F5 BIG-IP

Data Collection Setup

Metrics are collected via the iControl REST API.

Network Requirements

Port: 443 (TCP) HTTPS to the iControl F5 REST API.

Least Privileged User

F5 BIG-IP username/password with a minimum of Auditor user role with iControl REST API access.

To create a user with permissions to read REST, you must first create an Auditor user, then give the user REST permissions.

Associating a role with a user account

BIG-IP 11.x

To create a user account, use tmsh as shown in the following example
(tmos)# create iCR-user01 partition-access add { all-partitions { role manager } } password p4ssw0r6
To get the properties of the user account, make a GET request for all users, as shown in the following example.
GET https://localhost/mgmt/shared/authz/users
To get the reference to add, locate the user account in the response data and copy the value of the selfLink property.
"selfLink" : "https://localhost/mgmt/shared/authz/users/iCR-user01"
To add the user account to the role, use the PATCH method and specify the userReferences property with the link to the user account in the JSON body.

PATCH https://localhost/mgmt/shared/authz/roles/iControl_REST_API_User
{ "userReferences":[{"link":"https://localhost/mgmt/shared/authz/users/iCR-user01"}] }

The results of the previous operation show the changes to the userReferences array.

{
  "name": "iControl_REST_API_User",
  "userReferences": [
    {
      "link": "https://localhost/mgmt/shared/authz/users/iCR-user01"
} ],
  "resources": [
    {
      "resourceMask": "/mgmt/tm/gtm/*/*/*/*",
      "restMethod": "GET"
    },
    {
      "resourceMask": "/mgmt/tm/auth/*/*/*",
      "restMethod": "PUT"
}, ...
],
  "generation": 3,
  "lastUpdateMicros": 1.4049301550701e+15,
  "kind": "shared:authz:roles:rolesworkerstate",
  "selfLink": "https://localhost/mgmt/shared/authz/roles/iControl_REST_API_User"
}

Requesting a token for iControl REST authentication

BIG-IP 12.x-13.x

We do not have support for the API Key method of REST authentication. However, administrators of a BIG-IP system can still make REST requests using basic authentication.

📘
Please note: F5 Administrator user required to collect all available metrics
System:

CPU Idle Ticks

CPU Usage Ticks: System

CPU Usage Ticks: User

Chassis Serial Number

Memory Total

Memory Used

Platform

Product

Device:

syncState

Device Group:

All metrics and resources (i.e., Device Groups will not exist without Administrator role)

LDAP Support (Optional)

LDAP is support as an authentication source. To Configured LDAP use the following instructions:
In the F5 Administration

Click System.
Click on Users.
Click Authentication.
Configure the values as necessary to support your domain.

Supported Versions

F5 BIG-IP: 11.6.0+

Connection Parameters

Name	Required?	Description
Host	Required	The F5 host to connect to.
Port		The port for communication to the F5 Host. Default
Username	Required
Password	Required
SSL Configuration		The SSL mode to use when connecting to the target. Can be configured to not use SSL (No SSL), use SSL but do not verify the target's certificate (No Verify), and use SSL and verify the target's certificate (Verify).
Exclude Nodes and Pool Members
Exclude Relationships
Connection Timeout (s)		The number of seconds to allow for connecting to the target.

Metrics

Application

Name	Description
Device Group	Device group running Application Service
Full Path	BIG-IP defined unique full path
Kind	BIG-IP defined type
Name	User defined name
Pool to Use	Server side pool load balancing requests
Self Link	BIG-IP unique link and full path
Template	Template applied to Application including security and monitoring rules
Template Modified	Indicator of modifications made to out of the box template
Traffic Group	Current traffic group service is applied to

Device

Name	Description
Chassis ID	Chassis ID
Edition	Edition type
Failover State	Failover state
Full Path	BIG-IP System full path of the device
Host Name	Hostname used for dns
Kind	Kind of Device
Management IP	IP to access the Management Console
Marketing Name	Marketing name defined for the device
Name	Name of the Device
Platform ID	Unique ID for the Type of Platform
Product	Product Name of the device
Self Device	Identifier of the Self Device
Self Link	Internal Link defining the Device object in BIG-IP
Short Name	Short name of device
Sync State	Synchronization state of the BIG-IP Device to the cluster
Version	Version of the BIG-IP System device

