bigip_virtual_server - Manage LTM virtual servers on a BIG-IP

New in version 2.1.

Synopsis

  • Manage LTM virtual servers on a BIG-IP.

Requirements

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

  • f5-sdk >= 3.0.9
  • netaddr

Parameters

Parameter Choices/Defaults Comments
address_translation
bool

(added in 2.6)
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Specifies, when enabled, that the system translates the address of the virtual server.
When disabled, specifies that the system uses the address without translation.
This option is useful when the system is load balancing devices that have the same IP address.
When creating a new virtual server, the default is enabled.
default_persistence_profile
Default Profile which manages the session persistence.
If you want to remove the existing default persistence profile, specify an empty value; "". See the documentation for an example.
When type is dhcp, this parameter will be ignored.
description
Virtual server description.
destination
Destination IP of the virtual server.
Required when state is present and virtual server does not exist.
When type is internal, this parameter is ignored. For all other types, it is required.

aliases: address, ip
disabled_vlans
(added in 2.5)
List of VLANs to be disabled. If the partition is not specified in the VLAN, then the partition option of this module will be used.
This parameter is mutually exclusive with the enabled_vlans parameters.
enabled_vlans
(added in 2.2)
List of VLANs to be enabled. When a VLAN named all is used, all VLANs will be allowed. VLANs can be specified with or without the leading partition. If the partition is not specified in the VLAN, then the partition option of this module will be used.
This parameter is mutually exclusive with the disabled_vlans parameter.
fallback_persistence_profile
(added in 2.3)
Specifies the persistence profile you want the system to use if it cannot use the specified default persistence profile.
If you want to remove the existing fallback persistence profile, specify an empty value; "". See the documentation for an example.
When type is dhcp, this parameter will be ignored.
firewall_enforced_policy
(added in 2.6)
Applies the specify AFM policy to the virtual in an enforcing way.
When creating a new virtual, if this parameter is not specified, the enforced policy is disabled.
firewall_staged_policy
(added in 2.6)
Applies the specify AFM policy to the virtual in an enforcing way.
A staged policy shows the results of the policy rules in the log, while not actually applying the rules to traffic.
When creating a new virtual, if this parameter is not specified, the staged policy is disabled.
ip_protocol
(added in 2.6)
    Choices:
  • ah
  • bna
  • esp
  • etherip
  • gre
  • icmp
  • ipencap
  • ipv6
  • ipv6-auth
  • ipv6-crypt
  • ipv6-icmp
  • isp-ip
  • mux
  • ospf
  • sctp
  • tcp
  • udp
  • udplite
Specifies a network protocol name you want the system to use to direct traffic on this virtual server.
When creating a new virtual server, if this parameter is not specified, the default is tcp.
The Protocol setting is not available when you select Performance (HTTP) as the Type.
The value of this argument can be specified in either it's numeric value, or, for convenience, in a select number of named values. Refer to choices for examples.
For a list of valid IP protocol numbers, refer to this page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IP_protocol_numbers
When type is dhcp, this module will force the ip_protocol parameter to be 17 (UDP).
irules
(added in 2.2)
List of rules to be applied in priority order.
If you want to remove existing iRules, specify a single empty value; "". See the documentation for an example.
When type is dhcp, this parameter will be ignored.
When type is stateless, this parameter will be ignored.
When type is reject, this parameter will be ignored.
When type is internal, this parameter will be ignored.

aliases: all_rules
metadata
(added in 2.5)
Arbitrary key/value pairs that you can attach to a pool. This is useful in situations where you might want to annotate a virtual to me managed by Ansible.
Key names will be stored as strings; this includes names that are numbers.
Values for all of the keys will be stored as strings; this includes values that are numbers.
Data will be persisted, not ephemeral.
name
required
Virtual server name.

aliases: vs
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 can omit this option if the environment variable F5_PASSWORD is set.

aliases: pass, pwd
policies
Specifies the policies for the virtual server.
When type is dhcp, this parameter will be ignored.
When type is reject, this parameter will be ignored.
When type is internal, this parameter will be ignored.

