Manual Chapter : Load Balancing to IPv6 Nodes

Applies To:

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BIG-IP LTM

  • 11.6.5, 11.6.4, 11.6.3, 11.6.2, 11.6.1
Manual Chapter

Load Balancing to IPv6 Nodes

Overview: Load balancing to iPv6 nodes

To set up the BIG-IP® system to function as an IPv4-to-IPv6 gateway, you create a load balancing pool consisting of members that represent IPv6 nodes. You also create a virtual server that load balances traffic to those pool members.

As an option, you can use the tmsh command line interface to configure the BIG-IP system to send out ICMPv6 routing advisory messages, and to respond to ICMPv6 route solicitation messages. When you perform this task, the BIG-IP system begins to support auto-configuration of downstream nodes. Also, the downstream nodes automatically discover that the BIG-IP system is their router.

Task summary

When you configure IPv4-to-IPv6 load balancing, you must create a pool for load balancing traffic to IPv6 nodes, and then create an IPv4 virtual server that processes application traffic.

Task list

Creating a load balancing pool

The first task in configuring IPv4-to-IPv6 load balancing is to create a pool to load balance connections to IPv6 nodes. Use the Configuration utility to create this pool.
  1. On the Main tab, click Local Traffic > Pools .
    The Pool List screen opens.
  2. Click Create.
    The New Pool screen opens.
  3. In the Name field, type a unique name for the pool.
  4. For the Health Monitors setting, in the Available list, select a monitor type, and click << to move the monitor to the Active list.
    Tip: Hold the Shift or Ctrl key to select more than one monitor at a time.
  5. From the Load Balancing Method list, select how the system distributes traffic to members of this pool.
    The default is Round Robin.
  6. For the Priority Group Activation setting, specify how to handle priority groups:
    • Select Disabled to disable priority groups. This is the default option.
    • Select Less than, and in the Available Members field type the minimum number of members that must remain available in each priority group in order for traffic to remain confined to that group.
  7. Using the New Members setting, add each resource that you want to include in the pool:
    1. In the Node Name field, type a name for the node portion of the pool member.
      This step is optional.
    2. In the Address field, type an IP address.
    3. In the Service Port field, type a port number, or select a service name from the list.
    4. In the Priority field, type a priority number.
      This step is optional.
    5. Click Add.
  8. Click Finished.
The load balancing pool appears in the Pools list.

Creating a virtual server for IPv6 nodes

You can define a virtual server that references the pool of IPv6 nodes.
  1. On the Main tab, click Local Traffic > Virtual Servers .
    The Virtual Server List screen opens.
  2. Click the Create button.
    The New Virtual Server screen opens.
  3. In the Name field, type a unique name for the virtual server.
  4. In the Destination Address field, type the IPv6 address in CIDR format.
    The supported format is address/prefix, where the prefix length is in bits. For example, an IPv6 address/prefix is ffe1::0020/64 or 2001:ed8:77b5:2:10:10:100:42/64.
  5. In the Service Port field, type a port number or select a service name from the Service Port list.
  6. In the Resources area of the screen, from the Default Pool list, select the name of the pool that contains the IPv6 servers.
  7. Click Finished.
The virtual server that references the pool of IPv6 nodes appears in the Virtual Servers list.