Manual Chapter : Updating Signatures for Application Recognition

Applies To:

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BIG-IP PEM

  • 11.5.10, 11.5.9, 11.5.8, 11.5.7, 11.5.6, 11.5.5, 11.5.4, 11.5.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.1
Manual Chapter

Overview: Updating classification signatures

Classification signatures define different types of traffic that Policy Enforcement Manager (PEM) can recognize. PEM recognizes a predefined set of signatures for common applications and application categories that are updated periodically. You can download signature updates from F5 Networks, and schedule the system to automatically update the signatures. You can also manually install the classification signatures and updates, for example, if the BIG-IP system does not have Internet access.

Task Summary

Importing signatures manually

If you are uploading classification signatures manually because you do not have Internet access, you must have previously downloaded the signatures file, have it stored locally, and be able to navigate to it. You can obtain the latest signature update file from http://downloads.f5.com.
On the BIG-IP system, you can import a locally stored classification signature update file.
  1. On the Main tab, click Policy Enforcement > Signatures. The Signatures screen opens.
  2. If you have Internet connectivity, click Check for Updates to update the signature file if an update is available.
  3. To upload signature file update if the BIG-IP system does not have Internet connectivity, under the Signature Definitions area, click Import Signatures. The Signatures screen displays a Signatures File field where you can browse to a previously downloaded signature file update.
  4. To upload a signature file update, in the Signature Definitions area, click Import Signatures. The Signatures screen displays a Signatures File field where you can select the new signature file.
  5. In the Signatures File field, click Choose File to navigate to the previously uploaded signatures file.
  6. Click Upload. A message displays indicating whether your upload was successful.
For signature updates to take effect, you must type bigstart restart tmm on the tmsh command line.

Scheduling automatic signature updates

You can set up the BIG-IP system to automatically update the classification signatures. This ensures that the system always has the latest classification signature files.
  1. On the Main tab, click Policy Enforcement > Signatures. The Signatures screen opens.
  2. Click Check for Updates to manually upload a signature file update if one is available. You see the current date and time in the Latest Update Check setting of the Signature Definitions area.
  3. For the Automatic Updates setting, select Enabled.
  4. From the Update Schedule setting, select Daily, Weekly, or Monthly to specify how often you want the system to check for updates.
  5. Click Update to save your settings.
The signature updates take effect immediately.