Load Balance Friendly URL to two unfriendly URL's

I think this might be useful:

e.g.

 configuration

[root@ve11c:Active:In Sync] config  tmsh list ltm virtual bar
ltm virtual bar {
    destination 172.28.24.10:80
    ip-protocol tcp
    mask 255.255.255.255
    pool foo
    profiles {
        http { }
        tcp { }
    }
    rules {
        qux
    }
    source 0.0.0.0/0
    source-address-translation {
        type automap
    }
    vs-index 12
}
[root@ve11c:Active:In Sync] config  tmsh list ltm pool foo
ltm pool foo {
    members {
        200.200.200.101:80 {
            address 200.200.200.101
        }
        200.200.200.111:80 {
            address 200.200.200.111
        }
    }
}
[root@ve11c:Active:In Sync] config  tmsh list ltm data-group internal node2name
ltm data-group internal node2name {
    records {
        200.200.200.101 {
            data myunfriendlyurl1.com
        }
        200.200.200.111 {
            data myunfriendlyurl2.com
        }
    }
    type string
}
[root@ve11c:Active:In Sync] config  tmsh list ltm rule qux
ltm rule qux {
    when HTTP_REQUEST_SEND {
  if { [class match -- [LB::server addr] equals node2name] } {
    clientside {
      HTTP::header replace Host [class match -value [LB::server addr] equals node2name]
    }
  }
}
}

 1st trace

[root@ve11c:Active:In Sync] config  ssldump -Aed -nni 0.0 port 80
New TCP connection 1: 172.28.24.1(52504) <-> 172.28.24.10(80)
1426159661.7394 (0.0008)  C>S
---------------------------------------------------------------
HEAD / HTTP/1.1
User-Agent: curl/7.15.5 (i686-redhat-linux-gnu) libcurl/7.15.5 OpenSSL/0.9.8b zlib/1.2.3 libidn/0.6.5
Accept: */*
Host: myfriendlyurl.com

---------------------------------------------------------------

New TCP connection 2: 200.200.200.14(52504) <-> 200.200.200.111(80)
1426159661.7433 (0.0037)  C>S
---------------------------------------------------------------
HEAD / HTTP/1.1
User-Agent: curl/7.15.5 (i686-redhat-linux-gnu) libcurl/7.15.5 OpenSSL/0.9.8b zlib/1.2.3 libidn/0.6.5
Accept: */*
Host: myunfriendlyurl2.com

---------------------------------------------------------------

 2nd trace

[root@ve11c:Active:In Sync] config  ssldump -Aed -nni 0.0 port 80
New TCP connection 1: 172.28.24.1(52506) <-> 172.28.24.10(80)
1426159691.3216 (0.0017)  C>S
---------------------------------------------------------------
HEAD / HTTP/1.1
User-Agent: curl/7.15.5 (i686-redhat-linux-gnu) libcurl/7.15.5 OpenSSL/0.9.8b zlib/1.2.3 libidn/0.6.5
Accept: */*
Host: myfriendlyurl.com

---------------------------------------------------------------

New TCP connection 2: 200.200.200.14(52506) <-> 200.200.200.101(80)
1426159691.3496 (0.0279)  C>S
---------------------------------------------------------------
HEAD / HTTP/1.1
User-Agent: curl/7.15.5 (i686-redhat-linux-gnu) libcurl/7.15.5 OpenSSL/0.9.8b zlib/1.2.3 libidn/0.6.5
Accept: */*
Host: myunfriendlyurl1.com

---------------------------------------------------------------

please be noted that this irule does rewrite host header in request only. it does nothing on response.

I am still having trouble with getting the friendlyurl to connect properly and from what I can tell my configuration is correct:

host header does not include uri (e.g. /iam/im/TBCQAIME/ui7/index.jsp). it should be something like myunfriendlyurl1.com:8080 or myunfriendlyurl2.com:8080.

if you want to change uri, use HTTP::uri command.

