Deploy and Manage BIG-IP Service

Published April 5, 2023 | Last modified November 7, 2024

Objective

This guide provides instructions on how to deploy and manage the F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition (VE) service on your AWS TGW Site using F5® Distributed Cloud Services. For more information on the F5® Distributed Cloud Services Sites, see Site.

The F5 BIG-IP is a family of products covering software and hardware designed around application availability, access control, and security solutions. The instructions provided in this document cover deploying the BIG-IP software appliance acting as an application delivery controller using the F5 Distributed Cloud Services. For more information on BIG-IP products, see BIG-IP Products.

Using the instructions provided in this guide, you can deploy a BIG-IP virtual appliance on your AWS VPC, associate it with your AWS TGW Site, and set the VE appliance to control your application delivery.

Note: The network functions virtualization (NFV) service is supported only for the BIG-IP VE appliance on AWS TGW Site.

Design

Deploying the BIG-IP virtual appliances in AWS VPC requires deploying AWS TGW site with the VPC attachments, services VPC, and subnet configurations. Next, create BIG-IP VE service object, associated with a TGW site and launched as per the service node settings.

Note: Service node is an abstract term that takes the characteristics of the service that gets deployed in it. In this case, it is the BIG-IP service.

The images in the following sections show the reference topology for the BIG-IP deployment where BIG-IP service nodes deployed in AWS VPC provide Advanced Web Application Firewall (AWAF) functionality to workloads routed via TGW. More specifically as depicted in the images, requests made from an application in VPC (named – Shared) to an application in VPC (named - Dev) are processed by the BIG-IP service if the requests match the NFV service configuration. Similarly, requests from internet to an application in VPC are routed through the AWS network load balancer and through the TGW to BIG-IP service if requests match the NFV service configuration. The BIG-IP service then routes the request to the endpoint in VPC.

Note: Not all requests from Dev-VPC to Shared-VPC are processed by BIG-IP. Only the requests directed to the inside VIP as per NFV service configuration are processed by BIG-IP.

The hub, spoke, and services VPC route tables are programmed with the entries that define the traffic path for request and response.

Note: The AWS TGW workload subnet setting is different from the workload subnets in the attached VPC (shared VPC in the reference diagram). The workloads in the attached VPC represent applications that are routed via the BIG-IP service node. In this guide, the term workload subnets refer to the subnets in the attached VPC.

East-West Traffic

In this reference topology, an interface from TGW site is connected to the BIG-IP management interface and requests to the BIG-IP management address are routed through the same TGW Site interface. Here, the BIG-IP management interface is similar to a workload subnet interface from the point of view of TGW Site. The BIG-IP external interface is connected to the inside interface of the TGW site. Requests to the application are first forwarded to the TGW site inside interface using the spoke route table entries. The inside interface then forwards the traffic to the BIG-IP external interface over an IP-in-IP tunnel. The BIG-IP appliance then forwards the traffic to the origin server as per the programmed entries of services VPC route table. This is internally handled by the BIG-IP and routed to the subnets where the workloads are running.

The response from the workload subnet then received by BIG-IP is sent through BIG-IP external interface to the inside interface of the TGW site over the same IP-in-IP tunnel. The traffic is then forwarded to the requestor subnet using the programmed hub route table.

Figure: East-West Traffic in NFV Service Deployment

The following list presents the traffic flow for request and response:

Request from Shared-VPC to destination in Dev-VPC lands at AWS TGW.
TGW internally routes to the F5 AWS TGW Site's inside interface which in turn sends to BIG-IP external interface.
BIG-IP internally routes to inside interface and in turn sends the request to Dev-VPC.
Response from Dev-VPC to BIG-IP internal interface is in turn sent to external interface of BIG-IP.
Response then flows from BIG-IP external interface to TGW internal interface which in turn sends to Dev-VPC workload subnet attachment circuit.
TGW workload interface towards Shared-VPC sends the response to the requesting subnet in Shared-VPC to the requestor.

North-South Traffic

The AWS network load balancer receives the requests/traffic from internet and routes the traffic to the outside interface of the TGW Site. Based on the destination, the system checks the main route table and forwards the traffic to the inside interface of the Site. The traffic then is sent over an IP-in-IP tunnel between the Site inside interface and BIG-IP external interface. Using the services VPC route table, the next-hop is marked to the appropriate VPC attachment and propagated to the destination.

The response traffic forwarded to the BIG-IP instance internally using the spoke route table with the service VPC attachment as the destination. The BIG-IP then internally steers the traffic to its external interface and then sends over IP-in-IP tunnel to the Site's inside interface. The Site then performs SNAT based on the route table entries and sends the traffic to internet over the outside interface.

