F5 Networks Agility 2015: Irules 101 Lab Guide

F5 Networks Agility
2015:
iRules 101 Lab Guide
Participant Hands-on Lab Guide

Last Updated:
6/1529/15
F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 3 of 54

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iRules 101
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents................................................................................................................ 3
Lab 1 – Load Balance by Client Port................................................................................... 5
TASK 1 – Create the iRule with F5 iRule Editor.............................................................................5
TASK 2 – Create the iRule with F5 Web Configuration Utility (the GUI).........................................8
TASK 3 – Add iRule to Virtual Server............................................................................................9
TASK 4 – Test iRule..................................................................................................................... 10
Lab 2 – Redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS.............................................................................12
TASK 1 – Create the iRule........................................................................................................... 12
TASK 2 – Add iRule to Virtual Server.......................................................................................... 13
TASK 3 – Test iRule..................................................................................................................... 14
Lab 3 – Using String Tools................................................................................................. 16
TASK 1 – Create the iRule for “contains”....................................................................................16
TASK 2 – Add iRule to Virtual Server for “contains”....................................................................17
TASK 3 – Test iRule for “contains”.............................................................................................. 18
TASK 4 – Create the iRule for “findstr”.......................................................................................19
TASK 5 – Add iRule to Virtual Server for “findstr”.......................................................................20
TASK 6 – Test iRule for “findstr”................................................................................................. 20
Lab 4 – HTTP Headers....................................................................................................... 22
TASK 3 – Test iRule..................................................................................................................... 24
TASK 4 – Modify the iRule........................................................................................................... 25
TASK 5 – Test iRule with New Updates.......................................................................................26
Lab 5 – Stream Expression............................................................................................... 28
TASK 2 – Test the Web Page Before Applying the iRule..............................................................30
TASK 4 – Test iRule..................................................................................................................... 32
Lab 6 – Using The Virtual Command.................................................................................36
TASK 2 – Test the Web Page Before Applying the iRule..............................................................37
TASK 4 – Test iRule..................................................................................................................... 40
Lab 7 – Maintenance Page................................................................................................ 43

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TASK 3 – Test iRule..................................................................................................................... 45

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LAB 1 – LOAD BALANCE BY CLIENT PORT

This lab guide will require the student to create an iRule to check if the client source port is
odd or even. If the client source port is odd then send the client traffic to a pool named odd. If
the client source port is even then send the client traffic to a pool named even.
Objective:
 Identify client source port and make pool decision
 Log results
Lab Requirements:
 One virtual server
 Two server pools with: a pool named odd and a pool named even. The pool odd will
only have pool members with an odd-numbered final octet (e.g., 10.128.20.11),
while the pool even will only have pool members with an even-numbered final octet
IPs (e.g. 10.128.20.11 = odd, 10.128.20.12 = even)
Estimated completion time: 15 minutes
TASK 1 – Create the iRule with the F5 iRule Editor

You can create iRules using the F5 iRule Editor (on your jump box desktop) or through the F5
web configuration utility. We will walk through both methods in order to become familiar with
either both options. For future labs, pick your favorite method.
Option #1: F5 iRules Editor
1. Open the F5 iRules Editor on the desktop.
2. Choose File > Connect or hit the “Connect” icon (it looks like a sprocket) in the upper
left corner.
3. A connection dialogue is presented.
a. Hostname = bigip.f5demo.com
b. Username = admin
c. Password = admin

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4. Once you are connected you will see the configuration screen below
5. Once connected, cChoose File > New to create a new iRule

6. Supply a name of ir_lab1_client_port, choose the “Blank” template, and click OK

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7. Add content to the iRule (see below)

In the right hand frame we you will create an iRule. We Your code starts with an event in this
iRule called CLIENT_ACCEPTED. This event fires with every new connection. Now the event
needs to do something when fired. Enter the following text:.
when CLIENT_ACCEPTED {
set port_is_odd [expr [TCP::remote_port] & 1]
if { $port_is_odd } {
log local0. "Port [TCP::remote_port] is odd"
pool odd
}
else {
log local0. "Port [TCP::remote_port] is even"
pool even
}
}
One convenient thing about the iRule Editor is the syntax highlighting and line numbers. When
the above iRule is placed into the editor, it will look similar to this next picture.

