Seeing that BigIP v17.x is EOL March 31, 2027, is there a v18.x in the pipeline some where in the future, or do we need to make the switch to BigIP NEXT?
Ansible is highly supported for BigIP LTM, but not really for BigIP NEXT LTM. Is that still coming, or do we switch to something else like F5 FAST, AS3, or Infrastructure As Code?
Versions of BIG-IP software later than BIG-IP 17.5.x.x have a new name, BIG-IP Next, along with a simplified versioning schema. These changes signal the adoption of a new architecture in BIG-IP Next that retains the core capabilities of versions prior to BIG-IP Next.
version till 17.5.x.x will be called ClassiC TMOS
And 18.x and 19.x are skipped.
Following that BIG-IP Next is starting with 20.x version already available on F5 download.
According to F5 documentation, the current “BIG-IP Next” software version timeline shows that “BIG-IP Next 20.0.0” was introduced on August 14, 2023, with an End of Software Development (EoSD) and End of Technical Support (EoTS) date of October 31, 2023; while “BIG-IP Next 20.1.0” was introduced on February 5, 2024, with an EoSD/EoTS date of August 5, 2024