aliases: all_policies
pool
Default pool for the virtual server.
If you want to remove the existing pool, specify an empty value; "". See the documentation for an example.
When creating a new virtual server, and type is stateless, this parameter is required.
If type is stateless, the pool that is used must not have any members which define a rate_limit.
port
Port of the virtual server. Required when state is present and virtual server does not exist.
If you do not want to specify a particular port, use the value 0. The result is that the virtual server will listen on any port.
When type is dhcp, this module will force the port parameter to be 67.
When type is internal, this module will force the port parameter to be 0.
In addition to specifying a port number, a select number of service names may also be provided.
The string ftp may be substituted for for port 21.
The string http may be substituted for for port 80.
The string https may be substituted for for port 443.
The string telnet may be substituted for for port 23.
The string smtp may be substituted for for port 25.
The string snmp may be substituted for for port 161.
The string snmp-trap may be substituted for for port 162.
The string ssh may be substituted for for port 22.
The string tftp may be substituted for for port 69.
The string isakmp may be substituted for for port 500.
The string mqtt may be substituted for for port 1883.
The string mqtt-tls may be substituted for for port 8883.
port_translation
bool

(added in 2.6)
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Specifies, when enabled, that the system translates the port of the virtual server.
When disabled, specifies that the system uses the port without translation. Turning off port translation for a virtual server is useful if you want to use the virtual server to load balance connections to any service.
When creating a new virtual server, the default is enabled.
profiles
List of profiles (HTTP, ClientSSL, ServerSSL, etc) to apply to both sides of the connection (client-side and server-side).
If you only want to apply a particular profile to the client-side of the connection, specify client-side for the profile's context.
If you only want to apply a particular profile to the server-side of the connection, specify server-side for the profile's context.
If context is not provided, it will default to all.
If you want to remove a profile from the list of profiles currently active on the virtual, then simply remove it from the profiles list. See examples for an illustration of this.
If you want to add a profile to the list of profiles currently active on the virtual, then simply add it to the profiles list. See examples for an illustration of this.
Profiles matter. There is a good chance that this module will fail to configure a BIG-IP if you mix up your profiles, or, if you attempt to set an IP protocol which your current, or new, profiles do not support. Both this module, and BIG-IP, will tell you when you are wrong, with an error resembling lists profiles incompatible with its protocol.
If you are unsure what correct profile combinations are, then have a BIG-IP available to you in which you can make changes and copy what the correct combinations are.

aliases: all_profiles
name
Name of the profile.
If this is not specified, then it is assumed that the profile item is only a name of a profile.
This must be specified if a context is specified.
context
    Choices:
  • all ←
  • server-side
  • client-side
The side of the connection on which the profile should be applied.
provider
(added in 2.5)
A dict object containing connection details.
password
required
The password for the user account used to connect to the BIG-IP. You can omit this option if the environment variable F5_PASSWORD is set.

