Cannot Figure out GO payload for XC Volterra API
I have been trying to send a body I am creating from a jinja template for creating an Origin Pool. I am using Go so I use gonja but either way, the template loads correctly. However, I cannot seem to correctly send it via a payload and continuously get the error: json: cannot unmarshal string into Go value of type map[string]json.RawMessage. This is the code snippet: payload := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte(jsonString)) fmt.Println("Type of jsonObject:", reflect.TypeOf(payload)) req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodPost, apiURL, payload) The type returned is: Type of jsonObject: *bytes.Buffer so i do not know what else I would send?Multi-port support for HTTP/TCP load balancers in F5 Distributed Cloud (XC)
Overview: In the ever-evolving landscape of the digital world driven by innovation, catering to the new requirements is vital for modern application scalability, adaptability, and longevity. Multi-port support refers to the capability of a system to handle and manage multiple application ports simultaneously. This flexibility is particularly important in scenarios where a single device needs to serve diverse services. Multi-port support is essential for various reasons, including some of the below: Parallel Processing: It allows the system to process multiple app streams concurrently, enhancing efficiency and reducing latency. Diverse Services: Different applications or services often require dedicated ports to function. Multi-port support enables a system to accommodate a variety of services simultaneously. Load Balancing: Distributing application traffic across multiple ports helps balance the load, preventing bottlenecks and optimizing resource utilization. Security: Sometimes SecOps want to have testing ports opened, which allow access to applications for testing, scanning, monitoring, and addressing potential security vulnerabilities. Flexibility: Systems with multi-port support are adaptable to modern micro-service-based architectures, supporting a diverse range of applications and services. IP limitations: Since IP’s are limited, customers don’t want to use a different IP for each user, so instead they want to reserve a single IP and want to distribute load on different ports. Note: For today’s demonstration, we have deployed multiple demo applications like JuiceShop, DVWA, NGINX, F5 Air asmicro-serviceson multiple systems/ports to showcase the capabilities of multi-port support and their deployment steps are out of scope in this article. Let’s unravel three below real-world use cases of multi-port support and how it can be implemented in F5 Distributed Cloud (F5 XC) in easy-to-follow steps. Use case I – Multiple Ports In this use case, let’s assume the customer already has onboarded his backend application as an origin pool in XC. Next, the customer wants to access the same application using multiple ports, either for genuine access or for testing. For achieving this use case, follow below steps: Login to F5 XC console and navigate to “Distributed Apps” --> “Manage Load balancer” section For this use case, create a HTTP load balancer with your backend application, needed ports in csv format, type as HTTP, name, domain name as shown below. NOTE: Provide only unused ports or you will run into port conflict errors. Also configure DNS records as per your setup. Once load balancer is created successfully, validate your application is accessible on the configured port and LB domain name Use case II – Port Range In this scenario, customers have the requirement to access an application in a range of ports either for parallel processing or load balancing. For configuration, follow below steps: Login to F5 XC console and navigate to “Distributed Apps” section For this use case, create a HTTPS load balancer with your backend application, needed port range and domain name as shown below. NOTE: Provide only unused port range to avoid port conflict error. Validate your application is accessible on configured ports just like below Use case III – Origin Pool Dynamic port In this requirement, the backend application port should be dynamic and is dependent on the load balancer access port number. Let’s say a customer has multiple services running on multiple ports and wants users to access these services using a single TCP load balancer. To meet this solution, follow steps below: Login to F5 XC console and navigate to “Distributed Apps” section Next, move to “Origin Pool” section and onboard your basic backend application details and select the "origin server port" option as the "loadbalancer port" (as shown below). We can also configure health checks to LB ports instead of endpoints for better visibility. We are halfway there!!. Move to “TCP Load balancer” section and create a TCP load balancer with required port ranges and your application origin pool. Your configuration will look something like below Finally for the fun part: Once load balancer comes to a READY state, open a