We first introduced iControl interfaces for ASM in version 9 of LTM, and that support was about what you would expect from a first release – usable, but not expansive. With V10, we have stepped up the number of interfaces and the functionality they offer you access to, and here’s a quick overview of those changes. There is a Tech Tip coming soon about the interfaces themselves and how to use them, this blog is just to help you determine if you can achieve your goals utilizing iControl against ASM. Not that I want that to sound too harsh on the version 9 coverage – you could do most things you needed to in that version – this extension just builds upon that version’s solid base.

So the smart guys on our ASM development team opened up quite an array of APIs for your use, giving us expanded control of our BIG-IP LTM with ASM systems. Let’s chat now about when and where iControl fits in the architecture of your ASM-protected network.

For Web Applications, you can delete ones that are disabled, manage policies and logging policies, enable and disable them, set the language for a given web application, and reset web applications to default settings. That’s a lot. It pretty much gives you control of the web application from end to end, with the only bit not yet implemented being codified creation of web applications.

Nothing changed in the Web Application Groups iControl interface for v.10, but that list of APIs is pretty solid anyway, allowing you to create and delete groups, add web applications to a group, get a list of all web apps in a given group, and remove web applications from a group.

In the Policy interface, we now have a pretty thorough coverage, including creating, deleting, associating WebAccelerator applications with ASM policies.

There’s more, but I’ll let you check them out if you’re interested, or watch the docs for my ASM interface reference Tech Tip coming soon.

At this point, there are things you can do from the ASM Admin UI that aren’t available from iControl, but not much. If you’re using iControl for remote management, and have ASM in place, take a gander at the What’s new in v.10 iControl Wiki Page or the ASM iControl Wiki page, and you’ll see what I mean.

Options, it’s always about options. And now you have more. Can’t kick that a bit.

That’s it for today,

Don.