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  5. Deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition
Manual Chapter : Deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition

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BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 5.4.0
Manual Chapter
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About VE AWS deployment

To deploy the BIG-IQ® Virtual Edition (VE) system on AWS, you perform these tasks:

  • Verify the host machine requirements.
  • Deploy a BIG-IQ® system as a virtual machine.
  • Deploy a BIG-IP® system.
  • After you have deployed the virtual machines, log in to the BIG-IQ VE system and run the Setup utility. Using the Setup utility, you perform basic network configuration tasks, such as assigning VLANs to interfaces.
  • Configure secure communication between the BIG-IQ system and the BIG-IP device.

Task summary for BIG-IQ VE EC2 deployment

To deploy BIG-IQ® Cloud you perform a series of tasks using Amazon Web Services (AWS) to create an elastic compute cloud (EC2) that runs a public cloud virtual machine management service.

When you complete these tasks, your cloud environment will be similar to the basic cloud topology depicted here.

Basic Cloud Topology

Basic Cloud Topology

Task list

Creating an Amazon Identity and Access Management (IAM) user account

An Amazon Identity and Access Management (IAM) user account provides access to specific Amazon Web Services (AWS) resources. Creating an IAM account provides you with more granular control of the AWS resources your users access.

Important: This task is optional; you can create a virtual machine without creating an IAM user account to control access, but it is best practice to use an IAM account. F5 recommends that you do not use the AWS root account and access keys. Instead, use IAM to create identities you can more easily manage and revoke in the case of a security breach.
Tip: When you manually deploy a virtual machine on AWS EC2, you must create an administrator password in addition to the IAM access keys. If you use the automated process to deploy a virtual server, only the access keys are required.

For this task, you must create a group and two IAM user accounts. For the most current instructions for performing these steps, refer to the IAM documentation web site, http://aws.amazon.com/documentation/iam/.

  1. From https://console.aws.amazon.com/iam, create a group with aws-full-access (Administrator Access).
  2. Create an AWS-Admin user and add that user to the aws-full-access group.
  3. Create a BIG-IQ Connector user and add that user to the aws-full-access group.
    For this user, you must download or copy an access key that you use to connect BIG-IQ Cloud to your AWS account
  4. From the AWS dashboard, set up an account alias.
    Note the IAM user login link. For example, https://my-account-alias.signin.aws.amazon.com/console
  5. Log out of the AWS dashboard as the root user.
  6. Navigate back to the user login link and sign in as the AWS-Admin user.
You can now create a new Virtual Private Cloud (VPC).

Creating a key pair

Before you can deploy a virtual machine on Amazon Web Services (AWS) Elastic Cloud Computing, you need an AWS account.

To create a virtual private cloud (VPC) on which you can deploy the BIG-IQ® system, you need a (private-public encryption) key pair to authenticate your sessions. Key pairs are reusable, so if you have a key pair, you do not need to repeat this task.

For the most current instructions for creating a key pair, refer to the Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Documentation web site, http://aws.amazon.com/documentation/vpc/.
Important: It is crucial to your success that you be consistent in the region that you choose throughout the configuration process. Objects configured in one region are not visible within other regions, so they cannot function together. There are a number of factors that determine which region will best suit your requirements. Refer to Amazon user documentation for additional details.
The file that downloads from Amazon Web Services uses the extension .pem. If you plan to use this key pair with the PuTTY terminal emulator application, you will need to convert the key pair from a .pem to a .ppk file. At the time of this release, PuTTY does not support the extension .pem. PuTTY does have a tool (called PuTTYgen) that converts your key pair to the required PuTTY format.

Creating a Virtual Private Cloud

You need an Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) to deploy the BIG-IQ® Cloud system, because AWS provides only multiple network interface card (NIC) support for instances that reside within a VPC.