browser and make sure different services are accessible on configured domain name and ports shown below NOTE: For above solution to work,multiple services should be running on the configured ports of backend system and this port range should be unused by other services on the XC platform We have just scratched the surface of the the wide range of use cases of multi-port and there is a lot of demand in the market for many scenarios combining different functionalities of HTTP/HTTPS/TCP, single/multi services on same system or multiple backend systems and can also be routed to appropriate backends using port range filters in routes. As percustomer requirements, appropriate configurations can be done on F5 XC for seamless integration and to leverage the pervasive WAAP security ecosystem. Conclusion: Winding up, this article pondered the market demand for the support of multi-port range in HTTP/TCP load balancers and then we took you on a roller coaster ride of different use cases. Finally, we also demonstrated how F5 XC can foster in shaping and optimizing your application versatile multi-port requirements. Ever wondered what is F5 XC and how it acts as a “Guardian of Applications”, check below links: F5 Distributed Cloud Services F5 Distributed Cloud WAAPHow I Did it - Migrating Applications to Nutanix NC2 with F5 Distributed Cloud Secure Multicloud Networking
In this edition of "How I Did it", we will explore how F5 Distributed Cloud Services (XC) enables seamless application extension and migration from an on-premises environment to Nutanix NC2 clusters.F5 XC vk8s open source nginx deployment on RE
Code is community submitted, community supported, and recognized as ‘Use At Your Own Risk’. Short Description This an example for F5 XC virtual kubernetes (vk8s) workload on Regional Edges for rewriting the URL requests and response body. Problem solved by this Code Snippet The XC Distributed Cloud rewrite option under the XC routes is sometimes limited in dynamically replacing a specific sting like for example to replace the string "ne" with "da" no matter where in the url the string is located. location ~ .*ne.* { rewrite ^(.*)ne(.*) $1da$2; } Other than that in XC there is no default option to replace a string in the payload like rewrite profile in F5 LTM or iRule stream option. sub_filter 'Example' 'NIKI'; sub_filter_types *; sub_filter_once off; Open source NGINX can also be used to return custom error based on the server error as well: error_page 404 /custom_404.html; location = /custom_404.html { return 404 'gangnam style!'; internal; } Now with proxy protocol support in XC the Nginx can see real client ip even for non-HTTP traffic that does not have XFF HTTP headers. log_format niki '$proxy_protocol_addr - $remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] - $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for' '"$request" $status $body_bytes_sent ' '"$http_referer" "$http_user_agent"'; #limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=mylimit:10m rate=1r/s; server { listen 8080 proxy_protocol; server_name localhost; How to use this Code Snippet Read the description readme file in the github link and modify the nginx default.conf file as per your needs. Code Snippet Meta Information Version: 1.25.4 Nginx Coding Language: nginx config Full Code Snippet https://github.com/Nikoolayy1/xc_nginx/tree/mainSeamless Application Migration to OpenShift Virtualization with F5 Distributed Cloud
As organizations endeavor to modernize their infrastructure, migrating applications to advanced virtualization platforms like Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization becomes a strategic imperative. However, they often encounter challenges such as minimizing downtime, maintaining seamless connectivity, ensuring consistent security, and reducing operational complexity. Addressing these challenges is crucial for a successful migration. This article explores howF5 Distributed Cloud (F5 XC), in collaboration with Red Hat's Migration Toolkit for Virtualization (MTV), provides a robust solution to facilitate a smooth, secure, and efficient migration to OpenShift Virtualization. The Joint Solution: F5 XC CE and Red Hat MTV Building upon our previous work ondeploying F5 Distributed Cloud Customer Edge (XC CE) in Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, we delve into the next phase of our joint solution with Red Hat. By leveraging F5 XC CE in both VMware and OpenShift environments, alongside Red Hat’s MTV, organizations can achieve a seamless migration of virtual machines (VMs) from VMware NSX to OpenShift Virtualization. This integration not only streamlines the migration process but also ensures continuous application performance and security throughout the transition. Key Components: Red Hat Migration Toolkit for Virtualization (MTV): Facilitates the migration of VMs from VMware NSX to OpenShift Virtualization, an add-on to OpenShift Container Platform F5 Distributed Cloud Customer Edge (XC CE) in VMware: Manages and secures application traffic