Manual Chapter : Visual Policy Editor

Applies To:

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BIG-IP APM

  • 13.0.1, 13.0.0
Manual Chapter

About the visual policy editor

The visual policy editor is a screen on which to configure a per-session policy (also known as an access policy) or a per-request policy using visual elements.

Visual policy editor conventions

This table provides a visual dictionary for the visual policy editor.

Visual element Element type Description
Green Start icon Initial access policy and initial per-request policy When an access profile is created, usually an initial access policy is also created. A per-request policy starts with similar initial elements.
Green Start icon Start Every access policy and per-request policy contains a start.
branch connects one object to another Branch A branch connects an action to another action or to an ending.
branch connects one object to another Add an action Clicking this icon causes a screen to open with available actions for selection.
Logon page action displays as a rectangle Action Clicking the name of an action, such as Logon Page, opens a screen with properties and rules for the action. Clicking the x deletes the action from the access policy.
Red asterisk in AD Auth action Action that requires some configuration The red asterisk indicates that some properties must be configured. Clicking the name opens a screen with properties for the action.
Ending Ending Each branch has an ending. An access policy includes Allow or Deny endings. A per-request policy includes Allow or Reject endings.
Configure an ending Configure ending Clicking the name of an ending opens a popup screen.
Configure a macrocall Add a macro for use in the access policy Opens a screen for macro template selection. After addition, the macro is available for configuration and for use as an action item.
Macro ready to configure Macro added for use Added macros display under the access policy. Clicking the plus (+) sign expands the macro for configuration of the actions in it.
Logon page action displays as a rectangle Macrocall in an access policy Clicking the macrocall name expands the macro in the area below the access policy.
Logon page action displays as a rectangle Apply Access Policy Clicking it commits changes. The visual policy editor displays this link when any changes remain uncommitted.

About actions on the add item screen

The actions that are available on any given tab of the add item screen depend on the access profile type, such as LTM-APM (for web access) or SSL-VPN (for remote access), and so on. Only actions that are appropriate for the access profile type will display.

branch connects one object to another

Add action item screen

About macrocalls on the add item screen

The Macrocalls tab displays when one or more macros has been added for use in the access policy. When adding an access policy item to a macro, the Macrocalls tab displays unless adding a macrocall would create a misconfiguration, such as causing a macro loop or causing a series of macrocalls to exceed a depth of three.

Note: Macrocalls can be added to any access policy. Macrocalls cannot be shared across access policies.
branch connects one object to another

Macrocalls tab on the add item screen

About macros and macrocalls

A macro is a collection of access policy actions that provide common access policy functions. For example, AD auth and resources is a preconfigured macro template. It supplies a logon page, an Active Directory authentication action, and a resource assignment action. The properties and rules for the actions are configurable.

After a macro is configured, it can be placed into the access policy by adding a macrocall. A macrocall is an action that performs the functions defined in a macro.

A macro contains actions and terminals and can include macrocalls.

Access policy actions
Any available action or series of actions.
Macrocalls
Calls to other macros (nested macros).
Terminals
An endpoint in a macro. Default terminals are Successful and Failure. Terminals are configurable and can be added and deleted.

Terminals defined in the macro display as the branches that follow the macrocall after it has been added to the access policy.

About maximum depth for nested macros in an access policy

In an access policy, a macro can make a macrocall to another macro until up to three macros have been called in series.

shows macros 1 through macro 4, the equivalent of 3 macros deep

The maximum depth of macrocalls

About access policy endings

An ending provides a result for an access policy branch. An ending for an access policy branch is one of three types.

Allow
Starts the SSL VPN session and loads assigned resources and a webtop, if assigned, for the user. Typically, you assign this when the user passes specific checks.
Deny
Disallows the SSL VPN session and shows the user an access denied web page. Typically, you assign this when the user does not have access to resources, or fails authentication. Alternatively after a session starts, shows a URL filter denied web page after a per-request policy rejects a request for a URL.
Redirect
Redirects the client to the URL specified in the ending configuration. You can define a redirect URL for each redirect ending. Typically, you can assign a redirect when the user requires remediation, or a separate resource. For example, a user who fails the antivirus check because virus definitions are out of date can be redirected to the software manufacturer's site to get an antivirus update.

About maximum expression size for visual policy editor

The maximum size for an expression in the visual policy editor is 64 KB. The visual policy editor cannot save an expression that exceeds this limit.