Device Group

Name	Description
Auto Sync	Auto Sync Setting
Description	User defined Description
Full Path	BIG-IP System full path
Kind	Kind of Group
Name	User defined Name
Network Failover	Network Failover Type
Self Link	Internal Link defining the Device Group object in BIG-IP
Sync State	Current Sync State
Type	Type of Group

Disk

Name	Description
Free Space (Mebibytes)	Free space for the active disk
Full Path	BIG-IP System path for the disk
Kind	Type of Disk
Mode	Current Usage mode of the disk
Name	Name of the Disk
Self Link	Internal Link defining the Disk object in BIG-IP
Size (Mebibytes)	Size of the Disk
Space In-Use (Mebibytes)	Used space for the active disk
Space Reserved (Mebibytes)	Reserved space for the active disk

GTM Pool

Name	Description
Alternate	Alternate
Alternate Mode	Specifies the load balancing mode that the system uses to load balance name resolution requests among the members of this pool, if the preferred method is unsuccessful in picking a pool. Note that you can set the preferred method using the command sequence / gtm create pool [name] mode [name].
Application Service	The application service that the object belongs to.
Availability State	Availability State
Description	User defined description.
Dropped	Dropped
Dynamic Ratio	Enables or disables a dynamic ratio load balancing algorithm for this pool. This option is applicable only when you also configure the mode option for the pool with one of these dynamic load balancing modes: completion-rate, fewest-hops, kilobytes-per-second, least-connections, lowest-round-trip-times, quality-of-service, virtual-server-capacity, or virtual-server-score. When this option is disabled (the default} the system uses only the server or virtual server with the best metrics, or highest quality of service (QOS) score, for load balancing. When dynamic-ratio is enabled, the system treats QOS scores as ratios, and it uses each server or virtual server in proportion to the ratio determined by the QOS calculation.
Enabled State	Enabled State
Fallback	Fallback
Fallback IP	Specifies the IP V6 address of the server to which the system directs requests in the event that the load balancing methods configured for this pool fail => return a valid virtual server.
Fallback Mode	Specifies the load balancing mode that the system uses to load balance name resolution requests among the members of this pool, if the preferred and alternate modes are unsuccessful in picking a pool. Note that you can set the preferred mode using the command sequence / gtm create pool [name] mode [option], and the alternate-mode option using the command sequence: / gtm create pool [name] alternate-mode [option].
Limit Maximum Connections (Connections)	Specifies the number of current connections allowed for the virtual servers in the pool. If the current connections exceed this value, the system marks the pool as unavailable.
Limit Maximum Connections Status	Enables or disables the limit-max-connections option for this pool. The default value is disabled.
Limit Maximum Data (Bits per Second)	Specifies the maximum allowable data throughput rate, in bits per second, for the virtual servers in the pool. If the network traffic volume exceeds this value, the system marks the pool as unavailable.
Limit Maximum Data Status	Enables or disables the limit-max-bps option for this pool. The default value is disabled.
Limit Maximum Packets (Packets per Second)	Specifies the maximum allowable data transfer rate, in packets per second, for the virtual servers in the pool. If the network traffic volume exceeds this value, the system marks the pool as unavailable.
Limit Maximum Packets Status	Enables or disables the limit-maximum-pps option for this pool. The default value is disabled.
Load Balancing Disabled	Specifies that this pool is not available for load balancing.
Load Balancing Enabled	Specifies that this pool is available for load balancing.
Load Balancing Mode	Specifies the preferred load balancing mode that the system uses to load balance name resolution requests among the members of this pool.
Manual Resume	Enables or disables manual-resume for this pool. If you leave this option disabled (the default} then a member of this pool automatically becomes available for load balancing when its status changes from down => up. When manual-resume is enabled, if the status of a member of this pool changes from up to down, the pool member remains disabled indefinitely until you manually re-enable it.
Maximum Answers Returned	Specifies the maximum number of available pool members added to a DNS response.
Metadata	User defined generic data for the pool. It is a name and value pair.
Monitor	Specifies the health monitors that the system uses to determine whether it can use this pool for load balancing.
Name	Name
Partition	Specifies the partition within which this object resides.
Pool Type	Type of Pool
Preferred	Preferred
QOS Hit Ratio	Assigns a weight to the Hit Ratio performance factor for the Quality of Service dynamic load balancing mode. to use this option, you must set the load-balancing-mode option to quality-of-service.
QOS Hops	Assigns a weight to the Hops performance factor for the Quality of Service dynamic load balancing mode. to use this option, you must set the load-balancing-mode option to quality-of-service.
QOS Link Capacity	Assigns a weight to the Link Capacity performance factor for the Quality of Service dynamic load balancing mode. to use this option, you must set the load-balancing-mode option to quality-of-service.
QOS Packet Rate	Assigns a weight to the Packet Rate performance factor for the Quality of Service dynamic load balancing mode. to use this option, you must set the load-balancing-mode option to quality-of-service.
QOS Round Trip Time	Assigns a weight to the Round Trip Time performance factor for the Quality of Service dynamic load balancing mode. to use this option, you must set the load-balancing-mode option to quality-of-service.
QOS Throughput Weight (Kilobytes per Second)	Assigns a weight to the Kilobytes per Second performance factor for the Quality of Service dynamic load balancing mode. to use this option, you must set the load-balancing-mode option to quality-of-service.
QOS Topology	Assigns a weight to the Topology performance factor for the Quality of Service dynamic load balancing mode. to use this option, you must set the load-balancing-mode option to quality-of-service.
QOS Virtual Server Capacity	Assigns a weight to the Virtual Server performance factor for the Quality of Service dynamic load balancing mode. to use this option, you must set the load-balancing-mode option to quality-of-service.
QOS Virtual Server Score	Assigns a weight to the Virtual Server Score performance factor for the Quality of Service dynamic load balancing mode. to use this option, you must set the load-balancing-mode option to quality-of-service.
Return From DNS	Return From DNS
Return To DNS	Return To DNS
Self Link	The endpoint => the resource.
Status Reason	Status Reason
Time to Live	Specifies the number of seconds that the IP address, once found, is valid. Once the time-to-live (TTL) expires, the client has to request the IP address resolution again. The valid values are 0 through 4294967295; the default value is 30.
tmName	tmName
Type	The Type of the Gtm Pool
Verify Member Availability	Specifies that the system verifies the availability of the members before sending a connection to those resources. The default value is enabled.