within the existing VMware NSX environment. F5 XC CE in OpenShift: Ensures consistent load balancing and security in the new OpenShift Virtualization environment. Demonstration Architecture To illustrate the effectiveness of this joint solution, let’s delve into the Demo Architecture employed in our demo: The architecture leverages F5 XC CE in both environments to provide a unified and secure load balancing mechanism. Red Hat MTV acts as the migration engine, seamlessly transferring VMs while F5 XC CE manages traffic distribution to ensure zero downtime and maintain application availability and security. Benefits of the Joint Solution 1. Seamless Migration: Minimal Downtime: The phased migration approach ensures that applications remain available to users throughout the process. IP Preservation: Maintaining the same IP addresses reduces the complexity of network reconfiguration and minimizes potential disruptions. 2. Enhanced Security: Consistent Policies: Security measures such as Web Application Firewalls (WAF), bot detection, and DoS protection are maintained across both environments. Centralized Management: F5 XC CE provides a unified interface for managing security policies, ensuring robust protection during and after migration. 3. Operational Efficiency: Unified Platform: Consolidating legacy and cloud-native workloads onto OpenShift Virtualization simplifies management and enhances operational workflows. Scalability: Leveraging Kubernetes and OpenShift’s orchestration capabilities allows for greater scalability and flexibility in application deployment. 4. Improved User Experience: Continuous Availability: Users experience uninterrupted access to applications, unaware of the backend migration activities. Performance Optimization: Intelligent load balancing ensures optimal application performance by efficiently distributing traffic across environments. Watch the Demo Video To see this joint solution in action, watch our detailed demo video on the F5 DevCentral YouTube channel. The video walks you through the migration process, showcasing how F5 XC CE and Red Hat MTV work together to facilitate a smooth and secure transition from VMware NSX to OpenShift Virtualization. Conclusion Migrating virtual machines (VMs) from VMware NSX to OpenShift Virtualization is a significant step towards modernizing your infrastructure. With the combined capabilities of F5 Distributed Cloud Customer Edge and Red Hat’s Migration Toolkit for Virtualization, organizations can achieve this migration with confidence, ensuring minimal disruption, enhanced security, and improved operational efficiency. Related Articles: Deploying F5 Distributed Cloud Customer Edge in Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization BIG-IP VE in Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization VMware to Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Migration OpenShift VirtualizationDeploying F5 Distributed Cloud Customer Edge in Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization
Introduction Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization is a feature that brings virtual machine (VM) workloads into the Kubernetes platform, allowing them to run alongside containerized applications in a seamless, unified environment. Built on the open-source KubeVirt project, OpenShift Virtualization enables organizations to manage VMs using the same tools and workflows they use for containers. Why OpenShift Virtualization? Organizations today face critical needs such as: Rapid Migration: "I want to migrate ASAP" from traditional virtualization platforms to more modern solutions. Infrastructure Modernization: Transitioning legacy VM environments to leverage the benefits of hybrid and cloud-native architectures. Unified Management: Running VMs alongside containerized applications to simplify operations and enhance resource utilization. OpenShift Virtualization addresses these challenges by consolidating legacy and cloud-native workloads onto a single platform. This consolidation simplifies management, enhances operational efficiency, and facilitates infrastructure modernization without disrupting existing services. Integrating F5 Distributed Cloud Customer Edge (XC CE) into OpenShift Virtualization further enhances this environment by providing advanced networking and security capabilities. This combination offers several benefits: Multi-Tenancy: Deploy multiple CE VMs, each dedicated to a specific tenant, enabling isolation and customization for different teams or departments within a secure, multi-tenant environment. Load Balancing: Efficiently manage and distribute application traffic to optimize performance and resource utilization. Enhanced Security: Implement advanced threat protection at the edge to strengthen your security posture against emerging threats. Microservices Management: Seamlessly integrate and manage microservices, enhancing agility and scalability. This guide provides a step-by-step approach to deploying XC CE within OpenShift Virtualization, detailing the