New VM F5 Networks BigIP qcow2 or ISO

[donmunyak]

Hello,
I am preparing to deploy and F5 Networks BigIP onto Proxmox v8.1.4
In my preparation I have been scowring the internet for what looks to be pieces and parts, which is OK... I'm documenting every step.
I have seen several posts about downloading the qcow2 image... check
As I started building the VM, I noticed the disk format = raw, and was greyed out.
My storage for local-lvm = LVM-thin
As well as, don't worry about the disk.. they are gonna be deleted anyway.
my lab is minimalist currently
- 500GB SSD LVM-Thin
- 250GB SSD M2 LVM
Question:

1. Is there any benefit to trying to make qcow2 work?
2. Or would it be simpler just to download an ISO and call it a day?

 

[Dunuin]

If you want to store images as qcow2 format you need a filesystem. LVM-Thin/LVM/ZFS got no filesystem so its only possible to storage LVs/Zvols as "raw" format.
Search for the "qm importdisk" command if you want to import and convert a qcow2 formated virtual disks to raw to store it on a LVM-Thin pool. Or "qemu-img" if you just want to convert between formats.

 

[donmunyak]

I guess I got lucky, beacuse the install worked. ( I got a little impatient - "its a VM environment")
After downloading the qcow2 image from F5.com
uploaded to proxmox /root
unzip BIGIP-16.1.4.2-0.0.3.ALL.qcow2.zip
qm disk import 106 BIGIP-16.1.4.2-0.0.3.qcow2 local-lvm
Then attached to the VM, and the installed worked.

Thanks

 

[branto]

You will need to set your hardware version to 7.2 in order for the eval licensing to work, as of 2024-04-10.

 

[CuriousMe]

I guess I got lucky, beacuse the install worked. ( I got a little impatient - "its a VM environment")
After downloading the qcow2 image from F5.com
uploaded to proxmox /root
unzip BIGIP-16.1.4.2-0.0.3.ALL.qcow2.zip
qm disk import 106 BIGIP-16.1.4.2-0.0.3.qcow2 local-lvm
Then attached to the VM, and the installed worked.

Thanks

Hi, any chance you documented the steps and can share? I'm having all kinds of issues. The BigIP is not in a good state after its built, its very unstable after the root pwd is changed and the mgtIP set.

 

[donmunyak]

Hi, any chance you documented the steps and can share? I'm having all kinds of issues. The BigIP is not in a good state after its built, its very unstable after the root pwd is changed and the mgtIP set.

Yes, I will try to update later.

 

[donmunyak]

K85183351-munyak: How to deploy BIG-IP VE with Proxmox Virtual Environment​

Published Date: Oct 12, 2020
Updated Date: June 20, 2024

Applies to:

Topic​

You should consider using this procedure under the following condition:

• You want to deploy a BIG-IP VE instance in an existing Proxmox Virtual Environment.
• Proxmox v8.2.4

Description​

The Proxmox Virtual Environment integrates the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) hypervisor, LXC Linux containers, software defined storage and network functionality into a single management platform that allows configuration, deployment, and monitoring through browser-based access. The following procedures outline how to deploy a BIG-IP VE instance using the Proxmox Virtual Environment.

Note: You cannot upload or import image files through the Proxmox Virtual Environment GUI.

Prerequisites

You must meet the following prerequisites to use this procedure:

• You have a general understanding of the Proxmox Virtual Environment.
• You are familiar with using the Linux command line.
• You can access the Proxmox Virtual Environment on TCP ports 8006 and 22.
• You have a BIG-IP registration key and access to the internet.
  Note: The BIG-IP VE instance does not require access to the internet; however, internet access is required to complete licensing of the BIG-IP VE instance.

