you select need not have blades installed when creating a chassis partition. For example, you can set up partitions before additional blades are available and install them later.
To create a new partition, click
Create
.
If using the
default
partition,
select it and click
Edit
instead.
In the list of chassis partitions, for
Name
, type a name for the chassis partition.
Partition names must consist only of alphanumerics (0-9, a-z, A-Z), must begin with a letter, and are limited to 31 characters.
To configure IPv4 addresses, in the IPv4 section:
For
IP Address
, type the IP address of the chassis partition.
For
Prefix Length
, enter a number from 1-32 for the length of the prefix.
For
Gateway
, type the IP address of the gateway.
To configure IPv6 addresses, in the IPv6 address section:
For
IP Address
, type the IP address of the chassis partition.
For
Prefix Length
, enter a number from 1-32 for the length of the prefix.
For
Gateway
, type the IP address of the gateway.
Review
Selected Slots
,
which shows the slots you selected in the chassis graphic to be
included in the chassis partition.
For
Partition Image
,
define the software to use for the chassis partition:
Click either
Bundled
or
Unbundled
.
Choose
Bundled
if
you are installing the entire operating system for the chassis
partition (use the ISO Image). Choose
Unbundled
if you are installing a service update (specify Base OS
Version and Service Versions to use).
Select the previously uploaded
software image (or images) to run on the chassis
partition.
For
Configuration Volume
Size
, select the desired configuration volume in
increments of 1 GB.
The default value is 10 GB,
with a minimum of 5 GB and a maximum of 15 GB.
For
Images Volume Size
,
select the desired storage volume for all tenant images in increments
of 1 GB.
The default value is 15 GB,
with a minimum of 5 GB and a maximum of 50 GB.
For
Shared Volume Size
,
select the desired user data (tcpdump captures, QKView data, etc.)
volume in increments of 1 GB.
The default value is 10 GB,
with a minimum of 5 GB and a maximum of 20 GB.
You can change the
configuration, images, and shared volume sizes of chassis partitions
from the chassis partition webUI. After volume sizes are configured,
their sizes can be increased but not reduced.
Click
Save
.
A new chassis partition is created, enabled, and shown in the chassis partition list.
If the chassis partition does not change automatically to the Enabled state, you can manually select
Enabled
from the
Enabled/Disabled
list.
You can now log in to the chassis
partition using its management IP address to access the chassis partition
webUI and CLI.
Edit a chassis partition from the webUI
You can edit a chassis partition if
you need to change its configuration from the system controller webUI.
Log in to the VELOS system controller webUI using an account with admin access.
On the left, click
CHASSIS PARTITIONS
.
The Chassis Partitions screen opens.
From the chassis partition list, select
the chassis partition that you want to edit.
Click
Edit
.
Adjust the settings as needed.
For example, you can add available slots
to a chassis partition or delete slots from a chassis partition (so they can be added to another
partition).
Click
Save
.
Configure the size of chassis partition volumes from the
webUI
You can change the configuration, images, and shared
volume sizes of chassis partitions from the system controller webUI. After
volume sizes are configured, their sizes can be increased but not reduced.
Log in to the VELOS system controller webUI using an account with admin access.
On the left, click
CHASSIS PARTITIONS
.
The Chassis Partitions screen opens.
From the chassis partition list, select the
chassis partition that you want to edit.
Click
Edit
.
For
Configuration Volume
Size
, enter the desired configuration volume in
increments of 1 GB.
The default value is 10 GB,
with a minimum of 5 GB and a maximum of 15 GB.
For
Images Volume Size
,
type the desired storage volume for all tenant images in increments of
1 GB.
The default value is 15 GB,
with a minimum of 5 GB and a maximum of 50 GB.
For
Shared Volume Size
,
type the desired storage volume for shared data, including tcpdump,
QKView, and core files, in increments of 1 GB.
The default value is 10 GB,
with a minimum of 5 GB and a maximum of 20 GB.
Click
Save
.
Update chassis partition software from
the webUI
Verify that you have downloaded and
imported the
F5OS
image files from
F5 before you attempt to update the chassis partition software.
