Unify Visibility with F5 ACI ServiceCenter in Cisco ACI and F5 BIG-IP Deployments
What is F5 ACI ServiceCenter? F5 ACI ServiceCenter is an application that runs natively on Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC), which provides administrators a unified way to manage both L2-L3 and L4-L7 infrastructure in F5 BIG-IP and Cisco ACI deployments.Once day-0 activities are performed and BIG-IP is deployed within the ACI fabric, F5 ACI ServiceCenter can then be used to handle day-1 and day-2 operations. F5 ACI ServiceCenter is well suited for both greenfield and brownfield deployments. F5 ACI ServiceCenteris a successful and popular integration between F5 BIG-IP and Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI).This integration is loosely coupled and can be installed and uninstalled at anytime without any disruption to the APIC and the BIG-IP.F5 ACI ServiceCenter supports REST API and can be easily integrated into your automation workflow: F5 ACI ServiceCenter Supported REST APIs. Where can we download F5 ACI ServiceCenter? F5 ACI ServiceCenter is completely Free of charge and it is available to download from Cisco DC App Center. F5 ACI ServiceCenter is fully supported by F5. If you run into any issues and/or would like to see a new feature or an enhancement integrated into future F5 ACI ServiceCenter releases, you can open a support tickethere. Why should we use F5 ACI ServiceCenter? F5 ACI ServiceCenter has three main independent use cases and you have the flexibility to use them all or to pick and choose to use whichever ones that fit your requirements: Visibility F5 ACI ServiceCenter provides enhanced visibility into your F5 BIG-IP and Cisco ACI deployment. It has the capability to correlate BIG-IP and APIC information. For example, you can easily find out the correlated APIC Endpoint information for a BIG-IP VIP, and you can also easily determine the APIC Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) to BIG-IP Route Domain (RD) mapping from F5 ACI ServiceCenter as well. You can efficiently gather the correlated information from both the APIC and the BIG-IP on F5 ACI ServiceCenter without the need to hop between BIG-IP and APIC. Besides, you can also gather the health status, the logs, statistics etc. on F5 ACI ServiceCenter as well. L2-L3 Network Configuration After BIG-IP is inserted into ACI fabric using APIC service graph, F5 ACI ServiceCenter has the capability to extract the APIC service graph VLANs from the APIC and then deployed the VLANs on the BIG-IP. This capability allows you to always have the single source of truth for network configuration between BIG-IP and APIC. L4-L7 Application Services F5 ACI ServiceCenter leverages F5 Automation Toolchain for application services: Advanced mode, which uses AS3 (Application Services 3 Extension) Basic mode, which uses FAST (F5 Application Services Templates) F5 ACI ServiceCenter also has the ability to dynamically add or remove pool members from a pool on the BIG-IP based on the endpoints discovered by the APIC, which helps to reduce configuration overhead. Other Features F5 ACI ServiceCenter can manage multiple BIG-IPs - physical as well as virtual BIG-IPs. If Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) is enabled on the interfaces between Cisco ACI and F5 BIG-IP,F5 ACI ServiceCenter can discover the BIG-IP and add it to the device list as well. F5 ACI Service can also categorize the BIG-IP accordingly, for example, if it is a standalone or in a high availability (HA) cluster. Starting from version 2.11, F5 ACI ServiceCenter supports multi-tenant design too. These are just some of the features and to find out more, check out F5 ACI ServiceCenter User and Deployment Guide. F5 ACI ServiceCenter Resources Webinar: Unify Your Deployment for Visibility with Cisco and the F5 ACI ServiceCenter Learn: F5 DevCentral Youtube Videos: F5 ACI ServiceCenter Playlist Cisco Learning Video:Configuring F5 BIG-IP from APIC using F5 ACI ServiceCenter Cisco ACI and F5 BIG-IP Design Guide White Paper Hands-on: F5 ACI ServieCenter Interactive Demo Cisco dCloud Lab -Cisco ACI with F5 ServiceCenter Lab v3 Get Started: Download F5 ACI ServiceCenter F5 ACI ServiceCenter User and Deployment Guide
F5 and Cisco ACI Essentials - Design guide for a Single Pod APIC cluster
Deployment considerations It is usually an easy decision to have BIG-IP as part of your ACI deployment as BIG-IP is a mature feature rich ADC solution. Where time is spent is nailing down the design and the deployment options for the BIG-IP in the environment. Below we will discuss a few of the most commonly asked questions: SNAT or no SNAT There are various options you can use to insert the BIG-IP into the ACI environment. One way is to use the BIG-IP as a gateway for servers or as a routing next hop for routing instances. Another option is to use Source Network Address Translation (SNAT) on the BIG-IP, however with enabling SNAT the visibility into the real source IP address is lost. If preserving the source IP is a requirement then ACI's Policy-Based Redirect (PBR) can be used to make sure the return traffic goes back to the BIG-IP. BIG-IP redundancy F5 BIG-IP can be deployed in different high-availability modes. The two common BIG-IP deployment modes: active-active and active-standby. Various design considerations, such as endpoint movement during fail-overs, MAC masquerade, source MAC-based forwarding, Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP), and IP aging should also be taken into account for each of the deployment modes. Multi-tenancy Multi-tenancy is supported by both Cisco ACI and F5 BIG-IP in different ways. There are a few ways that multi-tenancy constructs on ACI can be mapped to multi-tenancy on BIG-IP. The constructs revolve around tenants, virtual routing and forwarding (VRF), route domains, and partitions. Multi-tenancy can also be based on the BIG-IP form factor (appliance, virtual edition and/or virtual clustered multiprocessor (vCMP)). Tighter integration Once a design option is selected there are questions around what more can be done from an operational or automation perspective now that we have a BIG-IP and ACI deployment? The F5 ACI ServiceCenter is an application developed on the Cisco ACI App Center platform built for exactly that purpose. It is an integration point between the F5 BIG-IP and Cisco ACI. The application provides an APIC administrator a unified way to manage both L2-L3 and L4-L7 infrastructure. Once day-0 activities are performed and BIG-IP is deployed within the ACI fabric using any of the design options selected for your environment, then the F5 ACI ServiceCenter can be used to handle day-1 and day-2 operations. The day-1 and day-2 operations provided by the application are well suited for both new/greenfield and existing/brownfield deployments of BIG-IP and ACI deployments. The integration is loosely coupled, which allows the F5 ACI ServiceCenter to be installed or uninstalled with no disruption to traffic flow, as well as no effect on the F5 BIG-IP and Cisco ACI configuration. Check here to find out more. All of the above topics and more are discussed in detail here in the single pod white paper.F5 & Cisco ACI Essentials - Dynamic pool sizing using the F5 ACI ServiceCenter
