Run commands remotely on a BIG-IP load balancer????

Which type of commands do you wish to run on the BIG-IP? Either you are asking whether you can run BIG-IP commands remotely from another machines console, or if you can run remote commands from another machine on a BIG-IP console. BIG-IP does include the ssh client and server so you can use ssh to remotely execute commands in either direction (Windows might be a bit tricky as you would need to find a ssh server)

 

 

If you are asking whether you can run BIG-IP commands remotely from another machine, I would ask why you don't use iControl to query the configuration and statistics you are interested. The SDK includes various examples that are compatible with many development languages and platforms (including Windows and Linux). The added benefit is that you will have a structured format of the results where the command line output is not guaranteed to be consistent from release to release.

 

 

Keep in mind, that F5 does not support loading any external software (including command scripts) on the BIG-IP filesystem.

 

 

If you can be a bit more specific in your scenario, I can try to give some guidance on where to look in the SDK for the methods relevant to your situation (or even include code examples depending on the complexity).

 

 

-Joe

I came across this post, and I am in a similar situation in which I am looking into finding the best possible way to manage a BigIP LTM system from a remote location (e.g.: Add/Remove Pool Members). Here is what I am trying to figure out -

 

 

a.Is it possible to remotely manage the Big-IP LTM system pair (active/standby for example ) CLI interface from a remote server (e.g.: Linux or Solaris for this matter)?

 

b.If yes, what could be our options to allow management (e.g.: execute F5 sample CLI commands) from a remote server? Does F5 recommend any option over another taking in consideration advantages/disadvantages?

 

i.e.g.: Allow client to add or remove itself from load balancer pool via command issues from a remote server’s CLI -

 

 

Marouane

 

Marouane,

 

 

there are two options to manage a LTM remotely.

 

 

1.) Configure an admin user to have shell access (user option). Then ssh to the LTM and configure it with the CLI commands "tmsh" or "bigpipe". bigpipe only works for TMOS < V11.0!. Both commands are documented in the LTM docs.

 

 

2.) You can use iControl to configure the LTM. iControl is a SOAP API - see here: http://devcentral.f5.com/HotTopics/iControl/tabid/1082201/Default.aspx

 

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

Regards

 

Kurt Knochner