Memory: 12 GB or more

All licensable module-combinations may be run on platforms with 12 GB or more of memory, and on VE and vCMP guests provisioned with 12 GB or more of memory. Note that this does not mean that all modules may be simultaneously provisioned on all platforms with 12 GB or more of memory. The BIG-IP license for the platform determines which combination of modules are available for provisioning.

Memory: 8 GB

The following guidelines apply to the BIG-IP 2000s, 2200s, 6900 platforms and to VE guests configured with 8 GB of memory. (A vCMP guest provisioned with 8 GB of memory has less than 8 GB of memory actually available and thus does not fit in this category.)

• No more than three modules should be provisioned together.
• On the 2000s and 2200s, Application Acceleration Manager (AAM) can be provisioned with only one other module.
• To use Access Policy Manager (APM) and Secure Web Gateway (SWG) modules together on platforms with exactly 8 GB of memory, Local Traffic Manager (LTM) provisioning must be set to None.

Memory: Less than 8 GB and more than 4 GB

The following guidelines apply to platforms, and to VE and vCMP guests provisioned with less than 8 GB and more than 4 GB of memory. (A vCMP guest provisioned with 8 GB of memory has less than 8 GB of memory actually available and thus fits in this category.)

• No more than three modules (not including AAM) should be provisioned together.
• Application Acceleration Manager (AAM) cannot be provisioned with any other module; AAM can only be provisioned standalone.
• Analytics (AVR) counts towards the two module-combination limit (for platforms with less than 6.25 GB of memory).

Memory: 4 GB or less (VE only)

The following guidelines apply to VE instances provisioned with 4 GB or less of memory.

• No more than two modules may be configured together.
• AAM should not be provisioned, except as Dedicated.
• ASM can be provisioned with this amount of memory, but a sizing exercise should be performed to ensure that it does not hit capacity issues.

vCMP memory provisioning calculations

The amount of memory provisioned to a vCMP guest is calculated using the following formula: (platform_memory- 3 GB) x (cpus_assigned_to_guest / total_cpus).

As an example, for the B2100 with two guests, provisioned memory calculates as: (16-3) x (2/4) ~= 6.5 GB.

For a comprehensive list of fixes, behavior changes, and known issues for this release, refer to the BIG-IP 13.0.0 Release Information page.

Endpoint Check and Network Access for Chrome Browser, Firefox, and Edge Browser

F5 Access Policy Manager can now support the ability to enforce endpoint checks and enable network access (including VPN) from Chrome Browser, Firefox, and Edge Browser, without the need for browser plug-ins. Endpoint Check and Microsoft Internet Explorer and Apple Safari will keep the use of browser plug-ins.

OAuth 2.0 Authorization Server, Resource Server and Client

F5 Access Policy Manager now supports the OAuth 2.0 federation framework, in addition to SAML. This protocol is popular for use cases such as using social media identity providers, protecting APIs, or to standardize on a protocol used by IDaaS providers or on-premises. APM is capable of protecting and providing authorization service integration using OAuth, without having to change existing applications protected by APM.

Ping Identity: PingAccess Policy Enforcement Point

F5 Access Policy Manager can now provide infrastructure consolidation and scaling for PingAccess. APM implements Ping Identity’s Policy Agent protocol, removing the need to install and manage agents on apps, or to deploy Ping Identity’s gateway. The implementation provides high scaling and can be enabled together with LTM, ASM, etc, providing further network infrastructure simplification. Policy Administration and Policy Decision stay with PingAccess, making the integration seamless and the overall solution simpler to manage.

APM Integration with VMware Horizon Access Portal/Identity Manager

F5 Access Policy Manager is now integrated with VMware’s vIDM component of the Workspace ONE suite. APM provides protection for applications that use Kerberos or header base authentication, integrating with Workspace ONE and thus providing a seamless Single Sign On experience for the end user in a hybrid world of SaaS and on-premises application.

Launch native RDP client from APM webtop without F5 client component code

RDP resources can now be configured to launch native RDP clients on Windows or Mac OS X. Previously, F5 client component code (ActiveX control or Java applet) was required on the user's desktop. This feature addresses recent changes in some browsers such as Firefox and Chrome or Microsoft Edge to drop support for Java and Active-X plug-ins.

Microsoft RemoteApps published on APM Webtop and in native RDP client

RDP resources can now be configured to fetch desktops and applications (RemoteApps) from Microsoft RD Web Access server. Resources can be accessed through APM Webtop or native RDP client on Windows and Mac OS X.

Step-up Authentication

The new URL branching agent enables branching on a URL (URI) without requiring configuration of URL categories. This simplifies the entry point to specifying URLs for which to run step-up authentication. Variable assign agent and logging is available to add to per-request policy subroutines. Also, new authentication methods are supported as part of step-up authentication – RADIUS authentication (for Multifactor solution use with DUO Security, RSA SecurID, and so on.), HTTP Authentication, local database authentication, and certificate based authentication with OCSP and CRLDP for certificate validation.

Forward Proxy Chaining

The BIG-IP system supports forward proxy chaining which enables connection to a next hop proxy server. When configured to act as an explicit or as a transparent forward proxy, brings these abilities to forward proxy chaining:

• Offload authentication from and support authentication to the next hop on the client's behalf.
• Support single sign-on to the next hop and to resources at the next hop.
• Select different proxy servers for different requests.
• Select different SSO configurations for different requests.

