irule syntax error

Try this:

when HTTP_REQUEST {
    log local0. "http uri: [HTTP::uri]"    

    if { ( [string tolower [HTTP::uri]] starts_with "/solr/spruat_slave" ) or ( [string tolower [HTTP::uri]] starts_with “/sol” ) } {     
        log local0. "matched [HTTP::uri]"           
        pool mhf_pool_172.16.250.72-slave
    }           
} 

I'd comment though that the second condition will always be met if the first is true. It may be simpler to consolidate down to:

if { [string tolower [HTTP::uri]] starts_with "/sol" }

Did you by chance copy this iRule from an Office document? It looks like the double quotes around "/sol" are incorrect. If replace those. Otherwise the syntax looks correct.

It's your quotes around "/sol". They are so-called "smart quotes". They are a character sequence that cannot be processed by the iRule loader. You can remove them, or copy-and-paste this:

when HTTP_REQUEST {
    log local0. "http uri: [HTTP::uri]"    

    if { ( [string tolower [HTTP::uri]] starts_with "/solr/spruat_slave" ) or ( [string tolower [HTTP::uri]] starts_with "/sol" ) } {
        log local0. "matched [HTTP::uri]"           
        pool mhf_pool_172.16.250.72-slave
    }           
}

Incidentally, I found these by going to the command-line and executing:

tmsh create ltm rule foo

Once I pasted in your rule, the bad characters were reasonably obvious.

It's your quotes around "/sol". They are so-called "smart quotes". They are a character sequence that cannot be processed by the iRule loader. You can remove them, or copy-and-paste this:

when HTTP_REQUEST {
    log local0. "http uri: [HTTP::uri]"    

    if { ( [string tolower [HTTP::uri]] starts_with "/solr/spruat_slave" ) or ( [string tolower [HTTP::uri]] starts_with "/sol" ) } {
        log local0. "matched [HTTP::uri]"           
        pool mhf_pool_172.16.250.72-slave
    }           
}

Incidentally, I found these by going to the command-line and executing:

tmsh create ltm rule foo

Once I pasted in your rule, the bad characters were reasonably obvious.

thanks

You can use an else condition:

when HTTP_REQUEST {
    log local0. "http uri: [HTTP::uri]"    

    if { ( [string tolower [HTTP::uri]] starts_with "/solr/spruat_slave" ) or ( [string tolower [HTTP::uri]] starts_with "/sol" ) } {
        log local0. "matched [HTTP::uri]"           
        pool mhf_pool_172.16.250.72-slave
    } else {           
        pool mhf_pool_172.16.250.72-80
    }

}

Or you can simply apply the mhf_pool_172.16.250.72-80 pool to the virtual server configuration. In either case you should also apply OneConnect - a setting in the virtual server and in the associated HTTP profile.

There's something wonky about the formatting somewhere, otherwise the code looks right. Try commenting out the two pool statements and the log statement and updating. Does it compile?

Okay, here's what I would do. Considering that you had some "magic quotes" in the first version, I'm guessing you copied and passed this from someplace else. I would rewrite this, manually, from scratch in the iRule editor. The iRule looks good, so it has to be a formatting or hidden special character somewhere.

Try this

when HTTP_REQUEST { log local0. "http uri:$uri" set uri [HTTP::uri] if { $uri starts_with "/solr/spruat_slave" } { pool mhf_pool_172.16.250.72-slave } elseif { $uri starts_with "sol" } { pool mhf_pool_172.16.250.72-slave } }