Figure: North-South Traffic in NFV Service Deployment

Request from Internet to destination in Dev-VPC lands at AWS Network Load Balancer which in turn routes it to the TGW.
TGW internally routes to the F5 AWS TGW Site's inside interface.
The request is then sent to BIG-IP external interface over IP-in-IP tunnel.
BIG-IP internally routes to inside interface and in turn sends the request to Dev-VPC.
Response from Dev-VPC is sent to BIG-IP internal interface which is internally routed to external interface of BIG-IP.
Response then flows from BIG-IP external interface to F5 AWS TGW Site's internal interface over IP-in-IP tunnel.
The response is then forwarded to the TGW which in turn sends it to the F5 AWS TGW Site's outside interface.
The F5 AWS TGW Site Outside interface sends the response to the AWS Network load balancer which in turn sends response to requestor over internet.

Note: For detailed information on BIG-IP configurations, see BIG-IP Documentation.

Prerequisites

The following prerequisites apply:

A Distributed Cloud Services Account. If you do not have an account, see Create an Account.
An Amazon Web Services (AWS) TGW Site. See AWS VPC Site Access Policies and AWS TGW Access Policies for required permissions.
A delegated domain. See Domain Delegation for more information.
F5 BIG-IP subscription.

Configuration

Deploying the NFV service requires first creating an NFV service object in the F5® Distributed Cloud Console, obtaining the management address of the NFV service instance from the Console, log into the NFV service instance, and configuring the origin servers where your application workloads are running.

Perform the instructions presented in the following chapters to deploy and manage the NFV service instances.

Create NFV Service Object

Log into the Console and do the following:

Step 1: Start creating NFV service object.

On the Console home page, select the Multi-Cloud Network Connect service.

Note: Homepage is role based, and your homepage may look different due to your role customization. Select All Services drop-down menu to discover all options. Customize Settings: Administration > Personal Management > My Account > Edit work domain & skills button > Advanced box > check Work Domain boxes > Save changes button.

Figure: Console Homepage

Click Manage > NFV Services.
Click Add NFV Service option to open the NFV service object creation form.
In the Metadata section, set Name, Labels, and Description as needed.

Step 2: Configure NFV service provider settings.

In the Spec section, perform the following:

Select Virtual BIG-IP on AWS for the External Service Provider field.
Click Configure under the Virtual BIG-IP on AWS field. This opens the BIG-IP service specification form.
From the Image menu, select BIG-IP Pay as You Go Image. This is populated by default.
Select an option for the AMI Choice field. The BIG-IP Advanced WAF (PAYG, 200Mbps) is selected by default.
In the Admin Username field, enter an admin username that will be used with your BIG-IP account.
Click Configure in the Admin Password section. In the opened Secret page, configure the settings for your password and then click Apply.

Figure: Encrypted Admin Password

Enter your SSH key in the Public SSH key section.

Figure: BIG-IP Service Configuration

Select AWS Transit Gateway Site for the Site Type field. Click on the AWS Transit Gateway Site field and select your AWS TGW site from the drop-down list.
Click Add Item in the AZ Nodes section and do the following in the service nodes form:
- Enter a name in the Node Name field. This name will be used to form the hostname for the service.
- Click on AWS AZ Name field and select an AWS availability zone from the drop-down list. Ensure that you pick the same availability zone as that of the TGW Site.
- From the Subnet for BIG-IP Management Interface menu, select an option to configure the management interface.
- Click Apply to add the service node.

Note: Use the Add Item option in the Service Nodes section and repeat the above steps to add more service nodes.

Figure: TGW and Service Nodes

Step 3: Configure external service VIP.

From the Endpoint Service menu, set an option to advertise the VIP for East-West traffic. The default option allows the system to select a VIP. To add a custom VIP, select Configured VIP and then enter the IP address.
Use the Outside VIP menu to set the configuration to advertise your load balancer on the site local network. The default option disables this function. You can select to advertise on the outside network or using cloud external IP address.
Click Apply.

Step 4: Optionally, set node management based on HTTP.

From the HTTPS Based Management of Nodes menu, enable the HTTPS Based Management option.
Enter a domain suffix in the HTTPS Based Management field. This will be used along with the Node Name set in the previous step to form the management URL for the node.

Note: Ensure that the domain is delegated to F5 Distributed Cloud Services. Default HTTPS port is 443 and Internet access is enabled by default.

From the Access on Site Local Networks menu, select an option for the site local network. The default option is Enable Internet Access. For all other options, click Configure. In the form that appears, configure TLS settings, and then click Apply.

Note: For enabling both the East-West and North-South traffic, configure both inside VIP and outside VIP. See the Design section to understand the traffic paths.

Figure: HTTP Based Node Management Settings

Step 5: Optionally, set node management based on SSH.

From the SSH based management of nodes menu, select Enable SSH access to nodes.
From the Enable SSH access to nodes menu, select an option for the site local network.

Note: It is recommended to use the default option of Enable On Site Local Outside.

Click Add Item.

