# bigip_gtm_server – Manages F5 BIG-IP GTM servers

New in version 2.5.

- Synopsis
- Parameters
- Notes
- Examples
- Return Values
- Status

## Synopsis

- Manage BIG-IP server configuration. This module is able to manipulate the server definitions in a BIG-IP.

## Parameters

Parameter | Choices/Defaults | Comments
--- | --- | ---
availability_requirements dictionary added in 2.8 |  | Specifies, if you activate more than one health monitor, the number of health monitors that must receive successful responses in order for the link to be considered available.
| at_least integer |  | Specifies the minimum number of active health monitors that must be successful before the link is considered up. This parameter is only relevant when a `type` of `at_least` is used. This parameter will be ignored if a type of either `all` or `require` is used.

number_of_probers
integer

Specifies the number of probers that should be used when running probes.
When creating a new virtual server, if this parameter is specified, then the `number_of_probes` parameter must also be specified.
The value of this parameter should always be higher than, or equal to, the value of `number_of_probers`.
This parameter is only relevant when a `type` of `require` is used.
This parameter will be ignored if a type of either `all` or `at_least` is used.

number_of_probes
integer

Specifies the minimum number of probes that must succeed for this server to be declared up.
When creating a new virtual server, if this parameter is specified, then the `number_of_probers` parameter must also be specified.
The value of this parameter should always be lower than, or equal to, the value of `number_of_probers`.
This parameter is only relevant when a `type` of `require` is used.
This parameter will be ignored if a type of either `all` or `at_least` is used.

type
string

Choices:
- all
- at_least
- require

Monitor rule type when `monitors` is specified.
When creating a new pool, if this value is not specified, the default of 'all' will be used.

datacenter string |  | Data center the server belongs to. When creating a new GTM server, this value is required.

devices
list

Lists the self IP addresses and translations for each device. When creating a new GTM server, this value is required. This list is a complex list that specifies a number of keys.
The `name` key specifies a name for the device. The device name must be unique per server. This key is required.
The `address` key contains an IP address, or list of IP addresses, for the destination server. This key is required.
The `translation` key contains an IP address to translate the `address` value above to. This key is optional.
Specifying duplicate `name` fields is a supported means of providing device addresses. In this scenario, the addresses will be assigned to the `name`'s list of addresses.

iquery_options dictionary added in 2.7 |  | Specifies whether the Global Traffic Manager uses this BIG-IP system to conduct a variety of probes before delegating traffic to it.

allow_path
boolean

Choices:
- no
- yes

Specifies that the system verifies the logical network route between a data center server and a local DNS server.

allow_service_check
boolean

Choices:
- no
- yes

Specifies that the system verifies that an application on a server is running, by remotely running the application using an external service checker program.

allow_snmp
boolean

Choices:
- no
- yes

Specifies that the system checks the performance of a server running an SNMP agent.

limits
dictionary
added in 2.8

Specifies resource thresholds or limit requirements at the pool member level.
When you enable one or more limit settings, the system then uses that data to take members in and out of service.
You can define limits for any or all of the limit settings. However, when a member does not meet the resource threshold limit requirement, the system marks the member as unavailable and directs load-balancing traffic to another resource.

bits_enabled
boolean

Choices:
- no
- yes

Whether the bits limit it enabled or not.
This parameter allows you to switch on or off the effect of the limit.

| bits_limit integer |  | Specifies the maximum allowable data throughput rate, in bits per second, for the member. If the network traffic volume exceeds this limit, the system marks the member as unavailable.

connections_enabled
boolean

Choices:
- no
- yes

Whether the current connections limit it enabled or not.
This parameter allows you to switch on or off the effect of the limit.

| connections_limit integer |  | Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections, combined, for all of the member. If the connections exceed this limit, the system marks the server as unavailable.

cpu_enabled
boolean

Choices:
- no
- yes

Whether the CPU limit it enabled or not.
This parameter allows you to switch on or off the effect of the limit.

| cpu_limit integer |  | Specifies the percent of CPU usage. If percent of CPU usage goes above the limit, the system marks the server as unavailable.