Enhanced iRules support for Subsessions with Per Request Policies (Example: Step-up authentication)

Now, session variables values can be set (along with get) using iRules.

Google reCAPTCHA V2 Support

Access Policy Manager supports version Google reCAPTCHA V2 to protect your application from spam and abuse. reCAPTCHA V1 is not supported on BIG-IP v13. Please see release notes on migrating to use reCAPTCHA V2 with Access Policy Manager.

Support for WebSockets for Portal Access

WebSockets on web apps can be used with Portal Access. To determine if WebSockets is being used on a web app, please ask the developer or the solutions vendor.

Enhanced F5 Access Policy Manager Menu Navigation

F5 Access Policy Manager menus have been updated to be more intuitive and enable easier configuration for various use cases of APM.

Additional Troubleshooting and Usability Change

F5 Access Policy Manager now has the ability to display session variable values from the Session Management screen. Also, the Client Downloads screen has been updated for more intuitive downloading of the BIG-IP Edge Client for Windows and MacOS for deployment.

Support For Exclusion Lists with Edge Client for Windows Always-On VPN Mode (Locked Client Mode)

A VPN exclusion list containing hosts or domains can be now be accessed by the client before VPN is established when using locked client model. Scenarios it can address are:

1. Windows Integrated Client needing to access the Domain Controller at logon time
2. Access to CRL and OCSP repositories for server certificate validation
3. Access to third party SAML IDP solution for authentication

Enhanced SSO Configuration Tools and Consistent Logging across all APM services

F5 Access Policy Manager now supports enhanced tools to simplify SSO configuration across your internal applications that use forms-based authentication. Using the “Pass-through” mode, you can collect all the configuration  data and then simply plug it into the SSO configuration to quickly setup your applications.

ACL Enhancements

Layer 4 ACLs can now be applied to an administrator-created virtual server listening on a Network Access tunnel interface (that is, a layered virtual server). In addition, ACLs are also supported for traffic between VPN tunnel clients.

Dynamic RDP

An administrator can now configure a “User defined” RDP type resource that enables end users to dynamically specify the RDP resources that they want to connect to from the APM webtop.

Launch multiple Horizon View client instances from APM webtops

An end user can now launch multiple VMware Horizon View client instances, as long as they are accessing resources from different webtops. Only one VMware Horizon View client instance can be launched from each webtop.

Enhanced VDI client selection from APM Webtop

Administrators can now select and enforce the VDI client for their users on APM Webtop: native or HTML5.

• For VMware View, administrators can set the preferred client in the VMware View Policy agent in VPE.
• For Citrix, administrators can set the session variable session.citrix.preferred_client to "html5" or "native" in the Variable Assign agent in VPE.

Enhanced VDI logging

VDI events are now logged in APM logs and are available in Access Reports.

Upgrading from version 11.x or later

When you upgrade from version 11.x or later, you use the Software Management screens in the Configuration utility to complete these steps. To open the Software Management screens, in the navigation pane of the Configuration utility, expand System, and click Software Management. For information about using the Software Management screens, see the online help.

Upgrading from versions earlier than 11.x

You cannot roll forward a configuration directly to this version from BIG-IP version 10.x or earlier. You must be running version 11.x (or later) software. For details about upgrading from earlier versions, see the release notes for the associated release.

Automatic firmware upgrades

If this version includes new firmware for your specific hardware platform, after you install and activate this version, the system might reboot additional times to perform all necessary firmware upgrades.

Antivirus and firewall software checks in access policies

If your access policies include custom expressions that rely on session variables created by the antivirus or firewall software checks, after upgrade to 11.4.x, you must configure the antivirus or firewall software checks so that the Store information about client software in session variables property is set to Enabled. (It is disabled by default.)

If the custom expressions include multiple sub-expressions, you might need to edit the expressions.

Kerberos SSO

Kerberos SSO does not work after upgrading from 11.3.0 to 11.4.0 and later. This happens because, starting in 11.4.0 the password is saved in encrypted form, while the password in 11.3.0 is saved as clear text. Re-enter Kerberos SSO password after upgrading from 11.3.0.

Citrix client packages

The 11.4.x upgrade script cannot recover any file object with a name that includes space characters. If a Citrix client package file name includes a space, the configuration loads after upgrade, but the Citrix client package file does not function properly. To work around this problem:

1. Outside of APM, name or rename a Citrix client package without spaces in the name.
2. Use the correctly named Citrix client package.
   • To fix the problem before upgrade, replace any improperly named Citrix client package as needed.
   • To fix the problem after upgrade, upload a properly named Citrix client package and select it from the connectivity profiles.

Machine accounts for NTLM front-end authentication

APM does not restore NLAD connections when the configuration is restored from a UCS file. After upgrading to 11.4.x, if the previous configuration was using NTLM front-end authentication, the functionality is not restored. To work around this problem, after the upgrade, manually delete the existing machine account configurations and then recreate them.

Advanced customization

If you performed any advanced customization of files, you must upgrade these files manually.

Custom reports

Custom reports are lost after upgrade. To work around this issue, export your custom reports before you upgrade and then reimport them after you upgrade.

Additional resources

You can find additional support resources and technical documentation through a variety of sources.

• The F5 Networks Technical Support web site: https://f5.com/support
• The AskF5 web site: https://support.f5.com/csp/home
• The F5 DevCentral web site: https://devcentral.f5.com/
• AskF5 Publication Preference Center: https://interact.f5.com/AskF5-SubscriptionCenter.html

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