You create a virtual network topology according to your networking needs. The standard network topology used for BIG-IQ Cloud integration includes three subnets. These subnets provide virtual private address spaces used to interconnect your machines and applications. You can use elastic self IP addresses for public internet accessibility.

For the most current instructions for creating a VPC, refer to the VPC Documentation web site, http://aws.amazon.com/documentation/vpc/.

  1. Navigate to https://console.aws.amazon.com/vpc and select the AWS Region in which you want to manage resources.
    For example, Oregon.
  2. From the VPC Wizard's VPC with Public and Private Subnets option, set the IP CIDR Block to 10.0.0.0/16.
  3. Set the public subnet to 10.0.0.0/24.
    This is the management network.
  4. Select an availability zone.
    For example, us-west-2c. It is crucial that you use this availability zone throughout the configuration process. Objects configured in one zone are not visible within other zones, so they cannot function together. This availability zone is required when you create a BIG-IQ Cloud connection.
  5. Set the private subnet to 10.0.1.0/24.
    This is the external data network.
  6. Create subnet 10.0.2.0/24.
    This is the internal network.
  7. Create a security group named, allow-all-traffic, and associate it with the VPC you created.
    You must use this exact name.
  8. Set the Inbound Rules ALL Traffic Source to 0.0.0.0/0.
  9. Set the Outbound Rules ALL Traffic Destination to 0.0.0.0/0.
  10. Create a Route Table for the external data network to reach the Internet.
  11. Add a route to Destination 0.0.0.0/0 through Target igw-<xxxx>.

    <xxxx> is the Internet Gateway that the VPC Wizard created automatically.

  12. Allocate two Elastic IP Addresses.
You can now create an EC2 cloud connector.
Important: If you want BIG-IQ Cloud to automatically provision and license BIG-IP VE devices (elasticity), you must activate a pool license before you create an EC2 cloud connector.

Adding an additional subnet

When you create a VPC, Amazon Web Services creates two subnets for it. The first subnet is the management subnet (10.0.0.0/24) and the second subnet is external (10.0.1.0/24). Many network topologies require three or more subnets (Management, External, and Internal). You can use this task to create an internal subnet (10.0.2.0/24).

For the most current instructions for creating an internal subnet, refer to the Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Documentation web site http://aws.amazon.com/documentation/vpc/.
If you are following a typical deployment strategy, when you finish adding the Internal subnet, your VPC will have three subnets.
  • a Management subnet on 10.0.0.0/24
  • an External subnet on 10.0.1.0/24
  • an Internal subnet on 10.0.2.0/24

Creating new security groups

To use your virtual private cloud (VPC) to deploy your virtual machine, the VPC needs two security groups; each with its own set of rules that govern the security behavior for the traffic that routes through it. The table details the rules required for each group to function properly.

Group Name Group Description Rule Name Source Rule Type
allow-only-ssh-https-ping Allow only SSH HTTPS or PING Inbound SSH 0.0.0.0/0  
    Inbound HTTPS 0.0.0.0/0  
    Inbound Custom ICMP 0.0.0.0/0 Echo Request
    Outbound Custom ICMP 0.0.0.0/0 Echo Request
    Outbound Custom ICMP 0.0.0.0/0 Echo Reply
allow-all-traffic Allow all traffic Inbound All Traffic 0.0.0.0/0  
    Outbound All Traffic 0.0.0.0/0  
  1. Create two security groups, one named allow-only-ssh-https-ping and the other named allow-all traffic.
    Tip: For the most current instructions for creating security groups, refer to the Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Documentation web site http://aws.amazon.com/documentation/vpc/.
    Important: The allow-all-traffic security group is critically important for successful operation of the BIG-IP® VE on Amazon EC2.
  2. For each security group, create the rules described in the preceding table. For each rule, define the Group Description, Rule Name, Source, and Rule Type as shown in the table.
    Important: No punctuation is permitted in the text of the Group Description that you type in.
When you finish adding the two groups and their associated rules, your VPC should be ready to go with three subnets and two security groups.

