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JimT's avatar
JimT
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Feb 05, 2016

Automatic reduce connection limit based on status of application server

Hi, Hope someone here can point me in the right direction, and give some hints if the following is possible:

 

We have a VIP with three members. When the developers wants to add a new feature or upgrade one of the servers, we would like to have an automatic connection limit set on the member which is upgraded/have a new feature. Today all members are equal, and have connection limit set to 0. Is it possible to set the connection limit to ex. 10 on the newly upgraded server automatic based on a http response ?

 

If possible the developers can just add a custom website that BIG-IP check, and based on the response the connection limit will be set for that server. The reason for this is that we don't want to give the developers access to the BIG-IP.

 

I've heard something about iCall, but have no idea how to use it, so any ideas would be helpful.

 

application delivery
devops
iCall
LTM

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  • Hannes_Rapp's avatar
    Hannes_Rapp
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    Feb 05, 2016

    Why would you want to reduce the connection limit, instead of just marking the pool member unavailable during a maintenance window or release? To me, it does not make sense, but maybe there are some valid reasons. I want to know!

     

    As an automated/delegated activation solution, I would not consider anything besides an iControlREST implementation. You might want to develop a basic HTML front-end (somewhere outside BigIP) which triggers an iControlREST API call, based on user input. The front-end server can authenticate itself to BigIP with a client-certificate, you do not have to share BigIP auth credentials with externals.

     

    iControlREST Ref: https://devcentral.f5.com/wiki/iControlREST.HomePage.ashx

     

    PDF Docu (11.5): https://devcentral.f5.com/d/icontrol-rest-user-guide-version-1150

     

  • JimT's avatar
    JimT
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Feb 05, 2016

    Hi Hannes,

     

    The reason to tune down the allowed connection is to test the change on the appserver live, but only for a limited number of users. If we go fully live with no limit, this change might affect more than ex.10 users (ref. 10 as max connection limit).

     

    • Hannes_Rapp's avatar
      Hannes_Rapp
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      Feb 05, 2016
      I actually like that ten-guinea-pigs idea :) But for the implementation, what if instead of going with a complex solution, you requested a small VM which has 10 as connection limit on a constant basis? It sounds like new software releases are very regular in your enterprise and causing management overhead. A dedicated initial-release (Guinea Pig) VM might also be worth a consideration. Apart from that option, I'm still suggesting iControlREST API.