GTM Pool Member

Name	Description
Alternate	Alternate
Application Service	The application service that the object belongs to.
Availability State	Current availability from the BIG-IP System
Depends On	Depends On
Description	User defined description.
Enabled State	Current enabled state from the BIG-IP System
Fallback	Fallback
Flags	Specifies the resource record flags. Valid values are "a" or "s".
Limit Maximum Connections (Connections)	Specifies the number of current connections allowed for this pool member. If the current connections exceed this value, the system marks this pool member as unavailable.
Limit Maximum Connections Status	Enables or disables the limit-max-connection option for this pool member. The default value is disabled.
Limit Maximum Data (Bits per Second)	Specifies the maximum allowable data throughput rate, in bits per second, for the pool member. If the network traffic volume exceeds this value, the system marks the pool member as unavailable.
Limit Maximum Data Status	Enables or disables the limit-max-bps option for this pool member. The default value is disabled.
Limit Maximum Packets (Packets per Second)	Specifies the maximum allowable data transfer rate, in packets per second, for this pool member. If the network traffic volume exceeds this value, the system marks this pool member as unavailable.
Limit Maximum Packets Status	Enables or disables the limit-max-pps option for this pool member. The default value is disabled.
Load Balancing Disabled	Specifies that this pool member is not available for load balancing
Load Balancing Enabled	Specifies that this pool member is available for load balancing.
Member Order	Specifies the order number of the pool member. The system uses this number with load balancing methods that involve prioritizing pool members, such as the Ratio load balancing method.
Monitor	Enables or disables the monitor assigned to this pool member.
Name	Name
Order	Specifies the resource record order
Pool Name	Pool Name
Pool Type	Pool Type
Port	Specifies the resource record port number
Preference	Specifies the resource record preference
Preferred	Preferred
Priority	Specifies the resource record priority
Ratio	Specifies the weight of the pool member for load balancing purposes.
Self Link	Internal Link defining the Pool Member object in BIG-IP
Server Name	Server Name
Service	Specifies the resource record service
Static Target	Specifies whether this member points to a wide IP or is a static dname
Status Reason	Status Reason
Type	The Type of the Gtm Pool Member.
Virtual Server Name	Virtual Server Name
Weight	Specifies the resource record weight

