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Devlin_T_149357's avatar
Devlin_T_149357
Apr 15, 2014

Question on integration of GTM & LTM

Hello all

 

Please forgive the multitude of amateurish questions. Just need to clear some things up in my head.

 

We have two GTMs on or network across two data centres. We also have some LTMs doing what they do best. However, we don't yet have a dynamic (iQuery) relationship setup. Going forward we need to make this happen.

 

As I understand it to get the GTMs and LTMs talking iQuery you need to run the following utility:

 

  • big3d: To handle the communication traffic, noting that:

"If the existing BIG-IP systems use an older version of the big3d agent than the one that comes with the new Global Traffic Manager you are connecting to the network, you must instead run the big3d_install utility"

 

I am certain our LTMs are on a lower version of code therefore it's highly likely we will need to run the big3d_install utility.

 

My questions are:

 

  1. Do we run the big3d_install utility first on the GTM then once complete run the bigip_add utility?
  2. Presumably both the big3d_install and bigip_add utilities are run from the GTM not the LTM?
  3. What risks are there in doing the above? Silly question, but is there a risk let's say of corrupting the database or destroying inadvertently in doing the above?

Thank you for your help and advice.

 

BIG-IP DNS
deployment
design

5 Replies

  • nag_54823's avatar
    nag_54823
    Icon for Cirrostratus rankCirrostratus
    Apr 15, 2014

    Below link may help

     

    http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/solutions/public/13000/700/sol13703.html

     

  • Devlin_T_149357's avatar
    Devlin_T_149357
    Apr 15, 2014

    Thank you nagarajan

     

    That link was helpful, however, I am also interested in real world experience.

     

    Also, what is the simplest way to check which version of big3d we are currently running on each system?

     

    Thank you

     

  • nag_54823's avatar
    nag_54823
    Icon for Cirrostratus rankCirrostratus
    Apr 15, 2014

    Delvin,

    you need to run big3d_install and bigip_add on GTM. When you run both the commands you need to give self ip address of both LTM(if it's in HA group).

    you can found the big3d version using /shared/bin/big3d -v & /usr/sbin/big3d -v and it won't have any issues if we are installing big3d.

    from http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/solutions/public/13000/700/sol13703.html big3d installation behavior

    The big3d process initiates and runs as follows on BIG-IP and Enterprise Manager devices:

    The default big3d process is located in the /usr/sbin directory
At start up, the BIG-IP system verifies whether the /shared/bin/big3d process exists

    If the /shared/bin/big3d process exists and has an older modification time than the /usr/sbin/big3d process, the system copies the /usr/sbin/big3d process to the /shared/bin directory and runs the /shared/bin/big3d process
    If the /shared/bin/big3d process does not exist, the system copies the /usr/sbin/big3d process to the /shared/bin directory and runs the /shared/bin/big3d process

    The result should be that the BIG-IP system runs the newer version of the big3d process from the /shared/bin directory. However, under certain conditions, the big3d process in the /shared/bin directory may be a different version than the instance in the /usr/sbin directory. For example, this may occur if an Enterprise Manager device pushes an older version of the big3d process to the system. To verify that the big3d version in the /shared/bin and /usr/sbin directories is the same, perform the following procedure:

    Log in to the command line.
To verify the big3d version in the /shared/bin directory, type the following command:

/shared/bin/big3d -v
To verify the big3d version in the /usr/sbin directory, type the following command:

/usr/sbin/big3d -v
If the /shared/bin/big3d process is older, copy the newer big3d process to the /shared/bin/ directory.

For example, you would type the following command:

bigstart stop big3d && cp -a $(which big3d) /shared/bin/ && bigstart start big3d
  • Devlin_T_149357's avatar
    Devlin_T_149357
    Apr 15, 2014

    Thanks again nagarajan

     

    I've checked our systems and found the following:

     

    LTMs in DC1:

     

    /usr/sbin/big3d version big3d Version 11.4.1.608.0 for linux

     

    /shared/bin/big3d version big3d Version 11.4.1.608.0 for linux

     

    LTMs in DC2:

     

    /usr/sbin/big3d version big3d Version 10.1.0 for linux

     

    /shared/bin/big3d version big3d Version 10.1.0 for linux

     

    GTM in DC1:

     

    /usr/sbin/big3d version big3d Version 11.2.1.1217.0 for linux

     

    /shared/bin/big3d version big3d Version 11.2.1.1217.0 for linux

     

    GTM in DC2:

     

    /usr/sbin/big3d version big3d Version 11.2.1.1217.0 for linux

     

    /shared/bin/big3d version big3d Version 11.2.1.1217.0 for linux

     

    So it looks like we will need to update our DC2 LTMs as they are running an older version of big3d.

     

    Would downgrading