HTTP Load Balancer

Objective

This guide provides instructions on how to create an HTTP load balancer in F5® Distributed Cloud Console (Console) using guided configuration. This includes configuring the required objects for the virtual host. To learn more about virtual hosts, see Virtual Host.

Using guided creation for HTTP load balancer, you can create the following types of load balancers:

  • HTTP load balancer
  • HTTPS load balancer with your own TLS certificate
  • HTTPS load balancer with automatic TLS certificate (minted by F5® Distributed Cloud Services)

Using the instructions provided in this guide, you can perform the following:

  • Create and advertise an HTTP load balancer
  • Create and advertise an HTTPS load balancer with your TLS certificate or with the certificate minted by Distributed Cloud Services

Note: Distributed Cloud Services support automatic certificate generation and management. You can either delegate your domain to Distributed Cloud Services or add the CNAME record to your DNS records in case you do not delegate the domain to Distributed Cloud Services. See Automatic Certificate Generation for certificates managed by Distributed Cloud Services. See Delegate Domain for more information on how to delegate your domain to Distributed Cloud Services.


Prerequisites

The following prerequisites apply:

  • A Distributed Cloud Services Account. If you do not have an account, see Create an Account.

  • A valid DNS domain delegated to Distributed Cloud Services in case you want Distributed Cloud Services to act as domain name server (DNS). For instructions on how to delegate your domain to Distributed Cloud Services, see Delegate Domain.

  • A Distributed Cloud Services Customer Edge (CE) site in case of deploying your applications. If you do not have a site, create a site using the instructions provided in the Site Management guides. See the vK8s Deployment guide for deploying your applications on the Distributed Cloud Services network cloud or edge cloud.


Configuration

The following video shows a tutorial for HTTP load balancer creation:

The configuration option to create the HTTP load balancer guides you through the steps for required configuration. This document covers each guided step and explains the required actions to be performed for each step.

Step 1: Log into Console and create new load balancer.
  • Log into Console.

  • Click Multi-Cloud App Connect.

Figure: Console Homepage
Figure: Console Homepage

  • Select Manage > Load Balancers > HTTP Load Balancers.

Load Balancers
Figure: Load Balancers

  • Confirm the correct namespace is selected.

  • Click Add HTTP Load Balancer.

Step 2: Configure metadata, domains, and load balancer type.
  • In the Name field, enter a name for the new load balancer.

  • Optionally, select a label and enter a description.

Load Balancer Form
Figure: Load Balancer Form

  • In the Domains field, enter a domain name. You can use wildcards to catch prefixes and suffixes.

  • Click Add item to add more domains, if needed.

  • From the Load Balancer Type drop-down menu, select an option. The following options are supported:

    • Select HTTP to create the HTTP load balancer.

    • Select HTTPS with Automatic Certificate to create the HTTPS load balancer with an automatic TLS certificate.

    • Select HTTPS with Custom Certificate to create the HTTPS load balancer with your custom TLS certificate.

Note: Do not add both wildcard and top level domains (for example, *.example.com and example.com) if you are using an automatic certificate for different load balancers.

  • If you select HTTP, select whether to have Distributed Cloud Services manage your DNS records with Automatically Manage DNS Records. This option requires you to have delegated your domain to Distributed Cloud Services.

  • Optionally, select HTTP Redirect to HTTPS and Add HSTS Header checkboxes for HTTPS with Automatic Certificate or HTTPS with Custom Certificate options.

  • From the TLS Security Level drop-down menu, select the security level for TLS configuration.

  • If you are using the HTTPS with Custom Certificate option:

    • Set the TLS configuration using the Configure option under the TLS Parameters field.

    • From the TLS Security Level drop-down menu, select the desired level.

    • In the TLS Certificates section, click Add Item.

    • For the certificate URL encoding, select PEM or base64(binary), and then enter the certificate URL.

    • To configure the private key, click Configure.

    • Under the Secret section, configure the settings for the private key, and then click Apply.

    • From the OCSP Stapling choice drop-down menu, select the OCSP stapling choice.

    • Click Apply.

