F5 BIG-IP Firewall Shell 2G

Release date: December 2018

Shell version: 1.1.1

Document version: 1.0

In This Guide

• Overview
• Downloading the Shell
• Importing and Configuring the Shell
• Updating Python Dependencies for Shells
• Typical Workflows
• References
• Release Notes

Overview

A shell integrates a device model, application or other technology with CloudShell. A shell consists of a data model that defines how the device and its properties are modeled in CloudShell, along with automation that enables interaction with the device via CloudShell.

Firewall Shells

CloudShell's Firewall shells enable you to manage your Firewall device similar to your networking equipment but without connectivity. In CloudShell, a Firewall shell runs commands, such as Autoload, Load, and Save Configuration.

F5 BIG-IP Firewall Shell 2G

F5 BIG-IP Firewall Shell 2G provides you with connectivity and management capabilities such as device structure discovery and power management for the F5 BIG-IP Firewall.

For more information on the F5 BIG-IP Firewall, see the official F5 BIG-IP product documentation.

Standard version

F5 BIG-IP Firewall Shell 2G 1.0.0 is based on the Firewall Shell Standard version 3.0.0.

For detailed information about the shell’s structure and attributes, see the Firewall Shell Standard version.(https://github.com/QualiSystems/cloudshell-standards/blob/master/Documentation/firewall_standard.md) in GitHub.

Supported OS

▪ BIG-IP

Requirements

Release: F5 BIG-IP Firewall Shell 2G

• CloudShell 8.0 and abovead

Note: If your CloudShell version does not support this shell, you should consider upgrading to a later version of CloudShell or contact customer support.

Data Model

The shell's data model includes all shell metadata, families, and attributes.

F5 BIG-IP Firewall Families and Models

The F5 BIG-IP Firewall families and models are listed in the following table:

Family	Model	Description
CS_ Firewall	F5 Big IP Firewall Shell 2G	Generic F5 Big IP Firewall Shell 2 Generation
CS_Chassis	Generic Chassis	Default Firewall chassis
CS_Port	Generic Port	Interface
CS_PowerPort	Generic Power Port	Power Supply module

F5 BIG-IP Firewall Attributes

The attribute names and types are listed in the following section of the Firewall Shell Standard:

https://github.com/QualiSystems/cloudshell-standards/blob/master/Documentation/firewall_standard.md#attributes

Automation

This section describes the automation (driver) associated with the data model. The shell’s driver is provided as part of the shell package. There are two types of automation processes, Autoload and Resource. Autoload is executed when creating the resource in the Inventory dashboard, while resource commands are run in the sandbox.

The following resource commands are available on the F5 BIG-IP Firewall Shell 2G:

• Health Check
• Run Custom Command
• Run Custom Config Command
• Save
• Restore
• Load Firmware

For detailed information on each of the above commands, see the following section of the Firewall Shell Standard:

https://github.com/QualiSystems/cloudshell-standards/blob/master/Documentation/firewall_standard.md#commands

Downloading the Shell

The F5 BIG-IP Firewall Shell 2G is available from the Quali Community Integrations page.

Download the files into a temporary location on your local machine.

The shell comprises:

File name	Description
F5.BIG-IP.Firewall.Shell.2G.zip	F5 BIG-IP Firewall shell package
F5.BIG-IP.Firewall.Shell.2G.offline_dependencies.zip	Shell Python dependencies (for offline deployments only)

Importing and Configuring the Shell

This section describes how to import the F5 BIG-IP Firewall Shell 2G and configure and modify the shell’s devices.

Importing the shell into CloudShell

To import the shell into CloudShell:

1. Make sure you have the shell’s zip package. If not, download the shell from the Quali Community's Integrations page.

2. In CloudShell Portal, as Global administrator, open the Manage – Shells page.

3. Click Import.

4. In the dialog box, navigate to the shell's zip package, select it and click Open.
   
   The shell is displayed in the Shells page and can be used by domain administrators in all CloudShell domains to create new inventory resources, as explained in Adding Inventory Resources.

Offline installation of a shell

Note: Offline installation instructions are relevant only if CloudShell Execution Server has no access to PyPi. You can skip this section if your execution server has access to PyPi. For additional information, see the online help topic on offline dependencies.

In offline mode, import the shell into CloudShell and place any dependencies in the appropriate dependencies folder. The dependencies folder may differ, depending on the CloudShell version you are using:

• For CloudShell version 8.3 and above, see Adding Shell and script packages to the local PyPi Server repository.

• For CloudShell version 8.2, perform the appropriate procedure: Adding Shell and script packages to the local PyPi Server repository or Setting the Python pythonOfflineRepositoryPath configuration key.

• For CloudShell versions prior to 8.2, see Setting the Python pythonOfflineRepositoryPath configuration key.