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8. Choose File > Save to write the config to the F5
→NOTE: [blank]
TASK 2 – Create the iRule with F5 Web Configuration Utility (the

GUI)
As mentioned previously, iRules can be created in the F5 iRule Editor or directly on the F5 web
configuration utility. This task will give the steps to create an iRule on the F5 web configuration
utility. For future labs, pick your favorite method. If you created the iRule already in Task 1
within the F5 iRule Editor, then skip to Task 3.
1. Open a web browser and login to the F5 (a favorite is already saved in Chrome and on
desktop)
a. Hostname = https://bigip.f5demo.com
b. Username = admin
c. Password = admin

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2. Choose Local Traffic Manager > iRules
3. When the page loads, hit “Create” on the right side

4. Supply a name of ir_lab1_client_port
We start with an event in this iRule called CLIENT_ACCEPTED. This event fires with every new
connection. Now the event needs to do something when fired. Enter the following text.
when CLIENT_ACCEPTED {
set port_is_odd [expr [TCP::remote_port] & 1]
if { $port_is_odd } {
log local0. "Port [TCP::remote_port] is odd"
pool odd
}
else {
log local0. "Port [TCP::remote_port] is even"
pool even
}
}
6. When done, hit “Finished”
TASK 3 – Add iRule to Virtual Server

1. Open a web browser and login to the F5
b. Username = admin
c. Password = admin
2. Choose Local Traffic Manager > Virtual Servers
3. Select the virtual server named “lab1_vs”

4. Choose the “Resources” tab
5. In the iRules section, hit the “Manage” button to the right to display a list of iRules
6. Select the newly created iRule named “ir_lab1_client_port” and add it to the “Enabled”
section
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7. Hit “Finished” to complete and the iRule is now attached to the virtual server
TASK 4 – Test the iRule

This task will involve generating some traffic to test the iRule. We You will verify functionality
by opening a web browser to the test site as well asand by reviewing the /var/log/ltm log
files. Let’sFirst, prep thestart a following tail of /var/log/ltm file first.so that you may see log
messages generated by the newly added iRule:
1. SSH into the unit by launching Putty from you jumpbox desktop (a saved session
called f5 BIGIP already exists)
a. Host Name (or IP address) = bigip.f5demo.com
b. Username = root
c. Password = default
2. Run the following command:

tail -f /var/log/ltm

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3. Open a web browser and go to http://lab1.f5demo.com/httprequest.php

4. Examine the output of the web page as well as the ltm logs
Questions
 If making repeated requests from the same browser, does the page change?
 Close the browser and try again. Does anything change?
 Does the log message change or stay the same?
 Does the pool member IP end with an odd or even 4 th octet?
o Odd example = “Pool member address/port: 10.128.20.11:80”
o Even example = “Pool member address/port: 10.128.20.12:80”

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LAB 2 – REDIRECT HTTP TRAFFIC TO HTTPS

This lab guide will require the student to create an iRule to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS.
Objective:
 Create an iRule to redirect HTTP to HTTPS
 Log the results
Lab Requirements:
 Two virtual servers: one listening on port 80 and one listening on port 443
TASK 1 – Create the iRule

utility.
desktop)
b. Username = admin
c. Password = admin

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4. Supply a name of ir_lab2_https_redirect
In the definition screen let’s, create an iRule. First, you will define an event to fire the iRule.
We will uUse the “HTTP_REQUEST” event. Next, the event needs to do something when
firedtriggered. We wantYou want the BIG-IP to redirect all http traffic to https (keeping the
same hostname and URI) when accessing a specific virtual server. For example, if a user
accesses http://1.2.3.4/test, the we want touser’s browser should be redirected them to
https://1.2.3.4/test.
Think about how you would approach this and write down the pseudo code. Now take a shot at
writing the actual iRule. Enter the following textThe following code accomplishes this task, and
is provided as a guide in case you need additional assistance:.
#redirect all traffic to HTTPS preserving hostname and URI
when HTTP_REQUEST {
if { [TCP::local_port] == 80 } {
#log the redirect action and show the URL being redirected
log local0. "Redirecting to https://[getfield [HTTP::host] ":" 1][HTTP::uri]"
#use the "getfield" command to extract the hostname and strip any trailing port number
HTTP::respond 301 Location https://[getfield [HTTP::host] ":" 1][HTTP::uri]
}
}
TASK 2 – Add the iRule to the Virtual Server

b. Username = admin
c. Password = admin

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3. Select the virtual server named “lab2_vs_80”

