Horizon View iApp - Big-IP 17.5
I have a client deploying an r4650 pair. The plan is for it to handle Exchange, LDAPS & Horizon View. I’m in the process of initial setup on the pair of boxes now. It’s been a long time since I've deployed Horizon View on F5. I see that the iApp is still maintained so yay! Question: is the current 1.5.9 version of the iApp supported in Big-IP 17.5? The KB article states 17.1 but the article hasn’t been updated in a while. F5 recommends the latest version of 17.5 but I don't want to hit any snags as we deploy. Thanks in advance, Matt
UDP TCP Packet Duplication
Problem this snippet solves: This iApp provides full configuration of UDP/TCP packet duplication. It is commonly used to duplicate Syslog, SNMP Traps, Netflow, and Sflow data streams to multiple vendor solutions or customers. It also provides fault tolerance capabilities within each duplicated destination. By pointing Network devices, Appliances, and Servers to a VIP distributing network management traffic modifying distribution of streams can be done in one centralized location. UDP packets retain the original source address when sending to the destination locations. Notes: Prior to 11.5 you must add an IPv6 address to any interface to allow for HSL traffic to be sent to the distribution virtual fdf5::1/64 fdf5::2/64 for an HA pair would do it.* TCP traffic does not maintain original source Internal F5 Resources can demo this solution within the UDF environment using the blueprint named "Traffic Duplication Demo" Contributed by: Ken Bocchino 20200807 - Updated to v2.2 How to use this snippet:
F5 iApp Automated Backup
Problem this snippet solves: This is now available on GitHub! Please look on GitHub for the latest version, and submit any bugs or questions as an "Issue" on GitHub: (Note: DevCentral admin update - Daniel's project appears abandoned so it's been forked and updated to the link below. @damnski on github added some SFTP code that has been merged in as well.) https://github.com/f5devcentral/f5-automated-backup-iapp Intro Building on the significant work of Thomas Schockaert (and several other DevCentralites) I enhanced many aspects I needed for my own purposes, updated many things I noticed requested on the forums, and added additional documentation and clarification. As you may see in several of my comments on the original posts, I iterated through several 2.2.x versions and am now releasing v3.0.0. Below is the breakdown! Also, I have done quite a bit of testing (mostly on v13.1.0.1 lately) and I doubt I've caught everything, especially with all of the changes. Please post any questions or issues in the comments. Cheers! Daniel Tavernier (tabernarious) Related posts: Git Repository for f5-automated-backup-iapp (https://github.com/tabernarious/f5-automated-backup-iapp) https://community.f5.com/t5/technical-articles/f5-automated-backups-the-right-way/ta-p/288454 https://community.f5.com/t5/crowdsrc/complete-f5-automated-backup-solution/ta-p/288701 https://community.f5.com/t5/crowdsrc/complete-f5-automated-backup-solution-2/ta-p/274252 https://community.f5.com/t5/technical-forum/automated-backup-solution/m-p/24551 https://community.f5.com/t5/crowdsrc/tkb-p/CrowdSRC v3.2.1 (20201210) Merged v3.1.11 and v3.2.0 for explicit SFTP support (separate from SCP). Tweaked the SCP and SFTP upload directory handling; detailed instructions are in the iApp. Tested on 13.1.3.4 and 14.1.3 v3.1.11 (20201210) Better handling of UCS passphrases, and notes about characters to avoid. I successfully tested this exact passphrase in the 13.1.3.4 CLI (surrounded with single quote) and GUI (as-is): `~!@#$%^*()aB1-_=+[{]}:./? I successfully tested this exact passphrase in 14.1.3 (square-braces and curly-braces would not work): `~!@#$%^*()aB1-_=+:./? Though there may be situations these could work, avoid these characters (separated by spaces): " ' & | ; < > \ [ ] { } , Moved changelog and notes from the template to CHANGELOG.md and README.md. Replaced all tabs (\t) with four spaces. v3.1.10 (20201209) Added SMB Version and SMB Security options to support v14+ and newer versions of Microsoft Windows and Windows Server. Tested SMB/CIFS on 13.1.3.4 and 14.1.3 against Windows Server 2019 using "2.0" and "ntlmsspi" v3.1.0: Removed "app-service none" from iCall objects. The iCall objects are now created as part of the Application Service (iApp) and are properly cleaned up if the iApp is redeployed or deleted. Reasonably tested on 11.5.4 HF2 (SMB worked fine using "mount -t cifs") and altered requires-bigip-version-min to match. Fixing error regarding "script did not successfully complete: (can't read "::destination_parameters__protocol_enable": no such variable" by encompassing most of the "implementation" in a block that first checks $::backup_schedule__frequency_select for "Disable". Added default value to "filename format". Changed UCS default value for $backup_file_name_extension to ".ucs" and added $fname_noext. Removed old SFTP sections and references (now handled through SCP/SFTP). Adjusted logging: added "sleep 1" to ensure proper logging; added $backup_directory to log message. Adjusted some help messages. New v3.0.0 features: Supports multiple instances! (Deploy multiple copies of the iApp to save backups to different places or perhaps to keep daily backups locally and send weekly backups to a network drive.) Fully ConfigSync compatible! (Encrypted values now in $script instead of local file.) Long passwords supported! (Using "-A" with openssl which reads/writes base64 encoded strings as a single line.) Added $script error checking for all remote backup types! (Using 'catch' to prevent tcl errors when $script aborts.) Backup files are cleaned up after any $script errors due to new error checking. Added logging! (Run logs sent to '/var/log/ltm' via logger command which is compatible with BIG-IP Remote Logging configuration (syslog). Run logs AND errors sent to '/var/tmp/scriptd.out'. Errors may include plain-text passwords which should not be in /var/log/ltm or syslog.) Added custom cipher option for SCP! (In case BIG-IP and the destination server are not cipher-compatible out of the box.) Added StrictHostKeyChecking=no option. (This is insecure and should only be used for testing--lots of warnings.) Combined SCP and SFTP because they are both using SCP to perform the remote copy. (Easier to maintain!) Original v1.x.x and v2.x.x features kept (copied from an original post): It allows you to choose between both UCS or SCF as backup-types. (whilst providing