APIC EndPoints and EndPoint Groups When dealing with the Cisco ACI environment you may have wondered about using an Application-Centric Design or a Network-Centric Design. Regardless of the strategy, the ultimate goal is to have an accessible and secure application/workload in the ACI environment. An application is comprised of several servers; each one performing a function for the application (web server, DB server, app server etc.). Each of these servers may be physical or virtual and are treated as endpoints on the ACI fabric. Endpoints are devices connected to the network directly or indirectly. They have an address, attributes and can be physical or virtual. Endpoint examples include servers, virtual machines, network-attached storage, or clients on the Internet. An EPG (EndPoint Group) is an object that contains a collection of endpoints, which can be added to an EPG either dynamically or statically. Take a look at the relationship between different objects on the APIC. Click here for more details. Relationship between Endpoints and Pool members If an application is being served by web servers with IPs having address's in the range 192.168.56.*, for example, then these IP addresses will be presented as an endpoint in an endpoint group (EPG) on the APIC. From the perspective of BIG-IP, these web servers are pool members of a particular pool. The F5 ACI ServiceCenter is an application developed on the Cisco ACI App Center platform designed to run on the APIC controller. It has access to both APIC and BIG-IP and can correlate existing information from both devices to provide a mapping as follows: BIG-IP | APIC ________________________________________________________________________ VIP: Pool: Pool Member(s): Route Domain (RD) |Tenant: Application Profile: End Point group: Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) This gives an administrator a view of how the APIC workload is associated with the BIG-IP and what all applications and virtual IP's are tied to a tenant. Click here for more details on this visibility dashboard and learn more on how and under what situations the dashboard can be helpful. In this article we are going to see how the F5 ACI ServiceCenter can take advantage of the endpoints learned by the ACI fabric to dynamically grow/shrink pool members. Dynamic EndPoint Attach and Detach Let's think back to our application which is say being hosted on 100's of servers, these servers could be added to an APIC EPG statically by a network admin or they could be added dynamically through a vCenter or openstack APIC integration. In either case, these endpoints ALSO need to be added to the BIG-IP where the endpoints can be protected by malicious attacks and/or load-balanced. This can be a very tedious task for a APIC or a BIG-IP administrator. Using the dynamic EndPoint attach and detach feature on the F5 ACI ServiceCenter, this burden can be reduced. The application has the ability to adjust the pool members on the BIG-IP based on the server farm on the APIC. On APIC when an endpoint is attached, it is learned by the fabric and added to a particular tenant, application profile and EPG on the APIC. The F5 ACI ServiceCenter provides the capability to map an EPG on the APIC to a pool on the BIG-IP. The application relies on the attach/detach notifications from the APIC to add/delete the BIG-IP pool-members. There are different ways in which the dynamic mapping can be leveraged using the F5 ACI ServiceCenter based on the L4-L7 configuration: Scenario 1: Declare L4-L7 configuration using F5 ACI ServiceCenter Scenario 2: L4-L7 configuration already exists on the BIG-IP Scenario 3: Use dynamic mapping but do not declare the L4-L7 configuration using the F5 ACI ServiceCenter Scenario 4: Use the F5 ACI ServiceCenter API's to define the mapping along with the L4-L7 configuration Let's take a look at each one of them in detail. Scenario 1: Declare L4-L7 configuration using F5 ACI ServiceCenter Let's assume there is no existing configuration on the BIG-IP, a new application needs to be deployed which is front ended by a VIP/Pool/Pool members. The F5 ACI ServiceCenter provides a UI that can be used to deploy the L4-L7 configuration and create a mapping between Pool <-> EPG. There are two options: Basic mode uses FAST andAdvanced mode uses AS3. Basic mode: Leverage dynamic endpoint attach and detach feature by using the pre-built Service-Discovery template Advanced mode: Leverage dynamic endpoint attach and detach feature by using Manage Endpoint Mappings Scenario 2: L4-L7 configuration already exists on the BIG-IP If L4-L7 configuration using AS3 already exists on the BIG-IP, the F5 ACI ServiceCenter will detect all partitions and application that in compatible with AS3. Configuration for a particular partition/application on BIG-IP can then be updated to create a Pool <-> EPG mapping. However, there is one condition that is the pool can either have static or dynamic members. Thus, if the pool already has existing members, those members will have to be deleted before a dynamic mapping can be created. To maintain the dynamic mapping, any future changes to the L4-L7 configuration on the BIG-IP should be done via the F5 ACI ServiceCenter. Scenario 3: Use dynamic mapping but do not declare the L4-L7 configuration using the F5 ACI ServiceCenter The F5 ACI ServiceCenter can be used just for the dynamic mapping and pool sizing and not for defining the L4-L7 configuration. For this method, the entire AS3 declaration along with the mapping will be directly send to the BIG-IP using AS3. Since the declaration is AS3, the F5 ACI ServiceCenter will automatically detect a Pool <-> EPG mapping which can be viewable from the inventory tab. Step 1: AS3 declaration with Pool <-> EPG mapping posted directly to the BIG-IP (see below for a sample declaration) Step 2: Sync Endpoints Step 3: View Endpoints Scenario 4: Use the F5 ACI ServiceCenter API's to define the mapping along with the L4-L7 configuration Finally, if the UI is not appealing and automation all the way is the goal, then the F5 ACI ServiceCenter has an API call where the mapping as well as the L4-L7 configuration (which was done in Scenario 1) can be completely automated: URI: https://<apic_controller_ip>>/appcenter/F5Networks/F5ACIServiceCenter/updateas3data.json In this scenario, the declaration is being passed to the F5 ACI ServiceCenter through the APIC controller and NOT directly to the BIG-IP. A sample API call Summary Having knowledge on how AS3 works is essential since it is a declarative API, and using it incorrectly can result in incorrect configuration. Any method mentioned above would work, and the decision on which method to use is based on the operational model that works the best in your environment. References Unify Visibility with F5 ACI ServiceCenter in Cisco ACI and F5 BIG-IP Deployments Download F5 ACI ServiceCenter F5 ACI ServiceCenter API documentation F5 AS3 - What does it means -imperative vs declarative F5 AS3 Best Practice Cisco ACI Fabric Endpoint Learning White PaperHow to onboard F5 BIG-IP VE in Cisco CSP 2100/5000 for NFV solutions deployment
