system rebuild advice

Hi Skuba,

 

 

Try searching on AskF5.com for LTM solutions with the keywords "factory defaults". You'll find a few solutions depending on which version you're running:

 

 

SOL7550 - Resetting the BIG-IP system configuration to the factory default settings using the sys-reset command

 

SOL10519 - Resetting a BIG-IP version 10.x configuration to the factory default settings

 

SOL6887 - Resetting the BIG-IP system configuration to the default settings

 

 

Aaron

hi aaron

 

 

that's great - just one question: will any of the reset commands actually remove unwanted files on the system? basically, i'm not that much of a linux expert and i'm concerned that we may be leaving lot's of unnecessary files on the unit which may be taking up disk space

 

 

thanks

 

The 10.x reset process wipes the filesystem (it's just a reinstall of the OS). The sys-reset command manually clears most directories by calling /usr/bin/sys-reset-rl1. If you want to be sure you're dealing with a wiped and clean OS, you could either use the 10.x process for v10 or manually reinstall the OS from scratch for v9.

 

 

Aaron

it's v9.1.2

 

 

so are you saying that "SOL6887: Resetting the BIG-IP system configuration to the default settings" would achieve the goal of wiping the system clean? i don't know if i'm missing something obvious here so apologies if i am!

The 9.1.x process doesn't clear out any files except specific configuration files. If you want to clear the filesystem, I'd suggest installing 9.1.2 from scratch.

 

 

Also, it would be good to upgrade all your units (test and production) to a more current and supported version. 9.4.8 would be a good stable option. And 10.x would offer a lot of new functionality.

 

 

Aaron

If you want to clear the filesystem, I'd suggest installing 9.1.2 from scratch

 

 

this is the bit i'm stuggling with, aaron. i'm not sure how to perform a clean installation (as if the unit had just arrived from the factory)

 

 

correct me if i'm wrong, but i think if i remove the base config file it will prompt me to run through the setup procedure again, but obviously it won't tidy up the system. this is where i'm getting confused as to what to do

 

 

thanks

I'd suggest saving the bigip.license file and a UCS off the unit and then going through any of the installation methods from the 9.1.2 release notes:

 

 

https://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/products/big-ip_ltm/releasenotes/product/relnotes9_1_2.htmlinstall

 

->

 

https://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/products/big-ip_ltm/releasenotes/local_9_1_2.html

 

 

The simplest option would probably be to run copy the .im file to the unit and run the installation using the im command. This won't wipe the /shared/ partition, but will clear everything else. If you get an error about the version you're installing being the same as what's installed, you can use the im -forceall flag.

 

 

Aaron