Adding shell and script packages to the local PyPi Server repository

If your Quali Server and/or execution servers work offline, you will need to copy all required Python packages, including the out-of-the-box ones, to the PyPi Server's repository on the Quali Server computer (by default C:\Program Files (x86)\QualiSystems\CloudShell\Server\Config\Pypi Server Repository).

For more information, see Configuring CloudShell to Execute Python Commands in Offline Mode.

To add Python packages to the local PyPi Server repository:

1. If you haven't created and configured the local PyPi Server repository to work with the execution server, perform the steps in Add Python packages to the local PyPi Server repository (offline mode).

2. For each shell or script you add into CloudShell, do one of the following (from an online computer):

   • Connect to the Internet and download each dependency specified in the requirements.txt file with the following command: pip download -r requirements.txt. The shell or script's requirements are downloaded as zip files.

   • In the Quali Community's Integrations page, locate the shell and click the shell's Download link. In the page that is displayed, from the Downloads area, extract the dependencies package zip file.

3. Place these zip files in the local PyPi Server repository.

Setting the Python PythonOfflineRepositoryPath configuration key

Before PyPi Server was introduced as CloudShell’s Python package management mechanism, the PythonOfflineRepositoryPath key was used to set the default offline package repository on the Quali Server machine, and could be used on specific Execution Server machines to set a different folder.

To set the offline Python repository:

1. Download the cloudshell-firewall-f5-big-ip-2-gen-dependencies-package-1.0.0.zip file, see Downloading the Shell.

2. Unzip it to a local repository. Make sure the execution server has access to this folder.

3. On the Quali Server machine, in the ~\CloudShell\Server\customer.config file, add the following key to specify the path to the default Python package folder (for all Execution Servers):
   <add key="PythonOfflineRepositoryPath" value="repository full path"/>

4. If you want to override the default folder for a specific Execution Server, on the Execution Server machine, in the ~TestShell\Execution Server\customer.config file, add the following key:
   <add key="PythonOfflineRepositoryPath" value="repository full path"/>

5. Restart the Execution Server.

Configuring a new resource

This section explains how to create a new resource from the shell.

In CloudShell, the component that models the device is called a resource. It is based on the shell that models the device and allows the CloudShell user and API to remotely control the device from CloudShell.

You can also modify existing resources, see Managing Resources in the Inventory.

To create a resource for the device:

1. In the CloudShell Portal, in the Inventory dashboard, click Add New.

2. From the list, select F5 BIG IP Firewall 2G Shell.

3. Enter the Name and IP address of the F5 BIG-IP Firewall (if applicable).

4. Click Create.

5. In the Resource dialog box, enter the device's settings. For details, see Device Name Attributes.

6. Click Continue.
   
   CloudShell validates the device’s settings and updates the new resource with the device’s structure (if the device has a structure).

Updating Python Dependencies for Shells

This section explains how to update your Python dependencies folder. This is required when you upgrade a shell that uses new/updated dependencies. It applies to both online and offline dependencies.

Updating offline Python dependencies

To update offline Python dependencies:

1. Download the latest Python dependencies package zip file locally.

2. Extract the zip file to the suitable offline package folder(s).

3. Terminate the shell’s instance, as explained here.

Updating online Python dependencies

In online mode, the execution server automatically downloads and extracts the appropriate dependencies file to the online Python dependencies repository every time a new instance of the driver or script is created.

To update online Python dependencies:

• If there is a live instance of the shell's driver or script, terminate the shell’s instance, as explained here. If an instance does not exist, the execution server will download the Python dependencies the next time a command of the driver or script runs.

Typical Workflows

(edit as necessary depending on the shell)

Workflow 1 - Save configuration

1. In CloudShell Portal, add the device resource to an active sandbox.

2. Run the Save command on the device with the following inputs:

   • Folder Path: For example, tftp://ipaddress/shared folder
   • Configuration Type: Running or Startup

The configuration is saved to a file named <startup/running-config>-, which will reside in the folder path you entered.

Workflow 2 - Restore Configuration

1. In CloudShell Portal, reserve the device resource.

2. Run the Restore resource command.

3. Enter the following parameters:

   • Path (mandatory): Enter the full path of the configuration file.
   • Restore Method (optional): Append or Override. If you do not enter any value in this field, the Append method will be used.
   • Configuration Type (mandatory): Startup or Running.

Workflow 3 - Load firmware

1. In CloudShell Portal, reserve the device resource.

2. Run the Load Firmware resource command.

3. Enter the following parameters:

   • Path (mandatory): Enter the full path of the firmware file on the remote host. For example, tftp://10.1.1.1/BIG-IPv11.x.

References

To download and share integrations, see Quali Community's Integrations.

For instructional training and documentation, see Quali University.

To suggest an idea for the product, see Quali's Idea box.

To connect with Quali users and experts from around the world, ask questions and discuss issues, see Quali's Community forums.

Release Notes

For release updates, see the shell's GitHub releases page.