memory_enabled
boolean

Choices:
- no
- yes

Whether the memory limit it enabled or not.
This parameter allows you to switch on or off the effect of the limit.

| memory_limit integer |  | Specifies the available memory required by the virtual servers on the server. If available memory falls below this limit, the system marks the server as unavailable.

packets_enabled
boolean

Choices:
- no
- yes

Whether the packets limit it enabled or not.
This parameter allows you to switch on or off the effect of the limit.

| packets_limit integer |  | Specifies the maximum allowable data transfer rate, in packets per second, for the member. If the network traffic volume exceeds this limit, the system marks the member as unavailable.

link_discovery
string

Choices:
- enabled
- disabled
- enabled-no-delete

Specifies whether the system auto-discovers the links for this server. When creating a new GTM server, if this parameter is not specified, the default value `disabled` is used.
If you set this parameter to `enabled` or `enabled-no-delete`, you must also ensure that the `virtual_server_discovery` parameter is also set to `enabled` or `enabled-no-delete`.

monitors list added in 2.8 |  | Specifies the health monitors that the system currently uses to monitor this resource. When `availability_requirements.type` is `require`, you may only have a single monitor in the `monitors` list.
name string / required |  | The name of the server.
partition string added in 2.5 | Default: "Common" | Device partition to manage resources on.

prober_fallback
string
added in 2.8

Choices:
- any
- inside-datacenter
- outside-datacenter
- inherit
- pool
- none

Specifies the type of prober to use to monitor this server's resources when the preferred prober is not available.
This option is ignored in `TMOS` version `12.x`.
From `TMOS` version `13.x` and up, when prober_preference is set to `pool` a `prober_pool` parameter must be specified.
The choices are mutually exclusive with prober_preference parameter, with the exception of `any-available` or `none` option.

prober_pool
string
added in 2.8

Specifies the name of the prober pool to use to monitor this server's resources.
From `TMOS` version `13.x` and up, this parameter is mandatory when `prober_preference` is set to `pool`.
Format of the name can be either be prepended by partition (`/Common/foo`), or specified just as an object name (`foo`).
In `TMOS` version `12.x` prober_pool can be set to empty string to revert to default setting of inherit.

prober_preference
string
added in 2.8

Choices:
- inside-datacenter
- outside-datacenter
- inherit
- pool

Specifies the type of prober to use to monitor this server's resources.
This option is ignored in `TMOS` version `12.x`.
From `TMOS` version `13.x` and up, when prober_preference is set to `pool` a `prober_pool` parameter must be specified.

provider dictionary added in 2.5 |  | A dict object containing connection details.
| auth_provider string |  | Configures the auth provider for to obtain authentication tokens from the remote device. This option is really used when working with BIG-IQ devices.
| password string / required |  | The password for the user account used to connect to the BIG-IP. You may omit this option by setting the environment variable `F5_PASSWORD`. aliases: pass, pwd
| server string / required |  | The BIG-IP host. You may omit this option by setting the environment variable `F5_SERVER`.
| server_port integer | Default: 443 | The BIG-IP server port. You may omit this option by setting the environment variable `F5_SERVER_PORT`.
| ssh_keyfile path |  | Specifies the SSH keyfile to use to authenticate the connection to the remote device. This argument is only used for cli transports. You may omit this option by setting the environment variable `ANSIBLE_NET_SSH_KEYFILE`.
| timeout integer |  | Specifies the timeout in seconds for communicating with the network device for either connecting or sending commands. If the timeout is exceeded before the operation is completed, the module will error.

transport
string

Choices:
- cli
- rest ←

Configures the transport connection to use when connecting to the remote device.

| user string / required |  | The username to connect to the BIG-IP with. This user must have administrative privileges on the device. You may omit this option by setting the environment variable `F5_USER`.

validate_certs
boolean

Choices:
- no
- yes ←

If `no`, SSL certificates are not validated. Use this only on personally controlled sites using self-signed certificates.
You may omit this option by setting the environment variable `F5_VALIDATE_CERTS`.

server_type
string

Choices:
- alteon-ace-director
- cisco-css
- cisco-server-load-balancer
- generic-host
- radware-wsd
- windows-nt-4.0
- bigip
- cisco-local-director-v2
- extreme
- generic-load-balancer
- sun-solaris
- cacheflow
- cisco-local-director-v3
- foundry-server-iron
- netapp
- windows-2000-server