It is a good idea to test connectivity before proceeding. You should be able to communicate with your VPC NAT server at this point.

F5 Networks recommends enhancing your security by using the security group source fields to restrict the subnets to allow only management access; however, we recognize that this does not complete your security solution. For enhanced security, you might want to deploy a topology with limited management network access.

Adding a route for external subnet accessibility

Most network topologies require an Amazon Web Services route to the virtual private cloud (VPC) that makes the external subnet used by the virtual machine accessible to the Internet.

  1. From the Services tab at the top of the Amazon Web Services Management Console screen, select VPC.
  2. In the navigation pane, select Route Tables.
    The Route Tables screen opens.
  3. Select the routing table with one subnet.
  4. Click the Associations tab at the bottom of the window.
  5. From the Select a subnet list, select the 10.0.1.0/24 subnet.
  6. Click Associate.
    The Associate Route Table popup screen opens.
  7. Click Yes, Associate.

Launching a virtual server with an Amazon Machine Image (AMI)

Before you can complete this task, you need to know the name of your key pair and the Availability Zone from which it was created.

You launch an EC2 Amazon Machine Image (AMI) so that you can deploy the virtual machine.

Important: This task illustrates the Amazon web interface at publication. However, F5 recommends that you refer to Amazon user documentation for the latest documentation.
  1. Log in to your account on Amazon Web Services (AWS) marketplace.
  2. In the Search AWS Marketplace bar, type F5 BIG-IQ and then click GO.
    The F5 BIG-IQ Virtual Edition for AWS option opens.
  3. Click F5 BIG-IQ Virtual Edition for AWS and then click CONTINUE.
    Tip: You might want to take a moment here to browse the pricing details to confirm that the region in which you created your security key pair provides the resources you need. If you find that the resources you need are provided in a region other than the one in which you created your key pair, create a new key pair in the correct region before proceeding.
    The Launch on EC2 page opens.
  4. Click Launch with EC2 Console.
    The screen displays launching Options for your EC2 AMI.
  5. Select the software version for your installation, and then click the Launch with EC2 button that corresponds to the Region that provides the resources you plan to use.
    Important: The first time you perform this task, you need to accept the terms of the end user license agreement before you can proceed, so the Launch with EC2 button reads Accept Terms and Launch with EC2.
    Important: There are a number factors that determine which region best suits your requirements. Refer to Amazon user documentation for additional detail. Bear in mind that the region you choose must match the region in which you created your security key pair.
    The Request Instances Wizard opens.
  6. Select an Instance Type appropriate for your use.
  7. From the Launch Instances list, select EC2-VPC.
  8. From the Subnet list, select the 10.0.0.0/24 subnet and click CONTINUE.
    The Advanced Instance Options view of the wizard opens.
  9. From the Number of Network Interfaces list, select 2.
    Important: BIG-IQ version 5.2.0 and later does not support using only one interface with an AWS instance of BIG-IQ. The system requires at least two interfaces for proper operation. The first interface is used as the BIG-IQ device's management port. The second interface is used for the self-IP address. Each BIG-IQ AWS instance must have at least one self IP address. For more information about known issues and interface requirements, please refer to the F5 Release Notes.
  10. Click the horizontal eth1 tab to set values for the second network interface adapter, and then from the Subnet list, select the 10.0.1.0/24 subnet and click CONTINUE
    The Storage Device Configuration view of the wizard opens.
  11. In the Value field, type in an intuitive name that identifies this AMI (for example, BIG-IQ VE <version>) and click CONTINUE.
    The Create Key Pair view of the wizard opens.
  12. From Your existing Key Pairs, select the key pair you created for this AMI and click CONTINUE.
    The Configure Firewall view of the wizard opens.
  13. Under Choose one or more of your existing Security Groups, select the allow-all-traffic security group, and then click CONTINUE.
    The Review view of the wizard opens.
  14. Confirm that all settings are correct, and then click Launch.
    The Launch Instance Wizard displays a message to let you know your instance is launching.
  15. Click Close.
Your new instance appears in the list of instances when it is fully launched.

