In this lab, we will build an active-standby cluster between BIG-IP A and
BIG-IP B using the REST API. As mentioned previously, to save time, BIG-IP B is
already licensed and has its device-level settings configured. This lab will
use the Postman Runner functionality introduced in the previous lab.
We will run the requests in a Collection Folder to build the cluster.
If you examine the Lab 1.6 - Build a Cluster
folder in the Collection you
can see how complex Imperative processes can become.
Clustering is one of the transition points for most customers to move into the
Declarative model (if not already done) due to the need to abstract
device/vendor level specifics from automation consumers.
The high-level procedure required to create the cluster is:
In this task we will use the Runner to execute a series of
requests contained in the Lab 1.6 - Build a Cluster
folder. As mentioned
previously this folder contains a large number of REST requests required to
build an Active/Standby cluster. Additionally, we will make use of a JavaScript
framework called f5-postman-workflows
that extends the Postman client to
include common test and polling functions.
Perform the following steps to build the cluster:
Click the Runner button at the top left of your Postman window:
Select the F5 Programmability: Class 1
Collection then the
Lab 1.6 - Build a Cluster
folder. Next, be sure the
environment is set to F5 Programmability: Class 1
:
Your Runner window should look like:
Click the Run Lab 1.6 - Buil… button
The results window will now populate. You will see each request in the folder is sent and its associated test results are displayed on the screen. Building the cluster can take a few minutes. You can follow the progress by scrolling down the results window.
Once the Run Summary button appears, the folder has completed
running. You should have 0 failures and the last item in the request
list should be named Cleanup Environment
Note
If you are have an issue with your authentication token issue please return to
Lab 1.3, Step 8 in Postman to set your admin password to admin
.