6. Select the newly created iRule named “ir_lab2_https_redirect” and add it to the
“Enabled” section

This task will involves generating some traffic to test the iRule. We You will verify functionality
by opening a web browser to the test site as well as reviewing the /var/log/ltm log files.
Let’s First, prep start a following tail of the /var/log/ltm file first:.
1. SSH into the unit by launching Putty (a saved session already exists)
b. Username = root

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3. Open a web browser and go to http://lab2.f5demo.com

4. Examine the output of the web page and notice it’s redirected to HTTPS
5. Click a couple random links and examine the output of the ltm logs

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Congratulations! You just wrote and tested an iRule that redirects all http traffic to https

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LAB 3 – USING STRING TOOLS

This lab guide will require the student to create an iRule to examine the URI with string tools
“contains” and “findstr” , and then send the HTTP Request traffic to a specific pool based
on the search results.
Objective:
 Search the HTTP URI for specific text and send to different poolsDirect the Request
message to a pool member based on the HTTP URI string
Lab Requirements:
 Two server pools, each with a single pool member: http_pool1 = 10.128.20.11,
http_pool2 = 10.128.20.12
TASK 1 – Create the iRule for “contains”

utility.
desktop)
b. Username = admin
c. Password = admin

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4. Supply a name of ir_lab3_search_contains
In the definition screen let’s create an iRule. First define an event to fire the iRule. We will use
the Create an iRule that fires on the “HTTP_REQUEST” event. Next, the event needs to do
something when fired. We want to In the body of the event, you will add code that searches
the URI for the string “login”, and if it contains that string then we want to send traffic, it will
direct the HTTP Request message to http_pool1. Otherwise, we want to send trafficit will
direct the HTTP Request message to http_pool2.
writing the actual iRule. Enter the following text The following code accomplishes this task,
and is provided as a guide in case you need additional assistance:.
#use the "contains" command to search the URI for the string "login"
#if URI contains "login" then use pool 1, otherwise use pool 2

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when HTTP_REQUEST {
if {[HTTP::uri] contains "login"} {
pool http_pool1
} else {
pool http_pool2
}
}
TASK 2 – Add the iRule to Virtual Server for “contains”

b. Username = admin
c. Password = admin

6. Select the newly created iRule named “ir_lab3_search_contains” and add it to the
TASK 3 – Test the iRule for “contains”

This task will involve generating some traffic to test the iRule. YouWe will verify functionality
by opening a web browser to the test site with different text in the URI.
1. Open a web browser and go to http://lab3.f5demo.com/httprequest.php
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2. Examine the output of the web page. Which pool was used?
3. Modify the URI by appending “login” like this http://lab3.f5demo.com/httprequest.php?

login
Questions
 When navigating to URIs without “login”, which server was hit?
 When navigating to URIs with “login”, was a different server hit?
TASK 4 – Create the iRule for “findstr”


iRules 101

3. Supply a name of ir_lab3_search_findstr
theCreate an iRule that fires on the “HTTP_REQUEST” event. Next, the event needs to do
something when fired. We want toThe code for this event should search for the string “me” in
the following URI: /?user=me. If that string is present, we want tothe code should send
trafficdirect the HTTP Request message to http_pool1. Otherwise, we want to send trafficit
should direct the HTTP Request message to http_pool2.
writing the actual iRule. The following code accomplishes this task, and is provided as a guide
in case you need additional assistance:Enter the following text.
#use the findstr command to search the URI for the string "me"
#if URI contains "me" 5 characters after "user=" then use pool 1, otherwise use pool 2
when HTTP_REQUEST {
if {[findstr [HTTP::uri] "user=" 5] equals "me"} {
pool http_pool1
} else {
pool http_pool2
}
}
TASK 5 – Add the iRule to the Virtual Server for “findstr”


iRules 101

5. Select the newly created iRule named “ir_lab3_search_findstr” and add it to the
6. Also remember to remove the previously added iRule “ir_lab3_search_contains”
TASK 6 – Test the iRule for “findstr”