    • In the TLS Parameters page, click Apply.

    Note: You can add more than one certificate using the Add Item option. However, only one certificate per encryption type (such as RSA and EC-DSA) is supported.

  • If you are using the HTTPS with Automatic Certificate option:

    • Enable the Show Advanced Fields option.

    • From the Mutual TLS drop-down menu, select Enable or Disable for mutual TLS encryption:

      • Copy the CA certificate information into the Box using the PEM or Base64 option.

      • From the Verify client certificate with CR menu, select CRL to have the client certificate verified against the CRL, and then select the CRL.

      • From the Add X-Forwarded-Client-Cert Header menu, enable the adding of an X-Forwarded-Client-Cert (XFCC) proxy header to send client certificate details to the origin. You can choose to send the entire certificate, a single field, or multiple fields using the following: By, Hash, Cert, Chain, Subject, URI, and DNS.

    • From the Server Response Header drop-down menu, select an option for the server response header. The following options are supported:

      • Default: Specifies that the response header name is server, and the value is volt-adc.

      • Modify header value: Specifies that a custom value be added to the existing server header. This will overwrite existing values, if any, in the server header.

      • Append header value: Specifies that a custom value be added to the server header if no value is present. If there is an existing server header value, this option does not overwrite the value. Enter a header value in the Append header value field.

      • Do not modify: Specifies that the existing server header is passed as is. If no server header is present, a new header is not appended.

    • From the Path Normalization menu, select an option.

Step 3: Configure origin pools.
  • In the Origins section, click Add Item to create an origin pool.

  • From the Select Origin Pool Method menu, select an option for a simple origin pool or a custom cluster:

    • Origin Pool: From the Origin Pool drop-down menu, select an origin pool. To create a new origin pool, click Add Item. Follow the instructions at Origin Pools.

    • Custom Cluster: From the Custom Cluster menu, select the cluster to use.

  • In the Weight field, set the numeric value.

  • In the Priority field, set the numeric value.

  • Click Apply.

Origin Pool Configuration
Figure: Origin Pool Configuration

Step 4: Optionally, configure routes.
  • In the Routes section, click Configure.

  • Click Add Item.

Optional Routes Configuration
Figure: Optional Routes Configuration

  • From the Select Type of Route menu, select an option.

  • Simple Route: matches a path and/or HTTP methods to forward the matching traffic to origin pools configured:

    • Select a method for HTTP Method.

    • Select the type of path match for the Path Match field.

    • Add a path prefix in the Prefix field. You can also configure specific origin pools and/or headers for this using the Add Item options in the Origin Pools and Headers sections.

    • From the Select Host Rewrite Method menu, select an option to specify how the host header can be modified during forwarding.

    • In the Advanced Options field, click Configure to configure advanced settings for each route.

  • Redirect Route: matches a path and/or HTTP methods to redirect the matching traffic to another URL:

    • Select method for HTTP Method and a path for the Path Match field.

    • Add a path prefix in the Prefix field.

    • Configure the Redirect Parameters for Protocol, Host, Redirect Path for redirect URL, and Response Code.

    • Select an option from the Query Parameters drop-down menu.

  • Direct Response Route: matches a path and/or HTTP methods to send the response directly to the matching traffic:

    • Select method for HTTP Method and a path for the Path Match field.

    • Add a path prefix in the Prefix field.

    • Click the Configure option in the Direct Response field. Enter a response code, enter response body, and then click Apply.

  • Custom Route Object: uses an existing custom route object:

  • Click Apply to add the route.

Note: You can click Add Item to add more routes per your requirements.

Step 5: Optionally, set security configuration.
Step 5.1: Configure WAF and corresponding security features.

You can choose to disable WAF application (default setting) or you can select a WAF that was previously created, configured, and apply it in your load balancer security settings. In addition, you can also create and enable a new WAF and have your load balancer configured to exclude specific WAF rules from processing certain requests.

  • Go to the Web Application Firewall section.

  • From the Web Application Firewall (WAF) drop-down menu, select whether to enable the WAF for this HTTP load balancer. Disable is the default value.