Procedures

• Create SDN within Proxmox pve-docs
• Create a new virtual machine (VM)
• Add additional network interfaces to the BIG-IP VM
• Use the BIG-IP qcow2 disk image
• Alternate method to utilize the BIG-IP qcow2 disk image
• Launch the BIG-IP VM instance

Optional procedures

• Optional: Considerations for configuring the Proxmox Virtual Environment and multiple VM networks
• Optional: Install the ifupdown2 utility for non-subscription Proxmox Virtual Environments
• Optional: Modify the /etc/networks/interfaces file

Prepare Proxmox VE SDN environment​

1. Create Zones
   1. Create ‘Simple Zones’
   2. VLAN zone : for vlan tagging
2. Create VNets
   1. Create ‘external’ VNet: v100 : dataplane
   2. Create ‘internal’ VNet: v200 : dataplane
   3. Create ‘internal’ VNet: v290: dataplane FO
3. Create virtualized Subnets
   1. Subnet (1) 172.16.10.0/24 : v100 : external
   2. Subnet (2) 172.16.20.0/24 : v200 : internal
   3. Subnet (2) 172.16.90.0/24 : v290 : internal
4. Apply changes

Create a new virtual machine (VM)​

The following procedure creates a base virtual machine (VM) that specifies the BIG-IP VE name, CPU, memory, and management network settings

Issue with v8.1.2/8.2.4

Latest Proxmox update Breaks Licensing

Create initial VE in Proxmox​

Impact of procedure: Performing the following procedure should not have a negative impact on your system.

1. Log in to the Proxmox Virtual Environment GUI.
2. Select Server View.
3. Go to Datacenter.
4. Select the Proxmox Virtual Environment name for which you want deploy the BIG-IP VE instance.
5. In the upper-right corner of the GUI, select Create VM.
6. Select the Advanced check box.
7. The following are based on a successfully deployed image on my lab platform.

General​

1. Name text box
   1. Name: F5-BigIP
   2. ID: 9001
2. Important: Note the numeric VM ID.

OS Type​

1. Select Do not use any media.
2. Type = Linux
3. Version = Version to 6.x-2.6 Kernel

System​

1. Graphic Card = Default
2. SCSI Controller = VirtIO SCSI single.
3. BIOS = SeaBIOS (default).
4. Machine = i440fx (default)
5. Qemu Agent = enable
6. TPM = disabled

Disks​

1. Delete Disk - This will be added later.

CPU​

1. Sockets = 1
2. Cores = 4
3. Advanced > CPU Limit 4
4. Note: F5 recommends that you review the memory and CPU requirements for KVM deployments in K15796: Hardware requirements to host BIG-IP VE on private cloud platforms.
5. Type = x86-64-v2-AES

Memory​

1. Memory = 8192 (8GiB)
2. Ballooning = uncheck

Network​

1. Bridge = vmbr0
2. Firewall = unchecked
3. Model: VirtIO

Confirm​

1. UnCheck = start after created
2. Finish

Adjust VM settings​

Hardware​

1. Add Network Device = v100
2. Disconnect = unchecked
3. Add Network device = v200
4. Disconnect = unchecked
5. Add VirtIO RNG for random number generator for SSL connections
6. Delete CD/DVD

Impost disk image: BIG-IP qcow2 disk image​

1. Download qcow2 image from my.f5.com
   BIGIP-17.1.1.1-0.0.2.ALL.qcow2.zip
   BIGIP-16.1.4-0.0.2.ALL.qcow2.zip
   
   
2. Upload image from local machine to proxmox server
   scp BIGIP-16.1.4-0.0.2.ALL.qcow2.zip root@proxmox.domain.local:/root/f5vm
   
   
3. After you upload the BIG-IP VE image file, access the Proxmox Virtual Environment command line and use the following command syntax to unzip the qcow2 file:
   unzip BIGIP-16.1.4-0.0.2.ALL.qcow2.zip
   
   
4. Import image using qm
5. qm disk import <vmid> <source> local-lvm
   qm disk import 9001 BIGIP-16.1.4-0.0.2.qcow2 local-lvm
   :
   transferred 79.9 GiB of 82.0 GiB (97.42%)
   transferred 80.7 GiB of 82.0 GiB (98.44%)
   transferred 81.6 GiB of 82.0 GiB (99.48%)
   transferred 82.0 GiB of 82.0 GiB (100.00%)
   transferred 82.0 GiB of 82.0 GiB (100.00%)
   Successfully imported disk as 'unused0:local-lvm:vm-9001-disk-0'

Configuring the VM to use the imported disk image​

For the new VM to boot the imported BIG-IP VE image file, you must modify the VM instance to remove the hard drive of the initial deployment and select the BIG-IP image file as the default hard drive.