This task will involve generating some traffic to test the iRule. You We will verify functionality
by opening a web browser to the test site with different text in the URI.
1. Open a web browser and go to http://lab3.f5demo.com/httprequest.php?user=me
3. Modify the URI like this http://lab3.f5demo.com/httprequest.php?user=you

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4. Examine the output of the web page. Which pool was used? Why?
Questions
 When navigating to URIs with “user=me”, which server was hit?
 When navigating to URIs with “user=you”, was a different server hit?
Congratulations! You just wrote and tested two iRules that search the URI for various strings
and sends traffic based on the results.

iRules 101
LAB 4 – HTTP HEADERS

This lab guide will require the student to create an iRule to read and modify HTTP headers on
the HTTP requests and the HTTP responses.
Objective:
 Parse Read and modify HTTP headers, read and modify
 Log the results
Lab Requirements:

utility.
desktop)
b. Username = admin
c. Password = admin

iRules 101

4. Supply a name of ir_lab4_http_headers
Create an iRule that fires on the HTTP_REQUEST event. The code for this event should log
each of the HTTP Request headers. You will need to use a loop in order to accomplish this.
the “HTTP_REQUEST” event. Next, the event needs to do something when fired. When a
client comes into the LTM, let’s logs all the HTTP headers. We'll need to create a loop to get
each HTTP header and log the value.
when HTTP_REQUEST {
foreach aHeader [HTTP::header names] {
log local0. "$aHeader: [HTTP::header value $aHeader]"
}
}

b. Username = admin
c. Password = admin

iRules 101

6. Select the newly created iRule named “ir_lab4_http_headers” and add it to the

files. Let’s prep the /var/log/ltm file first. Start a following tail of /var/log/ltm:
b. Username = root

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4. Examine the output of the ltm logs. It should look similar to the following:
TASK 4 – Modify the iRule

2. When the page loads, edit the iRule you just created ir_lab4_http_headers
3. Add additional content to the iRule (see below)
Edit the iRule so that it also fires on the HTTP_RESPONSE event. The code for this event
should log each of the HTTP Response headers.

iRules 101
In the definition screen let’s add a new event to view the server response. We will use the
“HTTP_RESPONSE” event. Next, the event needs to do something when fired. Similar to the
previous HTTP_REQUEST event that logs all the client request headers, we now want to do the
same thing for server response headers. We'll need to create a loop to get each HTTP header
and log the value.
writing the actual iRule. Modify the existing iRule and add the new HTTP_RESPONSE event
code. The following code accomplishes this task, and is provided as a guide in case you need
additional assistance:
when HTTP_REQUEST {
}
}
when HTTP_RESPONSE {
HTTP::header insert X-Customize "F5 Networks"
}
}
TASK 5 – Test iRule with New Updates

by opening a web browser to the test site as well as reviewing the /var/log/ltm log files.
1. Go back to the SSH console and run the following command (if the tail is already
running, hit the Enter key a few times to set the newly logged lines apart from previous
logged lines):

3. Examine the output of the ltm logs. It should look similar to the following:

iRules 101
Questions
 What is the difference between this version of the iRule and the previous version?
 Can you tell which headers are from the request and which ones are from the response?
 Where did the “X-Customize” header come from?

iRules 101
LAB 5 – STREAM EXPRESSION

This lab guide will require the student to create an iRule to find and replace text within HTML
content using a stream:: expression.
Objective:
 Modify the server response to dynamically update HTML content
 Log the results
Lab Requirements:

utility.
desktop)
b. Username = admin
c. Password = admin

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4. Supply a name of ir_lab5_stream
Create an iRule that fires on the HTTP_REQUEST event and the HTTP_RESPONSE event. The
code for this event should disable the stream profile when processing HTTP Request
messages, and also instruct the server to not use compression on the HTTP Response. This is
necessary so that the code can perform stream substitutions on the HTTP Response message.
the “HTTP_REQUEST” event. The event HTTP_REQUEST will be used to disable the stream
profile on all inbound requests and to turn off HTTP compression requests from clients so that
the iRule can find and replace data.
when HTTP_REQUEST {
# Disable the stream filter for all requests
STREAM::disable
# Disable response encoding by removing any requests for it.
HTTP::header remove "Accept-Encoding"
}
We will fFollow this block with an HTTP_RESPONSE blockevent handler, which will do all the
important stream manipulation.
Find Example #1:
<TITLE>Welcome to Lorax Bank</TITLE>
Replace With:
<TITLE>Welcome to Agility Bank</TITLE>
Find Example #2:
<td width=70%> Welcome to Lorax Bank! 
Replace With:
<td width=70%> Welcome to Agility Bank!
 
