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Moz_58995's avatar
Moz_58995
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Dec 05, 2010

LTM config replication onto new partition/Route Domain on same device

Hi All,

 

 

Our department have recently taken over management of F5 LTMs we manage for our customers. A lot of my learning has been from the DevCentral forums, so thank you to all.

 

 

However, I haven’t yet found a solution to my next challenge which is to renumber a customer’s web servers that are load balanced by two BIG-IP 6900 (10.0.0 Build 5514.11) running HA. This also means changing the IP addresses on the LTMs, or rather creating an additional instance on the same box where the customer can move a few servers at a time to reduce downtime, i.e. two systems running in parallel. My last resort would be to create a new partition/RD, new Virtual Servers, pools and everything else. But there are 140 VS/pools and as you can imagine it would be very time consuming and prone to errors with replicating that much config.

 

 

What I would ideally like to do is export the current configuration, edit the IP addresses, create a new partition/RD and import the new settings. I have read about Single Configuration Files which are really cool (but seem to be only for whole device configuration) and wondered if I can use something like that. But I don’t know how to import it just for the new Route Domain or even if it’s possible (my Unix and F5 file structure knowledge is little-to-none, but learning!).

 

 

DevCentral you’re my last hope! Would appreciate any answers/tips/comments.

 

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

Matt
basic
getting started
new to f5
  • Cspillane_18296's avatar
    Cspillane_18296
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Dec 07, 2010
    Hello Matt,

     

     

    i think you are on the right track with the SCF (single Configuration Files). All you need to do is generate the file ("b export ") save it from /var/local/scf to somewhere for editing, change the IP's on the pool members, copy it back on and do "b import ".

     

     

    All pool member addresses should then be updated. You could manually edit the bigip.conf files but you have to be careful doing that.

     

     

     

    Perhaps another method would be create new pool members via the GUI, assign them to the relevant pool, and mark the old pool members offline. Once any persistent connections are finished you can then delete the old pool members and bring the new ones into existence (presumably just change the IP on the back-end server).

     

     

    I hope this makes sense, if not please post back (and I'm blaming any stupidity on my part on a combination of tiredness and self inflicted gym punishment having rotten my brain).

     

     

    Chris
  • Moz_58995's avatar
    Moz_58995
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    Dec 08, 2010
    Hey Chris,

     

     

    Thanks for the response. No stupidity at all, they all make sense.

     

     

    I like the sound of the last method and would prefer this one because it’s the easiest to make the transition. I just need to test and ensure I can have members from two different networks in the same pools and also a new VLAN on the new address range. That way the customer could renumber their servers one at a time. Thanks – I hadn’t thought of this.

     

     

    Will test it and let you know how I get on.

     

     

    Cheers,

     

     

    Matt
  • Moz_58995's avatar
    Moz_58995
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    Dec 15, 2010
    Chris – you star!

     

     

    I’ve tested this on a small scale and it works. New interface on the LTM and new VLAN with self IP. Pretty simple really but before posting the question I hadn’t thought of it/think it’d work. You’ve saved me a massive headache. Now to implement it on the real thing…

     

     

    Many thanks,

     

     

    Matt