Manual Chapter :
Deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition
Applies To:
Show VersionsBIG-IQ ADC
- 4.5.0
BIG-IQ Cloud
- 4.5.0
BIG-IQ Device
- 4.5.0
BIG-IQ Security
- 4.5.0
About VE VMware deployment
To deploy the BIG-IQ Virtual Edition (VE) system on VMware, you perform these tasks:
- Verify the host machine requirements.
- Deploy a BIG-IQ system as a virtual machine.
- Deploy a BIG-IP system.
- After you have deployed the virtual machines, log in to the BIG-IQ VE system and run the Setup utility. Using the Setup utility, you perform basic network configuration tasks, such as assigning VLANs to interfaces.
- Configure secure communication between the BIG-IQ system and the BIG-IP device.
Host machine requirements and recommendations
To successfully deploy and run the BIG-IQ VE system, the host system must satisfy minimum requirements.
The host system must include these elements:
- VMware ESX or ESXi. The Virtual Edition and Supported Hypervisors Matrix, published on the AskF5 web site, http://support.f5.com identifies the versions that are supported.
- VMware vSphere client
- Connection to a common NTP source (this is especially important for each host in a redundant system configuration)
Important: The
hypervisor CPU must meet the following requirements:
- Use a 64-bit architecture.
- Have support for virtualization (AMD-V or Intel VT-x) enabled.
- Support a one-to-one thread-to-defined virtual CPU ratio, or (on single-threading architectures) support at least one core per defined virtual CPU.
- Intel processors must be from the Core (or newer) workstation or server family of CPUs.
Deploying a BIG-IQ VE virtual machine
The first step in deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition (VE) is to download the OVA file to your local system. Next, you can run the Deploy OVF Template wizard from within the VMware vSphere™ client. Follow the steps in this procedure to create an instance of the BIG-IQ system that runs as a virtual machine on the host system.
Important: Do not modify the configuration of the VMware guest environment with settings less powerful than the
ones recommended in this document. This includes the settings for the CPU, RAM, and
network adapters. Doing so might produce unexpected results.
Powering on the virtual machine
You must power on the virtual machine before you
can begin assigning IP addresses.
Assigning a management IP address to a virtual machine
The virtual machine needs an IP address assigned to its virtual management port.
Tip: The default configuration for new deployments and installations is
for DHCP to acquire the management port IP address.
When assigned, the management IP address appears in the Summary tab of the vSphere client. Alternatively, you can use a hypervisor generic
statement to determine your management address; such as: tmsh list sys
management-ip.
Tip: F5 Networks highly recommends that you specify a default route for the
virtual management port, but it is not required for operation of the virtual
machine.