technical considerations and configurations required. Technical Overview Deploying XC CE within OpenShift Virtualization involves several key technical steps: Preparation Cluster Setup: Ensure an operational OpenShift cluster with OpenShift Virtualization installed. Access Rights: Confirm administrative permissions to configure compute and network settings. F5 XC Account: Obtain access to generate node tokens and download the XC CE images. Resource Optimization: Enable CPU Manager: Configure the CPU Manager to allocate CPU resources effectively. Configure Topology Manager: Set the policy to single-numa-node for optimal NUMA performance. Network Configuration: Open vSwitch (OVS) Bridges: Set up OVS bridges on worker nodes to handle networking for the virtual machines. NetworkAttachmentDefinitions (NADs): Use Multus CNI to define how virtual machines attach to multiple networks, supporting both external and internal connectivity. Image Preparation: Obtain XC CE Image: Download the XC CE image in qcow2 format suitable for KubeVirt. Generate Node Token: Create a one-time node token from the F5 Distributed Cloud Console for node registration. User Data Configuration: Prepare cloud-init user data with the node token and network settings to automate the VM initialization process. Deployment: Create DataVolumes: Import the XC CE image into the cluster using the Containerized Data Importer (CDI). Deploy VirtualMachine Resources: Apply manifests to deploy XC CE instances in OpenShift. Network Configuration Setting up the network involves creating Open vSwitch (OVS) bridges and defining NetworkAttachmentDefinitions (NADs) to enable multiple network interfaces for the virtual machines. Open vSwitch (OVS) Bridges Create a NodeNetworkConfigurationPolicy to define OVS bridges on all worker nodes: apiVersion: nmstate.io/v1 kind: NodeNetworkConfigurationPolicy metadata: name: ovs-vms spec: nodeSelector: node-role.kubernetes.io/worker: '' desiredState: interfaces: - name: ovs-vms type: ovs-bridge state: up bridge: allow-extra-patch-ports: true options: stp: true port: - name: eno1 ovn: bridge-mappings: - localnet: ce2-slo bridge: ovs-vms state: present Replace eno1 with the appropriate physical network interface on your nodes. This policy sets up an OVS bridge named ovs-vms connected to the physical interface. NetworkAttachmentDefinitions (NADs) Define NADs using Multus CNI to attach networks to the virtual machines. External Network (ce2-slo): External Network (ce2-slo): Connects VMs to the physical network with a specific VLAN ID. This setup allows the VMs to communicate with external systems, services, or networks, which is essential for applications that require access to resources outside the cluster or need to expose services to external users. apiVersion: k8s.cni.cncf.io/v1 kind: NetworkAttachmentDefinition metadata: name: ce2-slo namespace: f5-ce spec: config: | { "cniVersion": "0.4.0", "name": "ce2-slo", "type": "ovn-k8s-cni-overlay", "topology": "localnet", "netAttachDefName": "f5-ce/ce2-slo", "mtu": 1500, "vlanID": 3052, "ipam": {} } Internal Network (ce2-sli): Internal Network (ce2-sli): Provides an isolated Layer 2 network for internal communication. By setting the topology to "layer2", this network operates as an internal overlay network that is not directly connected to the physical network infrastructure. The mtu is set to 1400 bytes to accommodate any overhead introduced by encapsulation protocols used in the internal network overlay. apiVersion: k8s.cni.cncf.io/v1 kind: NetworkAttachmentDefinition metadata: name: ce2-sli namespace: f5-ce spec: config: | { "cniVersion": "0.4.0", "name": "ce2-sli", "type": "ovn-k8s-cni-overlay", "topology": "layer2", "netAttachDefName": "f5-ce/ce2-sli", "mtu": 1400, "ipam": {} } VirtualMachine Configuration Configuring the virtual machine involves preparing the image, creating cloud-init user data, and defining the VirtualMachine resource. Image Preparation Obtain XC CE Image: Download the qcow2 image from the F5 Distributed Cloud Console. Generate Node Token: Acquire a one-time node token for node registration. Cloud-Init User Data Create a user-data configuration containing the node token and network settings: #cloud-config write_files: - path: /etc/vpm/user_data content: | token: <your-node-token> slo_ip: <IP>/<prefix> slo_gateway: <Gateway IP> slo_dns: <DNS IP> owner: root permissions: '0644' Replace placeholders with actual network configurations. This file automates the VM's initial setup and registration. VirtualMachine Resource Definition Define the VirtualMachine resource, specifying CPU, memory, disks, network interfaces, and cloud-init configurations. Resources: Allocate sufficient CPU and memory. Disks: Reference the DataVolume containing the XC CE image. Interfaces: Attach NADs for network connectivity. Cloud-Init: Embed the user data for automatic configuration. Conclusion Deploying F5 Distributed Cloud CE in OpenShift Virtualization enables organizations to leverage advanced networking and security features within their existing Kubernetes infrastructure. This integration facilitates a more secure, efficient, and scalable environment for modern applications. For detailed deployment instructions and configuration examples, please refer to the attached PDF guide. Related Articles: BIG-IP VE in Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization VMware to Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Migration OpenShift VirtualizationSeamless App Connectivity with F5 and Nutanix Cloud Services
