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Manual Chapter : Software Licensing and Initial Configuration

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BIG-IQ Cloud and Orchestration

  • 1.0.0
Manual Chapter
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Software Licensing and Initial Configuration

About software licensing and initial configuration

BIG-IQ® Cloud runs as a virtual machine in specifically-supported hypervisors. After you set up your virtual environment or your platform, you can download the BIG-IQ software, and then license the BIG-IQ system. You initiate the license activation process with the base registration key.

The base registration key is a character string that the license server uses to verify the functionality that you are entitled to license.

There are two methods for activating the product.

  • If the system has access to the internet, you select the option to automatically contact the F5 license server and activate the license.
  • If the system is not connected to the internet, you manually retrieve the activation key from a system that is connected to the internet, and transfer it to the BIG-IQ system.

Task List

Automatic license activation

You must have a base registration key to license the BIG-IQ® system. If you do not have a base registration key, contact the F5 Networks sales group (http://www.f5.com).
If the BIG-IQ® system has outbound access to the public internet, you can use this procedure to activate its license.
  1. Using a browser on which you have configured the management interface, type https://management_IP_address> where <management_IP_address> is the address you specified for device management.
    This is the IP address that the BIG-IQ system uses to communicate with its managed devices.
  2. Log in to BIG-IQ System with the default user name admin and password admin.
  3. In the Base Registration Key field, type or paste the BIG-IQ registration key.
  4. In the Add-on Keys field, paste any additional license key you have.
  5. For the Activation Method setting, select Automatic, and click the Next. button.
    The End User Software License Agreement (EULA) displays.
  6. To accept, click the Agree button.
  7. Click the Next button.
  8. In the Old Password fields, type the default admin and root passwords, and then type a new password in the Password and Confirm Password fields.
  9. In the Host Name field, type a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) for the system.
    The FQDN can consist of letters and numbers, as well as the characters underscore ( _ ), dash ( - ), or period ( . ).
  10. Click the Next button to save your configuration.

Manual license activation

You must have a base registration key to license the BIG-IQ® system. If you do not have a base registration key, contact the F5 Networks sales group (http://www.f5.com).
If the BIG-IQ® system is not connected to the public internet, this procedure can activate its license.
  1. Using a browser on which you have configured the management interface, type https://<management_IP_address> where <management_IP_address> is the address you specified for device management.
    This is the IP address that the BIG-IQ system uses to communicate with its managed devices.
  2. Log in to BIG-IQ System with the default user name admin and password admin.
  3. In the Base Registration Key field, type or paste the BIG-IQ registration key.
  4. In the Add-on Keys field, paste any additional license key you have.
  5. For the Activation Method setting, select Manual and click the Get Dossier button.
    The BIG-IQ system refreshes and displays the dossier in the Device Dossier field.
  6. Copy the text displayed in the Device Dossier field, and click the Access F5 manual activation web portal link.
    Alternatively, you can navigate to the F5 license activation portal at https://activate.f5.com/license/.
  7. Click Activate License.
    The Activate F5 Product page opens.
  8. Paste the dossier into the Enter your dossier field, and then click the Next button.
    After a pause, the license key text displays.
  9. Select the check box next to the I have read and agree to the terms of this license to agree to the license terms, and then click the Next button.
    After a brief pause, the license key text displays.
  10. Copy the license key.
  11. On BIG-IQ Device, into the License Text field, paste the license key.
  12. Click the Next button at the top of the page.
You still need to confirm the management address, set up your DNS and NTP services, and update your passwords before you can launch.

Confirming the Management Address

Before you confirm the management address, you must have activated the license.
You need to specify the details of how the BIG-IQ® device communicates.
  1. In the Host Name field, type a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) for the system.
    The FQDN can consist of letters and numbers, as well as the characters underscore ( _ ), dash ( - ), or period ( . ).
  2. In the Management Port IP Address field, type the self IP address of your internal VLAN. The self IP address must be in Classless InterDomain Routing (CIDR) format. For example: 10.10.10.10/24. This is the self IP address that managed devices use to communicate with the BIG-IQ system. This address is also referred to as the discovery address
  3. In the Management Port Route field, type the default gateway address for the management port.
  4. Select the Use Management Address for HA Peer Communication check box if you want to use the management port IP address for communication between peer BIG-IQ systems in a high availability configuration.
  5. To specify a unique self IP address for communication between peer BIG-IQ systems in a high availability configuration, clear the Use Management Address for HA Peer Communication check box and type the self IP address for the HA IP Address in the Self IP Address field.
    Note: The IP address must be specified in CIDR format.
  6. To save your configuration, click the Next button.

Defining DNS and NTP servers for the BIG-IQ system

After you license the BIG-IQ® system, you can specify the DNS and NTP servers.
Setting your DNS server and domain allows the BIG-IQ system to properly parse IP addresses. Defining the NTP server ensures that the BIG-IQ system’s clock is synchronized with Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
  1. In the DNS Lookup Servers field, type the IP address of your DNS server.
    You can click the Test Connection button to verify that the IP address is reachable.
  2. In the DNS Search Domains field, type the name of your search domain.
    The DNS search domain list allows the BIG-IQ system to search for local domain lookups to resolve local host names.
  3. In the Time Servers fields, type the IP addresses of your Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers.
    You can click the Test Connection button to verify that the IP address is reachable.
  4. From the Time Zone list, select your local time zone
  5. Click the Next button to save your configuration.

Changing the default passwords

After you initially license and configure the BIG-IQ system, you must confirm or change the administrator role password from the default, admin.
  1. For the admin account, in the Old Password field, type admin.
  2. In the New Password and Confirm New Password fields, type a new password.
  3. For the root account, in the Old Password field, type default.
  4. In the New Password and Confirm New Password fields, type a new password.
  5. To save this configuration, click the Next button.
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