Overview

This course introduces network administrators, operators, and DevOps engineers to the foundational and F5-specific technologies required to automate BIG-IP. Participants will gain exposure to multiple technologies for a variety of use cases and will have hands-on experience that leave them better prepared to automate the onboarding and configuration of BIG-IP.

Course Topics

  • Review the Linux Command Line
  • Review BIG-IP Application Creation
  • Discuss Automation and DevOps Concepts
  • Configuring BIG-IP with iControl REST
  • Automating BIG-IP configuration with Application Services Extension 3 (AS3)
  • Automating BIG-IP onboarding with Declarative Onboarding (DO)

Audience

This course is intended for network administrators and operators and DevOps engineers interested in automating tasks on BIG-IP systems in their public and private Clouds as well as in their datacenter infrastructure.

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Prerequisites

Students should be familiar with and be able to configure basic BIG-IP elements such as:

  • Virtual Servers
  • Pools, Pool Members and Nodes
  • Pool Monitors
  • Basic Virtual Server Profiles

Students should also be familiar with the basics of the Linux command line. In addition, the following general technical knowledge should be well understood:

  • Layer 2 Ethernet and ARP networking concepts
  • Layer 3 and 4 TCP/IP networking concepts, including IP addressing and subnetting
  • Layer 7 HTTP networking concepts
  • Linux command line and basic Linux commands
  • HTML

Finally, nice-to-have knowledge includes familiarity with programming and/or scripting languages, such as:

  • JavaScript or NodeJS
  • Python
  • Bash

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Delegates will learn how to

Course Objectives

  • Review Automation and DevOps concepts
  • Describe the components of iControl REST calls and how they interact with BIG-IP
  • Stand up and configure BIG-IP applications using iControl REST
  • Describe the installation and use of AS3 and DO iApp LX components
  • Automate the onboarding and configuration of BIG-IP
  • Add advanced tools like Postman and Newman to your toolkit

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Outline

Chapter 1: Linux Command Line Review

  • Navigating the Linux File System
  • Creating and Deleting Files and Directories
  • Copying and Moving Files
  • Command Line Auto-Completion and Editing
  • Tools for Analyzing Test Results and Inspecting Log Files

Chapter 2: BIG-IP Application Creation Review

  • Understanding Load Balancing Basics
  • Configuring Virtual Servers, Pools, Pool Members and Nodes
  • Configuring Health Monitors and SSL Profiles
  • Understanding the Full Proxy Architecture and Source Address Translation

Chapter 3: Automation and DevOps Concepts

  • Understanding Infrastructure as Code, NetOps and DevOps
  • Differentiating Automation and Orchestration Concepts
  • Diving into DevOps Concepts such as Idempotency, Atomicity and Imperative vs Declarative

Chapter 4: Programming BIG-IP with iControl REST

  • Introducing Basic JavaScript Types
  • Introducing JavaScript Object Notation
  • Discovering an existing BIG-IP Configuration using iControl REST
  • Deploying Apps on BIG-IP using iControl REST
  • Onboarding BIG-IP using iControl REST
  • Working with JSON Programmatically

Chapter 5: Automating BIG-IP with AS3

  • Introducing BIG-IP Applications Services Extension 3
  • Creating BIG-IP Applications using AS3 with Curl
  • Introducing Postman and Postman Tests
  • Creating BIG-IP Applications using AS3 with Postman
  • Using Newman and the Linux CLI to Create BIG-IP Applications with AS3

Chapter 6: Onboarding BIG-IP with DO

  • Introducing Declarative Onboarding for BIG-IP
  • Remotely Installing the Declarative Onboarding iApp LX
  • Onboarding BIG-IP Declaratively

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Why choose QA

Dates & Locations

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QA online courses, also commonly known as distance learning courses or elearning courses, take the form of interactive software designed for individual learning, but you will also have access to full support from our subject-matter experts for the duration of your course. When you book a QA online learning course you will receive immediate access to it through our e-learning platform and you can start to learn straight away, from any compatible device. Access to the online learning platform is valid for one year from the booking date.

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Joining instructions for QA courses are sent two weeks prior to the course start date, or immediately if the booking is confirmed within this timeframe. For course bookings made via QA but delivered by a third-party supplier, joining instructions are sent to attendees prior to the training course, but timescales vary depending on each supplier’s terms. Read more FAQs.

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Certificates of Achievement are issued at the end the course, either as a hard copy or via email. Read more here.

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