The following procedure removes the initial deployment hard drive and configures the VM to use the imported hard drive.

Impact of procedure: Performing the following procedure should not have a negative impact on your system.

1. Log in to the Proxmox Virtual Environment GUI.
2. Select Server View.
3. Go to Datacenter.
4. Expand the Proxmox VM list.
5. Select the name of the previously created BIG-IP virtual machine.
6. Select Hardware.
7. Double-click the remaining Unused Disk (the BIG-IP imported disk).
8. Important: Note the disk Bus/Device settings.
   1. SCSI: 0
   2. Check Discard
   3. Check SSD emulation
9. Select Add.

Options > Boot Order​

1. Select Options.
2. Double-click Boot Order.
3. Set Boot device to the imported BIG-IP disk image, based on the Bus/Device settings in the previous step.
4. Select OK.

Create Local DNS entry for static IP​

192.168.1.50 A f5lab01

Launch the BIG-IP VM instance​

The following procedure launches the BIG-IP VM instance, resets the BIG-IP root password, and, if you want, configures the BIG-IP management IP address.

Impact of procedure: Performing the following procedure should not have a negative impact on your system.

1. Select the BIG-IP VM.
2. Select Start.
3. Select Console.
4. Log in to the BIG-IP console as the root/default user.
   Note: The system prompts you to reset the root password.
5. To determine the IP address of the management interface, enter the following command:
6. ip a show mgmt
7. To change the management IP address access the TMOS Shell (tmsh) by entering the following command:
8. tmsh
9. Use the following syntax to set a static IP address for the management interface:
   modify /sys global-settings mgmt-dhcp disabled
   delete /sys management-ip 192.168.1.161/24
   create /sys management-ip 192.168.1.50/24
   save /sys config
   reboot now
   
   
10. Note: These commands are not required if you prefer the BIG-IP VM to use DHCP to configure the management interface IP address.
    Note: Replace <existing ip address> with the IP address listed by the ip a show mgmt command.
    Note: Replace <ip address/netmask> with an available IP address on your management network range as configured on the Proxmox Virtual Environment (typically vmbr0).
11. You can now access the BIG-IP Configuration utility using the specified management IP address to license, provision, and configure the BIG-IP virtual machine.
    Note: For single network interface deployments, access the Configuration utility using the following URL syntax: https://<management-ip address>:8443/.
    Note: <management-ip address> is the IP address configured in the previous steps or from DHCP.
    
    
12. Modify Admin password from CLI
    tmsh modify auth user admin prompt-for-password
13. 
    

Additional steps (optional)​

1. Disable GUI global settings
   tmsh modify sys global-settings gui-setup disabled
   tmsh modify sys global-settings hostname f5lab01.domain.local
2. 
   
3. Create UCS before Licensing
   Tmsh save sys ucs pre-license
4. Add VNets defined above, shutdown before adding in proxmox > hardware
   1. v100 external
   2. v200 internal
   3. v290 for failover
5. Then proceed to license device, using GUI
6. Before you can license, you need to modify the machine version. This appears to be still broken in v8.2.4 proxmox
   1. Set version to 7.2

Restart VM and now you should be able to License the VM

Optional: Considerations for configuring the Proxmox Virtual Environment and multiple VM networks

Related Content​

• K14952: Extending disk space on BIG-IP
• K17160: Achieving consistent high-performance on BIG-IP VE

 

[donmunyak]

And to be transparent, I took a copy of the F5 article, and updated my edits, hence the title

K85183351-munyak: How to deploy BIG-IP VE with Proxmox Virtual Environment​