About per-session and per-request policies

Access Policy Manager® (APM®) provides two types of policies.

Per-session policy
The per-session policy runs when a client initiates a session. (A per-session policy is also known as an access policy.) Depending on the actions you include in the access policy, it can authenticate the user and perform other actions that populate session variables with data for use throughout the session.
Per-request policy
After a session starts, a per-request policy runs each time the client makes an HTTP or HTTPS request. A per-request policy can include a subroutine, which starts a subsession. Multiple subsessions can exist at one time.

One access policy and one per-request policy are specified in a virtual server.

About per-request policies and the Apply Access Policy link

The Apply Access Policy link has no effect on a per-request policy. Conversely, updates made to a per-request policy do not affect the state of the Apply Access Policy link.

About per-request policies and nested macros

Access Policy Manager® (APM®) supports calling a macro from a per-request policy and calling a subroutine macro from a per-request policy subroutine. However, APM does not support calling any type of macro from a per-request policy macro or from a per-request policy subroutine macro.

About per-request policy subroutines

A per-request policy subroutine is a collection of actions. What distinguishes a subroutine from other collections of actions (such as macros), is that a subroutine starts a subsession that, for its duration, controls user access to specified resources. Subroutine properties not only specify resources but also specify subsession timeout values and maximum subsession duration.

About subsessions

A subsession starts when a subroutine runs and continues until reaching the maximum lifetime specified in the subroutine properties, or until the session terminates. A subsession does not count against license limits. A subsession populates subsession variables that are available for the duration of the subsession. Subsession variables and events that occur during a subsession are logged. Multiple subsessions can exist at the same time.

Additional resources and documentation for BIG-IP Access Policy Manager

You can access all of the following BIG-IP® system documentation from the AskF5™ Knowledge Base located at http://support.f5.com/.

Document Description
BIG-IP® Access Policy Manager®: Application Access This guide contains information for an administrator to configure application tunnels for secure, application-level TCP/IP connections from the client to the network.
BIG-IP® Access Policy Manager®: Authentication and Single-Sign On This guide contains information to help an administrator configure APM for single sign-on and for various types of authentication, such as AAA server, SAML, certificate inspection, local user database, and so on.
BIG-IP® Access Policy Manager®: Customization This guide provides information about using the APM customization tool to provide users with a personalized experience for access policy screens, and errors. An administrator can apply your organization's brand images and colors, change messages and errors for local languages, and change the layout of user pages and screens.
BIG-IP® Access Policy Manager®: Edge Client and Application Configuration This guide contains information for an administrator to configure the BIG-IP® system for browser-based access with the web client as well as for access using BIG-IP Edge Client® and BIG-IP Edge Apps. It also includes information about how to configure or obtain client packages and install them for BIG-IP Edge Client for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and Edge Client command-line interface for Linux.
BIG-IP® Access Policy Manager®: Implementations This guide contains implementations for synchronizing access policies across BIG-IP systems, hosting content on a BIG-IP system, maintaining OPSWAT libraries, configuring dynamic ACLs, web access management, and configuring an access policy for routing.
BIG-IP® Access Policy Manager®: Network Access This guide contains information for an administrator to configure APM Network Access to provide secure access to corporate applications and data using a standard web browser.
BIG-IP® Access Policy Manager®: Portal Access This guide contains information about how to configure APM Portal Access. In Portal Access, APM communicates with back-end servers, rewrites links in application web pages, and directs additional requests from clients back to APM.
BIG-IP® Access Policy Manager®: Secure Web Gateway This guide contains information to help an administrator configure Secure Web Gateway (SWG) explicit or transparent forward proxy and apply URL categorization and filtering to Internet traffic from your enterprise.
BIG-IP® Access Policy Manager®: Third-Party Integration This guide contains information about integrating third-party products with Access Policy Manager (APM®). It includes implementations for integration with VMware Horizon View, Oracle Access Manager, Citrix Web Interface site, and so on.
BIG-IP® Access Policy Manager®: Visual Policy Editor This guide contains information about how to use the visual policy editor to configure access policies.
Release notes Release notes contain information about the current software release, including a list of associated documentation, a summary of new features, enhancements, fixes, known issues, and available workarounds.
Solutions and Tech Notes Solutions are responses and resolutions to known issues. Tech Notes provide additional configuration instructions and how-to information.