Release Notes : BIG-IP APM 11.6.1

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BIG-IP APM

  • 11.6.1
Release Notes
Original Publication Date: 08/09/2016 Updated Date: 04/18/2019

Summary:

This release note documents the version 11.6.1 release of BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM).

Contents:

Platform support

This version of the software is supported on the following platforms:

Platform name Platform ID
BIG-IP 1600 C102
BIG-IP 3600 C103
BIG-IP 3900 C106
BIG-IP 6900 D104
BIG-IP 8900 D106
BIG-IP 8950 D107
BIG-IP 11000 E101
BIG-IP 11050 E102
BIG-IP 2000s, BIG-IP 2200s C112
BIG-IP 4000s, BIG-IP 4200v C113
BIG-IP 5000s, 5050s, 5200v, 5250v C109
BIG-IP 7000s, 7050s, 7055, 7200v, 7250v, 7255 D110
BIG-IP 12250v D111
BIG-IP 10150s-NEBS, 10350v (AC), 10350v-NEBS (requires 12.0.0 HF1), 10350v-FIPS D112
BIG-IP 10000s, 10050s, 10055, 10200v, 10250v, 10255 D113
VIPRION B2100 Blade A109
VIPRION B2150 Blade A113
VIPRION B2250 Blade A112
VIPRION B4200, B4200N Blade A107, A111
VIPRION B4300, B4340N Blade A108, A110
VIPRION B4450 Blade A114
VIPRION C2200 Chassis D114
VIPRION C2400 Chassis F100
VIPRION C4400, C4400N Chassis J100, J101
VIPRION C4480, C4480N Chassis J102, J103
VIPRION C4800, C4800N Chassis S100, S101
Virtual Edition (VE) Z100
vCMP Guest Z101

These platforms support various licensable combinations of product modules. This section provides general guidelines for module support.

Most of the support guidelines relate to memory. The following list applies for all memory levels:

  • vCMP supported platforms
    • VIPRION B2100, B2150, B2250, B4200
    • VIPRION B4300 blade in the 4400(J100)/4480(J102) and the 4800(S100)
    • BIG-IP 5200v, 5250v, 7200v, 7250v, 10200v, 10250v, 10350v, 12250v

Memory: 12 GB or more

All licensable module-combinations may be run on platforms with 12 GB or more of memory, and on VE and vCMP guests provisioned with 12 GB or more of memory. Note that this does not mean that all modules may be simultaneously provisioned on all platforms with 12 GB or more of memory. The BIG-IP license for the platform determines which combination of modules are available for provisioning.

Memory: 8 GB

The following guidelines apply to the BIG-IP 2000s, 2200s, 3900, 6900 platforms, to the VIPRION B4100 and B4100N platforms, and to VE guests configured with 8 GB of memory. (A vCMP guest provisioned with 8 GB of memory has less than 8 GB of memory actually available and thus does not fit in this category.)

  • No more than three modules should be provisioned together.
  • On the 2000s and 2200s, Application Acceleration Manager (AAM) can be provisioned with only one other module.
  • To use Access Policy Manager (APM) and Secure Web Gateway (SWG) modules together on platforms with exactly 8 GB of memory, Local Traffic Manager (LTM) provisioning must be set to None.

Memory: Less than 8 GB and more than 4 GB

The following guidelines apply to platforms, and to VE and vCMP guests provisioned with less than 8 GB and more than 4 GB of memory. (A vCMP guest provisioned with 8 GB of memory has less than 8 GB of memory actually available and thus fits in this category.)

  • No more than three modules (not including AAM) should be provisioned together.
  • Application Acceleration Manager (AAM) cannot be provisioned with any other module; AAM can only be provisioned standalone.
  • Analytics (AVR) counts towards the two module-combination limit (for platforms with less than 6.25 GB of memory).

Memory: 4 GB or less

The following guidelines apply to the BIG-IP 1600 and 3600 platforms, and to VE and vCMP guests provisioned with 4 GB or less of memory.

  • No more than two modules may be configured together.
  • AAM should not be provisioned, except as Dedicated.
  • ASM can be provisioned with this amount of memory, but a sizing exercise should be performed to ensure that it does not hit capacity issues.

vCMP memory provisioning calculations

The amount of memory provisioned to a vCMP guest is calculated using the following formula: (platform_memory- 3 GB) x (cpus_assigned_to_guest/ total_cpus).

As an example, for the B2100 with two guests, provisioned memory calculates as: (16-3) x (2/4) ~= 6.5 GB.

For certain platforms, the vCMP host can allocate a single core to a vCMP guest. However, because a single-core guest has relatively small amounts of CPU resources and allocated memory, F5 supports only the following products or product combinations for a single-core guest:
  • BIG-IP LTM standalone only
  • BIG-IP GTM standalone only
  • BIG-IP LTM and GTM combination only

Module combination support on the 3900

Note: The GTM+APM module combination is not supported on the 3900 product platform.

