Mastering Imperative and Declarative Automation with F5 BIG-IP – AppWorld 2025

At AppWorld 2025, Anton Varkalevich and I will be hosting a hands-on lab, "Mastering Imperative and Declarative Automation with F5 BIG-IP."

I'm Matt Mabis, a Senior Solutions Architect in the Business Development/Technical Alliances department at F5. I specialize in solution integrations with our partnerships with Red Hat (Ansible and OpenShift), VMware, and Omnissa Horizon.

Anton Varkalevich is a Solutions Engineer III for Financial Services at F5, specializing in ensuring financial customers have the right solutions to meet their unique needs. Automation plays a critical role in financial institutions, enabling them to serve their customers quickly and effectively.

This lab is the result of years of experience working with customers to streamline application deployments on F5 BIG-IP. We’ll use Ansible Automation Platform to demonstrate both imperative and declarative automation approaches.

Participants will first deploy common use cases—such as HTTPS and SSL-delivered applications—using imperative automation with individual Ansible modules. Then, we’ll achieve the same outcomes using declarative automation, offering a side-by-side comparison to help attendees choose the best approach for their needs.

By the end of this lab, you’ll have a solid understanding of both automation styles and how to apply them effectively in your environment.

Join us at AppWorld 2025—we look forward to sharing our knowledge with you!