Modern enterprise networks face the challenge of connecting diverse cloud services and partner ecosystems, expanding routing domains and distributed application connections. As network complexity grows, the need to onboard applications quickly become paramount despite intricate networking operations. Automation tools like Ansible help manage network and security devices. But it is still hard to connect distributed applications across new systems like clouds and Kubernetes. This article explores F5 Distributed Cloud Services (XC), which facilitates intent-based application-to-application connectivity across varied infrastructures. Expanding and increasingly sophisticated enterprise networks Traditional data center networks typically rely on VLAN-isolated architectures with firewall ACLs for intra-network security. With digital transformation and cloud migrations, new systems work with existing networks. They move from VLANs to labels and namespaces like Kubernetes and Red Hat OpenShift. Future trends point to increased edge computing adoption, further complicating network infrastructures. Managing these complexities raises costs due to design, implementation, and testing impacts of network changes. Network infrastructure is becoming more complex due to factors such as increased NAT settings, routing adjustments, added ACLs, and the need to remove duplicate IP addresses when integrating new and existing networks. This growing complexity drives up the costs of design, implementation, and testing, amplifying the impact of network changes A typical network uses firewalls to control access between VLANs or isolated networks based on security policies. Access lists (ACLs) are organized by source and destination applications or clients. The order of ACLs is important because shorter prefixes can override longer ones. In some cases, ACLs exceed 10,000 lines, making it difficult to identify which rules impact application connectivity. As a result, ACLs for discontinued applications often remain in the firewall configuration, posing potential security risks. However, refactoring ACLs requires significant effort and testing. F5 XC addresses the ACL issue by managing all application connectivity across on-premises, data centers, and clouds. Its load balancer connects applications through VLANs, VPCs, and other networks. Each load balancer has its own application control and associated ACLs, ensuring changes to one load balancer don’t affect others. When an application is discontinued, its load balancer is deleted, preventing leftover configurations and reducing security risks. SNAT/DNAT is commonly used to resolve IP conflicts, but it reduces observability since each NAT table between the client and application must be referenced. ACL implementations vary across router/firewall vendors—some apply filters before NAT, others after. Logs may follow this behavior, making IP address normalization difficult. Pre-NAT IP addresses must be managed across the entire network, adding complexity and increasing costs. F5 XC simplifies distributed load balancing by terminating client sessions and forwarding them to endpoints. Clients and endpoints only need IP reachability to the CE interface. The load balancer can use a VIP for client access, but global management isn't required, as the client-side network sets it. It provides clear source/destination data, making application access easy to track without managing NAT IP addresses. F5 Distributed Cloud MCN/Network as a Service F5XC offers an all-in-one software package for networking and security, managed through a single console with intent-based configuration. This eliminates the need for separate appliance setups. Furthermore, firewall, load balancer, WAF changes, and function updates are done via SDN without causing downtime. The F5 XC Customer Edge (CE) works across physical appliances, VMs, containers, and clouds, creating overlay tunnels between CEs. Acting as an application gateway, it isolatesrouting domains and terminates L3 routing, while maintaining best practices for cloud, Kubernetes, and on-prem networks. This simplifies physical network configurations, speeding up provisioning and reducing costs. How CE works in enterprise network This design is straightforward: CEs are deployed in the cloud and the user’s data center. In this example, the data center CE connects four networks: Underlay network for CE-to-CE connectivity Cloud application network (VPC/VNET) Branch office network Data center application network The data center CE connects the branch