Module

Name	Description
CPU Provisioned (%)	The amount of CPU provisioned for the module
Disk Provisioned (Mebibytes)	The amount of disk space provisioned for the module
Full Path	The Full path of the Module on the BIG-IP System
Host Memory Provisioned (Mebibytes)	The amount of Host memory provisioned for the module
Kind	The Type of Module
Memory Provisioned (Mebibytes)	The amount of Memory provisioned for the module
Name	The Name of the Module
Provisioning Level	The provisioning Level of the Module on the BIG-IP System
Self Link	Internal Link defining the Module object in BIG-IP

Node

Name	Description
Availability State	Current BIG-IP availability state to the Node
Current Connections (Connections)	Current number of network connections from BIG-IP
Current Sessions (Sessions)	Current number of sessions
Data In (Bits)	The amount of data received from the BIG-IP Node
Data Out (Bits)	The amount of data sent to the BIG-IP Node
Enabled State	Current BIG-IP enabled state
FQDN	FQDN of node
Full Path	BIG-IP full path identification
IP Address	BIG-IP network address to send to the node
Kind	Type of Node in BIG-IP
Maximum Connections (Connections)	Current highest number of network connections reported from BIG-IP
Monitor Rule	BIG-IP Health Monitor rule
Monitor Status	Current Health Monitor rule status
Name	User defined name
Packets In (Packets)	The number of packets received from the BIG-IP Node
Packets Out (Packets)	The number of packets sent to the BIG-IP Node
Requests (Requests)	Current number of requests over the last collection from BIG-IP
Self Link	BIG-IP System internal link and full path for the Node
Session Status	Current status of the session
Short Name	Short name of node
State	Current BIG-IP State
Status Reason	BIG-IP reason for the current status

Pool

Name	Description
Active Member Count	Number of active pool members
Availability State	Current availability state
Current Connections (Connections)	Current number of connections
Data In (Bits)	The amount of data received from the BIG-IP Pool
Data Out (Bits)	The amount of data sent to the BIG-IP Pool
Description	User defined Description
Enabled State	Current enabled state, can be user defined
Full Path	BIG-IP System full path
Kind	Kind of Pool
Load Balancing Mode	Current Load Balancing Mode
Maximum Connections (Connections)	Current max number of connections seen at one point
Monitor Rule	Current Health Monitoring Rule applied
Name	User defined name
Packets In (Packets)	The number of packets received from the BIG-IP Pool
Packets Out (Packets)	The number of packets sent to the BIG-IP Pool
Requests (Requests)	The total number of requests to the Pool
Self Link	Internal Link defining the Pool object in BIG-IP
Status Reason	Textual Property explaining the overall health reason

