Courses Overview
This course introduces network administrators, operators, and DevOps engineers to the key technologies—both foundational and F5-specific—needed to automate BIG-IP.
Through lectures and hands-on labs, participants will explore different automation tools and use cases, gaining the practical skills to automate BIG-IP onboarding and configuration.
Course Topics
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Linux command line review
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BIG-IP application creation review
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Automation and DevOps concepts
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Configuring BIG-IP with iControl REST
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Automating BIG-IP with Ansible
This course is designed for network administrators, operators, and DevOps engineers who want to automate BIG-IP tasks across public clouds, private clouds, and data center environments.
After completing this course, you will be able to:
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Review automation and DevOps concepts
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Explain iControl REST calls and how they interact with BIG-IP
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Deploy and configure BIG-IP applications using iControl REST
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Describe the main components of Ansible and how they work together for BIG-IP configuration
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Use flow control elements (conditionals, loops) in Ansible Playbooks
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Onboard and configure BIG-IP applications with Ansible
Chapter 1: Linux Command Line Review
• Navigating the Linux File System
• Creating and Deleting Files and Directories
• Copying and Moving Files
• Command Line Auto-Completion and Editing
• Tools for Analyzing Test Results and Inspecting Log Files
Chapter 2: BIG-IP Application Creation Review
• Understanding Load Balancing Basics
• Configuring Virtual Servers, Pools, Pool Members and Nodes
• Configuring Health Monitors and SSL Profiles
• Understanding the Full Proxy Architecture and Source Address Translation
Chapter 3: Automation and DevOps Concepts
• Understanding Infrastructure as Code, NetOps and DevOps
• Differentiating Automation and Orchestration Concepts
• Diving into DevOps Concepts such as Idempotency, Atomicity and Imperative vs Declarative
Chapter 4: Programming BIG-IP with iControl REST
• Introducing Basic JavaScript Types
• Introducing JavaScript Object Notation
• Discovering an existing BIG-IP Configuration using iControl REST
• Deploying Apps on BIG-IP using iControl REST
• Onboarding BIG-IP using iControl REST
• Working with JSON Programmatically
Chapter 5: Automating BIG-IP with Ansible
• Introducing YAML
• Establishing an Ansible Trust Relationship
• Creating an Ansible Playbook
• Exploring the Playbook
• Working with the Inventory File
• Using the Command Module
• Gathering Facts for the Playbook
• Deploying Apps on BIG-IP using Ansible
• Deleting a BIG-IP Application
• Onboarding a BIG-IP system using Ansible
• Deploying BIG-IP HA
• Investigating Ansible Roles
Students should be familiar with and be able to configure basic BIG-IP elements such as:
• Virtual Servers
• Pools, Pool Members and Nodes
• Pool Monitors
• Basic Virtual Server Profiles
Students should also be familiar with the basics of the Linux command line. In addition, the following general technical knowledge should be well understood:
• Layer 2 Ethernet and ARP networking concepts
• Layer 3 and 4 TCP/IP networking concepts, including IP addressing and subnetting
• Layer 7 HTTP networking concepts
• Linux command line and basic Linux commands
• HTML
Finally, nice-to-have knowledge includes familiarity with programming and/or scripting languages, such as:
• JavaScript or NodeJS
• Python
• Bash