DevCentral Top 5 01/06/2012
The holidays have passed, the new year is upon us and there is much geeky goodness to be thankful for. I am thankful for the forums and the wikis, the tech tips and blogs. I am thankful for the outstanding community that drives it all, and the supporting cast of hundreds within F5 that helps support this DevCentral thing we get to do. I am so thankful, in fact, that I am here to share five of my favorite recent DevCentral additions with you. Hurried over the holidays? Nagged after the new year? Fall behind on your feeds? Never fear, I'm more than happy to give you my Top5 picks from past weeks to give you a place to start. Keep in mind there will always be more goodness on DevCentral than anyone could pack into a single missive, even someone as wordy as me, so be sure to get out there and check it out for yourselves. For now, though, here is my first DevCentral Top 5 of 2012:
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We've grown! The team has gained a new face, a new name, and some wicked security chops. Josh joined the team before the holiday season and has been cranking away largely in secret since. His focus has been and will continue to be security. He'll be answering forums, checking in from conferences, keeping you abreast of the most twisted, brutal and/or interesting vulnerabilities out in the wild, hopefully with a means to fix them, and more. Part of said "more" will be contributing to the ever growing content engine that is DevCentral. He has already started, in fact! Check out this latest blog of his wherein he discuses the new(ish) slowread vulnerability along with a helpful fix from F5. He assures me there is more to discuss regarding this vuln, and having gotten to know him a bit I have no doubt this is just one of many helpful, timely, security centric posts to come. Add him to your feeds, drop a note and say hi, and check back often to see what security science Josh is dropping next.
Two-Factor Auth with Google Authenticator and LDAP
Speaking of science, I feel it is a crime that George was not gifted a lab coat and appropriately mad scientist-esque safety goggles over the holidays. He has upped the iRules Tech Tip game to a level that Jason and I agree is both awesome, and inspiring. In this article George documents how to turn your LTM and the inherent beauty within known as iRules into a two-factor auth system, integrated with LDAP, by way of Google Authenticator. In simpler terms: you can scan a QR code, enter a time based secure token, and authenticate into your systems...all via an iRule. That is the very definition of iRules science, kids. I've been raving about this one for weeks, and likely will for weeks to come. So before you hear me tell you again later, go check it out. Not only is the concept outstanding, but the write-up is second to none, so don't be dissuaded by the double black diamond sounding description. George turns this one into a bunny slope compared to what it could be if you tried to tackle it alone.
External File Access from iRules via iFiles
There is a new tool in iRules town, and it's known as iFiles. Jason does an excellent job writing up this powerful, exciting new feature that was released for iRules in version 11.1. iFiles allow you to, as you might imagine, access files on the file system from within your iRules. This has been a popular request for years now, but there are inherent security and performance issues with giving out file system access to the LTM, something the PD crew here at F5 is understandably hesitant about. They have, however, cracked that proverbial nut and provided us with a solution that is both fast and secure. If you want the details on how it works you'll have to go read Jason's article, which you should do anyway because it rocks. Between v11 and v11.1, the iRules landscape continues to grow and become more hawesome by the version. I'm eager to see what comes next. Until then, though...go learn about iFiles. They rock.
The Three Axioms of Application Delivery
Lori took on what I have often thought an unenviable task: defining Application Delivery. This is more slippery than it sounds as the landscape is constantly changing with new technologies, application concerns and demands, security liabilities and more. Trying to specifically define exactly what one means when using the term "Application Delivery" has proved foolhardy before, and as such Lori's approach is one that appeals to me greatly. Namely, she decided not to define it directly, but instead laid out three axioms that describe the bedrock upon which the term lives and breathes, changing as it is apt to do, based on the needs and solutions of the times. Application Centric, Operational Risk Mitigating, Contextual. Those are effectively the concepts that are conveyed as the root of all things Application Delivery. Of course, many more juicy details and descriptions are a click away. Go see what you think. Do you agree? How would you define it, if you could?
iRules Concepts: Connection States and Command Suspension
The iRules Concepts series is something I started a couple of months back in order to address some of the more esoteric functionality within iRules. Not everything fits so squarely into a command namespace or man page. Things such as command suspension and connection states within TMM warrant a bit more conversation and explanation. Given that I have seen this question come up multiple times in recent months, it seemed time to delve more deeply into the inner workings and shed some light on just what we're talking about when we use these terms. If you're an iRules geek like me, or frankly if you're curious about how F5 gear does what it does, I believe this is an interesting look at a tiny slice of that picture. If you have questions about how other things within iRules work, this would be a great place to ask. I'm really enjoying discussing the nuts and bolts of how this awesome technology does its thing, and am always keen on taking requests for future articles.
There you have it, five ways to spend some time learning about what has been happening on DevCentral. For more frequent updates make sure you're registered and signed up for some of our many groups and feeds.