You can update
F5OS
software on a chassis partition from the system
controller webUI. This method updates only one blade in a chassis partition at
a time and might cause an outage on any running tenants. When the installation
succeeds, the remaining blades in the chassis partition update.
Log in to the VELOS system controller webUI using an account with admin access.
On the left, click
CHASSIS PARTITIONS
.
The Chassis Partitions screen opens.
In the Partition list, select the
chassis partition that you want to update.
Click
Edit
.
Select an installation type:
Choose
Bundled
to install an ISO
image.
Choose
Unbundled
to install a base OS
version and service version independently.
In the Partition Image section, select the
software image version (or versions if performing an unbundled upgrade).
Click
Save
.
The software installs on the blades in the
chassis partition. If, for any reason, the update is not successful, the
system reverts to the last working software version on the chassis
partition.
Configure system controller high availability from the
webUI
You should normally not need to change
system controller high availability (HA), or redundancy, to something other
than the default configuration (Auto). If needed, you can change which system
controller runs the active chassis partition instance or initiate a failover
from the active controller to the standby from the chassis partition
webUI.
Log in to the VELOS chassis partition webUI using an account with admin access.
On the left, click
SYSTEM SETTINGS
High Availability
.
For
Preferred Node
,
select the system controller to run the active instance of the chassis
partition, or choose
Auto
to let the system decide.
Using
Auto
is strongly
recommended.
Hardware health conditions of the system
controllers always take precedence. If one of the system controllers
is not healthy, the chassis partition will ignore the preference and
synchronize with the healthy system controller.
If you select a preferred node other than
Auto
, the
preference is ignored unless you enable
Auto Failback
.
If you really want to indicate a preference and
have selected one of the system controllers (not
Auto
):
Set
Auto Failback
to
Enabled
.
In the
Failback Delay
field,
type the number of seconds to delay before initiating the
failback.
To force a failover to occur
immediately, for
Force
Failover
, click
Failover
.
You would only do this only if
you want the current standby system controller to become the active
system controller.
Chassis partition management from the CLI
Create a chassis partition from the CLI
The
VELOS
system includes one
preconfigured chassis partition that includes all slots, by default. You can create
additional chassis partitions but you need to remove the slots associated with the
default chassis partition first.
Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system controller using an account with admin access.
When you log in to the system, you are in user (operational) mode.
Change to config mode.
config
The CLI prompt changes to include
(config)
.
Create a chassis partition by naming the
chassis partition and specifying the ISO version, management IP
address (IPv4), gateway IP address, prefix length (1-32), and then
enabling the chassis partition.
Chassis partition names must
consist of only alphanumerics (0-9, a-z, A-Z), must begin with a
letter, and are limited to 31 characters.
partitions partition
<
partition-name
> config iso-version <
iso-version
> mgmt-ip ipv4 address <
address
>
gateway <
gateway-ip
> prefix-length <
prefix-length
> ipv6 address <
address
>
gateway <
gateway-ip
> prefix-length <
prefix-length
> enabled
This example creates a chassis
partition named
custom
with an IPv4 IP address of 192.0.2.20, a
gateway address of 192.0.2.254, a prefix length of 24, and enables the
chassis partition:
The system creates the chassis
partition. You can now log in to the chassis partition using its management IP
address to access the chassis partition webUI, the chassis partition CLI over SSH, or use the
REST API.
Configure chassis partition volume sizes from the CLI
You can change the configuration, images, and
shared volume sizes of chassis partitions from the CLI. After volume sizes are
configured, their sizes can be increased but not reduced.
Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system controller or chassis partition using an account with admin access.
When you log in to the system, you are in user (operational) mode.
Change to config mode.
config
The CLI prompt changes to include
(config)
.
Configure the chassis partition volume
sizes.
partitions partition <
partition-name
>
config configuration-volume <
configuration-size
>
images-volume <
images-size
> shared-volume
<
shared-size
>
This example shows
configuring a chassis partition named
high1
with a
configuration volume size of 15, an images volume size of 50, and a
shared volume size of 20:
The system applies the customized
chassis partition volume sizes.
Update chassis partition software from the CLI
Verify that you have downloaded and
imported the
F5OS
image files from
F5 before you attempt to update the chassis partition software.