Are you considering Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) solutions for your data center? Are you wondering how your current F5 BIG-IP solutions can be translated into NFV environment? What NFV platform can be used with F5 NFV solutions in your data center? Good News! F5 has certified its BIG-IP NFV solutions with Cisco Cloud Services Platform (CSP). Click here for a complete list of versions validated. Cisco CSP is an open x86 Linux Kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) software and hardware platform is ideal for colocation and data center network functions virtualization (NFV). F5 has a broad portfolio of VNFs available on BIG-IP which include Virtual Firewall (vFW), Virtual Application Delivery Controllers (vADC), Virtual Policy Manager (vPEM), Virtual DNS (vDNS) and other BIG-IP products. F5 VNF + Cisco CSP 2100: together provides a joint solution that allow network administrators to quickly and easily deploy F5 VNFs through a simple, built-in, native web user interface (WebUI), command-line interface (CLI), or REST API. BIG-IP VE Key Features in CSP 10G throughput with SR-IOV PCIE or SR-IOV passthrough Intel X710 NIC - Quad 10G port supported All BIG-IP modules can run in CSP 2100 Follow the steps below to onboard F5 BIG-IP VE in Cisco CSP with a Day0 file Day0 file contents and creation Sample user_data #cloud-config write_files: - path: /config/onboarding/waitForF5Ready.sh permissions: 0755 owner: root:root content: | #!/bin/bash # This script checks the prompt while the device is # booting up, waiting until it is ready to accept # the provisioning commands. echo `date` -- Waiting for F5 to be ready sleep 5 while [[ ! -e '/var/prompt/ps1' ]]; do echo -n '.' sleep 5 done sleep 5 STATUS=`cat /var/prompt/ps1` while [[ ${STATUS}x != 'NO LICENSE'x ]]; do echo -n '.' sleep 5 STATUS=`cat /var/prompt/ps1` done echo -n ' ' while [[ ! -e '/var/prompt/cmiSyncStatus' ]]; do echo -n '.' sleep 5 done STATUS=`cat /var/prompt/cmiSyncStatus` while [[ ${STATUS}x != 'Standalone'x ]]; do echo -n '.' sleep 5 STATUS=`cat /var/prompt/cmiSyncStatus` done echo echo `date` -- F5 is ready... - path: /config/onboarding/setupLogging.sh permissions: 0755 owner: root:root content: | #!/bin/bash # This script creates a file to collect the output # of the provisioning commands for debugging. FILE=/var/log/onboard.log if [ ! -e $FILE ] then touch $FILE nohup $0 0<&- &>/dev/null & exit fi exec 1<&- exec 2<&- exec 1<>$FILE exec 2>&1 - path: /config/onboarding/onboard.sh permissions: 0755 owner: root:root content: | #!/bin/bash # This script sets up the logging, waits until the device # is ready to provision and then executes the commands # to set up networking, users and register with F5. . /config/onboarding/setupLogging.sh if [ -e /config/onboarding/waitForF5Ready.sh ] then echo "/config/onboarding/waitForF5Ready.sh exists" /config/onboarding/waitForF5Ready.sh else echo "/config/onboarding/waitForF5Ready.sh is missing" echo "Failsafe sleep for 5 minutes..." sleep 5m fi echo "Configure access" tmsh modify sys global-settings hostname <<hostname>> tmsh modify auth user admin shell bash password <<admin_password>> tmsh modify sys db systemauth.disablerootlogin value true tmsh save /sys config echo "Disable mgmt-dhcp..." tmsh modify sys global-settings mgmt-dhcp disabled echo "Set Management IP..." tmsh create /sys management-ip <<mgmt_ip/mask>> Example: 10.192.74.46/24 tmsh create /sys management-route default gateway <<gateway_ip>> echo "Save changes..." tmsh save /sys config partitions all echo "Set NTP..." tmsh modify sys ntp servers add { 0.pool.ntp.org 1.pool.ntp.org } tmsh modify sys ntp timezone America/Los_Angeles echo "Add DNS server..." tmsh modify sys dns name-servers add { <<ntp_ip>> } tmsh modify sys httpd ssl-port 8443 tmsh modify net self-allow defaults add { tcp:8443 } if [[ \ "8443\ " != \ "443\ " ]] then tmsh modify net self-allow defaults delete { tcp:443 } fi tmsh mv cm device bigip1 <<hostname>> tmsh save /sys config echo "Register F5..." tmsh install /sys license registration-key <<license_key>> tmsh show sys license date runcmd: [nohup sh -c '/config/onboarding/onboard.sh' &] Sample meta_data.json { "uuid": "1d9d6d3a-1d36-4db7-8d7c-63963d4d6f20", "hostname": "<<hostname>>" } Preparation: Assuming the content are in a directory named ‘example_files/iso_contents/openstack/2012-08-10’ Once the values above are entered into the user_data file, create the ISO file: genisoimage -volid config-2 -rock -joliet -input-charset utf-8 -output f5.iso example_files/iso_contents/ or (depending on you OS) mkisofs -R -V config-2 -o f5.iso example_files/iso_contents/ Process on CSP Download F5 BIG-IP VE (release 12.1.2 of later) qcow image from http://downloads.f5.com Log into Cisco CSP 2100 Go to "Configuration" -> "Repository" -> "+" Click on “Browse” and locate the F5 BIG-IP VE qcow image, then click "Upload" Go back to “Configuration” -> “Repository and follow the same upload process for the Day0 iso file. At this point you should be to view both the qcow and Day0 iso image in the repository tab To create a F5 BIG-IP virtual function, go to "Configuration" -> "Services" -> "+" A wizard will pop up After deployment F5 BIG-IP VE virtual function deployment in Cisco CSP 2100 is completed, you can monitor the BIG-IP VE boot up progress by clicking "Console Since the BIG-IP is being booted with a Day0 file, NTP/DNS configurations are already present on the BIG-IP. The BIG-IP will be licensed and ready to be configured. The MGMT IP, default username/password was specified in the Day0 file. The Day0 file can be enhanced to add more networking and other configuration parameters if needed by specifying the appropriate tmsh commands. Make sure the BIG-IP interface mapping to CSP 2100 VNIC is correct by verifying the MAC address assignment. Consult with CSP 2100 guide in obtaining CSP 2100 VF VNIC MAC address info. To check BIG-IP MAC address, go to "Network" -> "Interfaces" To check on the CSP, click on the service deployed, scroll to the bottom, expand the VNIC information tab Configure VLAN consistent with the CSP 2100 VLAN tag configuration, make sure VLANs are untagged at the BIG-IP level After BIG-IP VE connectivity is established in the network rest of the configurations, such as Self-IP, default gateway, virtual servers are consistent with any BIG-IP VE configuration. To learn more about the F5 and Cisco partnership and joint solutions, visithttps://f5.com/solutions/technology-alliances/cisco For more information about Cisco CSP visithttp://www.cisco.com/go/csp Click here for a complete list of BIG-IP and CSP versions validated.Orchestrated Infrastructure Security - Change at the Speed of Business - Cisco Firepower
Editor's Note:The F5 Beacon capabilities referenced in this article hosted on F5 Cloud Services are planning a migration to a new SaaS Platform - Check out the latesthere Introduction This article is part of a series on implementing Orchestrated Infrastructure Security. It includes High Availability, Central Management with BIG-IQ, Application Visibility with Beacon and the protection of critical assets using F5 Advanced WAF, Protocol Inspection (IPS) with AFM as well as leading Security Solutions like Cisco Firepower and WSA.It is assumed that SSL Orchestrator is already deployed, and basic network connectivity is working. If you need help setting up SSL Orchestrator for the first time, refer to the Dev/Central article series on Implementing SSL Orchestrator here or the CloudDocs Deployment Guide here. This article focuses on using SSL Orchestrator as a tool to assist with simplifying Change Management processes, procedures and shortening the duration of the entire process. Configuration files of Cisco Firepower can be downloaded fromherefrom GitLab. Please forgive me for using SSL and TLS interchangeably in this article. Click here for a demo video of this Dev/Central article This article is divided into the following high level sections: ·Create a new Topology to perform testing ·Monitor Firepower statistics – change the weight ratio – check Firepower stats again ·Remove a single Firepower device from the Service ·Perform maintenance on the Firepower device ·Add the Firepower device to the new Topology ·Test functionality with a single client ·Add the Firepower device back to the original Topology ·Test functionality again ·Repeat to perform maintenance on the other Firepower device Create a new Topology to perform testing A new Topology will be used to safely test the Service after maintenance is performed.The Topology should be similar to the one used for production traffic.This Topology can be re-used in the future. From the BIG-IP Configuration Utility select SSL Orchestrator > Configuration.Click Add under Topologies. Scroll to the bottom of the next screen and click Next. Give it a name, Topology_Staging