Read the contents of a file as a string

is either external data group or ifile usable?

I intend on running eval against the string so it will be small snippits of tcl.

sorry, do i misunderstand?

e.g.

 

root@(ve11a)(cfg-sync Changes Pending)(Active)(/Common)(tmos) list ltm rule myrule
ltm rule myrule {
    when RULE_INIT {
  log local0. "\[eval [ifile get info_hostname_ifile]\] [eval [ifile get info_hostname_ifile]]"
}
}
root@(ve11a)(cfg-sync Changes Pending)(Active)(/Common)(tmos) list ltm ifile info_hostname_ifile
ltm ifile info_hostname_ifile {
    file-name info_hostname_file
}
root@(ve11a)(cfg-sync Changes Pending)(Active)(/Common)(tmos) list sys file ifile info_hostname_file
sys file ifile info_hostname_file {
    checksum SHA1:13:bc46a43e1e7e2fcd875eeb750872f2813896854a
    create-time 2013-01-09:01:29:03
    created-by admin
    last-update-time 2013-01-09:01:29:03
    mode 33188
    revision 1
    size 13
    updated-by admin
}

[root@ve11a:Active:Changes Pending] config  tail -f /var/log/ltm
Jan  9 01:31:41 ve11a info tmm[11170]: Rule /Common/myrule : [eval info hostname] ve11a.acme.com
Jan  9 01:31:41 ve11a info tmm1[11170]: Rule /Common/myrule : [eval info hostname] ve11a.acme.com

 

If you're on 11.x, like Nitass showed, iFiles would be a simple solution for this. Else, you could URI encode the script, add it to a datagroup (external or internal) and then retrieve the content using the class command and decode it using URI::decode.

 

 

That said, if you are eval'ing raw content, make sure you sanitize the input. Else, you'll cause a runtime TCL error and close the client connection or worse, potentially crash TMM.

 

 

iFiles wiki page

 

https://devcentral.f5.com/wiki/iRules.ifile.ashx

 

 

Class command wiki page

 

https://devcentral.f5.com/wiki/iRules.class.ashx

 

 

v10 data group formats

 

https://devcentral.f5.com/Tutorials/TechTips/tabid/63/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1086448/iRules-Data-Group-Formatting-Rules.aspx

 

 

v11 data group formats

 

https://devcentral.f5.com/Tutorials/TechTips/tabid/63/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1086510/v11-iRules-Data-Group-Updates.aspx

 

 

Aaron

Sadly we are currently standardized on 10.2.3.

 

 

Else, you could URI encode the script, add it to a datagroup (external or internal) and then retrieve the content using the class command and decode it using URI::decode

 

 

Are there any examples of this?

Here's an untested example. Please test it on a VE or non-production unit.

 

 Raw commands on one line separated by a delimiter
log local0. "exec'd command 1"|log local0. "exec'd command 2"

 URL encoded copy (http://www.opinionatedgeek.com/DotNet/Tools/UrlEncode/Encode.aspx)
log%20local0.%20%22exec'd%20command%201%22%0d%0alog%20local0.%20%22exec'd%20command%202%22

Add to a data group:

class commands_class {
   {
      "log%20local0.%20%22exec'd%20command%201%22%0d%0alog%20local0.%20%22exec'd%20command%202%22"
   }
}

 Use the class command in an iRule to parse the data group

when RULE_INIT {

set url_encoded [class element -name 0 commands_class]
foreach cmd [split [URI::decode $url_encoded] "|"] {
log local0. "About to eval: $cmd"
eval $cmd
}
}

 

Aaron