aliases: pass, pwd
server
required
The BIG-IP host. You can omit this option if the environment variable F5_SERVER is set.
server_port Default:
443
The BIG-IP server port. You can omit this option if the environment variable F5_SERVER_PORT is set.
user
required
The username to connect to the BIG-IP with. This user must have administrative privileges on the device. You can omit this option if the environment variable F5_USER is set.
validate_certs
bool
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes ←
If no, SSL certificates will not be validated. Use this only on personally controlled sites using self-signed certificates. You can omit this option if the environment variable F5_VALIDATE_CERTS is set.
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.
ssh_keyfile
Specifies the SSH keyfile to use to authenticate the connection to the remote device. This argument is only used for cli transports. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable ANSIBLE_NET_SSH_KEYFILE will be used instead.
transport
required
    Choices:
  • rest
  • cli ←
Configures the transport connection to use when connecting to the remote device.
security_log_profiles
(added in 2.6)
Specifies the log profile applied to the virtual server.
To make use of this feature, the AFM module must be licensed and provisioned.
The Log all requests and Log illegal requests are mutually exclusive and therefore, this module will raise an error if the two are specified together.
server
required
The BIG-IP host. You can omit this option if the environment variable F5_SERVER is set.
server_port
(added in 2.2)
 Default:
443
The BIG-IP server port. You can omit this option if the environment variable F5_SERVER_PORT is set.
snat
Source network address policy.
When type is dhcp, this parameter is ignored.
When type is reject, this parameter will be ignored.
When type is internal, this parameter will be ignored.
The name of a SNAT pool (eg "/Common/snat_pool_name") can be specified to enable SNAT with the specific pool.
To remove SNAT, specify the word none.
To specify automap, use the word automap.
source
(added in 2.5)
Specifies an IP address or network from which the virtual server accepts traffic.
The virtual server accepts clients only from one of these IP addresses.
For this setting to function effectively, specify a value other than 0.0.0.0/0 or ::/0 (that is, any/0, any6/0).
In order to maximize utility of this setting, specify the most specific address prefixes covering all customer addresses and no others.
Specify the IP address in Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) format; address/prefix, where the prefix length is in bits. For example, for IPv4, 10.0.0.1/32 or 10.0.0.0/24, and for IPv6, ffe1::0020/64 or 2001:ed8:77b5:2:10:10:100:42/64.
state
    Choices:
  • present ←
  • absent
  • enabled
  • disabled
The virtual server state. If absent, delete the virtual server if it exists. present creates the virtual server and enable it. If enabled, enable the virtual server if it exists. If disabled, create the virtual server if needed, and set state to disabled.
type
(added in 2.6)
    Choices:
  • standard ←
  • forwarding-l2
  • forwarding-ip
  • performance-http
  • performance-l4
  • stateless
  • reject
  • dhcp
  • internal
  • message-routing
Specifies the network service provided by this virtual server.
When creating a new virtual server, if this parameter is not provided, the default will be standard.
This value cannot be changed after it is set.
When standard, specifies a virtual server that directs client traffic to a load balancing pool and is the most basic type of virtual server. When you first create the virtual server, you assign an existing default pool to it. From then on, the virtual server automatically directs traffic to that default pool.
When forwarding-l2, specifies a virtual server that shares the same IP address as a node in an associated VLAN.
When forwarding-ip, specifies a virtual server like other virtual servers, except that the virtual server has no pool members to load balance. The virtual server simply forwards the packet directly to the destination IP address specified in the client request.
When performance-http, specifies a virtual server with which you associate a Fast HTTP profile. Together, the virtual server and profile increase the speed at which the virtual server processes HTTP requests.
When performance-l4, specifies a virtual server with which you associate a Fast L4 profile. Together, the virtual server and profile increase the speed at which the virtual server processes layer 4 requests.
When stateless, specifies a virtual server that accepts traffic matching the virtual server address and load balances the packet to the pool members without attempting to match the packet to a pre-existing connection in the connection table. New connections are immediately removed from the connection table. This addresses the requirement for one-way UDP traffic that needs to be processed at very high throughput levels, for example, load balancing syslog traffic to a pool of syslog servers. Stateless virtual servers are not suitable for processing traffic that requires stateful tracking, such as TCP traffic. Stateless virtual servers do not support iRules, persistence, connection mirroring, rateshaping, or SNAT automap.
When reject, specifies that the BIG-IP system rejects any traffic destined for the virtual server IP address.
When dhcp, specifies a virtual server that relays Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) client requests for an IP address to one or more DHCP servers, and provides DHCP server responses with an available IP address for the client.
When internal, specifies a virtual server that supports modification of HTTP requests and responses. Internal virtual servers enable usage of ICAP (Internet Content Adaptation Protocol) servers to modify HTTP requests and responses by creating and applying an ICAP profile and adding Request Adapt or Response Adapt profiles to the virtual server.
When message-routing, specifies a virtual server that uses a SIP application protocol and functions in accordance with a SIP session profile and SIP router profile.
user
required
The username to connect to the BIG-IP with. This user must have administrative privileges on the device. You can omit this option if the environment variable F5_USER is set.
validate_certs
bool

(added in 2.0)
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes ←
If no, SSL certificates will not be validated. Use this only on personally controlled sites using self-signed certificates. You can omit this option if the environment variable F5_VALIDATE_CERTS is set.

Notes

Note

  • Requires BIG-IP software version >= 11
  • Requires the netaddr Python package on the host. This is as easy as pip install netaddr.
  • 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.

Examples

- name: Modify Port of the Virtual Server
  bigip_virtual_server:
    server: lb.mydomain.net
    user: admin
    password: secret
    state: present
    partition: Common
    name: my-virtual-server
    port: 8080
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Delete virtual server
  bigip_virtual_server:
    server: lb.mydomain.net
    user: admin
    password: secret
    state: absent
    partition: Common
    name: my-virtual-server
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Add virtual server
  bigip_virtual_server:
    server: lb.mydomain.net
    user: admin
    password: secret
    state: present
    partition: Common
    name: my-virtual-server
    destination: 10.10.10.10
    port: 443
    pool: my-pool
    snat: Automap
    description: Test Virtual Server
    profiles:
      - http
      - fix
      - name: clientssl
        context: server-side
      - name: ilx
        context: client-side
    policies:
      - my-ltm-policy-for-asm
      - ltm-uri-policy
      - ltm-policy-2
      - ltm-policy-3
    enabled_vlans:
      - /Common/vlan2
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Add FastL4 virtual server
  bigip_virtual_server:
    destination: 1.1.1.1
    name: fastl4_vs
    port: 80
    profiles:
      - fastL4
    state: present