in this example. Select L2 Inbound as the Topology type then click Save & Next. For the SSL Configurations you can leave the default settings.Click Save & Next at the bottom. Click Save & Next at the bottom of the Services List. Click the Add button under Services Chain List.A new Service Chain is needed so we can remove Firepower1 from the Production Service and add it here. Give the Service Chain a name, Staging_Chain in this example.Click Save at the bottom. Note: The Service will be added to this Service Chain later. Click Save & Next. Click the Add button on the right to add a new rule. For Conditions select Client IP Subnet Match. Enter the Client IP and mask, 10.1.11.52/32 in this example.Click New to add the IP/Subnet. Set the SSL Proxy Action to Intercept. Set the Service Chain to the one created previously. Click OK. Note: This rule is written so that a single client computer (10.1.11.52) will match and can be used for testing. Select Save & Next at the bottom. For the Interception Rule set the Source Address to 10.1.11.52/32.Set the Destination Address/Mask to 10.4.11.0/24.Set the port to 443. Select the VLAN for your Ingress Network and move it to Selected. Set the L7 Profile to Common/http. Click Save & Next. For Log Settings, scroll to the bottom and select Save & Next. Click Deploy. Monitor Firepower statistics – change the weight ratio – check Firepower statistics again Check the statistics on the Firepower device we will be performing maintenance on.It’s “Firepower1” in this example. Connect to the CLI via SSH.At the prompt enter ‘capture-traffic’.Select the correct ‘inlineset’ (2 in this example) and hit Enter for no tcpdump options: > capture-traffic Please choose domain to capture traffic from: 0 - management0 1 - inlineset1 inline set 2 - inlineset2 inline set Selection? 2 Please specify tcpdump options desired. (or enter '?' for a list of supported options) Options: You should see an output similar to the following: This Firepower device is actively processing connections. Change the Weight Ratio Back to the SSL Orchestrator Configuration Utility.Click SSL Orchestrator > Configuration > Services > then the Service name, ssloS_Firepower in this example. Click the pencil icon to edit the Service. Click the pencil icon to edit the Network Configuration for Firepower2 Set the ratio to 65535 and click Done. Click Save & Next at the bottom. Click OK if presented with the following warning. Click Deploy. Click OK when presented with the Success message. Check Firepower Statistics Again Check the statistics on “Firepower1” again.With the Weight Ratio change there should be little to no active connections. It should look like the following: Note: The connections above represent the health checks from SSL Orchestrator to the inline Service. Remove a single Firepower device from the Service Back to the SSL Orchestrator Configuration Utility.Click SSL Orchestrator > Configuration > Services > then the Service name, ssloS_Firepower in this example. Click the pencil icon to edit the Service. Under Network Configuration, delete Firepower1. Click Save & Next at the bottom. Click OK if presented with the following warning. Click Deploy. Click OK when presented with the Success message. Perform maintenance on the Firepower device At this point Fireower1 has been removed from the Incoming_Security Topology and is no longer handling production traffic.Firepower2 is now handling all of the production traffic. We can now perform a variety of maintenance tasks on Firepower1 without disrupting production traffic.When done with the task(s) we can then safely test/verify the health of Firepower1 prior to moving it back into production. Some examples of maintenance tasks: ·Perform a software upgrade to a newer version. ·Make policy changes and verify they work as expected. ·Physically move the device. ·Replace a hard drive, fan, and/or power supply. Add the Firepower device to the new Topology This will allow us to test its functionality with a single client computer, prior to moving it back to production. From the SSL Orchestrator Configuration Utility click SSL Orchestrator > Configuration > Topologies > sslo_Topology_Staging. Click the pencil icon on the right to edit the Service. Click Add Service. Select the Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Inline Layer 2 Service and click Add. Give it a name or leave the default.Click Add under Network Configuration. Set the FROM and TO VLANS to the following and click Done. Click Save at the bottom. Click the Service Chain icon. Click the Staging_Chain. Move the CSCO Service from Available to Selected and click Save. Click OK. Click Deploy. Click OK. Test functionality with a single client We created a policy with source IP = 10.1.11.52 to use the new Firepower Service that we just performed maintenance on. Go to that client computer and verify that everything is still working as expected. As you can see this is the test client with IP 10.1.11.52. The page still loads for one of the web servers. You can view the Certificate and see that it is not the same as the Production Certificate. Add the Firepower device back to the original Topology From the SSL Orchestrator GUI select SSL Orchestrator > Configuration > Service Chains Select the Staging_Chain. Select ssloS_CSCO on the right and click the left arrow to remove it from Selected. Click Deploy when done. Click OK. Click OK to the Success message. From the SSL Orchestrator Guided Configuration select SSL Orchestrator > Configuration > Services. Select the CSCO Service and click Delete. Click OK to the Warning. When that is done click the ssloS_Firepower Service. Click the Pencil icon to edit the Service. Under Network Configuration click Add. Set the Ratio to the same value as Firepower2, 65535 in this example.Set the From and To VLAN the following and click Done. Click Save & Next at the bottom. Click OK. Click Deploy. Click OK. Test functionality again Make sure Firepower1 is working properly. To ensure that everything is working as expected you can view the Statistics on Firepower1 again. This Firepower device is actively processing connections. Repeat these steps to perform maintenance on the other Firepower device (not covered in this guide) ·Create a new Topology to perform testing ·Monitor Firepower statistics – change the weight ratio – check Firepower stats again ·Remove a single Firepower device from the Service ·Perform maintenance on the Firepower device ·Add the Firepower device to the new Topology ·Test functionality with a single client ·Add Firepower device back to the original Topology ·Test functionality againF5 & Cisco ACI Essentials - Take advantage of Policy Based Redirect