# Check if response is text (don't find & replace in other MIME types)
if {[HTTP::header value "Content-Type"] starts_with "text"}{

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log local0. "Replacing references from Lorax to Agility"

STREAM::expression {@Lorax@Agility@}
STREAM::enable
}
}
Note: The STREAM::expression syntax is defined as:

<delimiter><search><delimiter>[<replace>]<delimiter>
The [<replace>] option is variable and can be left empty to find and remove the value. The first
character is the delimiter and may be any one of the following characters: .*/-:_?=@& (period,
asterisk, forward slash, dash, colon, underscore, question mark, equals, at sign, ampersand) but
the @ character is most often used.
Other working examples:

{*http://oldserver/*/files/*}
{?http://oldserver/?/files/?}
6. BONUS STEP (optional) -- To diagnose/validate successful stream expression matches, add

the following third event to the iRule.
when STREAM_MATCHED {
log local0. "[IP::client_addr]:[TCP::client_port]: Matched [STREAM::match]"
}
**The full iRule will look like this**

when HTTP_REQUEST {
# Disable the stream filter for all requests
STREAM::disable
# Disable response encoding by removing any requests for it.
HTTP::header remove "Accept-Encoding"
}
# Check if response is text (don't find & replace in other MIME types)
if {[HTTP::header value "Content-Type"] starts_with "text"}{
log local0. "Replacing references from Lorax to Agility"
STREAM::expression {@Lorax@Agility@}
STREAM::enable
}
}
when STREAM_MATCHED {
log local0. "[IP::client_addr]:[TCP::client_port]: Matched [STREAM::match]"
}
TASK 2 – Test the Web Page Before Applying the iRule

Before adding the iRule to a virtual server, let’s test the original web page first.
1. Open a web browser and go to http://lab5.f5demo.com/lorax.php

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2. Review the page and notice all the “Lorax” references on the page.
3. Right click in the web page and “View Page Source” (or “View Source” depending on
browser)

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4. Close the web browser

b. Username = admin
c. Password = admin

6. Select the newly created iRule named “ir_lab5_stream” and add it to the “Enabled”
section

files. Let’s prep theStart a following tail of /var/log/ltm file first.:
d. Host Name (or IP address) = bigip.f5demo.com
e. Username = root
f. Password = default

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3. Open a web browser and go to http://lab5.f5demo.com/lorax.php

4. Examine the output of the web page as well as the ltm logs

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5. Review the page and notice all the “Lorax” references on the page have changed to
“Agility”
6. Right click in the web page and “View Page Source” (or “View Source” depending on
browser)

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Questions
 Did all references of “Lorax” get replaced with “Agility”? If not, why?
 What if “Lorax” had a lowercase “L” like “lorax”? What iRule change is needed?

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LAB 6 – USING THE VIRTUAL COMMAND

This lab guide will require the student to create an iRule with the “virtual” command to re-
route traffic from one virtual server to another.
Objective:
 Identify specific URIs and direct traffic to another virtual server
 Log the results
Lab Requirements:
 Two virtual servers with each VS containing a different server pool member

utility.
desktop)
b. Username = admin
c. Password = admin

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4. Supply a name of ir_lab6_v2v
Create an iRule that fires on the HTTP_REQUEST. The code for this event should check the
request URI, and if it matches /welcome.php, it should proxy the Request to the lab6_v2v
virtual server. The code should also generate a log message to validate that the code is
working as expected.
the “HTTP_REQUEST” event. Next, the event needs to do something when fired. When a
request comes into the virtual server, let’s test to see if the requested URI matches
“/welcome.php”. If there is a match, we’ll send the request to the lab6_v2v virtual server.
We will create a simple “if then else” logical branch within our HTTP_REQUEST block and call
the virtual command only for one URI match. To validate it is working, we’ll also add a log
message so we know the iRule triggered as expected.
when HTTP_REQUEST {
if { [HTTP::uri] starts_with "/welcome.php" } {
log local0. "internally routing from [virtual name] to lab6_vs_v2v"
virtual lab6_vs_v2v
}
}
TASK 2 – Test the Web Page Before Applying the iRule

