Manual Chapter : Additional Network Configuration Options

Applies To:

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BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 5.3.0
Manual Chapter

Optional VLAN for device management

During the licensing and initial configuration procedures, you specify the management port for BIG-IQ®. This is all the networking configuration required to start managing devices. However, if you would prefer to manage devices from a VLAN address, you have the option to configure that.

Configure a VLAN to manage BIG-IP devices

You must have licensed the BIG-IQ® system before you can configure a VLAN.
If you decide you want to manage BIG-IP devices from a VLAN rather than the BIG-IQ system's management port, you can configure it using this procedure.
  1. At the top of the screen, click System.
  2. On the left, click NETWORK SETTINGS > VLANs .
  3. Click the Create button.
  4. In the Name and Description fields, type a unique name and description to identify this new VLAN.
  5. In the Tag field, type an optional tag number.

    A VLAN tag is a unique ID number between 1 and 4094. All messages sent from a host in this VLAN includes the tag as a header in the message to identify the specific VLAN where the source or destination host is located. If you do not assign a tag, BIG-IQ assigns one automatically.

  6. From the Interface list, select the port that you want this VLAN to use.

    The interface is a physical or virtual port that you use to connect the BIG-IQ system to managed devices in your network.

  7. In the MTU field, type an optional frame size value for Path Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU).

    By default, BIG-IP devices use the standard Ethernet frame size of 1518 bytes (1522 bytes if VLAN tagging is used) with the corresponding MTU of 1500 bytes. For BIG-IP devices that support Jumbo Frames, you can specify another MTU value.

  8. Click the Save & Close button at the bottom of the screen.

Specify a self-IP address for a VLAN

You need to configure BIG-IQ® with at least a VLAN before you can associate a self IP address with it.
If you've configured a VLAN to manage BIG-IP® devices, you can then associate a self IP address with that VLAN.
  1. At the top of the screen, click System.
  2. On the left, click NETWORK SETTINGS > Self IPs .
  3. At the top of the screen, click the Create button.
  4. In the Name field, type a unique name to identify this new self IP address.
  5. In the Address field, type the self IP address and netmask.
    The format is <self IP address/netmask>.
  6. In the Description field, type a description for this self IP address.
  7. From the VLAN list, select the VLAN to associate with this self IP address.
  8. Click the Save & Close button at the bottom of the screen.

Specify a web proxy for secure communication

Before you can specify a web proxy, you must license and perform the initial configuration for BIG-IQ® Centralized Management.
For security purposes, you can specify a web proxy for BIG-IQ to use for communication with the F5® iHealth® server and the F5 license server.
  1. At the top of the screen, click System.
  2. On the left, click PROXIES.
  3. Near the top of the screen, click the Add button.
  4. In the Name field, type a name to identify this web proxy.
    Important: You must use the exact same proxy name on all BIG-IQ systems in a cluster.
  5. In the Address and Port fields, type the IP address and port for the web proxy server.
    The proxy address and port don't have to be the same for all BIG-IQ systems in a cluster.
  6. If the web proxy server requires authentication, provide the credentials in the User Name and Password fields.
  7. For the Functions setting, select the check box next to each function you want to use this web proxy for communication between BIG-IQ and the internet.
  8. Click the Save & Close button at the bottom of the screen.
BIG-IQ will now use this web proxy for communication when accessing the internet for the functionality you specified.