Although SOL10288 states that all modules are supported on all platforms as of BIG-IP version 11.4.0, this does not mean that all possible module combinations are allowed on every platform (especially, legacy platforms).

Configuration utility browser support

The BIG-IP Configuration Utility supports these browsers and versions:

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.x, 11.x
  • Mozilla Firefox 27.x
  • Google Chrome 32.x

APM client browser support

For a list of browser versions that the Access Policy Manager client supports, refer to the BIG-IP APM Client Compatibility Matrix.

Compatibility of BIG-IQ products with BIG-IP releases

SOL14592: Compatibility between BIG-IQ and BIG-IP releases provides a summary of version compatibility for specific features between the BIG-IQ system and BIG-IP releases.

User documentation for this release

For a comprehensive list of documentation that is relevant to this release, refer to the BIG-IP APM / VE 11.6.1 Documentation page.

Evaluation support

If you have an evaluation license for BIG-IP APM VE, note that it does not include support for Oracle Access Manager.

Maintenance release fixes, behavior changes, and known issues

For a comprehensive list of fixes, behavior changes, and known issues for this release, refer to the BIG-IP 11.6.1 Release Information page.

New in 11.6.1

There are no new features specific to Access Policy Manager.

Supported high availability configuration for Access Policy Manager

Access Policy Manager is supported in an Active/Standby configuration with 2 BIG-IP systems only.
Note: Access Policy Manager is not supported in an Active-Active or an N+M configuration.

Installation overview

This document covers very basic steps for installing the software. You can find complete, step-by-step installation and upgrade instructions in BIG-IP Systems: Upgrading Software, and we strongly recommend that you reference this information to ensure successful completion of the installation process.

Installation checklist

Before you begin:

  • Use BIG-IP iHealth to verify your configuration file. For more information, see SOL12878: Generating BIG-IP diagnostic data using the qkview utility.
  • Update/reactivate your system or vCMP host license, if needed, to ensure that you have a valid service check date. For more information, see SOL7727 - License activation may be required prior to a software upgrade for the BIG-IP or Enterprise Manager system.
  • Ensure that your system is running version 10.1.0 or later and is using the volumes formatting scheme.
  • Download the .iso file (if needed) from F5 Downloads to /shared/images on the source for the operation. (If you need to create this directory, use the exact name /shared/images.)
  • Configure a management port.
  • Set the console and system baud rate to 19200, if it is not already.
  • Log on as an administrator using the management port of the system you want to upgrade.
  • Boot into an installation location other than the target for the installation.
  • Save the user configuration set (UCS) in the /var/local/ucs directory on the source installation location, and copy the UCS file to a safe place on another device.
  • Log on to the standby unit, and only upgrade the active unit after the standby upgrade is satisfactory.
  • Turn off mirroring.
  • If you are running Application Acceleration Manager, set provisioning to Minimum.
  • If you are running Policy Enforcement Manager, set provisioning to Nominal.
  • If you are running Advanced Firewall Manager, set provisioning to Nominal.

Installing the software

You can install the software at the command line using the Traffic Management shell, tmsh, or in the browser-based Configuration utility using the Software Management screens, available in the System menu. Choose the installation method that best suits your environment.
Installation method Command
Install to existing volume, migrate source configuration to destination tmsh install sys software image [image name] volume [volume name]
Install from the browser-based Configuration utility Use the Software Management screens in a web browser.

Sample installation command

The following command installs version 11.2.0 to volume 3 of the main hard drive.

tmsh install sys software image BIGIP-11.2.0.2446.0.iso volume HD1.3

Post-installation tasks

This document covers very basic steps for installing the software. You can find complete, step-by-step installation and upgrade instructions in BIG-IP Systems: Upgrading Software, and we strongly recommend that you reference this information to ensure successful completion of the installation process.

After the installation finishes, you must complete the following steps before the system can pass traffic.
  1. Ensure the system rebooted to the new installation location.
  2. Use BIG-IP iHealth to verify your configuration file. For more information, see SOL12878: Generating BIG-IP diagnostic data using the qkview utility.
  3. Log on to the browser-based Configuration utility.
  4. Run the Setup utility.
  5. Provision the modules.
  6. Convert any bigpipe scripts to tmsh. (Versions later than 10.x do not support the bigpipe utility.)
Note: You can find information about running the Setup utility and provisioning the modules in BIG-IP TMOS implementations Creating an Active-Standby Configuration Using the Setup Utility and Creating an Active-Active Configuration Using the Setup Utility.

Installation tips

  • The upgrade process installs the software on the inactive installation location that you specify. This process usually takes between three minutes and seven minutes. During the upgrade process, you see messages posted on the screen. For example, you might see a prompt asking whether to upgrade the End User Diagnostics (EUD), depending on the version you have installed. To upgrade the EUD, type yes, otherwise, type no.
  • You can check the status of an active installation operation by running the command watch tmsh show sys software, which runs the show sys software command every two seconds. Pressing Ctrl + C stops the watch feature.
  • If installation fails, you can view the log file. The system stores the installation log file as /var/log/liveinstall.log.

