f5networks.f5_modules.bigip_virtual_address – Manage LTM virtual addresses on a BIG-IP

Note

This plugin is part of the f5networks.f5_modules collection (version 1.13.0).

You might already have this collection installed if you are using the ansible package. It is not included in ansible-core. To check whether it is installed, run ansible-galaxy collection list.

To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install f5networks.f5_modules.

To use it in a playbook, specify: f5networks.f5_modules.bigip_virtual_address.

New in version 1.0.0: of f5networks.f5_modules

Synopsis

  • Manage LTM virtual addresses on a BIG-IP system.

Parameters

Parameter

Comments

address

string

Specifies the virtual address. This value cannot be modified after it is set.

If you never created a virtual address, but did create virtual servers, a virtual address for each virtual server was created automatically. The name of this virtual address is its IP address value.

arp

boolean

Specifies whether the system accepts ARP requests.

When no, specifies the system does not accept ARP requests.

When yes, the packets are dropped.

Both ARP and ICMP Echo must be disabled in order for forwarding virtual servers using that virtual address to forward ICMP packets.

When creating a new virtual address, if this parameter is not specified, the default value is yes.

Choices:

  • no

  • yes

auto_delete

boolean

Specifies whether the system automatically deletes the virtual address with the deletion of the last associated virtual server. When no, specifies the system leaves the virtual address, even when all associated virtual servers have been deleted. When creating the virtual address, the default value is yes.

Choices:

  • no

  • yes

availability_calculation

aliases: advertise_route

string

Specifies which routes of the virtual address the system advertises. When when_any_available, advertises the route when any virtual server is available. When when_all_available, advertises the route when all virtual servers are available. When (always), always advertises the route regardless of the virtual servers available.

Choices:

  • always

  • when_all_available

  • when_any_available

connection_limit

integer

Specifies the number of concurrent connections the system allows on this virtual address.

icmp_echo

string

Specifies how the system sends responses to (ICMP) echo requests on a per-virtual address basis for enabling route advertisement. When enabled, the BIG-IP system intercepts ICMP echo request packets and responds to them directly. When disabled, the BIG-IP system passes ICMP echo requests through to the backend servers. When (selective), causes the BIG-IP system to internally enable or disable responses based on virtual server state; when_any_available, when_all_available, or C(always, regardless of the state of any virtual servers.

Choices:

  • enabled

  • disabled

  • selective

name

string

Name of the virtual address.

If this parameter is not provided, the system uses the value of address.

netmask

string

Specifies the netmask of the provided virtual address. This value cannot be modified after it is set.

When creating a new virtual address, if this parameter is not specified, the default value is 255.255.255.255 for IPv4 addresses and ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff for IPv6 addresses.

partition

string

Device partition to manage resources on.

Default: “Common”

provider

dictionary

added in 1.0.0 of f5networks.f5_modules

A dict object containing connection details.

auth_provider

string

Configures the auth provider for to obtain authentication tokens from the remote device.

This option is really used when working with BIG-IQ devices.

no_f5_teem

boolean

If yes, TEEM telemetry data is not sent to F5.

You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_TELEMETRY_OFF.

Previously used variable F5_TEEM is deprecated as its name was confusing.

Choices:

  • no ← (default)

  • yes

password

aliases: pass, pwd

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.

server

string / required

The BIG-IP host.

You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_SERVER.

server_port

integer

The BIG-IP server port.

You may omit this option by setting the environment variable F5_SERVER_PORT.

Default: 443

timeout

integer

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

Configures the transport connection to use when connecting to the remote device.

Choices:

  • rest ← (default)

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

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.

Choices:

  • no

  • yes ← (default)

route_advertisement

string

Specifies whether the system uses route advertisement for this virtual address.

When disabled, the system does not advertise routes for this virtual address.

The majority of these options are only supported on versions 13.0.0-HF1 or later. On versions prior than this, all choices expect disabled translate to enabled.

When always, the BIG-IP system always advertises the route for the virtual address, regardless of availability status. This requires an enabled virtual address.

When enabled, the BIG-IP system advertises the route for the available virtual address, based on the calculation method in the availability calculation.

When disabled, the BIG-IP system does not advertise the route for the virtual address, regardless of the availability status.

When selective, you can also selectively enable ICMP echo responses, which causes the BIG-IP system to internally enable or disable responses based on virtual server state.

When any, the BIG-IP system advertises the route for the virtual address when any virtual server is available.

When all, the BIG-IP system advertises the route for the virtual address when all virtual servers are available.

Choices:

  • disabled

  • enabled

  • always

  • selective

  • any

  • all

route_domain

string

The route domain of the address you want to use.

This value cannot be modified after it is set.

spanning

boolean

Enables all BIG-IP systems in a device group to listen for and process traffic on the same virtual address.

Spanning for a virtual address occurs when you enable the spanning option on a device, and then sync the virtual address to the other members of the device group.

Spanning also relies on the upstream router to distribute application flows to the BIG-IP systems using ECMP routes. ECMP defines a route to the virtual address using distinct Floating self-IP addresses configured on each BIG-IP system.

You must also configure MAC masquerade addresses and disable arp on the virtual address when Spanning is enabled.

When creating a new virtual address, if this parameter is not specified, the default valus is no.

Choices:

  • no

  • yes

state

string

The virtual address state. If absent, the system makes an attempt to delete the virtual address. This will only succeed if this virtual address is not in use by a virtual server. present creates the virtual address and enables it. If enabled, enables the virtual address if it exists. If disabled, creates the virtual address if needed, and sets the state to disabled.

Choices:

  • present ← (default)

  • absent

  • enabled

  • disabled

traffic_group

string

The traffic group for the virtual address. When creating a new address, if this value is not specified, the default is /Common/traffic-group-1.

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 f5networks.f5_modules.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: Add virtual address
  bigip_virtual_address:
    state: present
    partition: Common
    address: 10.10.10.10
    provider:
      server: lb.mydomain.net
      user: admin
      password: secret
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Enable route advertisement on the virtual address
  bigip_virtual_address:
    state: present
    address: 10.10.10.10
    route_advertisement: any
    provider:
      server: lb.mydomain.net
      user: admin
      password: secret
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values

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

Key

Description

address

integer

The address of the virtual address.

Returned: created

Sample: 2345

arp

boolean

The new way the virtual address handles ARP requests.

Returned: changed

Sample: true

auto_delete

boolean

New setting for auto deleting virtual address.

Returned: changed

Sample: true

availability_calculation

string

Specifies which routes of the virtual address the system advertises.

Returned: changed

Sample: “always”

connection_limit

integer

The new connection limit of the virtual address.

Returned: changed

Sample: 1000

icmp_echo

string

New ICMP echo setting applied to virtual address.

Returned: changed

Sample: “disabled”

netmask

integer

The netmask of the virtual address.

Returned: created

Sample: 2345

spanning

string

Whether spanning is enabled or not.

Returned: changed

Sample: “disabled”

state

string

The new state of the virtual address.

Returned: changed

Sample: “disabled”

Authors

  • Tim Rupp (@caphrim007)

  • Wojciech Wypior (@wojtek0806)