office and application networks to their respective VRFs, while the cloud CE links the cloud network to a VRF. The application runs on VLAN 100 (192.168.1.1) in the data center, while clients are in the branch office. The load balancer configuration is as follows: Load balancer: Branch office VRF Domain: ent-app1.com Endpoint (Origin pool): Onpre-VLAN100 VRF, 192.168.1.1 Clients access "ent-app1.com," which resolves to a VIP or CE interface address. The CE identifies the application’s location, and since the endpoint is in the same CE within the Onpre-VLAN100 VRF, it sets the source IP as the CE and forwards traffic to 192.168.1.1. Next, the application is migrated to the cloud. The CE facilitates this transition from on-premises to the cloud by specifying the endpoint. The load balancer configuration is as follows: Load Balancer: Branch Office VRF Domain: ent-app1.com Endpoint (Origin Pool): AWS-VPC VRF, 10.0.0.1 When traffic arrives at the CE from a client in the branch office, the CE in the data center forwards the traffic to the CE on AWS through an overlay tunnel. The only configuration change required is updating the endpoint via the console. There is no need to modify the firewall, switch, or router in the underlay network. Kubernetes networking is unique because it abstracts IP addresses. Applications use FQDNs instead of IP addresses and are isolated by namespace or label. When accessing the external network, Kubernetes uses SNAT to map the IP address to that of the Kubernetes node, masking the source of the traffic. CE can run as a pod within a Kubernetes namespace. Combining a CE on Kubernetes with a CE on-premises offers flexible external access to Kubernetes applications without complex configurations like Multus. F5XC simplifies connectivity by providing a common configuration for linking Kubernetes to on-premises and cloud environments via a load balancer. The load balancer configuration is as follows: Load Balancer: Kubernetes Domain: ent-app1.com Endpoint (Origin Pool): Onprem-vlan100 VRF, 192.168.1.1 / AWS-VPC VRF, 10.0.0.1 * Related blog https://community.f5.com/kb/technicalarticles/multi-cluster-multi-cloud-networking-for-k8s-with-f5-distributed-cloud-%E2%80%93-archite/307125 Load balancer observability The Load Balancer in F5XC offers advanced observability features, including end-to-end network latency, L7 request logs, and API visualization. It automatically aggregates data from various logs and metrics, (see below). You can also generate API graphs from the aggregated data. This allows users to identify which APIs are in use and create policies to block unnecessary ones. Demo movie The video demonstration shows how F5 XC connects applications across different environments, including VM, Kubernetes, on-premises, and cloud. CE delivers both L3 and L7 connectivity across these environments. Conclusion F5 Distributed Cloud Services (F5XC) simplifies enterprise networking by integrating applications seamlessly across VMs, Kubernetes, on-premises, and cloud environments. By minimizing physical network modifications and leveraging best practices from diverse infrastructure systems, F5XC enables efficient, scalable, and secure application connectivity. Key Benefits: - Simplified physical network design - Network as a Service for seamless application communication and visibility - Integration with new networking paradigms like Kubernetes and SASE Looking Ahead As new networking systems emerge, F5XC remains adaptable, leveraging APIs for self-service network configurations and enabling future-ready enterprise networks.How to Split DNS with Managed Namespace on F5 Distributed Cloud (XC) Part 2 – TCP & UDP
Re-Introduction In Part 1, we covered the deployment of the DNS workloads to our Managed Namespace and creating an HTTPS Load Balancer and Origin Pool for DNS over HTTPS. If you missed Part 1, feel free to jump over and give it a read. In Part 2, we will cover creating a TCP and UDP Load Balancer and Origin Pools for standard TCP & UDP DNS. TCP Origin Pool First, we need to create an origin pool. On the left menu, under Manage, Load Balancers, click Origin Pools. Let’s give our origin pool a name, and add some Origin Servers, so under Origin Servers, click Add Item. In the Origin Server settings, we want to select K8s Service Name of Origin Server on given Sites as our type, and enter our service name, which will be the service name from Part 1 and our namespace, so “servicename.namespace”. For the Site, we select one of the sites we deployed the workload to, and under Select Network on the Site, we want to seledt vK8s Networks on the Site, then click Apply. Do this for each site we deployed to so we have several servers in our Origin Pool. In Part 1, our Services defined the targetPort as 5553. So, we set Port to 5553 on the origin. This is all we need to configure for our TCP Origin, so click Save and Exit. TCP Load Balancer Next, we are going to make a TCP Load Balancer, since its less steps (and quicker) than a UDP Load Balancer (today). On the