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.

Parameters

Parameter Choices/Defaults Comments
availability_requirements
dictionary
added in 2.8
Specifies, if you activate more than one health monitor, the number of health monitors that must receive successful responses in order for the link to be considered available.
at_least
integer
Specifies the minimum number of active health monitors that must be successful before the link is considered up.
This parameter is only relevant when a type of at_least is used.
This parameter will be ignored if a type of either all or require is used.
number_of_probers
integer
Specifies the number of probers that should be used when running probes.
When creating a new virtual server, if this parameter is specified, then the number_of_probes parameter must also be specified.
The value of this parameter should always be higher than, or equal to, the value of number_of_probers.
This parameter is only relevant when a type of require is used.
This parameter will be ignored if a type of either all or at_least is used.
number_of_probes
integer
Specifies the minimum number of probes that must succeed for this server to be declared up.
When creating a new virtual server, if this parameter is specified, then the number_of_probers parameter must also be specified.
The value of this parameter should always be lower than, or equal to, the value of number_of_probers.
This parameter is only relevant when a type of require is used.
This parameter will be ignored if a type of either all or at_least is used.
type
string
    Choices:
  • all
  • at_least
  • require
Monitor rule type when monitors is specified.
When creating a new pool, if this value is not specified, the default of 'all' will be used.
datacenter
string
Data center the server belongs to. When creating a new GTM server, this value is required.
devices
list
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
dictionary
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.
limits
dictionary
added in 2.8
Specifies resource thresholds or limit requirements at the pool member level.
When you enable one or more limit settings, the system then uses that data to take members in and out of service.
You can define limits for any or all of the limit settings. However, when a member does not meet the resource threshold limit requirement, the system marks the member as unavailable and directs load-balancing traffic to another resource.
bits_enabled
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Whether the bits limit it enabled or not.
This parameter allows you to switch on or off the effect of the limit.
bits_limit
integer
Specifies the maximum allowable data throughput rate, in bits per second, for the member.
If the network traffic volume exceeds this limit, the system marks the member as unavailable.
connections_enabled
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Whether the current connections limit it enabled or not.
This parameter allows you to switch on or off the effect of the limit.
connections_limit
integer
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections, combined, for all of the member.
If the connections exceed this limit, the system marks the server as unavailable.
cpu_enabled
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Whether the CPU limit it enabled or not.
This parameter allows you to switch on or off the effect of the limit.
cpu_limit
integer
Specifies the percent of CPU usage.
If percent of CPU usage goes above the limit, the system marks the server as unavailable.
memory_enabled
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Whether the memory limit it enabled or not.
This parameter allows you to switch on or off the effect of the limit.
memory_limit
integer
Specifies the available memory required by the virtual servers on the server.
If available memory falls below this limit, the system marks the server as unavailable.
packets_enabled
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Whether the packets limit it enabled or not.
This parameter allows you to switch on or off the effect of the limit.
packets_limit
integer
Specifies the maximum allowable data transfer rate, in packets per second, for the member.
If the network traffic volume exceeds this limit, the system marks the member as unavailable.
link_discovery
string
    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.
monitors
list
added in 2.8
Specifies the health monitors that the system currently uses to monitor this resource.
When availability_requirements.type is require, you may only have a single monitor in the monitors list.
name
string / required
The name of the server.
partition
string
added in 2.5
 Default:
"Common"
Device partition to manage resources on.
password
string / 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
prober_fallback
string
added in 2.8
    Choices:
  • any
  • inside-datacenter
  • outside-datacenter
  • inherit
  • pool
  • none
Specifies the type of prober to use to monitor this server's resources when the preferred prober is not available.
This option is ignored in TMOS version 12.x.
From TMOS version 13.x and up, when prober_preference is set to pool a prober_pool parameter must be specified.
The choices are mutually exclusive with prober_preference parameter, with the exception of any-available or none option.
prober_pool
string
added in 2.8
Specifies the name of the prober pool to use to monitor this server's resources.
From TMOS version 13.x and up, this parameter is mandatory when prober_preference is set to pool.
Format of the name can be either be prepended by partition (/Common/foo), or specified just as an object name (foo).
In TMOS version 12.x prober_pool can be set to empty string to revert to default setting of inherit.
prober_preference
string
added in 2.8
    Choices:
  • inside-datacenter
  • outside-datacenter
  • inherit
  • pool
Specifies the type of prober to use to monitor this server's resources.
This option is ignored in TMOS version 12.x.
From TMOS version 13.x and up, when prober_preference is set to pool a prober_pool parameter must be specified.
provider
dictionary
added in 2.5
A dict object containing connection details.
password
string / 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
string / required
The BIG-IP host.
You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_SERVER.
server_port
integer
Default:
443
The BIG-IP server port.
You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_SERVER_PORT.
ssh_keyfile
path
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
integer
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
string
    Choices:
  • cli
  • rest ←
Configures the transport connection to use when connecting to the remote device.
user
string / 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
string / required
The BIG-IP host.
You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_SERVER.
server_port
integer
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
string
    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
string
    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
string / 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
string
    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 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:
    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
    provider:
      user: admin
      password: secret
      server: lb.mydomain.com
  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
    provider:
      user: admin
      password: secret
      server: lb.mydomain.com
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values

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

Key Returned Description
bits_enabled
boolean
 changed
Whether the bits limit is enabled.

Sample:
True
bits_limit
integer
 changed
The new bits_enabled limit.

Sample:
100
connections_enabled
boolean
 changed
Whether the connections limit is enabled.

Sample:
True
connections_limit
integer
 changed
The new connections_limit limit.

Sample:
100
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
monitors
list
 changed
The new list of monitors for the resource.

Sample:
['/Common/monitor1', '/Common/monitor2']
packets_enabled
boolean
 changed
Whether the packets limit is enabled.

Sample:
True
packets_limit
integer
 changed
The new packets_limit limit.

Sample:
100
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 (@r-teller)

  • Tim Rupp (@caphrim007)

  • Wojciech Wypior (@wojtek0806)

Hint

If you notice any issues in this documentation you can edit this document to improve it.