Different applications and environments have unique needs on how traffic is to be handled. Some applications due to the nature of their functionality or maybe due to a business need do require that the application server(s) are able to view the real IP of the client making the request to the application. Now when the request comes to the BIG-IP it has the option to change the real IP of the request or to keep it intact. In order to keep it intact the setting on the F5 BIG-IP ‘Source Address Translation’ is set to ‘None’. Now as simple as it may sound to just toggle a setting on the BIG-IP, a change of this setting causes significant change in traffic flow behavior. Let’s take an example with some actual values. Starting with a simple setup of a standalone BIG-IP with one interface on the BIG-IP for all traffic (one-arm) Client – 10.168.56.30 BIG-IP Virtual IP – 10.168.57.11 BIG-IP Self IP – 10.168.57.10 Server – 192.168.56.30 Scenario 1: With SNAT From Client : Src: 10.168.56.30 Dest: 10.168.57.11 From BIG-IP to Server: Src: 10.168.57.10 (Self-IP) Dest: 192.168.56.30 With this the server will respond back to 10.168.57.10 and BIG-IP will take care of forwarding the traffic back to the client. Here the application server see’s the IP 10.168.57.10 and not the client IP Scenario 2: No SNAT From Client : Src: 10.168.56.30 Dest: 10.168.57.11 From BIG-IP to Server: Src: 10.168.56.30 Dest: 192.168.56.30 With this the server will respond back to 10.168.56.30 and here where comes in the complication, the return traffic needs to go back to the BIG-IP and not the real client. One way to achieve this is to set the default GW of the server to the Self-IP of the BIG-IP and then the server will send the return traffic to the BIG-IP. BUT what if the server default gateway is not to be changed for whatsoever reason. It is at this time Policy based redirect will help. The default gw of the server will point to the ACI fabric, the ACI fabric will be able to intercept the traffic and send it over to the BIG-IP. With this the advantage of using PBR is two-fold The server(s) default gateway does not need to point to BIG-IP but can point to the ACI fabric The real client IP is preserved for the entire traffic flow Avoid server originated traffic to hit BIG-IP, resulting BIG-IP to configure a forwarding virtual to handle that traffic.If server originated traffic volume is high it could result unnecessary load the BIG-IP Before we get to the deeper into the topic of PRB below are a few links to help you refresh on some of the Cisco ACI and BIG-IP concepts ACI fundamentals: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/aci/apic/sw/1-x/aci-fundamentals/b_ACI-Fundamentals.html SNAT and Automap: https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K7820 BIG-IP modes of deployment: https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K96122456#link_02_01 Now let’s look at what it takes to configure PBR using a Standalone BIG-IP Virtual Edition in One-Arm mode Network diagram for reference: To use the PBR feature on APIC - Service graph is a MUST Details on L4-L7 service graph on APIC To get hands on experience on deploying a service graph (without pbr) Configuration on APIC 1) Bridge domain ‘F5-BD’ Under Tenant->Networking->Bridge domains->’F5-BD’->Policy IP Data plane learning - Disabled 2) L4-L7 Policy-Based Redirect Under Tenant->Policies->Protocol->L4-L7 Policy based redirect, create a new one Name: ‘bigip-pbr-policy’ L3 destinations: BIG-IP Self-IP and MAC IP: 10.168.57.10 MAC: Find the MAC of interface the above Self-IP is assigned from logging into the BIG-IP (example: 00:50:56:AC:D2:81) 3) Logical Device Cluster- Under Tenant->Services->L4-L7, create a logical device Managed – unchecked Name: ‘pbr-demo-bigip-ve` Service Type: ADC Device Type: Virtual (in this example) VMM domain (choose the appropriate VMM domain) Devices: Add the BIG-IP VM from the dropdown and assign it an interface Name: ‘1_1’, VNIC: ‘Network Adaptor 2’ Cluster interfaces Name: consumer, Concrete interface Device1/[1_1] Name: provider, Concrete interface: Device1/[1_1] 4) Service graph template Under Tenant->Services->L4-L7->Service graph templates, create a service graph template Give the graph a name:’ pbr-demo-sgt’ and then drag and drop the logical device cluster (pbr-demo-bigip-ve) to create the service graph ADC: one-arm Route redirect: true 5) Click on the service graph created and then go to the Policy tab, make sure the Connections for the connectors C1 and C2 and set as follows: Connector C1 Direct connect – False (Not mandatory to set to 'True' because PBR is not enabled on consumer connector for the consumer to VIP traffic) Adjacency type – L3 Connector C2 Direct connect - True Adjacency type - L3 6) Apply the service graph template Right click on the service graph and apply the service graph Choose the appropriate consumer End point group (‘App’) provider End point group (‘Web’) and provide a name for the new contract For the connector select the following: BD: ‘F5-BD’ L3 destination – checked Redirect policy – ‘bigip-pbr-policy’ Cluster interface – ‘provider’ Once the service graph is deployed, it is in applied state and the network path between the consumer, BIG-IP and provider has been successfully setup on the APIC. 7) Verify the connector configuration for PBR. Go to Device selection policy under Tenant->Services-L4-L7. Expand the menu and click on the device selection policy deployed for your service graph. For the consumer connector where PBR is not enabled Connector name - Consumer Cluster interface - 'provider' BD- ‘F5-BD’ L3 destination – checked Redirect policy – Leave blank (no selection) For the provider connector where PBR is enabled: Connector name - Provider Cluster interface - 'provider' BD - ‘F5-BD’ L3 destination – checked Redirect policy – ‘bigip-pbr-policy’ Configuration on BIG-IP 1) VLAN/Self-IP/Default route Default route – 10.168.57.1 Self-IP – 10.168.57.10 VLAN – 4094 (untagged) – for a VE the tagging is taken care by vCenter 2) Nodes/Pool/VIP VIP – 10.168.57.11 Source address translation on VIP: None 3)iRule (end of the article) that can be helpful for debugging Few differences in configuration when the BIG-IP is a Virtual edition and is setup in a High availability pair 1)BIG-IP: Set MAC Masquerade (https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K13502) 2)APIC: Logical device cluster Promiscuous mode – enabled Add both BIG-IP devices as part of the cluster 3) APIC: L4-L7 Policy-Based Redirect L3 destinations: Enter the Floating BIG-IP Self-IP and MAC masquerade ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Configuration is complete, let’s take a look at the traffic flows Client-> F5 BIG-IP -> Server Server-> F5 BIG-IP -> Client In Step 2 when the traffic is returned from the client, ACI uses the Self-IP and MAC that was defined in the L4-L7 redirect policy to send traffic to the BIG-IP iRule to help with debugging on the BIG-IP when LB_SELECTED { log local0. "==================================================" log local0. "Selected server [LB::server]" log local0. "==================================================" } when HTTP_REQUEST { set LogString "[IP::client_addr] -> [IP::local_addr]" log local0. "==================================================" log local0. "REQUEST -> $LogString" log local0. "==================================================" } when SERVER_CONNECTED { log local0. "Connection from [IP::client_addr] Mapped -> [serverside {IP::local_addr}] \ -> [IP::server_addr]" } when HTTP_RESPONSE { set LogString "Server [IP::server_addr] -> [IP::local_addr]" log local0. "==================================================" log local0. "RESPONSE -> $LogString" log local0. "==================================================" } Output seen in /var/log/ltm on the BIG-IP, look at the event <SERVER_CONNECTED> Scenario 1: No SNAT -> Client IP is preserved Rule /Common/connections <HTTP_REQUEST>: Src: 10.168.56.30 -> Dest: 10.168.57.11 Rule /Common/connections <SERVER_CONNECTED>: Src: 10.168.56.30 Mapped -> 10.168.56.30 -> Dest: 192.168.56.30 Rule /Common/connections <HTTP_RESPONSE>: Src: 192.168.56.30 -> Dest: 10.168.56.30 If you are curious of the iRule output if SNAT is enabled on the BIG-IP - Enable AutoMap on the virtual server on the BIG-IP Scenario 2: With SNAT -> Client IP not preserved Rule /Common/connections <HTTP_REQUEST>: Src: 10.168.56.30 -> Dest: 10.168.57.11 Rule /Common/connections <SERVER_CONNECTED>: Src: 10.168.56.30 Mapped -> 10.168.57.10-> Dest: 192.168.56.30 Rule /Common/connections <HTTP_RESPONSE>: Src: 192.168.56.30 -> Dest: 10.168.56.30 References: ACI PBR whitepaper: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/data-center-virtualization/application-centric-infrastructure/white-paper-c11-739971.html Troubleshooting guide: https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/aci/apic/sw/4-x/troubleshooting/Cisco_TroubleshootingApplicationCentricInfrastructureSecondEdition.pdf Layer4-Layer7 services deployment guide https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/aci/apic/sw/4-x/L4-L7-services/Cisco-APIC-Layer-4-to-Layer-7-Services-Deployment-Guide-401/Cisco-APIC-Layer-4-to-Layer-7-Services-Deployment-Guide-401_chapter_011.html Service graph: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/aci/apic/sw/4-x/L4-L7-services/Cisco-APIC-Layer-4-to-Layer-7-Services-Deployment-Guide-401/Cisco-APIC-Layer-4-to-Layer-7-Services-Deployment-Guide-401_chapter_0111.html https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/aci/apic/sw/4-x/L4-L7-services/Cisco-APIC-Layer-4-to-Layer-7-Services-Deployment-Guide-401.pdfF5 & Cisco ACI Essentials - ServiceCenter: One stop shop for IP address facts
