Manual Chapter : BIG-IQ High Availability

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BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 5.0.0
Manual Chapter

How do I manage BIG-IQ systems in a high availability configuration?

Setting up BIG-IQ®in a high availability configuration ensures that you always have access to the BIG-IP® devices you are managing. In a BIG-IQ high availability configuration, the BIG-IQ system replicates configuration changes since the last synchronization from the primary device to the secondary device every 10 minutes. If it ever becomes necessary, you can have the secondary peer take over management of the BIG-IP devices.

Adding a peer BIG-IQ system for a high availability configuration

Before you can configure BIG-IQ systems for high availability (HA), you must have two licensed BIG-IQ systems.

For the high-availability pair to synchronize properly, each system must be running the same BIG-IQ version, and the clocks on each system must be synchronized within 60 seconds. To make sure the clocks are in sync, take a look at the NTP settings on each system before you add a peer.

Configuring BIG-IQ® in a high availability (HA) pair means you can still manage your BIG-IP® devices even if one BIG-IQ systems fails.
  1. Log in to the BIG-IQ® system with your user name and password.
  2. At the top left of the screen, select System Management from the BIG-IQ menu.
  3. On the left, click BIG-IQ HA.
  4. Click the Add Device button.
  5. Type the properties for the BIG-IQ system you are adding, and then click the Add button at the bottom of the screen.

Promoting the secondary BIG-IQ system to primary for an HA pair

If the primary BIG-IQ® in an HA pair is having any type of system issue, you might want to make the secondary BIG-IQ the primary system until you can fix the problem.

You can promote the secondary system to primary when you are logged in to either BIG-IQ system in the pair. This task describes how to promote the secondary BIG-IQ system while logged in to the primary BIG-IQ system.

  1. Log in to the BIG-IQ® system with your user name and password.
  2. At the top left of the screen, select System Management from the BIG-IQ menu.
  3. At the top of the screen, click Inventory.
  4. On the left, click BIG-IQ HA.
  5. Select the check box next to the secondary BIG-IQ system, and click the Promote to Primary button.
The secondary BIG-IQ system synchronizes with the primary BIG-IQ system, and promotes to being the primary BIG-IQ system.

Deleting a BIG-IQ system from a high availability pair

To change or reconfigure (including upgrading) a BIG-IQ® system in a high availability (HA) pair, you must first split the HA relationship by deleting the secondary system.
  1. Log in to the BIG-IQ® system with your user name and password.
  2. At the top left of the screen, select System Management from the BIG-IQ menu.
  3. At the top of the screen, click Inventory.
  4. Log in to the primary BIG-IQ system, using administrator credentials.
  5. From the BIG-IQ list, select System.
  6. Click the Remove button.
  7. Click the Delete button.
The primary BIG-IQ system is now standalone.