Before adding the iRule to a virtual server, let’s test the web pages first.
1. Open a web browser and go to http://lab6.f5demo.com/welcome.php

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2. Review the page and notice the all references are for “Node #1” and its pool member IP
of 10.128.20.11
3. Review the source code. Right click on the page and select “View Page Source” (or View
Source)
Read through the source code and find any “href”, and you’ll see image links similar to the
following:
<img src=”images/TopBar.png” …>

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The full link would look likeThe user-agent normally expands this to
http://lab6.f5demo.com/images/TopBar.png. This URL does not contain “/welcome.php”.
This is important to keep in mind once weyou apply the iRule to a virtual server. This will help
demonstrate that some content on the page will match the iRule and other content will not. As
a result, various content on the page will load with different servers.
4. Now let’s tTest the “v2v” virtual server…
5. Open a web browser and go to http://lab6-v2v.f5demo.com/welcome.php
6. Review the page and notice all references are for “Node #2” and its pool member IP of
10.128.20.12
We You have now verified that lab6.f5demo.com has a dedicated server Node #1, and lab6-
v2v.f5demo.com has a dedicated server Node #2. There currently is no mixing of server nodes
providing content.
TASK 3 – Add iRule to Virtual Server

b. Username = admin
c. Password = admin

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6. Select the newly created iRule named “ir_lab6_v2v” and add it to the “Enabled” section
TASK 4 – Test iRule

This task will involve generating some traffic to test the iRule. We will vVerify functionality by
opening a web browser to the test site as well as and by reviewing the /var/log/ltm log files.
Let’s prep the /var/log/ltm file firstStart a following tail of /var/log/ltm.:
g. Host Name (or IP address) = bigip.f5demo.com
h. Username = root
i. Password = default

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9. Open a web browser and go to http://lab6.f5demo.com/welcome.php

10.Examine the output of the web page as well as the ltm logs

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Questions
 What was the before and after difference of the web page once the iRule was applied?
 How many server nodes provided content?
 Were the images served by Node #1 or Node #2?
 What was the pool member IP listed in the textual page content?

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LAB 7 – MAINTENANCE PAGE

This lab guide will require the student to create an iRule to display a maintenance page to
users when the site is down. This allows you to control the user experience even if the site is
down.
Objective:
 Create a maintenance page and that page serve to the client if the VS attached pool
is down
Lab Requirements:

utility.
desktop)
b. Username = admin
c. Password = admin

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4. Supply a name of ir_lab7_maintenance
Create an iRule that fires on the HTTP_REQUEST. The code for this event must first
determine whether any pool members for the VS attached pool are active. If no members are
active, the BIG-IP should directly respond to the client with an HTTP Response message, and
proxy nothing to the server-side.
the “HTTP_REQUEST” event. Next, the event needs to do something when fired. The goal is to
provide a maintenance page only if all the pool members are down. This means we first have
to determine if any members are active.
when HTTP_REQUEST {
if { [active_members lab7_pool] < 1 } {
set stime 10
HTTP::respond 501 content \
"<html><head><title>Sorry Folks</title></head><body><meta http-equiv='REFRESH' \
content=$stime;url=HTTP:://[HTTP::host]></HEAD> \
<h2>Sorry folks! We're closed to clean and repair America's favorite family fun site.\
Sorry, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh!</h2></body></html>" "Content-Type" "text/html"
}
}
TASK 2 – Add the iRule to a Virtual Server

b. Username = admin
c. Password = admin

iRules 101

6. Select the newly created iRule named “ir_lab7_maintenance” and add it to the

This task will involve generating some traffic to test the iRule. We will v You will verify
functionality by opening a web browser when there is at least one active pool member. The
page should load fine. You will then mark all All pool members will then be marked “down”,
and . After this, testing the site a second time should causea page request should cause the
maintenance page to render.
2. Examine the output of the web page. There are multiple images, links, and content
served by various pool members

iRules 101
3. Click on the “Welcome” link or scroll down to the bottom and click on other random
links.
Up to this point, we know the iRule is successfully checking active pool member count. Let’s
see what happens when all the pool members are marked down.
5. Go back to the F5 web browser
6. Go to Local Traffic > Pools > Pool List
7. Select the pool named “lab7_pool”