Figure: SSH Node Management

From the Node Name menu, select the node name to use for management. Click See Suggestions to display a list.
From the SSH Port menu, enter a TCP port number.
Click Apply.
In the Domain Suffix field, enter a suffix value that will be used to generate the node hostname.

Step 6: Complete creating the NFV service object.

Click Save and Exit.

Step 7: Obtain management address for the service nodes.

Navigate to the NFV object created in the previous step under the NFV Services tab. The Dashboard page is displayed.
Under the Service Instances section, verify if the columns display the configuration previously set. The Management Dashboard column shows the service node management URLs. It may take a few minutes for the items to appear.

Figure: BIG-IP Management URL

Configure BIG-IP Instances

This chapter shows sample configuration for the BIG-IP service instance. For full instruction set, refer to BIG-IP documentation.

Step 1: Log into the BIG-IP service instance.

Open a browser window and enter the instance management URL obtained in the previous chapter.
Enter the admin username and password you configured in the previous chapter.

Step 2: Configure pool where the application workloads are running.

On the BIG-IP management portal, go to Main > Local Traffic and click Pools under Virtual Servers section on the left menu.
Click Create on the pools list page to start creating a pool.
Enter a name for your pool in the Configuration section.
Enter an IP address for the Address field in the Resources section.
Enter a port number in the Service Port field.

Figure: BIG-IP Pool Creation

Click Finished at the bottom of the window to complete creating the pool.

Step 3: Configure virtual servers.

On the BIG-IP management portal, go to Main > Local Traffic and click Virtual Servers on the left menu.
Click Create on the virtual servers list page to start creating a virtual server.
Do the following in the General Properties section:
- Enter a name for your virtual server.
- Select Host in the Source Address field and enter 0.0.0.0/0.
- Select Host in the Destination Address/Mask field and enter IP address for your host.
- Enter a port number in the Service Port field.
Select Automap in the Source Address Translation field.
In the Resources section, select the pools created in previous step.

Figure: BIG-IP Virtual Server Creation

Click Finished at the bottom of the window to complete creating the pool.

Verify Traffic

You can check the east-west TCP traffic flow by establishing an HTTP server on one VM on a subnet of any attached spoke VPC and an HTTP client from another VM of another spoke VPC. For example, you can run Apache HTTP server on spoke VPC 1 and send an HTTP request. Verify the traffic flow using tools such as tcpdump. Similarly, you can check UDP traffic by running UDP server on a spoke VPC and UDP client on another spoke VPC using tools, such as netcat.

You can also check the north-south traffic by sending request from a spoke VPC to any internet destination. You can check that SNAT happens from inside network to outside network on the AWS Site using the tools, such as traceroute.

This chapter shows how to monitor the NFV service using the Console.

Perform the following:

Step 1: Navigate to NFV services monitoring page.

Log into the Console and click on the Multi-Cloud Network Connect service.
Select Manage > NFV Services on the left menu. A list of NFV services objects is displayed on the right side.
Click on your NFV services object from the list of displayed objects. Dashboard view is displayed by default. The dashboard shows snapshot information for entities such as service details, alerts, traffic, connections, top sources (IP addresses), and details about service instances.

Figure: NFV Service Monitoring Dashboard View

Step 2: Inspect NFV service metrics and top talkers.

The metrics show historical information for CPU usage, throughput, and disk operation statistics.

From within the dashboard, click on the value on the Node Name column in the Service Instances section. The Metrics view is displayed showing the CPU usage graph by default.
Click on any metrics options located on the right side to display graphical view for that metric.

Figure: NFV Service Metrics View

Click on the Top Talkers tab to view the top 10 sources, destinations, applications, flows, and the associated data statistics.

Figure: NFV Service Top Talkers View

Step 3: Navigate to site monitoring page.

Select Multi-Cloud Network Connect service.
Go to Overview > Sites. Click on your site from the list of displayed sites. This opens the site's dashboard.

Step 4: Inspect interfaces and requests for your site.

Click on the Interfaces tab to view the list of interfaces and associated metrics.
Click on the Connections tab to view the list of connection requests and information for each request.
Click on the Top Talkers tab to view the list of top 10 sources, destinations, applications, flows, and the associated data statistics.

Figure: AWS TGW Site Top Talkers

Click on the Flow Table tab to view the packet flow information.

Figure: AWS TGW Site Flow Table Entries

Step 5: Inspect site connectivity map and route tables.

Go to Sites > PoP (RE) Connectivity.
Click on your Site from the list of displayed Sites or select your Site from the Select site drop-down on the top. This opens the full connectivity map showing RE Sites, AWS Site, TGW, subnets, and the VMs in the attached VPCs.

Figure: NFV Service Topology View

Click on any VPC to load its connectivity map with Site or TGW and subnets. This also opens a modeless window with VPC information such as VM instances and route tables.

Figure: NFV Service VPC Topology View

Click on any subnet or VM to view its information in the modeless window. In case of VMs, the view also displays network interface information.