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F5 BIG-IP Traffic and Virtual Server Monitoring Script

This script helps F5 BIG-IP administrators monitor important operational details, including system uptime and the performance of virtual servers. It provides traffic, health, and CPU data in a clean, tabular format, helping administrators identify trends, troubleshoot performance bottlenecks, and make informed decisions about traffic handling and resource allocation.

Why This Script is Important

Administrators managing F5 BIG-IP load balancers need to monitor both the health of the device and the traffic managed by virtual servers. This script reduces the time and effort required to gather such data by providing:

  1. System Uptime Information:
    • Quickly retrieve the duration the device has been operating since the last reboot.
  2. Key Performance Metrics for Virtual Servers:
    • Displays virtual server states, availability, network traffic statistics, and CPU usage metrics, allowing administrators to identify high-impact traffic flows or misbehaving resources.
  3. Prioritized Data Sorting:
    • Data is sortable (default is by Clientside Bits In), helping admins to focus on the most active resources. Sorting can also be adjusted to reflect different metrics like Clientside Bits Out or CPU usage over time.

What This Script Does

The script executes two main tasks:

  1. Retrieve System Uptime:

    • Outputs the number of days and hours the system has been available for traffic since the last reboot.
    • Source Command: tmsh show sys failover.

  2. Retrieve and Format Virtual Server Traffic and Performance Data:

    • For each virtual server, the script displays:
      • Virtual server name and destination address.
      • Availability and current state.
      • Clientside traffic (bits in and out).
      • CPU usage ratios for the last 5 seconds, last 1 minute, and last 5 minutes.
    • Adds headers, formats data into columns, and sorts by Clientside Bits In (default), with customizable sorting.

Columns in Output

Field Description
Virtual_Server Name of the virtual server.
Destination IP address and port associated with the virtual server (destination traffic).
Availability General availability status (available or unavailable).
State Operational state of the virtual server (e.g., enabled, disabled).
Bits_In Total client-side bits in since the last statistic restart.
Bits_Out Total client-side bits out since the last statistic restart.
CPU_Last_5s CPU usage ratio over the last 5 seconds (indicative of near real-time resource consumption).
CPU_Last_1m CPU usage ratio over the last 1 minute.
CPU_Last_5m CPU usage ratio over the last 5 minutes.

How to Run the Script

Prerequisites

  • Administrator access: Ensure you have shell access to the F5 BIG-IP system (e.g., via SSH).
  • Configuration access: Ensure the tmsh command is available and functional.

Command Syntax

Paste the following script into your terminal:

# Retrieve system uptime and virtual server performance data
tmsh show sys failover
tmsh -q -c 'cd /; show sys failover; show ltm virtual raw recursive ' | (echo "Virtual_Server Destination Availability State Bits_In Bits_Out CPU_Last_5s CPU_Last_1m CPU_Last_5m" && awk '/Ltm::Virtual/ {printf $3" "} /Destination/ {printf $3 " "} /Availability/ {printf $3 " "} /State/ {printf $3" "} /Bits In/ {printf $3 " "} /Bits Out/ {printf $3 " "} /Last 5 Seconds/ {printf $4 " "} /Last 1 Minute/ {printf $4 " "} /Last 5 Minutes/ {printf $4 "\n"}'; ) | column -t | awk 'NR==1; NR>1 {print $0 | "sort -nr -k5"}'

Understanding the Output:

1. System Uptime

The first command (tmsh show sys failover) outputs the current uptime of the BIG-IP system, showing the time since the device was last rebooted. Example output:

Days: 5   Hours: 12

2. Virtual Server Performance Data

The rest of the script retrieves performance data for all configured virtual servers, sorts based on traffic or CPU metrics, and outputs it in a tabular format.

Example output:

Virtual_Server       Destination      Availability  State     Bits_In   Bits_Out   CPU_Last_5s  CPU_Last_1m  CPU_Last_5m
my_virtual_server_1  192.168.1.10:80  available     enabled   1.5e+09   7.8e+08    5.00         3.00         1.00
my_virtual_server_2  192.168.1.20:443 available     enabled   7.2e+08   4.0e+08    2.00         1.20         0.75
my_virtual_server_3  192.168.2.30:22  available     enabled   3.0e+08   1.5e+08    3.00         1.50         0.90

Sorting Options

By default, the script sorts the data by the Clientside Bits In (Bits_In) column (-k5). You can change the sorting logic by modifying the last digit of the sort -nr -kX parameter.

Column Field Key Example Modification
Bits_In -k5 Default sorting.
Bits_Out -k6 Update to -k6.
CPU_Last_5s -k7 Update to -k7.
CPU_Last_1m -k8 Update to -k8.
CPU_Last_5m -k9 Update to -k9.

For example, to sort by Bits Out, replace the sort command:

awk 'NR==1; NR>1 {print $0 | "sort -nr -k6"}'

Use Cases

  1. Monitor System Uptime:

    • Ensure the BIG-IP system has been operating without unexpected reboots or failovers.

  2. Analyze Traffic Trends:

    • Sort by Bits_In or Bits_Out to identify heavily used virtual servers and balance traffic loads accordingly.

  3. Troubleshoot Resource Bottlenecks:

    • Review CPU usage across different time intervals (5 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes) to detect resource contention or over-utilization.

  4. Verify Virtual Server Availability:

    • Quickly identify disabled or unavailable virtual servers.

Tips for Using This Script

  • Automate Monitoring: Schedule the command in a cron job or monitoring tool to regularly retrieve and analyze virtual server performance.

  • Focus on Critical Resources: Sort by columns like Bits_In or CPU_Last_5m to identify high-impact virtual servers requiring attention.

  • Combine with Historical Logs: Use the output in conjunction with external log aggregation or performance monitoring tools to analyze patterns over time.

Best Practices

  1. Monitor Consistently:

    • Regularly check uptime and virtual server metrics, particularly after major network changes or application updates.

  2. Optimize Traffic Distribution:

    • Use sorting (e.g., by traffic volume) to identify virtual servers requiring adjustments in pool member weights or capacities.

  3. Plan for Traffic Spikes:

    • Monitor CPU usage patterns to predict when additional system resources may be required.

License

This script is free to use and modify under the MIT License.