  • If you select Enable, use the Enable drop-down menu to select your WAF to apply to this load balancer.

Add App Firewall
Figure: Add App Firewall

Note: You can also add App Firewall per route. In the route configuration, for Simple Route, go to advanced options configuration, go to security section, and select App Firewall for the Web Application Firewall (WAF) field. Select an App Firewall object. By default, the route inherits the App Firewall configured for the load balancer.

  • To add exclusion rules for the WAF, follow the instructions at Create WAF Exclusion Rules.

  • Select Configure in the Data Guard Rules section and follow the instructions listed in Configure Data Guard to set data guard rules.

  • Select Configure for the Cross-Site Request Forgery Protection option. Specify allowed domains in the Allowed Domains (Source Origin) field in the CSRF protection page, and select Apply. You can either configure to allow all load balancer domains or set specific domains to the allow list.

Note: You can verify the CSRF mitigation in the load balancer security monitoring page. The CSRF mitigation event is displayed as a Service Policy event. Expand the security event's JSON view. The sec_event_name field with value CSRF Policy Violation indicates that CSRF mitigation is active. For more information on load balancer monitoring, see Monitor HTTP Load Balancer.

  • To configure the settings for GraphQL inspection, perform the following:

    • Under the GraphQL Inspection section, click Configure.

    • Click Add Item.

    • In the Name field, enter a name for this rule.

    • From the Domain drop-down menu, select an option that corresponds to your domain setting. Default value is Any Domain. You can choose an option match by Exact Value or Suffix Value.

    • From the Path drop-down menu, select an option for the location of your GraphQL server endpoint. Default value is /graphql.

    • From the HTTP Method drop-down menu, select an option that specifies the method used to access the GraphQL endpoint server.

    • In the GraphQL Settings section, perform the following:

      • From the Maximum Total Length menu, enter a value to specify the maximum total length in bytes for a query.

      • From the Maximum Structure Depth menu, enter a value to specify the maximum depth for a query.

      • From the Maximum Batched Queries menu, enter a value to specify the maximum number of single batch queries.

      • From the Introspection Queries menu, select whether to enable introspection of GraphQL schema.

    • Click Apply to save settings.

    • Click Apply to apply settings to load balancer configuration.

  • Optionally, in the Cookie Protection field, click Configure to add attributes to an HTTP Response cookie that is sent to the client:

    • Click Add Item.

    • In the Cookie Name field, enter a name for this cookie.

    • From the SameSite menu, select if or how the new cookie is sent with same-site and cross-site requests. You can select from the following:

      • Ignore
      • Strict
      • Lax
      • None
    • From the Secure menu, select whether this new cookie is sent only over an HTTPS encrypted connection to the server. Default option is Ignore.

    • From the HttpOnly menu, select whether this new cookie is inaccessible to JavaScript Document.cookie API. Default option is Ignore. Select Add to ensure the cookie is inaccessible.

    • Select Enable for the Cookie Tampering Protection field to enable cookie tampering protection. This prevents attackers from modifying the values of session cookies.

    • Click Apply to save settings.

    • Click Apply to apply settings to load balancer configuration.

Step 5.2: Configure bot defense.

Note: You need to have bot defense enabled in your tenant as a service prior to configuring it for your load balancer.

  • Go to Bot Defense section. From the Bot Defense menu, select an option to configure bot defense. The following options are available:

    • Disable: No bot defense configuration is applied to the load balancer.

    • Enable: Specifies a bot defense configuration for you to apply to the load balancer. Follow the instructions listed in the Configure Bot Defense guide to set Bot defense protection for your load balancer.

Step 5.3: Configure API protection.

Go to API Protection section and do the following:

  • From the API Definition menu, select whether to use an API definition. The default value is Disable, meaning an API definition is not used for this load balancer.

  • If you select Enable:

    • From the API Definition menu, select the API definition.

    • To create a new definition, click Add item.

Figure
Figure: Enable API Definition

  • From the Validation menu, select an option to perform OpenAPI specification validation. Following are the options:

    • Disabled: Default option. No validation is performed.

