f5networks.f5_modules.bigip_device_group module – Manage device groups on a BIG-IP

Note

This module is part of the f5networks.f5_modules collection (version 1.17.0).

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_device_group.

New in version 1.0.0: of f5networks.f5_modules

Synopsis

  • Managing device groups allows you to create HA pairs and clusters of BIG-IP devices. Usage of this module should be done in conjunction with the bigip_configsync_actions to sync the configuration across the pair or cluster if auto-sync is disabled.

Parameters

Parameter

Comments

auto_sync

boolean

Indicates whether configuration synchronization occurs manually or automatically.

When creating a new device group, this option will default to no.

Choices:

  • no ← (default)

  • yes

description

string

Description of the device group.

full_sync

boolean

Specifies whether the system synchronizes the entire configuration during synchronization operations.

When no, the system performs incremental synchronization operations, based on the cache size specified in max_incremental_sync_size.

Incremental configuration synchronization is a mechanism for synchronizing a device-group’s configuration among its members, without requiring a full configuration load for each configuration change.

In order for this to work, all devices in the device-group must initially agree on the configuration. Typically this requires at least one full configuration load to each device.

When creating a new device group, this option will default to no.

Choices:

  • no

  • yes

max_incremental_sync_size

integer

Specifies the size of the changes cache for incremental sync.

For example, using the default, if you make more than 1024 KB worth of incremental changes, the system performs a full synchronization operation.

Using incremental synchronization operations can reduce the per-device sync/load time for configuration changes.

This setting is relevant only when full_sync is no.

name

string / required

Specifies the name of the device group.

network_failover

boolean

Indicates whether failover occurs over the network or is hard-wired.

This parameter is only valid for types that are sync-failover.

Choices:

  • no

  • yes

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)

save_on_auto_sync

boolean

When performing an auto-sync, specifies whether the configuration will be saved or not.

When no, only the running configuration will be changed on the device(s) being synced to.

When creating a new device group, this option will default to no.

Choices:

  • no

  • yes

state

string

When state is present, ensures the device group exists.

When state is absent, ensures the device group is removed.

Choices:

  • present ← (default)

  • absent

type

string

Specifies the type of group.

A sync-failover device group contains devices that synchronize their configuration data and fail over to one another when a device becomes unavailable.

A sync-only device group has no such failover. When creating a new device group, this option will default to sync-only.

This setting cannot be changed once it has been set.

Choices:

  • sync-failover

  • sync-only

Notes

Note

  • This module is primarily used as a component of configuring HA pairs of BIG-IP devices.

  • Requires BIG-IP >= 12.1.x.

  • 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: Create a sync-only device group
  bigip_device_group:
    name: foo-group
    provider:
      password: secret
      server: lb.mydomain.com
      user: admin
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Create a sync-only device group with auto-sync enabled
  bigip_device_group:
    name: foo-group
    auto_sync: yes
    provider:
      password: secret
      server: lb.mydomain.com
      user: admin
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values

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

Key

Description

auto_sync

boolean

The new auto_sync value of the device group.

Returned: changed

Sample: true

description

string

The new description of the device group.

Returned: changed

Sample: “this is a device group”

full_sync

boolean

The new full_sync value of the device group.

Returned: changed

Sample: false

max_incremental_sync_size

integer

The new sync size of the device group.

Returned: changed

Sample: 1000

network_failover

boolean

Whether or not network failover is enabled.

Returned: changed

Sample: true

save_on_auto_sync

boolean

The new save_on_auto_sync value of the device group.

Returned: changed

Sample: true

type

string

The new type of the device group.

Returned: changed

Sample: “sync-failover”

Authors

  • Tim Rupp (@caphrim007)

  • Wojciech Wypior (@wojtek0806)