If you're looking to understand what all the noise is about, here are some links to help get you started: The iWorkflow Wiki home page This is where we will post all of the API documentation and example code to help you achieve new levels of programmable infrastructure driven automation and orchestration. https://devcentral.f5.com/wiki/iWorkflow.HomePage.ashx iWorkflow 101 Series The first episode titled "The Architecture Explained" has been posted. Read this to understand the various elements that will help you speed application deployments, simplify architecture, and reduce exposure to operational risk. https://devcentral.f5.com/articles/iworkflow-101-episode-1-the-architecture-explained-17866 Any other questions? Please don't hesitate to ask! We're here to help! Thanks, Nathan

Hi Nathan, What is the difference between iWorkflow and BIGIQ Cloud ?

Great question, Yann. We started developing our orchestration and integration features and services as part of BIG-IQ - specifically, as the BIG-IQ "Cloud" module, which you mentioned. We have since spilt this functionality out form BIG-IQ, we've added considerably more extensibility/programmability to it, and now we've announced that it will be released separately as the F5 iWorkflow platform. This will be where we focus Programmability & Orchestration (P&O hereafter). Why? Unlike traditional device management system, iWorkflow is policy-centric and presents an integration point for Management and Orchestrations systems, including SDN Controllers. It serves a different set of use case from that of BIG-IQ Centralized Management. Hence, it made sense to separate. iWorkflow support infrastructure integrations with SDN controllers and infrastructure management solutions, in addition to DevOps tools like Chef, Puppet, and Ansible, to name just a few. You can read more about the product split here: https://devcentral.f5.com/articles/the-intrinsic-asymmetric-division-of-big-iq I hope that answers your question sufficiently! Best regards, Nathan

Great question, Yann. We started developing our orchestration and integration features and services as part of BIG-IQ - specifically, as the BIG-IQ "Cloud" module, which you mentioned. We have since spilt this functionality out form BIG-IQ, we've added considerably more extensibility/programmability to it, and now we've announced that it will be released separately as the F5 iWorkflow platform. This will be where we focus Programmability & Orchestration (P&O hereafter). Why? Unlike traditional device management system, iWorkflow is policy-centric and presents an integration point for Management and Orchestrations systems, including SDN Controllers. It serves a different set of use case from that of BIG-IQ Centralized Management. Hence, it made sense to separate. iWorkflow support infrastructure integrations with SDN controllers and infrastructure management solutions, in addition to DevOps tools like Chef, Puppet, and Ansible, to name just a few. You can read more about the product split here: https://devcentral.f5.com/s/articles/the-intrinsic-asymmetric-division-of-big-iq I hope that answers your question sufficiently! Best regards, Nathan

It seems to align well with the DevOps mania, but it's difficult to evaluate what it exactly does without seeing the end-user experience. Would it be possible to answer the following two questions in a 10-minute video/demo format? I'm sure a supplementary demo will be appreciated by those who do not have prior BigIP automation experience. What are the back-end tasks that a knowledgeable engineer has to execute in preparation for the use of iWorkFlow (creation of iApps, definitions of configuration deployment options, etc.)What is the overall look and feel of the iWorkFlow front-end tool for the end-users? (Please deploy something using just the iWorkFlow tool) An interesting product at first sight.

Does anyone have an questions about F5 iWorkflow?

36 Replies

el-homer
Nimbostratus
Dec 02, 2016
Hi Nathan, Thanks for spending the time to comment while you're on vacation. I did have issue connecting the big-ip ve to iworkflow when the NTP was not set. After configuring both to sync to ntp pool, iworkflow can discover and connect to big-ip ve (connector seems to work fine) only the services/applications deployment don't. Rebooting host and VMs did not help either. I'll reach out to our F5 account team as well. Enjoy your holiday!
Nathan_Pearce_1
Historic F5 Account
Dec 01, 2016
Hi el-homer,

Hard to gauge from here (am on on vacation...) but maybe a time sync? I had this once on my laptop environment where the clocks skew when coming in and out of hibernation, so after waking up my laptop I had to reboot both the VM's and they were happy again.

Did you run this by your F5 Account team? They are there to support you through evaluations.

Regards, Nathan
jmb19812001_250
Nimbostratus
Jul 11, 2016
Thanks for the prompt reply, I will get with my sales team to try it out.
Nathan_Pearce_1
Historic F5 Account
Jul 10, 2016
Hi jmb19812001,

Thanks for the feedback! More episodes are on the way.

Yes, there is an evaluation license for iWorkflow. You can get one from your F5 sales team or from you F5 value added reseller. Either of these can generate an evaluation license key for you.

Thanks for getting on touch!

Nathan
jmb19812001_250
Nimbostratus
Jul 09, 2016
Nathan, I have gone through the series on the wiki, and I like what I see, I was wondering if there is going to be an evaluation license for iworkflow, or a demo license?
JoshBecigneul
MVP
May 20, 2016
Hi Nathan, a few questions for you:

What, if any, integrations will exist between iWorkflow and BIG-IQ?
Are there any limitations on which modules are supported?
Will this be able to connect to existing environments and retrieve deployed iApps on BIG-IP systems?

Thanks!
Hannes_Rapp
Nimbostratus
May 17, 2016
It seems to align well with the DevOps mania, but it's difficult to evaluate what it exactly does without seeing the end-user experience.

Would it be possible to answer the following two questions in a 10-minute video/demo format? I'm sure a supplementary demo will be appreciated by those who do not have prior BigIP automation experience.