ample warnings about SCF not being a very good restore-option due to the incompleteness in some cases) It allows you to provide a passphrase for the UCS archives (the standard GUI also does this, so the iApp should too) It allows you to not include the private keys (same thing: standard GUI does it, so the iApp does it too) It allows you to set a Backup Schedule for every X minutes/hours/days/weeks/months or a custom selection of days in the week It allows you to set the exact time, minute of the hour, day of the week or day of the month when the backup should be performed (depending on the usefulness with regards to the schedule type) It allows you to transfer the backup files to external devices using 4 different protocols, next to providing local storage on the device itself SCP (username/private key without password) SFTP (username/private key without password) FTP (username/password) SMB (now using TMOS v12.x.x compatible 'mount -t cifs', with username/password) Local Storage (/var/local/ucs or /var/local/scf) It stores all passwords and private keys in a secure fashion: encrypted by the master key of the unit (f5mku), rendering it safe to store the backups, including the credentials off-box It has a configurable automatic pruning function for the Local Storage option, so the disk doesn't fill up (i.e. keep last X backup files) It allows you to configure the filename using the date/time wildcards from the tcl [clock] command, as well as providing a variable to include the hostname It requires only the WebGUI to establish the configuration you desire It allows you to disable the processes for automated backup, without you having to remove the Application Service or losing any previously entered settings For the external shellscripts it automatically generates, the credentials are stored in encrypted form (using the master key) It allows you to no longer be required to make modifications on the linux command line to get your automated backups running after an RMA or restore operation It cleans up after itself, which means there are no extraneous shellscripts or status files lingering around after the scripts execute How to use this snippet: Find and download the latest iApp template on GitHub (e.g "f5.automated_backup.v3.2.1.tmpl.tcl"). Import the text file as an iApp Template in the BIG-IP GUI. Create an Application Service using the imported Template. Answer the questions (paying close attention to the help sections). Check /var/tmp/scriptd.out for general logs and errors. Tested this on version: 16.0
question about getting hsl data to be formatted properly in splunk
I posted a similar question about 2 weeks ago and I am still not able to get the data that I send to splunk to have the proper json format. Has anyone either configured their own log pool, log destination and log published or used the f5 supported iapps template f5 analytics version to send log data to splunk ? I will include my HSL::open and HSL:send commands and my log command as well as a screen print with the problem we are trying to solve. What I have been told is that the red color in splunk is the key and the light blue is the value. When I just use the log statement everything is formatted correctly in splunk. When I use the HSL::send command everything I send becomes the key and then the value is something called hostname which is not usable. I have the need to send massive amounts of data to splunk so it is prohibitive to use the log command and put all this data also on local disk. set hsl [HSL::open -proto TCP -pool analytics-iapp-hec-forwarder-tcp-log-stage0] HSL::send $hsl "<190>,hsl test,f5_irule=hsl_splunk_logging_new,client_ip=$client, client_port=$client_port, vip_ip=$vip, vip_port=$vip_local_port, snat_ip=$self_ip,snat_port=$self_ip_local_port,remote_ip=$node,remote_port=$node_server_port " log local0.info "hsltest Event=CLIENT_CLOSED protocol=tcp hsl=$hsl client_ip= $client client_port= $client_port vip_ip= $vip vip_port= $vip_local_port snat_ip= $self_ip snat_port= $self_ip_local_port remote_ip= $node remote_port= $node_server_port "
What is an iApp?
iApp is a seriously cool, game changing technology that was released in F5’s v11. There are so many benefits to our customers with this tool that I am going to break it down over a series of posts. Today we will focus on what it is. Hopefully you are already familiar with the power of F5’s iRules technology. If not, here is a quick background. F5 products support a scripting language based on TCL. This language allows an administrator to tell their BIG-IP to intercept, inspect, transform, direct and track inbound or outbound application traffic. An iRule is the bit of code that contains the set of instructions the system uses to process data flowing through it, either in the header or payload of a packet. This technology allows our customers to solve real-time application issues, security vulnerabilities, etc that are unique to their environment or are time sensitive. An iApp is like iRules, but for the management plane. Again, there is a scripting language that administrators can build instructions the system will use. But instead of describing how to process traffic, in the case of iApp, it is used to describe the user interface and how the system will act on information gathered from the user. The bit of code that contains these instructions is referred to as an iApp or iApp template. A system administrator can use F5-provided iApp templates installed on their BIG-IP to configure a service for a new application. They will be presented with the text and input fields defined by the iApp author. Once complete, their answers are submitted, and the template implements the configuration. First an application service object (ASO) is created that ties together all the configuration objects which are created, like virtual servers and profiles. Each object created by the iApp is then marked with the ASO to identify their membership in the application for future management and reporting. That about does it for what an iApp is…..next up, how they can work for you.Cannot turn off strict updates
Hello, when I try to turn off strict updates within iApps, it sits at "loading" for a very long time then comes back to original page with strict updates still enabled. I have tried from tmos using the command modify sys application service test.app/test strict-updates disabled but it just sits there as if it's doing something but never returns so I have to break out of it. Any ideas gratefully received.
