bigip_gtm_server – Manages F5 BIG-IP GTM servers

New in version 2.5.

Synopsis

  • Manage BIG-IP server configuration. This module is able to manipulate the server definitions in a BIG-IP.

Requirements

The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module.

  • f5-sdk >= 3.0.16

Parameters

Parameter Choices/Defaults Comments
datacenter
-
Data center the server belongs to. When creating a new GTM server, this value is required.
devices
-
Lists the self IP addresses and translations for each device. When creating a new GTM server, this value is required. This list is a complex list that specifies a number of keys.
The name key specifies a name for the device. The device name must be unique per server. This key is required.
The address key contains an IP address, or list of IP addresses, for the destination server. This key is required.
The translation key contains an IP address to translate the address value above to. This key is optional.
Specifying duplicate name fields is a supported means of providing device addresses. In this scenario, the addresses will be assigned to the name's list of addresses.
iquery_options
-
added in 2.7
Specifies whether the Global Traffic Manager uses this BIG-IP system to conduct a variety of probes before delegating traffic to it.
allow_path
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Specifies that the system verifies the logical network route between a data center server and a local DNS server.
allow_service_check
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Specifies that the system verifies that an application on a server is running, by remotely running the application using an external service checker program.
allow_snmp
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Specifies that the system checks the performance of a server running an SNMP agent.
link_discovery
-
    Choices:
  • enabled
  • disabled
  • enabled-no-delete
Specifies whether the system auto-discovers the links for this server. When creating a new GTM server, if this parameter is not specified, the default value disabled is used.
If you set this parameter to enabled or enabled-no-delete, you must also ensure that the virtual_server_discovery parameter is also set to enabled or enabled-no-delete.
name
- / required
The name of the server.
partition
-
added in 2.5
Default:
"Common"
Device partition to manage resources on.
password
- / required
The password for the user account used to connect to the BIG-IP.
You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_PASSWORD.

aliases: pass, pwd
provider
-
added in 2.5
Default:
null
A dict object containing connection details.
password
- / required
The password for the user account used to connect to the BIG-IP.
You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_PASSWORD.

aliases: pass, pwd
server
- / required
The BIG-IP host.
You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_SERVER.
server_port
-
Default:
443
The BIG-IP server port.
You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_SERVER_PORT.
ssh_keyfile
-
Specifies the SSH keyfile to use to authenticate the connection to the remote device. This argument is only used for cli transports.
You may omit this option by setting the environment variable ANSIBLE_NET_SSH_KEYFILE.
timeout
-
Default:
10
Specifies the timeout in seconds for communicating with the network device for either connecting or sending commands. If the timeout is exceeded before the operation is completed, the module will error.
transport
- / required
    Choices:
  • rest
  • cli ←
Configures the transport connection to use when connecting to the remote device.
user
- / required
The username to connect to the BIG-IP with. This user must have administrative privileges on the device.
You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_USER.
validate_certs
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes ←
If no, SSL certificates are not validated. Use this only on personally controlled sites using self-signed certificates.
You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_VALIDATE_CERTS.
server
- / required
The BIG-IP host.
You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_SERVER.
server_port
-
added in 2.2
Default:
443
The BIG-IP server port.
You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_SERVER_PORT.
server_type
-
    Choices:
  • alteon-ace-director
  • cisco-css
  • cisco-server-load-balancer
  • generic-host
  • radware-wsd
  • windows-nt-4.0
  • bigip
  • cisco-local-director-v2
  • extreme
  • generic-load-balancer
  • sun-solaris
  • cacheflow
  • cisco-local-director-v3
  • foundry-server-iron
  • netapp
  • windows-2000-server
Specifies the server type. The server type determines the metrics that the system can collect from the server. When creating a new GTM server, the default value bigip is used.

aliases: product
state
-
    Choices:
  • present ←
  • absent
  • enabled
  • disabled
The server state. If absent, an attempt to delete the server will be made. This will only succeed if this server is not in use by a virtual server. present creates the server and enables it. If enabled, enable the server if it exists. If disabled, create the server if needed, and set state to disabled.
user
- / required
The username to connect to the BIG-IP with. This user must have administrative privileges on the device.
You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_USER.
validate_certs
boolean
added in 2.0
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes ←
If no, SSL certificates are not validated. Use this only on personally controlled sites using self-signed certificates.
You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_VALIDATE_CERTS.
virtual_server_discovery
-
    Choices:
  • enabled
  • disabled
  • enabled-no-delete
Specifies whether the system auto-discovers the virtual servers for this server. When creating a new GTM server, if this parameter is not specified, the default value disabled is used.

Notes

Note

  • For more information on using Ansible to manage F5 Networks devices see https://www.ansible.com/integrations/networks/f5.
  • Requires the f5-sdk Python package on the host. This is as easy as pip install f5-sdk.
  • Requires BIG-IP software version >= 12.
  • The F5 modules only manipulate the running configuration of the F5 product. To ensure that BIG-IP specific configuration persists to disk, be sure to include at least one task that uses the bigip_config module to save the running configuration. Refer to the module’s documentation for the correct usage of the module to save your running configuration.

Examples

- name: Create server "GTM_Server"
  bigip_gtm_server:
    server: lb.mydomain.com
    user: admin
    password: secret
    name: GTM_Server
    datacenter: /Common/New York
    server_type: bigip
    link_discovery: disabled
    virtual_server_discovery: disabled
    devices:
      - {'name': 'server_1', 'address': '1.1.1.1'}
      - {'name': 'server_2', 'address': '2.2.2.1', 'translation':'192.168.2.1'}
      - {'name': 'server_2', 'address': '2.2.2.2'}
      - {'name': 'server_3', 'addresses': [{'address':'3.3.3.1'},{'address':'3.3.3.2'}]}
      - {'name': 'server_4', 'addresses': [{'address':'4.4.4.1','translation':'192.168.14.1'}, {'address':'4.4.4.2'}]}
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Create server "GTM_Server" with expanded keys
  bigip_gtm_server:
    server: lb.mydomain.com
    user: admin
    password: secret
    name: GTM_Server
    datacenter: /Common/New York
    server_type: bigip
    link_discovery: disabled
    virtual_server_discovery: disabled
    devices:
      - name: server_1
        address: 1.1.1.1
      - name: server_2
        address: 2.2.2.1
        translation: 192.168.2.1
      - name: server_2
        address: 2.2.2.2
      - name: server_3
        addresses:
          - address: 3.3.3.1
          - address: 3.3.3.2
      - name: server_4
        addresses:
          - address: 4.4.4.1
            translation: 192.168.14.1
          - address: 4.4.4.2
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key Returned Description
datacenter
string
changed
The new datacenter which the server is part of.

Sample:
datacenter01
link_discovery
string
changed
The new link_discovery configured on the remote device.

Sample:
enabled
server_type
string
changed
The new type of the server.

Sample:
bigip
virtual_server_discovery
string
changed
The new virtual_server_discovery name for the trap destination.

Sample:
disabled


Status

  • This module is guaranteed to have no backward incompatible interface changes going forward. [stableinterface]
  • This module is maintained by an Ansible Partner. [certified]

Authors

  • Robert Teller
  • Tim Rupp (@caphrim007)

Hint

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