Upgrading from earlier versions

Your upgrade process differs depending on the version of software you are currently running.

Warning: Do not use the 10.x installation methods (the Software Management screens, the b software or tmsh sys software commands, or the image2disk utility) to install/downgrade to 9.x software or operate on partitions. Depending on the operations you perform, doing so might render the system unusable. If you need to downgrade from version 10.x to version 9.x, use the image2disk utility to format the system for partitions, and then use a version 9.x installation method described in the version 9.x release notes to install the version 9.x software.

Upgrading from version 10.1.0 (or later) or 11.x

When you upgrade from version 10.1.0 (or later) or 11.x software, you use the Software Management screens in the Configuration utility to complete these steps. To open the Software Management screens, in the navigation pane of the Configuration utility, expand System, and click Software Management. For information about using the Software Management screens, see the online help.

Upgrading from versions earlier than 10.1.0 11.x

You cannot roll forward a configuration directly to this version from BIG-IP version 4.x, or from BIG-IP versions 9.0.x through 9.6.x. You must be running version 10.1.0 software. For details about upgrading to those versions, see the release notes for the associated release.

Automatic firmware upgrades

If this version includes new firmware for your specific hardware platform, after you install and activate this version, the system might reboot additional times to perform all necessary firmware upgrades.

Upgrading from earlier versions of APM

When you upgrade from an earlier version of Access Policy Manager (APM), you might need to resolve issues related to these configurations.

Connectivity profiles

When upgrading from 10.x.x to 11.4.x, connectivity profiles are not fully recovered. You can work around the problem using one of these options:

  • Option 1: Upgrade from 10.x.x to 11.4.x, then reconfigure connectivity profiles in the Access Policy Secure Connectivity area of the Configuration utility.
  • Option 2: Upgrade from 10.x.x to 11.x.x, where 11.x.x is earlier than 11.4.x, then continue upgrading to 11.4.x.

Antivirus and firewall software checks in access policies

If your access policies include custom expressions that rely on session variables created by the antivirus or firewall software checks, after upgrade to 11.4.x, you must configure the antivirus or firewall software checks so that the Store information about client software in session variables property is set to Enabled. (It is disabled by default.)

If the custom expressions include multiple sub-expressions, you might need to edit the expressions.

Kerberos SSO

Kerberos SSO does not work after upgrading from 11.3.0 to 11.4.0 and later. This happens because, starting in 11.4.0 the password is saved in encrypted form, while the password in 11.3.0 is saved as clear text. Re-enter Kerberos SSO password after upgrading from 11.3.0.

Citrix client packages

The 11.4.x upgrade script cannot recover any file object with a name that includes space characters. If a Citrix client package file name includes a space, the configuration loads after upgrade, but the Citrix client package file does not function properly. To work around this problem:

  1. Outside of APM, name or rename a Citrix client package without spaces in the name.
  2. Use the correctly named Citrix client package.
    • To fix the problem before upgrade, replace any improperly named Citrix client package as needed.
    • To fix the problem after upgrade, upload a properly named Citrix client package and select it from the connectivity profiles.

Machine accounts for NTLM front-end authentication

APM does not restore NLAD connections when the configuration is restored from a UCS file. After upgrading to 11.4.x, if the previous configuration was using NTLM front-end authentication, the functionality is not restored. To work around this problem, after the upgrade, manually delete the existing machine account configurations and then recreate them.

Advanced customization

If you performed any advanced customization of files, you must upgrade these files manually.

Custom reports

Custom reports are lost after upgrade. To work around this issue, export your custom reports before you upgrade and then reimport them after you upgrade.

OAM configuration

When upgrading from version 10.2.x to 11.x with an OAM configuration, upgrade fails. To work around this issue: before you upgrade, delete the OAM configuration; after the upgrade is complete, create a new OAM configuration in version 11.x.

Access policies that use session variables

If you are upgrading from 10.x, you might need to update access policies that use session variables. Version 11.x introduces the concept of partitions. A partition is added to an object name. An access policy that compares a session variable against a value would behave differently after upgrade. This example shows the difference in the value of a session variable between these versions.

  • Version 10.x - session.ad.MyPolicy_act_active_directory_auth_ag.authresult
  • Version 11.x - session.ad./Common/MyPolicy_act_active_directory_auth_ag.authresult

The partition, /Common, is added to the version 11.x object name.

Contacting F5 Networks

Phone: (206) 272-6888
Fax: (206) 272-6802
Web: http://support.f5.com
Email: support@f5.com

For additional information, please visit http://www.f5.com.

Additional resources

You can find additional support resources and technical documentation through a variety of sources.

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