Installing the PTF

Apply the PTF to BIG-IP Controller, version 4.0 using the following process.  The install script saves your current configuration.

Warning for users with solid state drives:  If you have a BIG-IP Controller with a solid state drive (SSD), do not install this version of the PTF.  Please contact F5 Support for special instructions.

1. Connect to the F5 FTP site (ftp.f5.com).

   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 correct PTF file to the /var/tmp/ directory on the target BIG-IP Controller.
   For crypto controllers, choose PTF-4.0-2-BSD_OS-4.1.im, for no-crypto controllers choose NOCRYPTOPTF-4.0-2-BSD_OS-4.1.im.



3. Change your directory to /var/tmp/ by typing:
   cd /var/tmp/



4. Enter the following command to install this PTF:
   For crypto, type:  im PTF-4.0-2-BSD_OS-4.1.im
   For no-crypto, type:  im NOCRYPTOPTF-4.0-2-BSD_OS-4.1.im


The BIG-IP Controller will automatically reboot once it completes installation.

After you install the PTF, please refer to the Configuring and using the updated software. 

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What's fixed in this PTF (PTF-02)

Type	Description	Number
Using b load under heavy traffic	You can now use the b load command while passing traffic.	CR15288
Simple persistence	Using simple persistence with any IP or UDP no longer causes the BIG-IP Controller to become unstable.	CR15404
Support access	You now configure FTP and telnet support access with two separate check boxes in the web-based First-Time Boot utility. For more information, see Changes to support access configuration in the web-based First-Time Boot utility.	CR15057
Product versioning	Using the web-based First-Time Boot utility now correctly sets the XLB version of the product.	CR15232
NIC media types	Using the web-based First-Time Boot utility now correctly sets the media type for NICs.	CR15247
Portal startup	You no longer see the following spurious error message during bigstart boot up.  bigstart: startup portal bigstart: kill portal 10 seconds expired	CR15401
SSD	If a solid state drive is detected, the installation process does not allow you to install the standard PTF.  Please contact F5 Services to get the upgrade for SSD.	CR15402
f5isapi.dll improvements	Improved the performance of the f5isapi.dll.	CR15465
VLAN naming	VLAN naming has been adjusted to accommodate multiple interface network cards.	CR15474
Configuration files	bigpipe now permits you to save very large configuration files.	CR15477
Certificate information	You no longer need to re-enter certificate information when you re-run the web-based First-Time Boot utility.	CR15056
VLANs and VLAN groups	You can no longer delete a VLAN that is a member of a VLAN group.	CR15283 CR15284
Static routes	You can now delete static routes manually once the controller is up and running.	CR15373

What's fixed from PTF-01

Type	Description	Number
Auto lasthop	Auto lasthop for non-TCP traffic on a firewall sandwich no longer leads to routing loops.	CR15088
Configuration synchronization and IP addresses	Configuration synchronization is no longer dependent on a peer IP address and its hostname IP address.	CR15017
Configuration synchronization and uptime	Configuration synchronization no longer fails after a week of uptime.	CR15383
First-Time Boot utility (web-based)	The Properties page for VLANs in the web-based First-Time Boot utility now displays correctly in Internet Explorer version 4.0.	CR15052
Gigabit NICs	The gigabit NIC now functions with older systems (for example, Pentium II).	CR14994
Layer 2 forwarding	Layer 2 forwarding can now forward packets to off-interface hosts.	CR15313
Lasthop routes and the ipforward cached route	The timing issue that was affecting lasthop routes and the ipforward cached route is now fixed.	CR14012
Monitors	Existing monitors are now retained when a "Monitor instance already exists" error occurs.	CR14908
Virtual servers	A virtual server with a wildcard service and an HTTP pool with port translation is now enabled.	CR14922
VLANs (maximum number)	The maximum number of VLANs allowed is now 256.	CR14798
VLAN renaming	An error no longer appears when you rename a VLAN from the Configuration utility.	CR15053
Web administrator user account	The default web administrator user account is no longer left available after configuration when using the web-based First-Time Boot Utility.	CR15054

 

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Configuring and using the updated software

This release provides the following configuration options. 

