Installing the PTF

Apply the PTF to BIG/ip Controller version 3.1.1 using the following process:

1. Click here and follow the instructions for using the F5 Networks FTP site.

   Use FTP in passive mode from the BIG/ip Controller to download the file. To place FTP in passive mode, type pass from the command line before transferring the file.

2. Download the v311ptf1domkit.tar file to the /var/tmp/ directory on the target BIG/ip Controller
3. Enter the following commands to install this PTF:

   cd /var/tmp
   tar -xvpf v311ptf1domkit.tar
   

4. Run the following commands:
   

   cd /
   var/tmp/upgrade_ptf

5. Follow the on-screen instructions.

The install automatically creates a backup of the /etc/syslog.conf file in /var/save/backupyymmdd_hhmm/ on the BIG/ip Controller and removes any old files that are no longer used. If you have made changes to the /etc/syslog.conf file, you may need to edit that file and retype your modifications.

The checksums for this PTF are available in a file called sums, which can be downloaded from the FTP site.

Once you have installed the PTF software, please refer to the Configuring and using the updated software.

What's fixed in this PTF

• CR 8567:   Persistent connections statistics page message
  Fixed a problem with the Persistent Connections Statistics page that would prompt you to repost data.
• CR 8548:   Fixed a problem that 3DNS could not query for SSL proxy status accurately
  Fixed a problem that in certain cases could prevent the 3DNS Controller from querying the status of the SSL proxy.
• CR 8507:   Traffic received from a new AOL proxy
  Updated the sysctl variable bigip.persist_map_proxies with the a new AOL proxy list. For more information about this sysctl variable, see the BIG/ip Controller Reference Guide, BIG/ip System Control Variables.
• CR 8506:   Cannot add more than 255 nodes to a pool
  Raised the number of nodes that you can add to a pool to over 16,300.
• CR 8497:   Upgrade overwrites /etc/rc file
  The upgrade no longer overwrites the /etc/rc file.
• CR 8436:   BIG/ip Controller version 3.0 cookies are ignored by versions 3.1
  Added backward compatibility for cookies created by BIG/ip Controller version 3.0.

Configuring and using the updated software

The following configuration options are available with this PTF.

Configuring a network virtual server

You can configure a network virtual server with this release. A network virtual server is a virtual server that handles a whole network range, instead of just one IP address, or all IP addresses (wildcard virtual servers). For example, the following virtual server handles all traffic addresses in the 192.168.1.0 network:

Note:  Network virtual servers should be assigned to interface none.

A network virtual server is a virtual server that has no bits set in the host portion of the IP address. In other words, the host portion is zero. You must specify a network mask to indicate which portion of the address is the network address and which portion is the host address. In the previous example, since the network mask is 255.255.255.0, the network portion of the address is 192.168.1 and the host portion is .0. The previous example would direct all traffic destined to the subnet 192.168.1.0/24 through BIG/ip Controller to the ingress_firewalls pool.

Another way you can use this feature is to create a catch-all webserver for an entire subnet. For example, you could create the following network virtual server:

This configuration directs a web connection destined to any address within the subnet 192.168.1.0/24 to the default_webservers pool.

Known issues

Issues with the BIG/ip NAT bounceback
The NAT bounceback feature allows a node on the internal network to access a virtual server and be load balanced to another set of internal servers (nodes). In versions prior to 3.0, NAT bounceback is enabled automatically when you create a NAT or SNAT. In BIG/ip Controller versions 3.0 and later this feature is disabled by the upgrade process.

1. First, turn on destination address processing on the internal interface with the following command:

   bigpipe interface exp1 dest enable

2. Synchronize the configuration with the other BIG/ip Controller version 3.0 or later.

   bigpipe configsync

If you configure the BIG/ip Controller with the F5 Configuration utility, follow these steps:

Enable destination address processing on the internal interface with the F5 Configuration utility

1. In the navigation pane, click NICs.
   The Network Interface Cards screen opens. You can view the current settings for each interface in the Network Interface Card table.
2. In the Network Interface Card table, click the name of the internal interface you want to configure.
   The Network Interface Card Properties screen opens.
3. To enable destination processing for this interface, click the Enable Destination Processing check box.
4. Click the Apply button.

After you configure destination processing on the internal interface, synchronize the configuration of the redundant BIG/ip Controller system.

1. In the navigation pane, click the BIG/ip logo.
   The BIG/ip Properties screen opens.
2. In the toolbar, click the Sync Configuration button.
   The Synchronize Configuration screen opens.
3. Click the Synchronize button.