iCR Python Module for iControl REST

Problem this snippet solves:

This is a python module to simplify using iControl REST.

Install using pip:

pip install iCR


or retrieve from https://pypi.python.org/pypi?:action=display&name=iCR&version=2.1

As simple as:

#!/usr/bin/env python
from iCR import iCR
bigip = iCR("172.24.9.132","admin","admin")
virtuals = bigip.get("ltm/virtual")
for vs in virtuals['items']:
  print vs['name']

This prints out a list of Virtual Servers.

Supported methods:

  • init(hostname,username,password,[timeout,port,icontrol_version,folder,token,debug])
  • get(url,[select,top,skip,filter])
    -> returns data or False
  • getlarge(url,size,[select])
    -> Used to retrieve large datasets in chunks. Returns data or False
  • create(url,data)
    -> returns data or False
  • modify(url,data,[patch=True])
    -> returns data or False
  • delete(url)
    -> returns True or False
  • upload(file)
    -> file is a local file eg /var/tmp/test.txt, returns True or False
  • download(file)
    -> files are located in /shared/images, returns True or False
  • create_cert(files)
    -> files is an array containing paths to cert and key. Returns name of cert or False
  • get_asm_id(name)
    -> name is the name of a policy. Returns an array of IDs or False
  • create_hash(name)
    -> name is the name of the partition and policy. eg /Common/test_policy. This reduces the need to retrieve an array of hashes from the BIG-IP. Returns a string.
  • get_token()
    -> this retrieves a BIG-IP token based on the username and password and sets it as the token in use. Returns the token ID or False
  • delete_token()
    -> This deletes the object token from the BIG-IP and from the object
  • create_transaction() -> creates a transaction and returns the transaction number ID as a string, or False. Subsequent requests will be added to the  transaction until commit_transaction is called. Transaction ID is stored in object.transaction
  • commit_transaction() -> Commits the transaction stored in object.transaction. Returns True or False
  • command(args,[cmd]) -> Runs a command using the arguments string args. Returns the returned output or True on success or False on failure. 
  •  Note: Be sure to double-escape single quotes eg \\' and single escape double quotes eg \"  
  • cmd options are ping/save/load/restart/reboot

Module Variables:

  • icr_session - the link to the requests session
  • raw - the raw returned JSON
  • code - the returned HTTP Status Code eg 200
  • error - in the case of error, the exception error string
  • headers - the response headers
  • icontrol_version - set this to specify a specific version of iControl
  • debug - boolean True or False to set debugging on or off
  • port - set the port ( 443 by default )
  • folder - set this to create in a specific partition
  • token - use this to set a specific token. If this is set, it will be used instead of basic auth
  • select - use this with get to select the returned data
  • top - use this with get to return a set number of records
  • skip - use this to skip to a specific record number
  • transaction - stores the Transaction ID

How to use this snippet:

Examples

Setup a REST connection to a device

#!/usr/bin/env python
from iCR import iCR
bigip = iCR("172.24.9.132","admin","admin",timeout=10)

Create a Virtual Server

vs_config = {'name':'test_vs'}    
createvs = bigip.create("ltm/virtual",vs_config,timeout=5) 

Retrieve the VS we just created

virt = bigip.get("ltm/virtual/test_vs",select="name")
print "Virtual Server created: " + virt['name']

Set the timeout

bigip.timeout = 20

Now delete the VS we just created

delvs = bigip.delete("ltm/virtual/test_vs")

Retrieve ASM policy to ID mapping

policies = bigip.get("asm/policies",select="name,id")

Print a table of ASM policies with learning mode

print
print "Policy Name                  Learning Mode"
print "------------------------------------------"
for item in policies['items']:
    enabled = bigip.get("asm/policies/" + item['id'] + "/policy-builder",select="learningMode")
    print '{:32}'.format(item['name']) + enabled['learningMode']

File upload

fp = "/home/pwhite/input.csv"
if bigip.upload(fp):
    print "File " + fp + " uploaded"

File download

file="BIGIP-12.1.2.0.0.249.iso"
download = bigip.download(file)
if not download:
    print "File " + file + " download error"

SSL Certificate creation

In different folder

bigip.folder = "TestFolder"
files = ("TestCert.crt","TestCert.key")
cert = bigip.create_cert(files)
if cert:
    print "Certificate " + cert + " created" 

Turn on debugging

bigip.debug = True


Retrieve ASM policy IDs

asm = bigip.get_asm_id("dummy_policy")
print len(asm) + " IDs returned"
print "ID: " + str(asm[0])

Convert an ASM policy name to hash

hash = bigip.create_hash("/Common/test-policy")
enabled = bigip.get("asm/policies/" + hash + "/policy-builder",select="learningMode")
print '{:32}'.format(item['name']) + enabled['learningMode']

Retrieve and use a token

bigip.get_token()

Delete the token

bigip.delete_token()

Developed on Python 2.7 but works with v3. Works on TMOS 11.6 onwards though some features may not be implemented, such as tokens. If you use this and have found bugs, would like to discuss it or suggest features then please PM me on DevCentral.

Tested this on version:

13.0
Updated Jun 06, 2023
Version 2.0
  • I've updated the module to add some functionality like uploading and downloading files as well as creating SSL certs and profiles, and retrieving an ASM ID from a policy name. Feel free to try it out and let me know what you think.

     

  • Updated to fix a bug with modify not JSONifying the provided data

     

  • Updated the module to 1.9 and added get_token and delete_token functions.

     

  • Hi liuyi6324, I have developed and tested this on Python 2 but i can't see why it wouldn't work on v3. The only issue might be the debug I guess - print is different in v3. If you can test it and let me know I will develop it so that it works in v3 as well. This will work in all versions after 11.5 as it uses the basic REST functionality.

     

  • Hi liuyi6324, i've tested this with v3 and it seems to work OK - i've changed the print and except commands.

     

  • Updated to v2.1 which adds transactions and is refactored to make more sense internally. Included examples etc as well.

  • typeerror: 'module' object is not callable

    This error occurs when the python compiler gets confused between function name and module name and try to run a module name as a function. This error statement TypeError: 'module' object is not callable is raised as you are being confused about the Class name and Module name. The problem is in the import line . You are importing a module, not a class. This happend because the module name and class name have the same name .

    If you have a class MyClass in a file called MyClass.py , then you should write:

    from MyClass import MyClass

    In Python , a script is a module, whose name is determined by the filename . So when you start out your file MyClass.py with import MyClass you are creating a loop in the module structure. Also, note that this usually happens when you import any kind of module as a function.

     

  • i am using iControl Rest 2.4 downloaded from https://pypi.org/project/iCR/

    while using  wideips = bigip.getlarge("gtm/wideip/a", xxx) , where xxx is the size of chunk, i would like to understand the limit of chunk size.

    if i use wideips = bigip.get("gtm/wideip/a") , it works if i have 200-300 hundred wideips, but in case you have +10k wideips it gives you Error 500, AsyncContext timeout.

     

    what is the best way to download via api the /mgmt/tm/gtm/wideip/a ?