You can update
F5OS
software on a chassis partition from the system controller
CLI. This method updates only one blade in a chassis partition at a time and might cause
an outage on any running tenants. When the installation succeeds, the remaining chassis
partitions update.
Connect to the system using a management console or console server.
The default baud rate and serial port configuration is 19200/8-N-1.
Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system controller using an account with admin access.
When you log in to the system, you are in user (operational) mode.
Verify that the image you want to
install is listed, and the status is
ready
.
show image partition
state
This verifies that the ISO is
imported properly to the image server on the system controllers, and
the system controllers can access these images when the blade reboots.
The imported file replicates automatically to the standby controller.
A summary similar to this
excerpt displays:
syscon-1-active# show image partition state
VERSION OS IN
PARTITION CONTROLLER STATUS DATE SIZE USE NAME ID
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.6.0-7890 1 ready 2022-12-28 783.94MB false
VERSION
SERVICE IN
PARTITION CONTROLLER STATUS DATE SIZE USE NAME ID
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.6.0-7890 1 ready 2022-12-28 1.76GB false
VERSION
ISO IN
PARTITION CONTROLLER STATUS DATE SIZE USE NAME ID
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.6.0-7890 1 ready 2022-12-28 3.13GB false default 1
VERSION OS IN
PARTITION CONTROLLER STATUS DATE SIZE USE NAME ID
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.6.0-7890 2 ready 2022-12-28 783.94MB false
VERSION
SERVICE IN
PARTITION CONTROLLER STATUS DATE SIZE USE NAME ID
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.6.0-7890 2 ready 2022-12-28 1.76GB false
VERSION
ISO IN
PARTITION CONTROLLER STATUS DATE SIZE USE NAME ID
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.6.0-7890 2 ready 2022-12-28 3.13GB false default 1
Change to config mode.
config
The CLI prompt changes to include
(config)
.
Set the ISO version for the chassis partition so
that its member blades are updated.
partitions partition <
name
> set-version
iso-version <
version
> proceed [ yes | no ]
By default, you will be prompted to
confirm the software update. Type
yes
to proceed. To bypass the confirmation prompt, include
proceed yes
at the
end of the command sequence.
This example shows updating the ISO
version on the default chassis partition:
syscon-1-active(config)# partitions partition default set-version iso-version 1.6.0-7890
Partition database compatibility check succeeded.
Changing running partition software version will interrupt tenant operation. Proceed? [yes/no]: yes
result Version update successful.
The software on the selected chassis
partition updates to the specified version. The blades might reboot, depending
on the changes in the install. After a successful update, the software
installs on the remaining blades.
Log in to a new chassis partition from the CLI
After you have created a chassis
partition, you can enable it and log in to it using the default admin username
and password.
Use SSH to log in to the chassis
partition using the management IP address.
This example shows the
admin user logging in to partition1:
ssh admin@192.0.2.20
admin@192.0.2.20's password:
Last login: Fri, Oct 30 08:02:15 2020 from 192.0.2.20
Welcome to the F5OS Chassis Partition Management CLI
admin connected from 192.0.2.20 using ssh on partition1
partition1#
You can work in the chassis partition to set up
networking parameters, configure the interface, VLANS, and LAG. You can also add
VELOS
system users, if needed, set up logging, and install and
deploy a tenant in the chassis partition.
Add a slot to a chassis partition from the CLI
Before you can use a chassis
partition, you must add slots to the chassis partition. Slots can be assigned
to one partition only.
Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system controller using an account with admin access.
When you log in to the system, you are in user (operational) mode.
Show how chassis partitions and slots
are currently configured on the system.
show running-config
slots
A summary similar to this example,
which shows that all slots are still assigned to the default chassis
partition, displays:
In this example, the configuration, images, and shared volume sizes display
for the chassis partition named
"abc":
default-1# show partitions volumes
VOLUME TOTAL AVAILABLE
NAME CONTROLLER NAME SIZE SIZE
-----------------------------------------------
abc 1 config 5G 5.0G
images 5G 5.0G
shared 7G 7.0G
Show how the slots are currently
configured on the system.
show running-config
slots
In this example, all of the
slots are assigned to the default chassis partition:
