Applies To:
Show Versions
BIG-IP AAM
- 12.1.2
BIG-IP APM
- 12.1.2
BIG-IP Link Controller
- 12.1.2
BIG-IP Analytics
- 12.1.2
BIG-IP LTM
- 12.1.2
BIG-IP PEM
- 12.1.2
BIG-IP AFM
- 12.1.2
BIG-IP DNS
- 12.1.2
BIG-IP ASM
- 12.1.2
Summary:
This release note documents the version 12.1.2 release of BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager and TMOS. You can apply the software upgrade to systems running software versions 10.1.0 (or later) or 11.x/12.x.
Contents:
- Platform support
- Configuration utility browser support
- Compatibility of BIG-IQ products with BIG-IP releases
- User documentation for this release
- Maintenance release fixes, behavior changes, and known issues
- New in 12.1.2
- Installation overview
- Upgrading from earlier versions
- Upgrading earlier configurations
- Contacting F5 Networks
- Legal notices
Platform support
- K9412: The BIG-IP release matrix: A software-hardware support matrix organized by BIG-IP release version.
- K9476: The F5 hardware/software compatibility matrix: A platform-sorted matrix BIG-IP hardware/software support.
- K4309: F5 platform lifecycle support policy: A definition of platform lifecycle stages from initial release through retirement.
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
- PEM and CGNAT supported platforms
- VIPRION B2100, B2150, B2250, B4300, B4340N
- BIG-IP 5x00v(s), 7x00v(s), 10x00v(s)
- BIG-IP Virtual Edition (VE) (Not including Amazon Web Service Virtual Edition) (3 GB, 10 GB production and combination lab models)
- PEM and CGNAT may be provisioned on the VIPRION B4200, but it is not recommended for production, only for evaluation. PEM may be provisioned on the VIPRION B2100, but it is not recommended for production, only for evaluation. Use the B4300 or B4340N instead.
- BIG-IP 800 platform support
- The BIG-IP 800 platform supports Local Traffic Manager (LTM) only, and no other modules.
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.
- BIG-IP LTM standalone only
- BIG-IP GTM standalone only
- BIG-IP LTM and GTM combination only
Configuration utility browser support
The BIG-IP Configuration Utility supports these browsers and versions:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 11.x
- Mozilla Firefox 27.x
- Google Chrome 32.x
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 LTM / VE 12.1.2 Documentation page.
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 12.1.2 Release Information page.
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
| 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.
- Ensure the system rebooted to the new installation location.
- Use BIG-IP iHealth to verify your configuration file. For more information, see SOL12878: Generating BIG-IP diagnostic data using the qkview utility.
- Log on to the browser-based Configuration utility.
- Run the Setup utility.
- Provision the modules.
- Convert any bigpipe scripts to tmsh. (Versions later than 10.x do not support the bigpipe 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.
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.
Upgrading to 4th element versions from versions earlier than 11.5.0
You cannot directly update from pre-11.5.0 versions (e.g., v11.4.x, v11.2.x, etc.) to any 4th element version (e.g., v12.1.3.1, v13.1.0.1, etc.). Direct upgrade to 4th element versions is supported only from v11.5.0 and later. For pre-11.5.0 versions, you must first upgrade to v11.5.0 or later. The recommended upgrade path is from v11.4.1 to v12.1.3, and then to v12.1.3.1. 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 earlier configurations
When you upgrade from an earlier versions of the software, you might need to know about or take care of these configuration-specific issues.
| ID Number | Description |
|---|---|
| 588946 | You can install v11.5.4 on the 12250v platform, but are unable to license BIG-IP. This is because v11.5.4 is not supported on the 12250v platform. Install BIG-IP v11.5.4 on a 12250v platform. BIG-IP v11.5.4 is not supported on the 12250v platform. Even though installation succeeds, it is not possible to license BIG-IP system. Workaround: Install a supported version of BIG-IP on the 12250v. Supported versions are 11.6.0 HF2 or later and 12.0.0 or later. |
| 223704 | When you import a single configuration file (SCF file) that contain VLANs of the same name that exist in different administrative partitions, the operation fails with a unknown operation error. Upgrading configurations with VLANs of the same name in different administrative partitions. Upgrade operation fails with a unknown operation error. Workaround: Before installing an SCF file, run the command: tmsh load sys config default. This returns the system to the default configuration, so subsequent configuration import operations should succeed as expected. |
| 513501 | When upgrading from a version prior to 11.5.0 to 11.5.0 or newer, the configuration might fail to load with an error similar to the following: LSN pool is configured with a prefix address that overlaps with a prefix address on another LSN pool. "On versions prior to 11.5.0, tmsh allowed users to configure overlapping DNAT and NAPT pools, even though this configuration is invalid and non-functional. Version 11.5.0 and later contain validation to prohibit such configurations. However, when upgrading versions newer than 11.5.0, a configuration that contains overlapping DNAT and NAPT pools fails to load." Configuration fails to load on upgrade. Workaround: Edit bigip.conf and locate the overlapping LSN pools. Either remove one of the pools or change the mode on the DNAT pool to NAPT. |
| 434364 | "When upgrading from 10.x or installing a 10.x originated UCS on 11.x, bigpipe is used to parse the newly created file-object definitions which had been generated from files in the 10.x install. If the filename being upgraded to file-object starts with a '.', then on initial load, bigpipe will give an error while trying to load the generated configuration, resulting in an error message similar to: BIGpipe parsing error (/config/bigpipe/bigip.conf Line 107): 012e0017:3: The requested item (.myfile.txt {) is invalid (external_monitor_file_object_key | show | list | help) for 'external monitor file object'" The installation of a UCS or configuration roll-forward from 10.x to 11.x in which the previous install had files that were upgraded to file-objects, but whose filename started with a '.' The UCS will not install properly, and/or the configuration on initial boot will not load. Workaround: Edit the name of the file-object in question which would be found in /config/bigpipe/bigip.conf to remove the leading '.' character from the object name, and make any references to the file-object match that change. |
| 571333 | When a VIP is configured with a fastl4 profile that enables full acceleration and offload state to embryonic, and if a flow is offloaded to be hardware accelerated, the connection idle timeout during the TCP handshake is set to the "idle timeout" value of the fastl4 profile, but it should be set to the "tcp handshake timeout" instead. "1. Configure fastl4 profile with ePVA=full, offload state=SYN, apply to network VS 2. Ensure ARP entry exists for server node (static arp, ping, etc.) to satisfy requirements for offloading initial SYN 3. Send over SYN packet from client to server via VS" The connection may remain in the half-open state longer than what is set in the TCP handshake timeout value. Workaround: Set the offload state to "established" |
| 436075 | Using syslog include field when the command 'syslog-ng -s' does not succeed before the upgrade. Using syslog include field. It is possible to roll forward an include field with invalid syntax. This will cause the configuration to fail to load. Workaround: When using the syslog include field, ensure that the command 'syslog-ng -s' succeeds before the upgrade. |
| 581932 | Upgrading to a newer version of the BIG-IP software removes the signatures that were installed using an IM signature package, and returns app signatures to the default version. "- New '.im' signature package installed manually using the BIG-IP GUI or tmsh. This adds extra applications and categories to the default signatures. - TMOS software upgraded to a newer version, for example installing a rollup hotfix or an engineering ho" "After rebooting into the new software volume, all the additional categories and applications are gone but the signature package is still showing as installed. This makes a simple re-installation of the new .im signature package impossible. The applications and categories are actually back to default settings for version 11.6.0." Workaround: "1. After rebooting into the new software volume, open the bigip.conf file with a text editor and remove all the configurations from the 'ltm classification signature-version' stanza: |
| 436825 | Under certain conditions, nodes (or any other object with an IP address) in a partition that belong to route domain 0 will be treated as part of the default route domain for the partition after an upgrade. "All of these conditions must be true: - A system is being upgraded from any TMOS v10.x release to any TMOS v11.x release after 11.1 or any TMOS v12.x release. Upgrading to 11.0.0 or 11.1.0 is not affected, but the upgrade process resets the partition's default-route-domain setting to 0. - It has a partition that has its default route domain set to a nonzero route domain. - That partition contains nodes with no route domain set (so the default is used). - That partition contains other nodes in route domain 0." Those objects might no longer be addressable or able to connect. Workaround: "Set the partition's default route domain ID to 0 before upgrading, then set it back to its previous value after the upgrade. This field is only used by the GUI and shell, so temporarily changing it to 0 will have no effect on the dataplane." |
| 415961 | The upgrade process does not migrate unassigned HTTP Class profiles to BIG-IP 11.4.0 and later When you upgrade a BIG-IP system to BIG-IP 11.4.0 or later, the upgrade process attempts to convert all assigned HTTP Class profiles to their equivalent local traffic policies. If an HTTP Class profile is not assigned to a virtual server, the upgrade process will not perform the conversion and the unassigned HTTP Class profile will no longer exist in the configuration of the upgraded BIG-IP system. Similarly, if you restore a UCS archive that contains unassigned HTTP Class profiles in BIG-IP 11.4.0 and later, the restoration process will not convert the unassigned HTTP Class profiles and these profiles will no longer exist. This behavior is by design. You might lose unused HTTP Class profiles in the configuration. Workaround: "When upgrading to BIG-IP 11.4.0 and later or saving a UCS archive from a pre-11.4.0 system, you should consider the following factor: Prior to upgrading or saving a UCS archive, ensure that all HTTP Class profiles are assigned to a virtual server." |
| 523797 | The upgrade operation might fail to update the file path name for snmp.process_name, causing a validation error. Upgrade from 10.x. The upgrade operation does not remove the parent path name from process-monitors, which might cause a validation error. Workaround: Edit the process name path to reflect the location. For more information, see SOL13540: The BIG-IP system may return inaccurate results for the prTable SNMP object at https://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/solutions/public/13000/500/sol13540.html |
| 401828 | The following configurations are invalid for a SIP virtual server: a) TCP virtual server with a UDP profile and a SIP profile. b) UDP virtual server with a TCP profile and a SIP profile. TCP virtual server with a UDP profile and a SIP profile, or a UDP virtual server with a TCP profile and a SIP profile. If such a configuration exists in previous versions, it loads in 11.3.x but may cause a core. Workaround: "Fix the configuration manually, as follows: a) A SIP TCP virtual server must have TCP as one of its profile type. b) A SIP UDP virtual server must have UDP as one of its profile type." |
| 490139 | Loading iRules from the iRules file deletes last few comment lines immediately preceding the closing bracket. This occurs when loading an iRule file from versions prior to 11.5.1. Although the comments are removed, this does not affect iRule functionality. Workaround: Put comments in places other than immediately above the closing bracket. |
| 496663 | iRule object in non-Common partition referenced from another partition results in upgrade/configuration load failure in 11.x/12.x. This occurs when upgrading/loading a configuration containing an iRule in one non-Common partition that references an object in another non-Common partition. A configuration of this type can be saved only using pre-11.x versions of the software. The config upgrade fails, and the UCS/configuration files cannot be loaded. The system posts an error message similar to the following: 'myucs.ucs' failed with the following error message: 'Rule [/UNCOMMONPARTITION/RULEABC] error: Unable to find rule_object (...) referenced at line xyz: [element]'. Workaround: None. |
| 435332 | If there are users defined on a version 10.2.1 BIG-IP system to have administrator or resource-admin roles, and they have partition access to a single partition, these user config objects fail to load during an upgrade to version 11.x/12.x. "Here is a sample user config from 10.2.1: user v-abban { password crypt '$1$UIPmGYdY$yewCx.a2qNDauz/UB1Jbp/' description 'v-abban' group 500 home '/home/v-abban' shell '/bin/false' role administrator in Common }" Upgrade or load UCS fails with the following error: 01070821:3: User Restriction Error: The administrator, resource administrator, auditor and web application security administrator roles may not be restricted to a single partition. Workaround: Prior to upgrade, edit the bigip_sys.conf to have the role line as follows: ... role administrator in [All] } |