    • All Endpoints: Validate all endpoints listed in the OpenAPI specification file. Any other endpoints not listed will act according to Fall Through Mode.

    • Custom List: Define API groups, base path, or API endpoints and their validation modes. Any other endpoints not listed will act according to Fall Through Mode.

Figure
Figure: API Validation Options

Note: OpenAPI Validation is a feature that ensures API traffic complies with the specified schema and can block or report non-compliant traffic. Validation can be configured on a per-endpoint, per-group, or per-base-path basis. The Fall Through Mode allows for identifying and handling Shadow APIs by either blocking, reporting, or allowing them. Allowed IPs list can be created to pass OpenAPI Validation by specific IP addresses.

  • From the OpenAPI Validation Processing Mode menu, select whether to Validate or Skip.

  • From the Validation Enforcement Type menu, select an option to specify the type of enforcement.

  • From the Request Validation Properties menu, select one or multiple options from the following:

    • Query Parameters: The incoming requests are validated against the query parameters specified in the API definition.

    • Path Parameters: The incoming requests are validated against the path parameters specified in the API definition.

    • Content-type: The incoming requests are validated against the content-types specified in the API definition.

    • Cookie Parameters: The incoming requests are validated against the cookie parameters specified in the API definition.

    • HTTP Headers: The incoming requests are validated against the HTTP headers specified in the API definition.

    • HTTP Body: The incoming requests are validated against the HTTP body specified in the API definition.

Figure
Figure: Request Validation Properties

  • From the Fall Through Mode menu, select an action for every request that targets endpoints which are not in validation list.

  • Select Configure in the API Protection Rules field. See the Configure API Protection Rules guide for more instructions.

  • From the API Discovery menu, select Enable to enable API discovery.

Note: For more information, see Import Swagger to Define and Control API Groups.

Step 5.4: Configure DDoS protection.

Go to DoS Protection section and do the following:

  • Select Enable from the DDoS Detection menu.

  • Optionally, select Enable from the Auto Mitigation menu. With this option set a DDoS Mitigation rule is created whenever a DDoS attack is detected. The mitigation rule will block the malicious IP(s) and automatically expire after 10 minutes; however, the rule will be recreated if the IP continues the DDoS attack. You can use the DDos Mitigation Rules described below to create a more permanent blocking rule, if necessary.

  • Optionally, select Configure for the DDoS Mitigation Rules to open the rules list page. Use the Add Item to add rule.

    • In the DDoS Mitigation Rule page, set a name for the rule.

    • Select a choice for the Mitigation Action and Mitigation Choice. The mitigation choice can be either list of IP addresses or combination of ASN, Region, and TLS Fingerprinting.

    • Click Apply to add the rule to list of rules.

    • Click Apply to add the rules list to the DDoS protection configuration.

Note: The DDoS rules define the malicious clients (in other words, the clients attempting L7 DDoS attacks on your applications) that should be blocked. You can choose match condition rules, such as IP source and DDoS client source.

  • Enter Request Timeout and Request Header Timeout values in Slow DDos.

Note: See the Explore Security Monitoring > DDoS section in Monitor HTTP Load balancer to learn more about observing and reacting to an active DDoS attack.

Step 5.5: Configure Client-Side Defense.

Ensure that this service is enabled for your tenant. See Client-Side Defense for more information and configuration instructions.

Step 5.6: Configure service policies.

Go to Common Security Controls section and perform the following:

ServicePolicy
Figure: Service Policy Configuration

  • From the Service Policies menu, select an option to apply the service policy. The following options are available:

    • Apply Namespace Service Policies: This option applies the service policy to an entire namespace.

    • Do Not Apply Service Policies: This option does not apply any service policy.

    • Apply Specified Service Policies: This option applies a service policy to a specified load balancer, not the entire namespace.

  • To apply a specific service policy, select Apply Specified Service Policies, and perform the following:

    • Click Configure.

Apply Specific Service Policy
Figure: Apply Specific Service Policy

  • From the Policies menu, select a service policy, and then click Apply.

