Applies To:
Show Versions
BIG-IP AAM
- 11.5.10, 11.5.9, 11.5.8, 11.5.7, 11.5.6, 11.5.5, 11.5.4, 11.5.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.1
BIG-IP APM
- 11.5.10, 11.5.9, 11.5.8, 11.5.7, 11.5.6, 11.5.5, 11.5.4, 11.5.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.1
BIG-IP GTM
- 11.5.10, 11.5.9, 11.5.8, 11.5.7, 11.5.6, 11.5.5, 11.5.4, 11.5.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.1
BIG-IP Link Controller
- 11.5.10, 11.5.9, 11.5.8, 11.5.7, 11.5.6, 11.5.5, 11.5.4, 11.5.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.1
BIG-IP Analytics
- 11.5.10, 11.5.9, 11.5.8, 11.5.7, 11.5.6, 11.5.5, 11.5.4, 11.5.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.1
BIG-IP LTM
- 11.5.10, 11.5.9, 11.5.8, 11.5.7, 11.5.6, 11.5.5, 11.5.4, 11.5.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.1
BIG-IP AFM
- 11.5.10, 11.5.9, 11.5.8, 11.5.7, 11.5.6, 11.5.5, 11.5.4, 11.5.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.1
BIG-IP PEM
- 11.5.10, 11.5.9, 11.5.8, 11.5.7, 11.5.6, 11.5.5, 11.5.4, 11.5.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.1
BIG-IP ASM
- 11.5.10, 11.5.9, 11.5.8, 11.5.7, 11.5.6, 11.5.5, 11.5.4, 11.5.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.1
Controlling Responses to ICMP Echo Requests
About ICMP echo responses on the BIG-IP system
You can control whether the BIG-IP® system sends responses to Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo requests, on a per-virtual address basis.
If you disable ICMP echo responses on a virtual address, the BIG-IP system never sends an ICMP echo response for an ICMP request packet sent to the virtual address, regardless of the state of any virtual servers associated with the virtual address. If you enable ICMP echo responses on a virtual address, the BIG-IP system always sends an ICMP echo response for an ICMP request packet sent to the virtual address, regardless of the state of any virtual servers associated with the virtual address.
Alternatively, you can selectively enable ICMP echo responses. Selectively enabling ICMP echo responses causes the BIG-IP system to internally enable or disable ICMP responses for the virtual address, based on which virtual server state you choose for enabling route advertisement. This table shows that for each possible virtual server state that you can specify to enable route advertisement for a virtual address, the system controls ICMP echo responses in a unique way.
| Virtual server state for route advertisement | ICMP echo response behavior |
|---|---|
| When any virtual server for that virtual address is available | The BIG-IP system sends an ICMP echo response for a request sent to the virtual address, if one or more virtual severs associated with the virtual address is in an Up or Unknown state. |
| When all virtual servers for that virtual address are available | The BIG-IP system always sends an ICMP echo response for a request sent to the virtual address, but only when all virtual servers are available. |
| When you want the system to always advertise a route to the virtual address | The BIG-IP system always sends an ICMP echo response for a request sent to the virtual address, regardless of the state of any virtual servers associated with the virtual address. |
Task summary
You can configure the BIG-IP system to control whether the system sends a response for each ICMP echo request that is sent to a BIG-IP virtual address.
Task list
Configuring ICMP echo responses for a virtual address
You perform this task to control the way that the BIG-IP® system controls responses to ICMP echo requests sent to an individual BIG-IP virtual address. Note that the way you configure route advertisement for the virtual address can affect the way that the system controls ICMP echo responses.
Communicating virtual server status to a virtual address
You perform this task to control whether you want the BIG-IP® system to notify the associated virtual address of the virtual server status. The BIG-IP system uses this status to control the way that the system manages responses to any ICMP echo requests sent to the virtual address.
Implementation results
After you complete the tasks in this implementation, the BIG-IP® system controls responses to ICMP echo requests according to the way that you configured the relevant virtual server and its virtual address.
