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leemedz's avatar
leemedz
Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
Jul 30, 2024

BIG-IQ 8.3 - no BIG IQ Central Management option

Trying to build a BIG IQ v 8.3 on Hyper V but I keep running into an issue where I can licence the box using a trial licence (all appears to be working as expected) create the Master Keys and reset the Password but as soon as I get to the System Personality the option for BIG-IQ Central Management is not available. It only presents me the option of BIG-IQ Data Collection Device. If skip the licence at Step 1 then I also get the option to create a License Manager but that's not really very useful either. 🤨 

The guide I am following is the F5 one - BIG IQ Build Guide - and have assigned the VM 32GB RAM and 8 cores after initially trying it with half the above figures which I thought might be the issue but still no joy. 

Have deleted the VM and recreated using a new copy of the VHD file - same problem seen so I am at a bit of a loss as to what to try next. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

 

BIG-IQ
central management
  • Paulius's avatar
    Paulius
    Icon for MVP rankMVP
    Jul 31, 2024

    This could be a limitation of the license that you're applying. Have you tried running through the CM install using the "Skip License" option?

    • leemedz's avatar
      leemedz
      Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
      Jul 31, 2024

      I would be surprised if it is a limitation of the licence since it is a VE Trial Edition version. Also I activated this using the Automatic option and it worked as I would expect so I don't see it being a limitation and while I could be wrong though it doesn't feel right to me.    

      Re: using the 'Skip License' option - I did try that and that gives me the option to create a BIG-IQ Data Collection Device or a License Manager but the option I require is still greyed out.

  • leemedz's avatar
    leemedz
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Aug 12, 2024

    Been looking at this some more and wondering if I have found the issue.

    The processors definitely support virtualisation as I have checked it using the 'Intel_Processor_Identification_Utility-Legacy' tool for this and that comes up OK if I have Hyper-V disabled - see below:

    If I then enable Hyper-V the settings change with both Intel VT and Intel VT-x no longer showing as enabled. 

    If I open up Task Manger and look at the CPU details then that does show virtualisation as enabled so it looks as if Hyper-V has taken the role of the Hypervisor and 'disabled' this in BIOS:

    That I think is the issue here - the BIG-IQ setup checks for Intel VT-x, can't see that Hyper-V has taken over virtualisation duties and so I don't get the option to build a BIG-IQ. Looking at the requirements listed in the Hyper-V Set up guide would appear to back up my initial thoughts that this could be the problem:

    The hypervisor CPU must meet the following requirements :

    1. Use a 64-bit architecture.Have support for virtualization (AMD-V or Intel VT-x) enabled.
    2. Support a one-to-one thread-to-defined virtual CPU ratio, or (on single-threading architectures) support at least one core per defined virtual CPU.
    3. Intel processors must be from the Core (or newer) workstation or server family of CPUs.

    Does that make sense or have I disappeared down an enormous rabbit hole of my own making on a sunny day when I could be better off outside enjoying myself? 😆

    Assuming I am right then the next question is how do I get around it or am I doomed? 🤔