Having to debug a network issue can be a daunting task, involving 100's of IP address's spread acrossyour entire deployment. Imagine having a tool which can help with getting all the information you want of an IP address with a click of a button. The F5 ACI ServiceCenter is one such tool designed to do exactly that and more. To refresh your knowledge on the tool: Lightboard Video Troubshooting tips User and deployment guide Telemetry streaming Let's get into the nuts and bolts of getting the entire benefit from visibility from the ServiceCenter. BIG-IP has a great component as part of its automation toolchain called 'Telemetry streaming'. The ServiceCenter takes advantage of telemetry streaming (TS) to grab traffic statistics from the BIG-IP. Integration TS with the ServiceCenter is a two step process: Step 1: Download and install the TS RPM package on the BIG-IP(no cost, no license) Step 2:Configure the TS consumer on the BIG-IP which the ServiceCenter will poll. Use a tool like POSTMAN or Curl to POST the below API to the BIG-IP. URI: https://<BIG-IP MGMT IP address>/mgmt/shared/telemetry/declare Payload: { "class":"Telemetry", "My_Poller":{ "class":"Telemetry_System_Poller", "interval":0, "actions":[ { "includeData":{ }, "locations":{ "virtualServers":{ ".*":{ } }, "pool":{ ".*":{ } } } } ] }, "My_System":{ "class":"Telemetry_System", "enable":"true", "systemPoller":[ "My_Poller" ] }, "My_Pull_Consumer":{ "class":"Telemetry_Pull_Consumer", "type":"default", "systemPoller":[ "My_Poller" ] } } IP Address facts Once logged into the ServiceCenter from the APIC controller choose the telemetry consumer to retrieve the IP address statistics. Conclusion The ServiceCenter besides the statistics will give much more information like the active connections on the BIG-IP, the physical port on which the IP is active (Virtual IP or node IP) on both the BIG-IP and the Cisco ACI, filtered logs from the BIG-IP and much more. To learn more check out the video below on the latest App enhancements and example use cases: Download the App to get started: https://dcappcenter.cisco.com/f5-aci-servicecenter.html
How is SDN disrupting the way businesses develop technology?
You must have read so much about software-defined networking (SDN) by now that you probably think you know it inside and out. However, such a nascent industry is constantly evolving and there are always new aspects to discover and learn about. While much of the focus on SDN has focused on the technological benefits it brings, potential challenges are beginning to trouble some SDN watchers. While many businesses acknowledge that the benefits of SDN are too big to ignore, there are challenges to overcome, particularly with the cultural changes that it brings. In fact, according to attendees at the Open Networking Summit (ONS) recently the cultural changes required to embrace SDN outweigh the technological challenges. One example, outlined in this TechTarget piece, is that the (metaphorical) wall separating network operators and software developers needs to be torn down; network operators need coding skills and software developers will need to be able to program networking services into their applications. That’s because SDN represents a huge disruption to how organisations develop technology. With SDN, the speed of service provisioning is dramatically increased; provisioning networks becomes like setting up a VM... a few clicks of the button and you’re done. This centralised network provision means the networking element of development is no longer a bottleneck; it’s ready and available right when it’s needed. There’s another element to consider when it comes to SDN, tech development and its culture. Much of what drives software-defined networking is open source, and dealing with that is something many businesses may not have a lot of experience with. Using open source SDN technologies means a company will have to contribute something back to the community - that’s how open source works. But for some that may prove to be a bit of an issue: some SDN users such as banks or telecoms companies may feel protective of their technology and not want is source code to be released to the world. But that is the reality of the open source SDN market, so it is something companies will have to think carefully about. Are the benefits of SDN for tech development worth going down the open source route? That’s a question only the companies themselves can answer. Software-defined networking represents a huge disruption to the way businesses develop technology. It makes things faster, easier and more convenient during the process and from a management and scalability point of view going forward. There will be challenges - there always are when disruption is on the agenda - but if they can be overcome SDN could well usher in a new era of technological development.F5 and Cisco ACI Essentials: Automate automate automate !!!
This article will focus on automation support by BIG-IP and Cisco ACI and how automation tools specifically Ansible can be used to automate different use cases. Before getting into the weeds let's discuss and understand BIG-IP's and Cisco ACI's automation strategies. BIG-IP automation strategy BIG-IP automation strategy is simple-abstract as much complexity as possible from the user, give an easy button to the user to deploy their BIG-IP configuration. This could honestly mean different methods to different people, some prefer sending a single API call to perform one action( A one-to-one mapping between your API<->Configuration). Others prefer a more declarative approach where one API call performs multiple actions, basically a one-to -many mapping between your API(1)<->Configuration(N). A great link to refresh and learn about the different options: https://www.f5.com/products/automation-and-orchestration Cisco ACI automation strategy Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) is the network controller for the ACI fabric. APIC is the unified point of automation and management for the Cisco ACI fabric, policy enforcement, and health monitoring. The Cisco ACI programmability model provides complete programmatic access using APIC. Click here to learn more https://developer.cisco.com/site/aci/ Automation tools There are a lot of automation tools that are being talked for network automation BUT the one that comes up in every customer conversation is Ansible. Its simplicity, maturity and community adoption has made it very popular. In this article we are going to focus on using Ansible to automate a service discovery use case. Use Case: Dynamic EP attach/detach Let’s take an example of a simple http web service being made highly available and secure using the BIG-IP Virtual IP address. This web service has a bunch of backend web servers hosting the application, the IP of this web servers is