Select Specific Service Policy
Figure: Select Specific Service Policy

Step 5.7: Configure IP Reputation service.

For more information, see Deny Malicious IPs Using IP Threat Categories.

Step 5.8: Configure the user identification.
  • From the User Identifier drop-down menu, select the method for user identification:

    • Select Client IP Address to use the user's IP address.

    • Select User Identification Policy to use the object to evaluate the identity. To create a new user ID, click Add item from the User Identification Policy menu.

User ID Policy
Figure: User ID Policy

Note: For more information, see Configure Rate Limiting per User.

Step 5.9: Configure malicious user detection.

From the Malicious User Detection drop-down menu, select Enable.

Step 5.10: Configure rate limiting.
  • To configure rate limiting, select an option from the list:

    • Disable: Default option. No rate limiting enabled for this load balancer.

    • API Rate Limit: Set rate limiting for specific API endpoints.

    • Custom Rate Limiting Parameters: Allows you to set custom parameters to rate limit.

Note: For detailed instruction to set up rate limiting, see Configure API Rate Limiting.

Step 5.11: Configure challenge parameters.
  • From the Challenge Type drop-down menu, select a challenge for all traffic served from the load balancer. The options include:

    • None: This is the default option. No challenge is enabled for this load balancer.

    • Javascript Challenge: This option enables you to configure a JavaScript challenge for this load balancer.

    • Captcha Challenge: This option enables you to configure a Captcha challenge for this load balancer.

    • Policy Based Challenge: This option enables you to set specific challenge policy rules for this load balancer.

  • If you select the Javascript Challenge, click View Configuration. Enter a delay value in milliseconds, and enter a cookie expiration value in seconds. Enter a custom message in ASCII or Base64 format. Click Apply. For more information, see Configure JavaScript Challenge.

  • If you select the Captcha Challenge, click View Configuration. Enter a cookie expiration value in seconds. Enter a custom message in ASCII or Base64 format. Click Apply.

  • If you select Policy Based Challenge, click View Configuration:

    • From the Javascript Challenge Parameters menu, select the parameters to use. The options include:

      • Use Default Parameters: This option takes the default settings and applies them.

      • Javascript Challenge Parameters: This option enables you to define the challenge parameters.

    • From the Captcha Challenge Parameters menu, select the parameters to use. The options include:

      • Use Default Parameters: This option takes the default settings and applies them.

      • Captcha Challenge Parameters: This option enables you to define the challenge parameters.

    • From the Malicious User Mitigation Settings menu, select an option for malicious users at different threat levels:

      • Default: Applies low, medium, and high levels.

      • Custom: Defines different levels and actions to take. Click Create new Malicious User Mitigation to create a custom option.

    • From the Challenge type menu, select the default challenge type for all requests. The options include:

      • No Challenge: Default value.

      • Always enable JS Challenge: Enables JavaScript challenges for all requests.

      • Always enable Captcha Challenge: Enables Captcha challenges for all requests.

    • In the Rules section:

      • Click Configure.

      • Click Add Item.

      • Enter a Name value and an optional description.

      • In the Challenge Rule Specification field, select View Configuration.

      • From the Select Challenge Action Type drop-down menu, select the challenge action to take. Disable challenge is the default setting. The two options include Enable javascript challenge and Enable captcha challenge.

      • From the Source IPv4 Match drop-down menu, select the source IP to match the requests. The options include:

        • Any Source IP: This option enables any source IP to match requests.

        • IPv4 Prefix List: This option provides a list of prefix values. You must provide a list of IP prefixes.

        • IP Prefix Sets: This option provides a list of references to IP prefix set objects. You must create the prefix set.

      • From the Source ASN Match drop-down menu, select an option for the origin Autonomous System Number (ASN) to match requests:

        • Any Source ASN: This option matches any source ASN.

        • ASN List: This option provides a list of ASN values to match requests. You must enter the ASN values.

        • BGP ASN Sets: This option provides a list of references for Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) ASN objects to match requests. You must create the ASN set.