left menu under Manage, Load Balancers, select TCP Load Balancers. Let’s set a name for our TCP LB and set our listen port, 53 is a reserved port on Customer Edge Sites so we need to use something else, so let’s use 5553 again, under origin pools we set the origin that we created previously, and then we get to the important piece, which is Where to Advertise. In Part 1 we advertised to the internet with some extra steps on how to advertise to an internal network, in this part we will advertise internally. Select Advertise Custom, then click edit configuration. Then under Custom Advertise VIP Configuration, click Add Item. We want to select the Site where we are going to advertise, the network interface we will advertise.Click Apply, then Apply again. We don’t need to configure anything else, so click Save and Exit. UDP Load Balancer For UDP Load Balancers we need to jump to the Load Balancer section again, but instead of a load balancer, we are going to create a Virtual Host which are not listed in the Distributed Applications tile, so from the top drop down “Select Service” choose the Load Balancers tile. In the left menu under Manage, we go to Virtual Hosts instead of Load Balancers. The first thing we will configure is an Advertise Policy, so let’s select that. Advertise Policy Let’s give the policy a name, select the location we want to advertise on the Site Local Inside Network, and set the port to 5553. Save and Exit. Endpoints Now back to Manage, Virtual Hosts, and Endpoints so we can add an endpoint. Name the endpoint and specify based on the screenshot below. Endpoint Specifier: Service Selector Info Discovery: Kubernetes Service: Service Name Service Name: service-name.namespace Protocol: UDP Port: 5553 Virtual Site or Site or Network: Site Reference: Site Name Network Type: Site Local Service Network Save and Exit. Cluster The Cluster configuration will be simple, from Manage, Virtual Hosts, Clusters, add Cluster. We just need a name and select the Origin Servers / Endpoints and select the endpoint we just created. Save and Exit. Route The Route configuration will be simple as well, from Manage, Virtual Hosts, Routes, add Route. Name the route and under List of Routes click Configure, then Add Item. Leave most settings as they are, and under Actions, choose Destination List, then click Configure. Under Origin Pools and Weights, click Add Item. Under Cluster with Weight and Priority select the cluster we created previously, leave Weight as null for this configuration, then click Apply, apply again, apply again, Apply again, Save and Exit. Now we can Finally create a Virtual Host. Virtual Host Under Manage, Virtual Host, Select Virtual Host, then Click Add Virtual Host. There are a ton of options here, but we only care about a couple. Give the Virtual Host a name. Proxy Type: UDP Proxy Advertise Policy: previously created policy Moment of Truth, Again Now that we have our services published we can give them a test. Since they are currently on a non standard port, and most systems dont let us specify a port in default configurations we need to test with dig, nslookup, etc. To test TCP with nslookup: nslookup -port=5553 -vc google.com 192.168.125.229 Server: 192.168.125.229 Address: 192.168.125.229#5553 Non-authoritative answer: Name: google.com Address: 142.251.40.174 To test UDP with nslookup: nslookup -port=5553 google.com 192.168.125.229 Server: 192.168.125.229 Address: 192.168.125.229#5553 Non-authoritative answer: Name: google.com Address: 142.251.40.174 IP Tables for Non-Standard DNS Ports If we wanted to use the nonstandard port tcp/udp dns on Linux or MacOS, we can use IPTABLES to forward all the traffic for us. There isnt a way to set this up in Windows OS today, but as in Part 1, Windows Server 2022 supports encrypted DNS over HTTPS, and it can be pushed as policy through Group Policy as well. iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -i eth0 -p udp –dport 53 -j DNAT –to XXXXXXXXXX:5553 iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -i eth0 -p udp –dport 53 -j DNAT –to XXXXXXXXXX:5553 iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -i eth0 -p tcp –dport 53 -j DNAT –to XXXXXXXXXX:5553 iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -i eth0 -p tcp –dport 53 -j DNAT –to XXXXXXXXXX:5553 "Nature is a mutable cloud, which is always and never the same." - Ralph Waldo Emerson We might not wax that philosophically around here, but our heads are in the cloud nonetheless! Join the F5 Distributed Cloud user group today and learn more with your peers and other F5 experts. Conclusion I hope this helps with a common use-case we are hearing every day, and shows how simple it is to deploy workloads into our Managed Namespaces.Cascading Configs Tool for F5 Distributed Cloud Managed Service Provider (MSP) and Delegated Access Customers
A new tool has been released that enables F5 Distributed Cloud Managed Service Provider customers or customers with Delegated Access to push and maintain shared configurations to any of their Child Tenants.