Hi nitass - where exactly do I implement the HTTP:uri command? I tried putting it in the iRule but the device rejected it.

where exactly do I implement the HTTP:uri command?

e.g.

 config

root@(ve11b)(cfg-sync In Sync)(Active)(/Common)(tmos) list ltm data-group internal QATEST
ltm data-group internal QATEST {
    records {
        200.200.200.101 {
            data myunfriendlyurl1.com:8080
        }
        200.200.200.111 {
            data myunfriendlyurl2.com:8080
        }
    }
    type string
}
root@(ve11b)(cfg-sync In Sync)(Active)(/Common)(tmos) list ltm rule qux
ltm rule qux {
    when HTTP_REQUEST {
  if { [HTTP::uri] equals "/" } {
    HTTP::uri "/iam/im/TBCQAIME/ui7/index.jsp"
  }
}
when HTTP_REQUEST_SEND {
  if { [class match -- [LB::server addr] equals QATEST] } {
    clientside {
      HTTP::header replace Host [class match -value [LB::server addr] equals QATEST]
    }
  }
}
}

 trace

[root@ve11b:Active:In Sync] config  ssldump -Aed -nni 0.0 port 80 or port 8080
New TCP connection 1: 172.28.24.1(53952) <-> 172.28.24.10(80)
1427117900.1645 (0.0014)  C>S
---------------------------------------------------------------
GET / HTTP/1.1
User-Agent: curl/7.15.5 (i686-redhat-linux-gnu) libcurl/7.15.5 OpenSSL/0.9.8b zlib/1.2.3 libidn/0.6.5
Accept: */*
Host: myfriendlyurl.com

---------------------------------------------------------------

New TCP connection 2: 200.200.200.14(53952) <-> 200.200.200.111(8080)
1427117900.1663 (0.0017)  C>S
---------------------------------------------------------------
GET /iam/im/TBCQAIME/ui7/index.jsp HTTP/1.1
User-Agent: curl/7.15.5 (i686-redhat-linux-gnu) libcurl/7.15.5 OpenSSL/0.9.8b zlib/1.2.3 libidn/0.6.5
Accept: */*
Host: myunfriendlyurl2.com:8080

---------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Nitass:

Thanks again for your input but I still cannot get a connection established to the two seperate servers when navigating to the VIP via DNS name.

Is there anything else I can provide to you for assistance, or do you suggest I open a case with F5?

Thanks,

Nate

Hi Nate,

Hi Stephan,

Thanks for chiming in. To clarify what I am trying to accomplish please see the below explanation:

We have an internal DNS entry that points to the VIP. Behind this VIP we host two servers in the pool. What I'm trying to accomplish is to balance the traffic that goes to the VIP between two specific URI's.

So, when a person enters into their browser http://myfriendlyurl.tbccorp.com they will be sent to either of the two following URI's depending on the current load balance state (setup for least connection):

1) http://unfriendly1.tbccorp.com:8080/iam/im/TBCQAIME/ui7/index.jsp

2) http://unfriendly2.tbccorp.com:8080/iam/im/TBCQAIME/ui7/index.jsp

I currently have a rule in place to change the URL to just one of the servers in the pool and that works just fine, but I would like to load balance between the two servers.

Thanks again for your help.

I still cannot get a connection established to the two seperate servers when navigating to the VIP via DNS name.

have you checked tcpdump? what did you get?

do you suggest I open a case with F5?

i understand they do breakfix only but you can try.

Hi Nate,

A couple of things to make note of. First is that nitass had the right idea, but I would make a slight modification of his iRule:

when HTTP_REQUEST {
  if { ([HTTP::uri] equals "/") || ([HTTP::uri] equals "") } {
    HTTP::uri "/iam/im/TBCQAIME/ui7/index.jsp"
  }
}
when HTTP_REQUEST_SEND {
  if { [class match -- [LB::server addr] equals QATEST] } {
    clientside {
      HTTP::header replace Host [class match -value [LB::server addr] equals QATEST]
    }
  }
}

People tend to be lazy and skip that trailing slash, so this iRule catches that as well.

The second thing that I noted was that the Data Group that you displayed earlier will cause some issues. If you look at the values in nitass' Data Group, the Value contains only the Host part of the URL, whereas in your config it contained the entire URL. I don't know if you've already changed this, but the Value should be the Host only.