      • From the Client Selection drop-down menu, select how the clients will match the challenge rules. The options include:

        • Any Client: This option is for all clients to match the challenge rules.

        • Group of Clients by Label Selector: This option provides a label selector for the set of clients. You must select the expression from the list.

      • To configure the TLS fingerprint matcher, select Configure:

        • From the TLS fingerprint classes drop-down menu, select a class.

        • Optionally, you can add an exact value or exclude a value with Add item.

        • Click Apply.

        • Optionally, you can set the parameters for the request matching from the Request Match section, and you can set an optional Expiration Timestamp from the Advanced Match section.

        • Click Apply.

      • Click Apply.

    • Click Apply.

    • Click Apply.

Step 5.12: Configure trusted client rules.

These rules define specific clients for which WAF processing and Bot Defense will be skipped. Add rules to allow trusted clients based on the match conditions configured. You can skip WAF, skip bot processing, or both. The match conditions include IP prefix, AS number, and HTTP headers to identify specific clients.

  • To configure the Trusted Client Rules option:

    • Click Configure, and then click Add Item.

    • Complete the configuration process to add rules to allow trusted clients and to prevent the WAF from applying the block rules you previously configured.

    • Click Apply.

    • Select the newly created rules option and then click Apply.

Step 5.13: Configure client blocking rules.

You can choose match condition rules, such as IP prefix, AS number, and HTTP headers to identify specific clients to block from accessing your applications.

  • To configure the Client Blocking Rules option:

    • Click Configure, and then click Add Item.

    • Complete the configuration process to add rules to block specific clients from making requests.

    • Click Apply.

    • Select the newly created rules option, and then click Apply.

Step 5.14: Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) policy.
  • In the CORS Policy field, click Configure.

  • To enable a specific origin server, click Add item under the Allow Origin field.

  • To enable origin servers by regex, click Add item under the Allow Origin Regex field.

  • Use the numbers to order the list of policies. You can drag and drop the rules up and down.

  • After you finish, click Apply.

Step 6: Optionally, set other settings.

In the Other Settings section, perform additional configuration.

Step 6.1: Configure VIP advertisement.
  • From the VIP Advertisement drop-down menu, select from one of the options available:

    • Select Internet to advertise the default VIP on the public network.

    • Select Internet (Specified VIP) and enter an IP address in the Public IP field to advertise that IP as VIP on a public network.

    • Select Custom. Click Configure in the Advertise Custom field, and then perform the configuration per the following guidelines:

      • Select Add Item.

      • From the Select Where to Advertise menu, select Site or Virtual Site.

      • From the Site Network menu, select an option.

      • From the Site Reference menu, select an option. In case of a site, you can also optionally set an IP address as the VIP.

      • Enable the Show Advanced Fields option.

      • Configure a TCP listener port or select a default option for the TCP Listen Port Choice field. The default option sets port 80 for the HTTP load balancer and 443 for the HTTPS load balancer.

      • Click Apply.

    • Click Apply.

    • Select Do Not Advertise to disable VIP advertisement.

Note: If you have enabled Internet VIP on the AWS cloud site to allow clients to access Load Balancer VIP directly from the internet, set the VIP Adertisement selection to Custom, and then configure the custom VIP advertisement to advertise on a Site or Virtual Site with Site Network set to either Outside Network with internet VIP or Inside and Outside Network with internet VIP. For more information, see Create AWS Site.

Note: The following ports are not supported for advertising on a Distributed Cloud Services site:

  • K8s node port range 28000-32767
  • Distributed Cloud Services port range 65000-65535
  • 10249
  • 10250
  • 10251
  • 10252
  • 10256
  • 10257
  • 10259
  • 1067
  • 18091
  • 18092
  • 18093
  • 18095
  • 22
  • 22222
  • 2379
  • 23790
  • 23791
  • 2380
  • 23801
  • 23802
  • 323
  • 4500
  • 500
  • 53
  • 5355
  • 6443
  • 68
  • 8005
  • 8007
  • 8087
  • 8443
  • 8444
  • 8505
  • 8507
  • 9007
  • 9090
  • 9153
  • 9999
Step 6.2: Configure load balancer control and requests.
  • From the Load Balancing Algorithm menu, set how the HTTP/HTTPS requests are load balanced. The options include:

    • Round Robin: This option sends requests to all eligible servers in a round robin fashion.

