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Create Fleet

Published April 5, 2023 | Last modified March 11, 2025

Objective

This guide provides instructions on how to create a Fleet using F5® Distributed Cloud Console (Console). See Fleet for more information.

Fleet is used to configure infrastructure components (like nodes) in one or more F5® Distributed Cloud Services Customer Edge (CE) sites homogeneously. Fleet configuration includes the following information:

  • Software image release to be deployed on the Fleet

  • Virtual networks

  • List of interface and devices to be configured on every node

  • Connections between the virtual networks

  • Security policies applied in the Site

Associating Fleet with Site

Fleet has a field called fleet_label. When a Fleet object is created, the system automatically creates a known_label ves.io/fleet=. The known_label is created in the Shared namespace for the tenant. A site is made a "member of Fleet" when this known_label is added to the site. A site can have at most one known_label of type ves.io/fleet and hence belongs to exactly one Fleet at any given time.

When a Site becomes a member of a Fleet, all nodes in the site also become "members of that Fleet". The Fleet configuration is applied on all nodes that are members of the Fleet.

Note: You cannot add a fleet label to the following type of sites:

  • F5® Distributed Cloud App Stack (App Stack) Site
  • AWS VPC Site
  • AWS TGW Site
  • Azure VNet Site
  • GCP VPC Site

Fleet and Virtual Site

Both Fleet and Virtual Site select a list of sites based on labels. But there is a major difference between Virtual Site and Fleet. Virtual sites are intersecting subsets of available sites. Fleet is a non-intersecting subset of available sites compared to other Fleets. As a result, at most one Fleet configuration is applied on a site. Also, while a Virtual Site selects sites based on their labels (via the Virtual Site configured label selectors), the Fleet must be applied in the sites that you want to be part of that Fleet (it does not select them).

However, to enable other features like monitoring, deploying applications or jobs on sites represented by Fleet, the system will automatically create a Virtual Site in the Shared namespace representing all sites in a Fleet.

Using the instructions provided in this guide, you will be able to create a Fleet, with all its elements, and apply to your site, making it part of this Fleet.

Prerequisites

Configuration

The following video shows you how to create a Fleet with the required network configuration and application for your gateways:

Create Fleet

You can create and configure a Fleet label to apply to your sites, to perform software and operating system upgrades as well as other administrative tasks.

Step 1: Start creating Fleet in Console.

  • Log into Console.

  • Click Multi-Cloud Network Connect.

Figure: Console Homepage

Figure: Console Homepage

  • Click Manage > Site Management > Fleets.

  • Click Add Fleet.

Step 2: Add your Fleet name and metadata.

  • In the Metadata section, enter a mandatory Fleet name in the Name field.

  • Optionally, select a label and enter a short description.

Figure: Add Fleet Name

Figure: Add Fleet Name

Step 3: Configure your Fleet label, virtual networks, and software versions.

  • In the Fleet Configuration section, enter a mandatory value for the Fleet label in the Fleet Label Value field.

  • Configure the following optional fields:

    • Select an outside virtual network from the Outside (Site Local) Virtual Network menu. To create a new network, click Add Item. In the page that appears, configure the fields. After you finish, click Continue.

    • Select an inside virtual network from the Site Local Inside Virtual Network menu. To create a new network, click Add Item. In the page that appears, configure the fields. After you finish, click Continue.

    • In the Software Version field, enter a software version.

    • In the Operating System Version field, enter an operating system version.

Figure: Fleet Configuration

Figure: Fleet Configuration

Step 4: Select or create network interfaces for the sites in your Fleet.

  • To add and configure a new bond device:

    • From the Select Bond Configuration menu, select if you want to configure a new bond interface with Configure Bond Interfaces. The option for No Bond Devices is set by default.

    • Click Add Item.

    • From the Bond Device Name menu, click See Common Values. Select a value from the list displayed or type a custom name.

    • In the Member Ethernet Devices section, click See Suggestions from the Member Ethernet Devices menu. Select a value from the options displayed or type a custom name. You can add more member devices using the Add Item option.

    • From the Select Bond Mode menu, select how the bonding occurs. If you select LACP (802.3ad), enter a packet interval value in the LACP Packet Interval field.

    • Click Apply.

  • Perform the following to configure non-bond interfaces:

    • From the Select Interface Config menu, select your interface configuration from the options available. The Default Interface Config option does not require more configuration.

    • If you select List of Interfaces, select as many interfaces as needed. To add more, click Add Item.

    • If you select Legacy Device List, click Add Item and perform the following:

      • Enter the required information for Device Name, Device Owner, Device Instance and Use.

      • Click Apply.

Figure: Fleet Network Interface

Figure: Fleet Network Interface

Step 5: Configure network connectors.

  • To select an existing network connector:

    • In the Network Connectors section, click Add Item.

    • From the list that appears, find and select the network connector, and then click Select Network Connector.

  • To create a new connector, click Add Item.

Figure: Fleet Network Connector

Figure: Fleet Network Connector

Step 6: Select or create a network firewall for your Fleet.

The Network Firewall object is used to configure network policies, forward and reverse proxies, and Distributed Cloud Services Fast Access Control Lists (ACLs). After this object is configured, it is applied to all sites within a Fleet and any associated virtual networks.

  • To select an existing network firewall, use the Network Firewall drop-down menu to search for the network firewall.

  • To create a new network firewall, click Add Item.

Figure: Fleet Network Firewall

Figure: Fleet Network Firewall

  • Complete the configuration using the instructions provided at Network Firewall.
Step 7: Configure Fleet storage.

In the Storage Configuration section, configure storage for your Fleet of sites using the instructions provided at Configure Storage in Fleet.

Step 8: Configure static routes and other advanced settings.

The settings in the Advanced Configuration section enable you to configure more options for your Fleet.

Step 8.1: Configure new static route.

  • To configure a new static route:

    • From the Select Storage Static Routes menu, click List of Storage Static Routes.

    • Click Add Item to display the form.

Figure: New Static Route

Figure: New Static Route

  • On the static route creation form, configure the following:

    • For the subnet configuration, click Add Item. Select the IP version for the new route, any prefixes and prefix lengths, and then click Apply.

    • In the Nexthop section, optionally perform configuration for route gateway, IP version, and network interface.

    • Optionally, use Add Label to group routes together for network policies.

    • Optionally, use the Attributes menu to select attributes for this new route.

    • After you finish, click Apply.

Step 8.2: Configure other options.
Step 9: Enable Fleet configuration download.

In the Advanced Configuration section, optionally enable the default Fleet configuration download option with Enable Default Fleet Config Download.

Note: You must enable the default Fleet configuration download if you configured the GPU and storage settings.

Figure: Enable Fleet Configuration Download

Figure: Enable Fleet Configuration Download

Step 10: Block services.

You can have your Fleet block services, like Web, DNS, and SSH.

In the Blocked Services section, click Add Item to configure blocked services.

Step 11: Complete Fleet configuration.

After you finish, click Save and Exit.

Apply Fleet Label to Site

After your Fleet is configured, you will need to apply its label on your sites so that the sites are configured with the Fleet settings.

Step 1: Navigate to your site.

  • To edit a non-cloud site, click Overview, and then click Sites.

  • Find your site, click ... and then click Manage Configuration.

  • Click Edit Configuration.

Step 2: Apply the Fleet label.

  • In the Labels box form, click Add Label. Start by typing “fleet” and you will see the key-value pair ves.io/fleet. Select this key-value pair.

  • Type the name of your Fleet label, and then select it.

Step 3: Save the configuration.

Click Save and Exit.

Your site is now part of the Fleet that you previously configured.

Concepts

API References

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