- name: Add iRules to the Virtual Server
  bigip_virtual_server:
    server: lb.mydomain.net
    user: admin
    password: secret
    name: my-virtual-server
    irules:
      - irule1
      - irule2
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Remove one iRule from the Virtual Server
  bigip_virtual_server:
    server: lb.mydomain.net
    user: admin
    password: secret
    name: my-virtual-server
    irules:
      - irule2
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Remove all iRules from the Virtual Server
  bigip_virtual_server:
    server: lb.mydomain.net
    user: admin
    password: secret
    name: my-virtual-server
    irules: ""
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Remove pool from the Virtual Server
  bigip_virtual_server:
    server: lb.mydomain.net
    user: admin
    password: secret
    name: my-virtual-server
    pool: ""
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Add metadata to virtual
  bigip_pool:
    server: lb.mydomain.com
    user: admin
    password: secret
    state: absent
    name: my-pool
    partition: Common
    metadata:
      ansible: 2.4
      updated_at: 2017-12-20T17:50:46Z
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Add virtual with two profiles
  bigip_pool:
    server: lb.mydomain.com
    user: admin
    password: secret
    state: absent
    name: my-pool
    partition: Common
    profiles:
      - http
      - tcp
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Remove HTTP profile from previous virtual
  bigip_pool:
    server: lb.mydomain.com
    user: admin
    password: secret
    state: absent
    name: my-pool
    partition: Common
    profiles:
      - tcp
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Add the HTTP profile back to the previous virtual
  bigip_pool:
    server: lb.mydomain.com
    user: admin
    password: secret
    state: absent
    name: my-pool
    partition: Common
    profiles:
      - http
      - tcp
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values

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

Key Returned Description
address_translation
bool
 changed
The new value specifying whether address translation is on or off.

Sample:
True
default_persistence_profile
string
 changed
Default persistence profile set on the virtual server.

Sample:
/Common/dest_addr
description
string
 changed
New description of the virtual server.

Sample:
This is my description
destination
string
 changed
Destination of the virtual server.

Sample:
1.1.1.1
disabled
bool
 changed
Whether the virtual server is disabled, or not.

Sample:
True
disabled_vlans
list
 changed
List of VLANs that the virtual is disabled for.

Sample:
['/Common/vlan1', '/Common/vlan2']
enabled
bool
 changed
Whether the virtual server is enabled, or not.
enabled_vlans
list
 changed
List of VLANs that the virtual is enabled for.

Sample:
['/Common/vlan5', '/Common/vlan6']
fallback_persistence_profile
string
 changed
Fallback persistence profile set on the virtual server.

Sample:
/Common/source_addr
firewall_enforced_policy
string
 changed
The new enforcing firewall policy.

Sample:
/Common/my-enforced-fw
firewall_staged_policy
string
 changed
The new staging firewall policy.

Sample:
/Common/my-staged-fw
ip_protocol
int
 changed
The new value of the IP protocol.

Sample:
6
irules
list
 changed
iRules set on the virtual server.

Sample:
['/Common/irule1', '/Common/irule2']
metadata
dict
 changed
The new value of the virtual.

Sample:
{'key1': 'foo', 'key2': 'bar'}
policies
list
 changed
List of policies attached to the virtual.

Sample:
['/Common/policy1', '/Common/policy2']
pool
string
 changed
Pool that the virtual server is attached to.

Sample:
/Common/my-pool
port
int
 changed
Port that the virtual server is configured to listen on.

Sample:
80
port_translation
bool
 changed
The new value specifying whether port translation is on or off.

Sample:
True
profiles
list
 changed
List of profiles set on the virtual server.

Sample:
[{'name': 'tcp', 'context': 'server-side'}, {'name': 'tcp-legacy', 'context': 'client-side'}]
security_log_profiles
list
 changed
The new list of security log profiles.

Sample:
['/Common/profile1', '/Common/profile2']
snat
string
 changed
SNAT setting of the virtual server.

Sample:
Automap
source
string
 changed
Source address, in CIDR form, set on the virtual server.

Sample:
1.2.3.4/32


Status

This module is flagged as preview which means that it is not guaranteed to have a backwards compatible interface.

Maintenance

This module is flagged as community which means that it is maintained by the Ansible Community. See Module Maintenance & Support for more info.

For a list of other modules that are also maintained by the Ansible Community, see here.

Author

  • Tim Rupp (@caphrim007)

Hint

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

© 2012–2018 Michael DeHaan
© 2018–2019 Red Hat, Inc.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/2.6/modules/bigip_virtual_server_module.html