Specifies the server type. The server type determines the metrics that the system can collect from the server. When creating a new GTM server, the default value `bigip` is used.
aliases: product

state
string

Choices:
- present ←
- absent
- enabled
- disabled

The server state. If `absent`, an attempt to delete the server will be made. This will only succeed if this server is not in use by a virtual server. `present` creates the server and enables it. If `enabled`, enable the server if it exists. If `disabled`, create the server if needed, and set state to `disabled`.

virtual_server_discovery
string

Choices:
- enabled
- disabled
- enabled-no-delete

Specifies whether the system auto-discovers the virtual servers for this server. When creating a new GTM server, if this parameter is not specified, the default value `disabled` is used.

## Notes

Note

- For more information on using Ansible to manage F5 Networks devices see https://www.ansible.com/integrations/networks/f5.
- Requires BIG-IP software version >= 12.
- The F5 modules only manipulate the running configuration of the F5 product. To ensure that BIG-IP specific configuration persists to disk, be sure to include at least one task that uses the bigip_config module to save the running configuration. Refer to the module’s documentation for the correct usage of the module to save your running configuration.

## Examples

    - name: Create server "GTM_Server"
      bigip_gtm_server:
        name: GTM_Server
        datacenter: /Common/New York
        server_type: bigip
        link_discovery: disabled
        virtual_server_discovery: disabled
        devices:
          - name: server_1
            address: 1.1.1.1
          - name: server_2
            address: 2.2.2.1
            translation: 192.168.2.1
          - name: server_2
            address: 2.2.2.2
          - name: server_3
            addresses:
              - address: 3.3.3.1
              - address: 3.3.3.2
          - name: server_4
            addresses:
              - address: 4.4.4.1
                translation: 192.168.14.1
              - address: 4.4.4.2
        provider:
          user: admin
          password: secret
          server: lb.mydomain.com
      delegate_to: localhost

    - name: Create server "GTM_Server" with expanded keys
      bigip_gtm_server:
        server: lb.mydomain.com
        user: admin
        password: secret
        name: GTM_Server
        datacenter: /Common/New York
        server_type: bigip
        link_discovery: disabled
        virtual_server_discovery: disabled
        devices:
          - name: server_1
            address: 1.1.1.1
          - name: server_2
            address: 2.2.2.1
            translation: 192.168.2.1
          - name: server_2
            address: 2.2.2.2
          - name: server_3
            addresses:
              - address: 3.3.3.1
              - address: 3.3.3.2
          - name: server_4
            addresses:
              - address: 4.4.4.1
                translation: 192.168.14.1
              - address: 4.4.4.2
        provider:
          user: admin
          password: secret
          server: lb.mydomain.com
      delegate_to: localhost

## Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key | Returned | Description
--- | --- | ---
bits_enabled boolean | changed | Whether the bits limit is enabled. Sample: True
bits_limit integer | changed | The new bits_enabled limit. Sample: 100
connections_enabled boolean | changed | Whether the connections limit is enabled. Sample: True
connections_limit integer | changed | The new connections_limit limit. Sample: 100
datacenter string | changed | The new `datacenter` which the server is part of. Sample: datacenter01
link_discovery string | changed | The new `link_discovery` configured on the remote device. Sample: enabled
monitors list | changed | The new list of monitors for the resource. Sample: ['/Common/monitor1', '/Common/monitor2']
packets_enabled boolean | changed | Whether the packets limit is enabled. Sample: True
packets_limit integer | changed | The new packets_limit limit. Sample: 100
server_type string | changed | The new type of the server. Sample: bigip
virtual_server_discovery string | changed | The new `virtual_server_discovery` name for the trap destination. Sample: disabled

## Status

- This module is guaranteed to have backward compatible interface changes going forward. [stableinterface]
- This module is maintained by an Ansible Partner. [certified]

### Authors

- Robert Teller (@r-teller)
- Tim Rupp (@caphrim007)
- Wojciech Wypior (@wojtek0806)

Hint

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