What are the back-end tasks that a knowledgeable engineer has to execute in preparation for the use of iWorkFlow (creation of iApps, definitions of configuration deployment options, etc.)
What is the overall look and feel of the iWorkFlow front-end tool for the end-users? (Please deploy something using just the iWorkFlow tool)

An interesting product at first sight.
- Nathan_Pearce_1
  Historic F5 Account
  May 18, 2016
  Hannes Rapp, thank you for your questions. In this brief period, between now and the release of iWorkflow in mid-June, we are working on precisely this kind of content. You'll see additional iWorkflow 101 episodes that will include video demonstrations of this functionality. I hope to release a few episodes before the actual product release so make sure you come back soon! Nathan
Hannes_Rapp_162
Nacreous
May 17, 2016
It seems to align well with the DevOps mania, but it's difficult to evaluate what it exactly does without seeing the end-user experience.

Would it be possible to answer the following two questions in a 10-minute video/demo format? I'm sure a supplementary demo will be appreciated by those who do not have prior BigIP automation experience.

What are the back-end tasks that a knowledgeable engineer has to execute in preparation for the use of iWorkFlow (creation of iApps, definitions of configuration deployment options, etc.)
What is the overall look and feel of the iWorkFlow front-end tool for the end-users? (Please deploy something using just the iWorkFlow tool)

An interesting product at first sight.
- Nathan_Pearce_1
  Historic F5 Account
  May 18, 2016
  Hannes Rapp, thank you for your questions. In this brief period, between now and the release of iWorkflow in mid-June, we are working on precisely this kind of content. You'll see additional iWorkflow 101 episodes that will include video demonstrations of this functionality. I hope to release a few episodes before the actual product release so make sure you come back soon! Nathan
Yann_Desmarest
Cirrus
May 17, 2016
Hi Nathan,

What is the difference between iWorkflow and BIGIQ Cloud ?
- Chase_Abbott
  Employee
  May 10, 2017
  @Jie;
  
  The BIG-IQ name is to separate it's function from BIG-IP. BIG-IP would be the engines running the apps, and BIG-IQ is your mission control. It's what we always wanted Enterprise Manager to eventually turn into but because it was such a big departure from EM, both in platform and function, it was a logical marketing decision to segregate it.
  
  BIG-IQ is very much the Enterprise Admin's wish list of how to manage a large BIG-IP ecosystem. It's RBAC allows separate teams to manage their slice of BIG-IP. Sec admins can monitor DDoS outbreaks and manage appropriate policies on the fly. It allows network admins their usual management duties from deploy/T&M/and monitoring. And it allows application owners a deeper dive into how their application is performing.
  
  Current BIG-IQ management functions were very different from BIG-IQ "Cloud". To separate out the products intended use further it became iWorkflow, more situated to the tasks it provides. This allows the iWorkflow and other F5 automation/orchestration teams the flexibility to add new features faster and stay current with new MANO trends. We'll get more content out for BIG-IQ and iWorkflow focusing on where you would use them and problems they solve. I think coming at it from that angle will help people make product decisions on what's most important in their environment.
  
  Do check out Nathan's Youtube channel and watch the 101 and 201 iWorkflow series. You'll start to see where segregation of the products became a benefit for not only the users of the product but the developers of it too!
  
  -Chase
- JG
  Cumulonimbus
  May 25, 2016
  No, I was just confused about these terminologies. It would be much clearer to rename what's left of the previous BIG-IQ back to "admin server", it would seem.
- Nathan_Pearce_1
  Historic F5 Account
  May 24, 2016
  BIG-IQ is still doing plenty! :) The "BIG-IQ Cloud" functionality became the foundation of what has now evolved into iWorkflow (it does a little more than just that) but the other BIG-IQ functions (other than BIG-IQ Cloud) are all still there. You're interested mostly in the programmability side?
Yann_Desmarest_
Nacreous
May 17, 2016
Hi Nathan,

What is the difference between iWorkflow and BIGIQ Cloud ?
- Chase_Abbott
  Employee
  May 10, 2017
  @Jie;
  
  The BIG-IQ name is to separate it's function from BIG-IP. BIG-IP would be the engines running the apps, and BIG-IQ is your mission control. It's what we always wanted Enterprise Manager to eventually turn into but because it was such a big departure from EM, both in platform and function, it was a logical marketing decision to segregate it.
  
  BIG-IQ is very much the Enterprise Admin's wish list of how to manage a large BIG-IP ecosystem. It's RBAC allows separate teams to manage their slice of BIG-IP. Sec admins can monitor DDoS outbreaks and manage appropriate policies on the fly. It allows network admins their usual management duties from deploy/T&M/and monitoring. And it allows application owners a deeper dive into how their application is performing.
  
  Current BIG-IQ management functions were very different from BIG-IQ "Cloud". To separate out the products intended use further it became iWorkflow, more situated to the tasks it provides. This allows the iWorkflow and other F5 automation/orchestration teams the flexibility to add new features faster and stay current with new MANO trends. We'll get more content out for BIG-IQ and iWorkflow focusing on where you would use them and problems they solve. I think coming at it from that angle will help people make product decisions on what's most important in their environment.
  
  Do check out Nathan's Youtube channel and watch the 101 and 201 iWorkflow series. You'll start to see where segregation of the products became a benefit for not only the users of the product but the developers of it too!
  
  -Chase
- JG
  Cumulonimbus
  May 25, 2016
  No, I was just confused about these terminologies. It would be much clearer to rename what's left of the previous BIG-IQ back to "admin server", it would seem.
- Nathan_Pearce_1
  Historic F5 Account
  May 24, 2016
  BIG-IQ is still doing plenty! :) The "BIG-IQ Cloud" functionality became the foundation of what has now evolved into iWorkflow (it does a little more than just that) but the other BIG-IQ functions (other than BIG-IQ Cloud) are all still there. You're interested mostly in the programmability side?