| 532559 | If the client-ssl profile is /Common/clientssl, its parent profile is supposed to be /Common/clientssl. But the configuration could potentially use 'defaults-from none'. "This condition could be caused by executing the following command when generating the configuration. 'tmsh modify ltm profile client-ssl clientssl defaults-from none'" The upgrade fails after booting into the new release, during the config loading phase. This occurs because the script extracts the line 'defaults-from none' and treats 'none' as its parent profile. Workaround: Edit the configuration prior to upgrading, changing the defaults-from value on the client-ssl profile to the name of that profile. |
| 449617 | If a configuration file includes a passphrase for an ssl-key file object, the object may fail to validate when loading the configuration. Passphrase present in ssl-key file object Configuration fails to load Workaround: Remove passphrase line from the file object. |
| 450050 | "Following upgrade from 10.x to 11.x/12.x, the config file fails to load. An error similar to the following is logged: load_config_files: '/usr/libexec/bigpipe load' - failed. -- BIGpipe parsing error (/config/bigpipe/bigip.conf Line xxxx): 012e0020:3: The requested item (respondasm {) is invalid (<profile arg> | show | list | edit | delete | stats reset) for 'profile'." "- Upgrading from 10.x to 11.x/12.x. - respondclass configuration directives exist in /config/bigip.conf, for example: profile respondclass XXXX { ... }" Configuration fails to load. Workaround: It is safe in version 11.0.0 and later to manually delete the block: profile respondclass XXXX {. |
| 586878 | "During upgrade, configuration fails to load due to invalid clientssl profile cert/key configuration. The validation to verify whether at least one valid key/cert pair exists in clientssl profiles was enforced in software versions through 11.5.0. This validation was not in effect in versions 11.5.1, 11.5.2, and 11.5.3. The lack of validation resulted in invalid clientssl profiles (those containing empty key/certs or a cert/key of 'default'). When you upgrade such a configuration to 11.5.4 or later, you will receive a validation error, and the configuration will fail to load after upgrade." "The issue occurs when all the below conditions are met. 1. You have a clientssl profile in a configuration from a version without validation (that is, 11.5.1, 11.5.2, or 11.5.3). |
| 435482 | "BIG-IP configuration object names that include a space may cause an upgrade or user configuration set (UCS) load to fail. As a result of this issue, you may encounter the following symptoms: Your attempts to upgrade the BIG-IP system or load a UCS fail. After loading a UCS file or upgrading from a configuration that has object names with spaces on BIG-IP 11.4.0 or a later version, the Configuration utility displays an error message similar to the following example: The configuration has not yet loaded. If this message persists, it may indicate a configuration problem. After loading a UCS file that has configuration object names that include spaces on BIG-IP 11.4.0 or a later version, a message appears similar to following example: Unexpected Error: Configuration cannot be saved unless mcpd is in the running phase. Save was canceled. See 'show sys mcp' and 'show sys service'. If 'show sys service' indicates that mcpd is in the run state, but 'show sys mcp' is not in phase running, issue the command 'load sys config' to further diagnose the problem." "This issue occurs when one of the following conditions is met: You attempt to upgrade a BIG-IP system from 11.3.0, or an earlier version, with a configuration that has configuration object names with spaces. You attempt to load a BIG-IP 11.3.0 or earlier UCS file, that has configuration object names with spaces, on BIG-IP 11.4.0 or a later version." The BIG-IP system upgrade or UCS load fails. Workaround: "To work around this issue, you can boot back to the previous BIG-IP 11.3.0 or earlier version and rename all affected configuration objects to exclude spaces before upgrading or saving a UCS file. Impact of workaround: Performing the suggested workaround should not have a negative impact on your system." |
| 489015 | An LTM request-log profile that references a non-existent pool can pass validation in 11.0.0 or 11.1.0, but fails in 11.2.0 or later, with an error similar to the following: 'The requested Pool (/Common/poolname) was not found.' "This issue occurs when all of the following conditions are met: The UCS file has a Request Logging profile configuration with at least one of the following conditions: A Request Logging profile references a non-existent pool. A Request Logging profile references a pool in a non-default administrative partition without specifying the path to the /<partition>/<pool>. You upgrade from 11.0.0 or 11.1.0 to 11.2.0 or later and roll forward the configuration. You attempt to load an affected UCS created on 11.0.0 or 11.1.0 to a system running 11.2.0 or later." This can cause a load failure when rolling forward the configuration. Workaround: Correct the request-log profile in the config either prior to upgrade or by editing the config after. |
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.
- The F5 Networks Technical Support web site: http://www.f5.com/support/
- The AskF5 web site: http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us.html
- The F5 DevCentral web site: http://devcentral.f5.com/
- AskF5 TechNews
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