Setting Up the Environment: We begin by setting up the development environment, including installing Ansible, configuring Visual Studio Code, and preparing the Python virtual environment for Ansible automation.
Working with Ansible Inventory: Understanding and managing inventory is crucial. We explore the static inventory files in different formats (INI and YAML), learn about groupings, host variables, and how to utilize the ansible-inventory command-line tool.
Utilizing Ansible Playbooks: We dive into creating Ansible playbooks to automate tasks on F5 BigIP devices. This includes tasks such as backing up device configurations, managing VLANs, self-IPs, and routes, as well as configuring device-specific settings.
Deploying Configuration Changes: With our playbooks ready, we execute them to deploy configuration changes to the F5 BigIP devices. We ensure that the configurations are applied correctly and consistently across all managed devices.
Bonus Challenge: Active/Standby Configuration and Config Sync: For those seeking an extra challenge, we explore setting up an Active/Standby BigIP pair and performing configuration synchronization using Ansible modules. Despite the lack of declarative modules for device management tasks, we utilize imperative modules effectively.
Conclusion: By the end of the lab, participants will have gained hands-on experience in automating F5 BigIP configuration management using Ansible, empowering them to implement robust automation solutions in their network environments.