Adding a third network interface

When you first create a virtual private cloud (VPC), there are typically only two network interfaces associated with it. F5 Networks recommends adding a third network interface to the VPC before you use it to deploy the virtual machine.

  1. From the Services tab at the top of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Management Console screen, select EC2.
  2. In the navigation pane, select Network Interfaces.
    The Network Interfaces screen opens.
  3. Click the Create Network Interface button (at top left).
    The Create Network Interface popup screen opens.
  4. In the Description field, type Internal 10.0.2.0-24 (or a similarly mnemonic name).
  5. In the Subnet field, select 10.0.2.0/24.
  6. From the Security Groups list, select allow-all-traffic.
  7. Click Yes, Create
    AWS adds your network interface to the list.
  8. Right-click the new network interface, and then select Attach.
    The Attach Network Interface popup screen opens.
  9. From the Instance list, select the VE AMI that you created.

Making the virtual machine management port accessible

The management port for your virtual machine might require accessibility over the Internet. However, there are alternative topologies that do not require exposing the management port to the Internet.

F5 Networks recommends, at a minimum, adding restrictions to your source addresses in the allow-only-ssh-https-ping security group.

Alternatively, you might find the Amazon Web Services EC2 VPN sufficiently effective so that you do not need to associate an Internet-accessible Elastic IP with the management port.

  1. From the Services tab at the top of the Amazon Web Services Management Console screen, select EC2.
  2. In the navigation pane, select Elastic IPs.
    The Addresses screen opens.
  3. Click Allocate New Address.
    The Allocate New Address popup screen opens.
  4. From the EIP used in list, select VPC.
  5. Click Yes, Allocate.
  6. In the Address column, right-click the newly created Elastic IP and select Associate from the popup menu.
    The Associate Address popup screen opens.
  7. From the Instance list, select the VE AMI that you created as an EC2 hypervisor.
  8. From the Private IP Address list, select 10.0.0.0/24 (the Management subnet).
  9. Click Yes, Associate.

Logging in and setting the admin password

To perform this task, you must have completed the following tasks:
  • Created a key pair.
  • Created and configured a VPC.
  • Instantiated and launched a BIG-IQ® Virtual Edition (VE) AMI.
  • Made the virtual machine management port accessible through the Internet.

To access your EC2 instance with a browser, you must create an admin user password. You can create an admin password using an SSH session and a set of tmsh commands.

Important: If you decide to create an admin password, choose the password wisely, bearing in mind that depending on your Security Group policies, this login might provide external SSH access.

With the previously created security key pair, you do not need a password to gain admin access to this instance using SSH.

  1. Log in to the new AMI that you just launched.
    Use the name of the key pair (.pem file), and the elastic IP address of your EC2 instance. $ ssh -i <username>-aws-keypair.pem admin@<elastic IP address of EC2 instance>
    Tip: You can also use a terminal emulator such as PuTTY to test your connectivity. At publication, PuTTY does not support the extension .pem, so remember that you will also need to convert the key pair .pem file to a .ppk file before you can use it with PuTTY.
  2. At the tmsh command prompt, type modify auth password admin.
    Warning: Because this login is visible externally, make sure to use a strong, secure password.
    The terminal window displays the message: changing password for admin, and then prompts: new password.
  3. Type in your new password and then press Enter.
    The terminal window displays the message: confirm password.
  4. Re-type the new password and then press Enter.
  5. To ensure that the system retains the password change, at the tmsh command prompt type save sys config, and then press Enter.
The admin password is now changed.
Tip: If at some point you want to restore your virtual machine to its default state, use the following tmsh command: load sys config default; bigstart restart dhclient Using a less explicit tmsh command has been shown to produce undesirable results.
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