configured on the BIG-IP as pool members. These same web server IP’s are learned as endpoints in the ACI fabric and are part of an End Point Group (EPG) on the APIC. Hence there is a logical mapping between a EPG on APIC and a pool on the BIG-IP. Now if the application is adding or deleting web servers that is hosting the application maybe to save cost or maybe to deal with increase/decrease of traffic, what happens is that the web server IP will be automatically learned/unlearned on APIC. BUT an admin will still have to add/remove that web server IP from the pool on BIG-IP. This can be a burden on the network admin specially if this happens very often. Here is where automation can help and let’s look at how in the next section More details on the use case can be found at https://devcentral.f5.com/s/articles/F5-Cisco-ACI-Essentials-Dynamic-pool-sizing-using-the-F5-ACI-ServiceCenter Automation of Use Case: Dynamic EP attach/detach Automation can be achieved by using Ansible and Ansible tower where API calls are made directly to the BIG-IP. Another option it to use the F5 ACI ServiceCenter (a native F5 ACI integration) to automate this particular use case. Ansible and Ansible tower To learn more about Ansible and Ansible tower: https://www.ansible.com/products/tower Using this method of automation separate API calls are made directly to the ACI and the BIG-IP. Sample playbook to perform the addition and deletion of pool members to a BIG-IP pool based on members in a particular EPG. The mapping of pool to EPG is provided as input to the playbook. - name: Dynamic end point attach/dettach hosts: aci connection: local gather_facts: false vars: epg_members: [] pool_members: [] pool_members_ip: [] bigip_ip: 10.192.73.xx bigip_password: admin bigip_username: admin # Here we are mapping pool 'dynamic_pool' to EPG 'internalEPG' which belongs to APIC tenant 'TenantDemo' app_profile_name: AppProfile epg_name: internalEPG partition: Common pool_name: dynamic_pool pool_port: 80 tenant_name: TenantDemo tasks: - name: Setup provider set_fact: provider: server: "{{bigip_ip}}" user: "{{bigip_username}}" password: "{{bigip_password}}" server_port: "443" validate_certs: "false" - name: Get end points learned from End Point group aci_rest: action: "get" uri: "/api/node/mo/uni/tn-{{tenant_name}}/ap-{{app_profile_name}}/epg-{{epg_name}}.json?query-target=subtree&target-subtree-class=fvIp" host: "{{inventory_hostname}}" username: "{{ lookup('env', 'ANSIBLE_NET_USERNAME') }}" password: "{{ lookup('env', 'ANSIBLE_NET_PASSWORD') }}" validate_certs: "false" register: eps - name: Get the IP's of the servers part of the EPG set_fact: epg_members="{{epg_members + [item]}}" loop: "{{eps | json_query(query_string)}}" vars: query_string: "imdata[*].fvIp.attributes.addr" no_log: True - name: Get only the IPv4 IP's set_fact: epg_members="{{epg_members | ipv4}}" - name: Adding Pool members to the BIG-IP bigip_pool_member: provider: "{{provider}}" state: "present" name: "{{item}}" host: "{{item}}" port: "{{pool_port}}" pool: "{{pool_name}}" partition: "{{partition}}" loop: "{{epg_members}}" - name: Query BIG-IP facts bigip_device_facts: provider: "{{provider}}" gather_subset: - ltm-pools register: bigip_facts - name: "Show members belonging to pool {{pool_name}}" set_fact: pool_members="{{pool_members + [item]}}" loop: "{{bigip_facts.ltm_pools | json_query(query_string)}}" vars: query_string: "[?name=='{{pool_name}}'].members[*].name[]" - set_fact: pool_members_ip: "{{pool_members_ip + [item.split(':')[0]]}}" loop: "{{pool_members}}" - debug: "msg={{pool_members_ip}}" #If there are any membeers on the BIG-IP that are not present in the EPG,then delete them - name: Find the members to be deleted if any set_fact: members_to_be_deleted: "{{ pool_members_ip | difference(epg_members) }}" - debug: "msg={{members_to_be_deleted}}" - name: Delete Pool members from the BIG-IP bigip_pool_member: provider: "{{provider}}" state: "absent" name: "{{item}}" port: "{{pool_port}}" pool: "{{pool_name}}" preserve_node: yes partition: "{{partition}}" loop: "{{members_to_be_deleted}}" Ansible tower's scheduling feature can be used to schedule this playbook to be run every minute, every hour or once per day based on how often an application is expected to change and how important is it for the configuration on both the Cisco ACI and the BIG-IP to be in sync. F5 ACI ServiceCenter To learn more about the integration : https://www.f5.com/cisco The F5 ACI ServiceCenter is installed on the APIC controller. Here automation can be used to create the initial EPG to Pool mapping. Once the mapping is created the F5 ACI ServiceCenter handles the dynamic sizing of pools based on events generated by APIC. Events are generated when a server is learned/unlearned on an EPG which is what the F5 ACI ServiceCenter listens to and accordingly adds or removes pool members from the BIG-IP. Sample playbook to deploy the mapping configuration on the BIG-IP through the F5 ACI ServiceCenter --- - name: Deploy EPG to Pool mapping hosts: localhost gather_facts: false connection: local vars: apic_ip: "10.192.73.xx" big_ip: "10.192.73.xx" partition: "Dynamic" tasks: - name: Login to APIC uri: url: https://{{apic_ip}}/api/aaaLogin.json method: POST validate_certs: no body_format: json body: aaaUser: attributes: name: "admin" pwd: "******" headers: content_type: "application/json" return_content: yes register: cookie - debug: msg="{{cookie['cookies']['APIC-cookie']}}" - set_fact: token: "{{cookie['cookies']['APIC-cookie']}}" - name: Login to BIG-IP uri: url: https://{{apic_ip}}/appcenter/F5Networks/F5ACIServiceCenter/loginbigip.json method: POST validate_certs: no body: url: "{{big_ip}}" user: "admin" password: "admin" body_format: json headers: DevCookie: "{{token}}" #The body of this request defines the mapping of Pool to EPG #Here we are mapping pool 'web_pool' to EPG 'internalEPG' which belongs to APIC tenant 'TenantDemo' - name: Deploy AS3 dynamic EP mapping uri: url: https://{{apic_ip}}/appcenter/F5Networks/F5ACIServiceCenter/updateas3data.json method: POST validate_certs: no body: url: "{{big_ip}}" partition: "{{partition}}" application: "DemoApp1" json: class: Application template: http serviceMain: class: Service_HTTP virtualAddresses: - 10.168.56.100 pool: web_pool web_pool: class: Pool monitors: - http members: - servicePort: 80 serverAddresses: [] - addressDiscovery: event servicePort: 80 constants: class: Constants serviceCenterEPG: web_pool: tenant: TenantDemo application: AppProfile epg: internalEPG body_format: json status_code: - 202 - 200 headers: DevCookie: "{{token}}" return_content: yes register: complete_info - name: Get task ID of above request set_fact: task_id: "{{ complete_info.json.message.taskId}}" when: complete_info.json.code == 202 - name: Get deployment status uri: url: https://{{apic_ip}}/appcenter/F5Networks/F5ACIServiceCenter/getasynctaskresponse.json method: POST validate_certs: no body: taskId: "{{task_id}}" body_format: json headers: DevCookie: "{{token}}" return_content: yes register: result until: result.json.message.message != "in progress" retries: 5 delay: 2 when: task_id is defined - name: Display final result debug: var: result After deploying this configuration, adding/deleting pool members and making sure the configuration is in sync is the responsibility of the F5 ACI ServiceCenter. Takeaways Both methods are highly effective and usable. The choice of which one to use comes down to the operational model in your environment. Some pros and cons to help made the decision on which platform to use for automation. Ansible Tower Pros No dependency on any other tools Fits in better with bigger company automation strategy to use Ansible for ALL network automation Cons Have to manage playbook execution and scheduling using Ansible Tower If more logic is needed besides what’s described above playbooks will have to be written and maintained Execution of playbook is based on scheduling and is not event driven F5 ACI ServiceCenter Pros Only pool-epg mapping has to be deployed using automation, rest all is handled by the application User interface to view pool member to EPG mapping once deployed and view discrepancies if any Limited automation knowledge is needed, heavy lifting is being done by the application Dynamically adding/deleting pool members is event driven, as members are learned/unlearned by the F5 ACI ServiceCenter an action is taken Cons Another tool is required Customization of pool to EPG mapping is not present. Only one-to-one EPG to pool mapping is present. References Learn about the F5 ACI ServiceCenter and other Cisco integrations: https://f5.com/cisco Download the F5 ACI ServiceCenter: https://dcappcenter.cisco.com/f5-aci-servicecenter.html Lab to execute Ansible playbooks: https://dcloud.cisco.com (Lab name: F5 and Ansible )Converting a Cisco ACE configuration file to F5 BIG-IP Format