    • Least Active Request: This option sends requests to an origin server that has least active requests set.

    • Random: This option sends requests to all origin servers randomly.

    • Source IP Stickiness: This option sends requests to all origin servers using the hash value of the source IP.

    • Cookie Based Stickiness: This option sends requests to all origin servers using the hash value of the source IP. Requires you to further configure the parameters.

    • Ring Hash Policy: This option sends requests to all origin servers using the hash value of the request. Requires you to further configure the parameters.

Load Balancer Control
Figure: Load Balancer Control

  • If you select Cookie Based Stickiness:

    • In the Name field, enter a name for the cookie.

    • Optionally, set a TTL value in milliseconds and set a path name value.

  • If you select Ring Hash Policy:

    • Click Configure to specify a list of hash policies to use.

    • Click Add Item.

    • From the Hash Policy Specifier drop-down menu, select what to apply the hash policy to. The options include:

      • Cookie: Hash policies are applied to a cookie.

      • Header Name: Hash policies are applied to the name of key of the request header used to obtain the hash key.

      • Source IP: Hash policies are applied to the source IP address.

    • In the Name field, enter a name for the cookie that is used to obtain the hash key.

    • To apply the hash policy as a terminal policy, select the Terminal option.

    • Click Apply.

    • Select the newly created hash policy, and then click Apply.

Step 6.3: Configure trusted client IP headers.
  • Select the Enable from the Trusted Client IP Headers drop-down menu.
  • Use Add Item button to add one or more headers. The headers are processed in the numerical order they are added, as shown on the page.

Note: When trusted client headers are enabled, system uses real client IP address as the source IP, instead of the proxy's IP address.

Step 6.4: Configure additional settings.
  • Select the Add Location checkbox to specify the regional edge (RE) site name in the header responses.

Figure: Enable RE Site Header Responses
Figure: Enable RE Site Header Responses

  • Click Configure in the More Options field and perform the configuration per the following guidelines:

    • In the Header Options section, click Add Item and add details in each of the request headers and response headers fields to specify add and remove headers accordingly.

    • In the Configure Error Response Options section, click Configure to customize error responses.

    • In the Miscellaneous Options section, click Configure. Complete the configuration options.

  • Click Apply.

Step 7: Complete creating the load balancer.

Click Save and Exit.

Step 8: Verify the load balancer status.

Note: If the load balancer is of type HTTP, then it is reachable by configured domains as well as automatically generated CNAME.

Delegated Domain:
  • Wait for the DNS Info and Certificate status to display the VIRTUAL_HOST_READY and Certificate status Valid values.

Figure: Load Balancer Created
Figure: Load Balancer Created

  • Verify that the requests to your virtual host domain are processed and load balanced between the configured origin servers.

Note: The Certificate expiration date column displays the expiration date for the certificates. Certificates managed by F5 Distributed Cloud Services are issued for 90 days and auto-renewed after 75 days from the date of issuance.

Non-Delegated Domain:
  • Verify that the Certificate status field shows Domain Challenge Pending.

  • Click > to view the load balancer information in JSON format.

  • Verify that ACME challenge record exists under get_spec > auto_cert_info > dns_records field in the JSON. The record name starts with _acme-challenge and the value is the name of the TXT record created by Distributed Cloud Services.

  • Create a CNAME record with the obtained ACME challenge name and value in your DNS server.

  • Verify that the Certificate status field value changes to Certificate Valid.

  • Verify that the Certificate expiration date field value displays the expiration date for the certificates.

Note: Some client browsers can employ a performance optimization known as "connection coalescing." In this optimization, if two host names resolve to the same IP address and are present in the same TLS certificate, the HTTP/2 connection will be reused between them. This can land the HTTP request in the wrong load balancer and results in a 404 error. See HTTP2 RFC for more information.


Concepts


API References