8. Choose the “Members” tab
9. Check the box next to each of the four pool members
10.Select “Force Offline”

iRules 101
This will cause the pool members to be marked offline and look similar to the screenshot
below.
Now let’s see ifverify that ourthe application behaves differently on the next attempt to open
the web page.
11.Open a web browser and go to http://lab7.f5demo.com

iRules 101
VLet’s verify the iRule one more time by activating at least one pool member.
12.Go back to Local Traffic > Pools > Pool List
13.Select the pool named “lab7_pool”
14.Choose the “Members” tab
15.Check the box for at least one or all pool members
16.Choose “Enable” to bring the server(s) online again
After a few seconds, they should go green and the web page will load successfully again!

iRules 101
Congratulations! You just completed the “Maintenance Page” lab.

Questions
 Try marking only some pool members down. What happens?
 Edit the iRule so it checks for at least 2 active members?
 Edit the iRule again to log the active member count. Does it show in /var/log/ltm?

F5 Networks Agility 2015: Irules 101 Lab Guide

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F5 Networks Agility

Participant Hands-on Lab Guide

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 3 of 54

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 4 of 54

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 3 of 54

TASK 1 – Create the iRule........................................................................................................... 43

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 5 of 54

LAB 1 – LOAD BALANCE BY CLIENT PORT

TASK 1 – Create the iRule with the F5 iRule Editor

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 6 of 54

5. Once connected, cChoose File > New to create a new iRule

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 7 of 54

7. Add content to the iRule (see below)

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 8 of 54

8. Choose File > Save to write the config to the F5

TASK 2 – Create the iRule with F5 Web Configuration Utility (the

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 9 of 54

2. Choose Local Traffic Manager > iRules

3. When the page loads, hit “Create” on the right side

6. When done, hit “Finished”

TASK 3 – Add iRule to Virtual Server

3. Select the virtual server named “lab1_vs”

TASK 4 – Test the iRule

2. Run the following command:

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 11 of 54

3. Open a web browser and go to http://lab1.f5demo.com/httprequest.php

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 12 of 54

LAB 2 – REDIRECT HTTP TRAFFIC TO HTTPS

 Log the results

TASK 1 – Create the iRule

2. Choose Local Traffic Manager > iRules

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 13 of 54

3. When the page loads, hit “Create” on the right side

#redirect all traffic to HTTPS preserving hostname and URI

6. When done, hit “Finished”

TASK 2 – Add the iRule to the Virtual Server

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 14 of 54

3. Select the virtual server named “lab2_vs_80”

TASK 3 – Test the iRule

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 15 of 54

2. Run the following command:

3. Open a web browser and go to http://lab2.f5demo.com

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 16 of 54

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 17 of 54

LAB 3 – USING STRING TOOLS

TASK 1 – Create the iRule for “contains”

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 18 of 54

2. Choose Local Traffic Manager > iRules

3. When the page loads, hit “Create” on the right side

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 19 of 54

6. When done, hit “Finished”

TASK 2 – Add the iRule to Virtual Server for “contains”

3. Select the virtual server named “lab3_vs”

TASK 3 – Test the iRule for “contains”

3. Modify the URI by appending “login” like this http://lab3.f5demo.com/httprequest.php?

TASK 4 – Create the iRule for “findstr”

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 21 of 54

2. When the page loads, hit “Create” on the right side

5. When done, hit “Finished”

TASK 5 – Add the iRule to the Virtual Server for “findstr”

F5 2015 Agility: iRules 101 Lab Guide - Page 22 of 54

2. Select the virtual server named “lab3_vs”

TASK 6 – Test the iRule for “findstr”

The full iRule will look like this