In September, Cisco announced that it was ceasing development and pulling back on sales of its Application Control Engine (ACE) load balancing modules. Customers of Cisco’s ACE product line will now have to look for a replacement product to solve their load balancing and application delivery needs. One of the first questions that will come up when a customer starts looking into replacement products surrounds the issue of upgradability. Will the customer be able to import their current configuration into the new technology or will they have to start with the new product from scratch. For smaller businesses, starting over can be a refreshing way to clean up some of the things you’ve been meaning to but weren’t able to for one reason or another. But, for a large majority of the users out there, starting over from nothing with a new product is a daunting task. To help with those users considering a move to the F5 universe, DevCentral has included several scripts to assist with the configuration migration process. In our Codeshare section we created some scripts useful in converting ACE configurations into their respective F5 counterparts. https://devcentral.f5.com/s/articles/cisco-ace-to-f5-big-ip https://devcentral.f5.com/s/articles/Cisco-ACE-to-F5-Conversion-Python-3 https://devcentral.f5.com/s/articles/cisco-ace-to-f5-big-ip-via-tmsh We also have scripts covering Cisco’s CSS (https://devcentral.f5.com/s/articles/cisco-css-to-f5-big-ip ) and CSM products (https://devcentral.f5.com/s/articles/cisco-csm-to-f5-big-ip ) as well. In this article, I’m going to focus on the ace2f5-tmsh” in the ace2f5.zip script library. The script takes as input an ACE configuration and creates a TMSH script to create the corresponding F5 BIG-IP objects. ace2f5-tmsh.pl $ perl ace2f5-tmsh.pl ace_config > tmsh_script We could leave it at that, but I’ll use this article to discuss the components of the ACE configuration and how they map to F5 objects. ip The ip object in the ACE configuration is defined like this: ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 10.211.143.1 equates to a tmsh “net route” command. net route 0.0.0.0-0 { network 0.0.0.0/0 gw 10.211.143.1 } rserver An “rserver” is basically a node containing a server address including an optional “inservice” attribute indicating whether it’s active or not. ACE Configuration rserver host R190-JOEINC0060 ip address 10.213.240.85 rserver host R191-JOEINC0061 ip address 10.213.240.86 inservice rserver host R192-JOEINC0062 ip address 10.213.240.88 inservice rserver host R193-JOEINC0063 ip address 10.213.240.89 inservice It will be used to find the IP address for a given rserver hostname. serverfarm A serverfarm is a LTM pool except that it doesn’t have a port assigned to it yet. ACE Configuration serverfarm host MySite-JoeInc predictor hash url rserver R190-JOEINC0060 inservice rserver R191-JOEINC0061 inservice rserver R192-JOEINC0062 inservice rserver R193-JOEINC0063 inservice F5 Configuration ltm pool Insiteqa-JoeInc { load-balancing-mode predictive-node members { 10.213.240.86:any { address 10.213.240.86 }} members { 10.213.240.88:any { address 10.213.240.88 }} members { 10.213.240.89:any { address 10.213.240.89 }} } probe a “probe” is a LTM monitor except that it does not have a port. ACE Configuration probe tcp MySite-JoeInc interval 5 faildetect 2 passdetect interval 10 passdetect count 2 will map to the TMSH “ltm monitor” command. F5 Configuration ltm monitor Insiteqa-JoeInc { defaults from tcp interval 5 timeout 10 retry 2 } sticky The “sticky” object is a way to create a persistence profile. First you tie the serverfarm to the persist profile, then you tie the profile to the Virtual Server. ACE Configuration sticky ip-netmask 255.255.255.255 address source MySite-JoeInc-sticky timeout 60 replicate sticky serverfarm MySite-JoeInc class-map A “class-map” assigns a listener, or Virtual IP address and port number which is used for the clientside and serverside of the connection. ACE Configuration class-map match-any vip-MySite-JoeInc-12345 2 match virtual-address 10.213.238.140 tcp eq 12345 class-map match-any vip-MySite-JoeInc-1433 2 match virtual-address 10.213.238.140 tcp eq 1433 class-map match-any vip-MySite-JoeInc-31314 2 match virtual-address 10.213.238.140 tcp eq 31314 class-map match-any vip-MySite-JoeInc-8080 2 match virtual-address 10.213.238.140 tcp eq 8080 class-map match-any vip-MySite-JoeInc-http 2 match virtual-address 10.213.238.140 tcp eq www class-map match-any vip-MySite-JoeInc-https 2 match virtual-address 10.213.238.140 tcp eq https policy-map a policy-map of type loadbalance simply ties the persistence profile to the Virtual . the “multi-match” attribute constructs the virtual server by tying a bunch of objects together. ACE Configuration policy-map type loadbalance first-match vip-pol-MySite-JoeInc class class-default sticky-serverfarm MySite-JoeInc-sticky policy-map multi-match lb-MySite-JoeInc class vip-MySite-JoeInc-http loadbalance vip inservice loadbalance policy vip-pol-MySite-JoeInc loadbalance vip icmp-reply class vip-MySite-JoeInc-https loadbalance vip inservice loadbalance vip icmp-reply class vip-MySite-JoeInc-12345 loadbalance vip inservice loadbalance policy vip-pol-MySite-JoeInc loadbalance vip icmp-reply class vip-MySite-JoeInc-31314 loadbalance vip inservice loadbalance policy vip-pol-MySite-JoeInc loadbalance vip icmp-reply class vip-MySite-JoeInc-1433 loadbalance vip inservice loadbalance policy vip-pol-MySite-JoeInc loadbalance vip icmp-reply class reals nat dynamic 1 vlan 240 class vip-MySite-JoeInc-8080 loadbalance vip inservice loadbalance policy vip-pol-MySite-JoeInc loadbalance vip icmp-reply F5 Configuration ltm virtual vip-Insiteqa-JoeInc-12345 { destination 10.213.238.140:12345 pool Insiteqa-JoeInc persist my_source_addr profiles { tcp {} } } ltm virtual vip-Insiteqa-JoeInc-1433 { destination 10.213.238.140:1433 pool Insiteqa-JoeInc persist my_source_addr profiles { tcp {} } } ltm virtual vip-Insiteqa-JoeInc-31314 { destination 10.213.238.140:31314 pool Insiteqa-JoeInc persist my_source_addr profiles { tcp {} } } ltm virtual vip-Insiteqa-JoeInc-8080 { destination 10.213.238.140:8080 pool Insiteqa-JoeInc persist my_source_addr profiles { tcp {} } } ltm virtual vip-Insiteqa-JoeInc-http { destination 10.213.238.140:http pool Insiteqa-JoeInc persist my_source_addr profiles { tcp {} http {} } } ltm virtual vip-Insiteqa-JoeInc-https { destination 10.213.238.140:https profiles { tcp {} } Conclusion If you are considering migrating from Cicso’s ACE to F5, I’d consider you take a look at the Cisco conversion scripts to assist with the conversion.