Media types

Use the following command to get a list of appropriate media types for an interface.

ifconfig -m <interface name>

Tips on setting the preferred controller in redundant BIG-IP Controller installations

If you are using the force_master flag to set a specific controller to be the preferred active unit, we recommend that you set the force_slave flag on the controller that you want to run primarily as a secondary controller.  The force-slave flag must be set if you are using network fail-over.  For more information about these flags, see the BIG-IP Reference Guide, v.4.0, Setting a specific controller to be the preferred active unit.

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Known issues

The following issues are known issues with the BIG-IP Controller, version 4.0 PTF-02 as of the release date.  For known issues subsequent to the release date, please go to AskF5.  Once you have logged in, type "known issues" and click Ask.  Select the correct version number and click Ask again.

Type	Description	Number
3dnsd	For users of the combined BIG-IP Controller and 3-DNS Controller, if you add more than one interface IP address to IIOP HOST (no-crypto) or FSSL HOST (crypto) on the BIG-IP Controller, 3dnsd may become unstable.	CR15392
VLAN and interface assignments	When you install the BIG-IP Controller from scratch, the default VLAN and interface assignments may not match what the web-based or command line First-Time Boot utility has as the assignments.  Once you configure the BIG-IP Controller, the assignments will be correct.	CR15080
Using the WMI ISAPI Data Gathering agent with the winmgmt service	In order to work around certain functions in the winmgmnt service, the WMI ISAPI Data Gathering agent automatically restarts the winmgmt service every hour.  You can customize this restart interval by editing the registry using the following steps: Open up the Registry Editor: You can either type regedit at the command line, or click the Start button, and click Run..., and then type regedit. Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software, create a key named "F5": Double-click the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key. Right-click Software key, and select New, then select Key. Type F5 for the new key name. Under the F5 key, create a new subkey named WMIServiceRestartInterval: Right-click the newly created F5 key, and select New, then select Key. Type WMIServiceRestartInterval for the new subkey name. Create registry settings for IntervalUnit and Interval for the WMIServiceRestartInterval subkey: Right-click the newly created WMIServiceRestartInterval key, select New and then select String Value. Change the name of the String Value to IntervalUnit, and specify an interval unit as the value data.  Valid values are: day, hour, minute, and second. Right-click the newly created WMIServiceRestartInterval key, select New, then select DWORD Value. Change the name of DWORD Value to Interval, and specify a numeric value. Close the Registry Editor to save the changes, and restart the IIS Admin Service. The Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 improves the handle leak in Winmgmt service, but, in some cases, the Virtual Memory usage of winmgmt service can still be high due to some caching operations within the winmgmt service.	CR14439
Using NAT or SNAT with layer 2 forwarding	The layer 2 forwarding feature is not compatible for use with NATs or SNATs.	CR15342
The OTCU does not migrate customizations to /etc/netstart	The OTCU does not migrate static route customizations to /etc/netstart. After you run the OTCU, you should add static route commands into /config/routes.	CR15528
Web administrator password cannot contain a dollar sign ($).	The Web administrator password cannot contain a dollar sign ($).	CR15526
Installing this release on an unsupported BIG-IP Controller platform	Do not install this release on an unsupported BIG-IP Controller platform. Installing this software on an unsupported platform may prevent the controller from booting up properly.	N/A
Changes to support access configuration in the web-based First-Time Boot utility	The functionality of the web-based First-Time Boot utility now matches the command line version of the First-Time Boot utility. In the crypto controller, the controls to allow support access via telnet and FTP have been removed from the web-based First-Time Boot utility. In the non-crypto version of the software, the checkbox to allow the support account FTP and telnet access to the controller has been split into two separate check boxes. If you had previously configured a telnet or FTP support account on the BIG-IP Controller, you should verify the support logon is functional after the upgrade. If you change these settings at a later date, use the same configuration tool you used when you set them.	N/A

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