Pool Member

Name	Description
Availability State	Current availability from the BIG-IP System
Current Connections (Connections)	Current Connections
Current Sessions (Sessions)	Current session count
Data In (Bits)	The amount of data received from the BIG-IP Pool Member
Data Out (Bits)	The amount of data sent to the BIG-IP Pool Member
Enabled State	Enabled state of the Pool Member with regards to the parent pool
Full Path	BIG-IP System full path to the Pool Member
Kind	Pool Member Kind
Maximum Connections (Connections)	Maximum Connections
Monitor Rule	Health Monitoring rule applied to the pool member
Monitor Status	Montior Status
Name	Pool Member Name
Node Name	Name of the node the Pool Member is using
Packets In (Packets)	The number of packets received from the BIG-IP Pool Member
Packets Out (Packets)	The number of packets sent to the BIG-IP Pool Member
Pool Name	Name of the Pool the Pool Member belongs
Port	Port the Pool Member listens on
Requests (Requests)	Current number of requests over the last collection interval
Self Link	Internal Link defining the Pool Member object in BIG-IP
Session Status	Current session health status
State	Current state
Status Reason	Explanation of the current status

SSL Certificate

Name	Description
Created By	User who created the Certificate
Expiration Date	Expiration date of the Certificate
Issuer	Certificate Issuer
Key Type	Certificate Key Type
Kind	Type of Certificate
Name	Certificate Name
Self Link	Internal Link defining the SSL Certificate object in BIG-IP
Time Until Expiration (Days)	Time until Certificate will expire

System

Name	Description
Average CPU Idle Utilization (%)	Average percentage of time the CPU is idle
Average CPU Interrupt Request Utilization (%)	Average percentage of time the CPU is handling interrupt requests
Average CPU IO Wait Utilization (%)	Average percentage of time the CPU is waiting on IO
Average CPU Nice Level Utilization (%)	Average percentage of time the CPU is handling nice level processes
Average CPU Soft Interrupt Request Utilization (%)	Average percentage of time the CPU is handling soft interrupt requests
Average CPU Stolen Utilization (%)	Average percentage of time the CPU is handling reclaimed cycles by the hypervisor
Average CPU System Utilization (%)	Average percentage of time the CPU is used by the kernel
Average CPU User Utilization (%)	Average percentage of time the CPU is used by user processes
Chassis Serial Number	Chassis Serial Number for the current device
CPU Idle Ticks (per Second)	Amount of CPU ticks that the CPU was idle
CPU Usage Ticks: System (per Second)	Amount of CPU ticks used by the kernel processes
CPU Usage Ticks: User (per Second)	Amount of CPU ticks used by user processes
Device Name	Name of the current device
Host and Port	Host and Port combination we are using to connect to this BIG-IP System
Memory Total (Mebibytes)	Total amount of Memory available on the current device
Memory Used (Mebibytes)	Current Memory being used on the current device
Platform	Platform of the current device
Product	Product Name for the current device

Virtual Server

Name	Description
Application Service	Current Application Service assigned
Availability State	BIG-IP defined availability
Current Connections (Connections)	Current number of connections from BIG-IP
Data In (Bits)	The amount of data received from the BIG-IP Virtual Server
Data Out (Bits)	The amount of data sent to the BIG-IP Virtual Server
Destination	Destination address picked up by BIG-IP
Enabled State	Current enabled state (disabled, enabled)
Full Path	BIG-IP defined full path
Kind	BIG-IP Type of Virtual Server
Maximum Connections (Connections)	Highest number of connections from BIG-IP
Name	User defined name
Packets In (Packets)	The number of packets received from the BIG-IP Virtual Server
Packets Out (Packets)	The number of packets sent to the BIG-IP Virtual Server
Pool	Pool the Virtual Server uses for load balancing
Requests (Packets)	Number of requests in the last collection interval to BIG-IP
Self Link	The Self Link of the Virtual Server.
Status Reason	Explanation of the current status

Data Collection Setup

Network Requirements

Least Privileged User

Associating a role with a user account

BIG-IP 11.x

Requesting a token for iControl REST authentication

BIG-IP 12.x-13.x

📘Please note: F5 Administrator user required to collect all available metrics

LDAP Support (Optional)

Supported Versions

Connection Parameters

Metrics

Application

Device

Device Group

Disk

GTM Pool

GTM Pool Member

Module

Node

Pool

Pool Member

SSL Certificate

System

Virtual Server

📘
Please note: F5 Administrator user required to collect all available metrics