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satish_txt_2254's avatar
satish_txt_2254
Icon for Cirrus rankCirrus
Oct 06, 2015

PHONEHOME: Update Server unavailable

Recently i have started seeing this error. What is this about? If F5 checking for updates then how to check which server its connecting etc and where are the proper place to check logs

 

I found following logs in Logs > LTM

 

Tue Oct 6 04:03:10 EDT 2015infolbf5updatecheck[12466] PHONEHOME: Update Server unavailable

 

f5
hot fix
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update
  • Brad_Parker's avatar
    Brad_Parker
    Icon for Cirrus rankCirrus
    Oct 06, 2015

    This is because BigIP now can check for updates, though it will not down load them. The error you see is either because you don't have DNS setup on your BigIP or your BigIP can't reach the internet.

     

  • Suresh_Gurugubi's avatar
    Suresh_Gurugubi
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Mar 26, 2018

    Hello from my BIGIP devices i can reach F5 hosts, but still i got these errors. any suggestions.

     

    bigipNotifyObjMsg:PHONEHOME: Update Server unavailable

     

    (BIGIP-LTM)(cfg-sync In Sync)(Standby)(/Common)(tmos) telnet 443 Trying 104.219.111.134... Connected to . Escape character is '^]'. ^CConnection closed by foreign host. (BIGIP-LTM)(cfg-sync In Sync)(Standby)(/Common)(tmos)

     

    (BIGIP-LTM)(cfg-sync In Sync)(Standby)(/Common)(tmos) telnet 443 Trying 104.219.110.132... Connected to . Escape character is '^]'. ^CConnection closed by foreign host. (BIGIP-LTM)(cfg-sync In Sync)(Standby)(/Common)(tmos)

     

    (BIGIP-LTM)(cfg-sync In Sync)(Standby)(/Common)(tmos) telnet 443 Trying 104.219.110.164... Connected to . Escape character is '^]'. ^CConnection closed by foreign host. (BIGIP-LTM)(cfg-sync In Sync)(Standby)(/Common)(tmos)

     

    • BinaryCanary_19's avatar
      BinaryCanary_19
      Historic F5 Account
      Mar 26, 2018

      It looks to me like the connection is established, and then closed because no data was transmitted.

       

      That means it's reachable.

       

    • Suresh_Gurugubi's avatar
      Suresh_Gurugubi
      Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
      Mar 28, 2018

      (BIGIP-LTM)(cfg-sync In Sync)(Standby)(/Common)(tmos) list sys software update sys software update { auto-check enabled auto-phonehome enabled frequency weekly }

       

      If my LTM box have access to F5 host servers, I didn't see logical reason for these errors. Just to inform recently we upgrades LTM from V12 to V13, and after the upgrade we're getting these errors.

       

    • Nicolas_DE_2299's avatar
      Nicolas_DE_2299
      Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
      Apr 03, 2018

      Similar issue on my side. Since upgrade to v13.1.0.2, we got below error every weeks in ltm log when auto-phonehome is launched:

       

      ltm.1:Apr 2 08:18:12 F5-1 info updatecheck[28971]: PHONEHOME: Update Server unavailable ltm.1:Apr 2 08:18:12 F5-1 info updatecheck[28971]: PHONEHOME: Check for updates result 0

       

      And this fire the SNMP trap "bigipUpdateServer" to inform update was in failure due to a network issue. But test done, and all servers are well reachable from the device.

       

      If it's normal because no data have to be transmitted as you say BinaryCanary, why a trap is raised?

       

  • StephanManthey's avatar
    StephanManthey
    Icon for MVP rankMVP
    Mar 26, 2018

    You can check the current settings by running 

    tmsh list sys software update
    . (Or just lookup the configuration utility in System >> Software Management : Update Check. I assume the best available route will be taken to connect to the F5 resources.

    In TMOS v11.5 the 

    auto-check
    was introduced. In TMOS v12 the 
    auto-phonehome
    was introduced. Both settings are enabled by default.

    To disable both mechanisms:

    tmsh modify sys software update auto-phonehome disabled auto-check disabled

    To re-enable both mechanisms: 

    tmsh modify sys software update auto-phonehome enabled auto-check enabled

    Dont forget to run 

    tmsh save sys config
    after a change via tmsh. Thanks, Stephan