Lab 3 - Declarative - Create VS, Pool and Members using an iApp¶

Task 1 - Create service playbook using iApp¶

1. Create a playbook iapp.yaml.

   • Type nano playbooks/iapp.yaml
   • Type the following into the playbooks/iapp.yaml file.

   ---
   
   - name: "Declarative: Deploy / teardown web app"
     hosts: bigips
     gather_facts: False
     connection: local
   
     vars:
       service_name: ""
       service_ip: ""
       service_group: ""
       state: "present"
   
     environment: "{{ bigip_env }}"
   
     tasks:
       - import_tasks: getsl.yaml
         when: state == "absent"
   
       - name: Check if {{ service_name }} is deployed
         meta: end_play
         when: 'state == "absent" and service_name not in (service_list.content|from_json)["items"]'
   
       - name: Build POST body
         template: src=f5.http.j2 dest=./f5.http.yaml
   
       - name: Adjust an iApp
         uri:
           url: "https://{{ inventory_hostname }}/mgmt/tm/cloud/services/iapp/{{ service_name }}"
           method: "{{ (state == 'present') | ternary('POST', 'DELETE') }}"
           body: "{{ (lookup('template','f5.http.yaml') | from_yaml) }}"
           body_format: json
           user: "{{ bigip_user }}"
           password: "{{ bigip_pass }}"
           validate_certs: no
   

   • Ctrl-x to save file.

2. Run this playbook.

   • Type ansible-playbook playbooks/iapp.yaml -e @creds.yaml --ask-vault-pass -e service_name="app4" -e service_ip="10.1.10.40" -e service_group="appservers"

     If successful, you should see similar results

     

     Hint

     Due to our lab environment, you may encounter a timeout issue. If so, please run playbook a 2nd time and it should complete correctly.

3. Verify results in BIG-IP GUI.

   Hint

   You should see app4 deployed with 1 pool member. App should be accessible on https://10.1.10.40.

4. Run this playbook to teardown.

5. Verify that app4 iapp should be deleted in BIG-IP GUI.

   • Type ansible-playbook playbooks/iapp.yaml -e @creds.yaml --ask-vault-pass -e service_name="app4" -e service_ip="10.1.10.40" -e service_group="appservers" -e state="absent"

   Note

   F5 iApps, automate the configuration of advanced L4-L7 functionality. Deploying an iApp from an Ansible playbook means the Ansible admin can deliver advanced L4-L7 services without the requirement for F5 domain-specific knowledge. You take the JSON payload and convert to YAML using online tools like http://www.json2yaml.com.