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Erik_B's avatar
Erik_B
Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
Jan 23, 2024

Virtual server for ICAP traffic

I need to build a virtual server which will receive ICAP traffic on port 1344. I've built a standard virtual server listening on port 1344 with the ICAP servers in the pool also listening on 1344. The traffic flow will be: user attempts to transfer a file to our app server and the app server sends a reqeust to the ICAP VIP to load balance across the ICAP servers.

 

Our clients send files on 443 and 22 (sftp). I was able to setup an internal server & request adapt profile to redirect files to the ICAP servers for the 443 virtual server but it is not working on 22, so we are trying to get the app server to send to a VIP for any files it receives via 22. If they point the app server to the icap server directly, it works.

anyone overcome a similar requirement?

application delivery
  • Lucas_Thompson's avatar
    Lucas_Thompson
    Icon for Employee rankEmployee
    Jan 25, 2024

    What happens if:

    1- Change the number of pool members to 1 so you're only ever forwarding to one server.

    2- Change the server type to FastL4 so BIG-IP does not get involved with app-layer traffic.

    Once you do this, it should be almost exactly the same as directly connecting the ICAP and App Server.

    • Erik_B's avatar
      Erik_B
      Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
      Jan 26, 2024

      Thank you. Yes, I did try this but no joy. I've been unable to find any other examples of this working so I am going to pivot and configure a wide-IP since the file server is able to successfully communicate with the ICAP servers.

      • Lucas_Thompson's avatar
        Lucas_Thompson
        Icon for Employee rankEmployee
        Jan 26, 2024

        Interesting! Glad you're making progress. If you want to continue looking at it, I'd recommend to examine packet captures taken from the ICAP server of direct-connect and by-bigip-connect modes to see what the difference is. It may be something as simple as a NAT or duplicate IP, or a routing problem.