Quick Start

If you are familiar with the BIG-IP system, and generally familiar with REST and using APIs, this section contains the minimum amount of information to get you up and running with BIG-IP AS3.

If you are not familiar with the BIG-IP and REST APIs, or want more detailed instructions, continue with BIG-IP AS3 Best Practices.

1. Download the latest RPM package from F5 BIG-IP AS3 Releases GitHub.

Important

Starting from BIG-IP AS3 version 3.50.0, BIG-IP AS3 no longer supports BIG-IP 13.1 to 14.1.x. However, if you are still using the BIG-IP 13.1 to 14.1.x versions, you can use BIG-IP AS3 3.49.0 or earlier.

1. Upload and install the RPM package on the using the BIG-IP GUI:

   • Main tab > iApps > Package Management LX > Import

   • Select the downloaded file and click Upload

   • For complete instructions see Installing BIG-IP AS3 using the BIG-IP Configuration utility or Installing BIG-IP AS3 using cURL from the Linux shell.

2. Be sure to see the known issues on GitHub (https://github.com/F5Networks/f5-appsvcs-extension/issues) and Warnings, Notes, & Tips pages to review any known issues and other important information before you attempt to use BIG-IP AS3.

3. Provide authorization (basic auth) to the BIG-IP system:

   • If using a RESTful API client like Postman, in the Authorization tab, type the user name and password for a BIG-IP user account with Administrator permissions.

   • If using cURL, see Installing BIG-IP AS3 using cURL from the Linux shell.

4. Copy one of the Example declarations which best matches the configuration you want to use. Alternatively, you can use the simple “Hello World” example below, which is a good start if you don’t have an example in mind.

5. Paste the declaration into your API client, and modify names and IP addresses as applicable. See schema-reference for additional options you can declare.

6. POST to the URI https://<BIG-IP>/mgmt/shared/appsvcs/declare

Quick start example declaration

Important

This Quick Start example, and most of the example declarations have been updated in the documentation for BIG-IP AS3 3.20 to remove any template that was specified, and rename any virtual services that used the name serviceMain to service. In BIG-IP AS3 3.20, the generic template is the default, which allows services to use any name.

This also means that many of these declarations on a version prior to 3.20 they will fail unless you add a template. See this FAQ entry and this Troubleshooting entry for more information.

{
    "class": "AS3",
    "action": "deploy",
    "persist": true,
    "declaration": {
        "class": "ADC",
        "schemaVersion": "3.0.0",
        "id": "urn:uuid:33045210-3ab8-4636-9b2a-c98d22ab915d",
        "label": "Sample 1",
        "remark": "Simple HTTP Service with Round-Robin Load Balancing",
        "Sample_01": {
            "class": "Tenant",
            "A1": {
                "class": "Application",
                "service": {
                    "class": "Service_HTTP",
                    "virtualAddresses": [
                        "10.0.1.10"
                    ],
                    "pool": "web_pool"
                },
                "web_pool": {
                    "class": "Pool",
                    "monitors": [
                        "http"
                    ],
                    "members": [
                        {
                            "servicePort": 80,
                            "serverAddresses": [
                                "192.0.1.10",
                                "192.0.1.11"
                            ]
                        }
                    ]
                }
            }
        }
    }
}