Registering Externally-Deployed Traffic Managers
Introduction
This section describes how to register externally-deployed Traffic Managers from a software form-factor Services Director.
You cannot register an externally-deployed Traffic Manager that is in a private network behind a NAT device.
To register Traffic Managers from the Services Director VA, see the Services Director Getting Started Guide.
When the Services Director accesses an externally-deployed instance, it is only able to manages licenses and provide metering capabilities for billing; it does not support Services Director life-cycle operations on externally-deployed instances.
Deployment options are also supported:
- To deploy Traffic Managers to an instance host from a software form-factor Services Director, see Using an Instance Host with a Software Services Director.
- To deploy Traffic Managers to an instance host from a Services Director VA, see Using an Instance Host with a Services Director VA.
See also Services Director Form-Factors and Working with an Instance Host.
Properties for an Externally-Deployed Instance
The table below describes the REST API properties for an externally-deployed instance.
Property | Description |
|---|---|
owner | The owner resource for this instance. See owner Resource. |
stm_feature_pack | The name of the feature_pack resource associated with the Traffic Manager instance. This represents the set of features that are available for the instance. |
license_name | The name of the FLA license resource you want to use for this instance. For an externally-deployed instance, this property will not update the licenses on the Traffic Manager instance. |
rest_enabled | Should set to true. This is required to enable monitoring and to allow licenses to be pushed to instances. |
bandwidth | The maximum allowed bandwidth for the Traffic Manager instance (in units of Mbps). |
tag | A text property which provides an alternative way of referring to an instance. Unlike the unique ID for an instance, the tag value can be changed or re-used, subject to some restrictions. See Understanding the Tag Property. |
management_address | The hostname used to address the Traffic Manager instance. The hostname must be a fully-qualified domain name, or an IP address where Universal Licensing is used. You can modify this property only for an externally-deployed Traffic Manager instance (or in a database-only request). If you modify this property, the host component of the rest_address , ui_address , and snmp_address properties is also updated. These values must be fully-qualified domain name, or an IP address where Universal Licensing is used. |
ui_address | The address (host or IP address plus port number) of the Traffic Manager instance Administration UI. If you do not enter a value, the UI address defaults to :9090. If you use a hostname instead of an IP address, you must use a fully-qualified domain name, or an IP address where Universal Licensing is used. You can modify this property only for an externally-deployed Traffic Manager instance (or in a database-only request). |
admin_username | The user name for the admin account for the externally-deployed instance. This is essential for communication between the Services Director and the externally-deployed instance. |
admin_password | The password for the admin account for the externally-deployed instance. This is essential for communication between the Services Director and the externally-deployed instance. |
rest_address | The hostname or IP address and port number of the Traffic Manager instance configuration REST API. If left blank, it defaults to :9070. The rest_address property must match the instance hostname. If you use a hostname instead of an IP address, you must use a fully-qualified domain name. The rest_address property must be unique and accurate to identify a Traffic Manager instance for licensing purposes. You can modify this property only for an externally-deployed Traffic Manager instance (or in a database-only request). This is essential for communication between the Services Director and the externally-deployed instance. |
snmp_address | The hostname or IP address and port number of the Traffic Manager instance SNMP responder. This setting enables you to set the SNMP address used for metering. See Enabling Metering for an Externally-Deployed Instance. If you use a hostname instead of an IP address, you must use a fully-qualified domain name. You can modify this property only for an externally-deployed Traffic Manager instance (or in a database-only request). |
config_options | A space-separated string used to define configuration options. See Specifying Configuration Options. A single configuration option is supported: snmp!community - The SNMP v2 community setting for this externally-deployed instance. This must be set to the same value as the equivalent snmp!community property on the instance resource (default: "public"). The config_options property is visible in the graphical user interface of the Services Director VA. It is listed for an expanded instance on the vTM Instances page as Extra Options. Refer to the Services Director Getting Started Guide. Whenever the config_options property is set, all currently modified options must be specified again in the REST call. Any options that are not specified will lose their current value and be reset to their default value. Unlike deployed instances, externally-deployed instances do not restart when config_options are changed. When you specify this property, do not specify the config_options_json property. |
config_options_json | A JSON data structure that is equivalent to the config_options property. See Specifying Configuration Options. When you specify this property, do not specify the config_options property. |
access_profile | Identifies an access_profile resource (see access_profile Resource). The authenticator and permission_group resources referenced by this resource are then applied to the Traffic Manager instance to set its user authentication. See Applying User Authentication to a vTM. |
Registering an Externally-Deployed Instance
When you register an externally-deployed instance using the REST API, you POST an instance resource.
You cannot register an externally-deployed Traffic Manager that is in a private network behind a NAT device.
The request supports a URL parameter ?managed=false. Include this to indicate that the new instance is an externally-deployed instance. For example:
https://<sdhost>:<port>/api/tmcm/2.9/instance/stm1?managed=false
For details of all instance properties, see instance Resource.
For details of the instance properties, see Properties for an Externally-Deployed Instance.
Making Database-Only Updates to an Externally-Deployed Instance
You can register externally-deployed instances with the Services Director with a database-only update or a direct update to the Traffic Manager.
If you issue a database-only REST API PUT request (either when initially creating an instance record or when modifying one), you can set a number of properties that are otherwise managed directly by the Services Director. These properties are:
- rest_address
- admin_username
- admin_password
- snmp_address
- rest_enabled
- ui_address
Setting any of these properties through a database-only REST API PUT request does not result in changes being passed to the Traffic Manager instance; only the Services Director database is affected. You can use these techniques to resolve this monitoring issue:
- Issue a GET REST API request for the Traffic Managerinstance resource, including the URL parameter status_check=true. The Services Director actively checks the state of the Traffic Manager instance and updates the stored status accordingly.
- Issue a PUT REST API request to modify the Traffic Managerinstance resource and set the status property to the known correct state with URL parameter deploy=false. The Services Director updates the status of the Traffic Manager instance in the inventory database but does not attempt to start or stop the instance itself.
The admin_username , admin_password , and rest_address properties are essential for communication between the Services Director and the externally-deployed instance.
Enabling Monitoring and the REST API for an Externally-Deployed Instance
To enable both monitoring and the REST API proxy for an externally-deployed Traffic Manager instance, you must configure:
- The instance resources in the Services Director. Provide values for the admin_username, admin password and rest_address properties. See Properties for an Externally-Deployed Instance.
- The externally-deployed Traffic Manager instance. Enable the REST API.
Enabling Metering for an Externally-Deployed Instance
The Services Director collects metering data from Traffic Manager instances as follows:
- Instances that are at version 9.4 or earlier (or have no REST API enabled) have their metering collected through SNMP.
- Instances that are at version 9.5 or later with the REST API enabled have their metering collected through their REST API. If REST-based metering fails (or is not possible), the Services Director falls back to collecting using SNMP. Any metering issues will be included in the warning logs, as before.
To enable metering for an externally-deployed Traffic Manager instance, you must first configure the instance resource in the Services Director. Provide a value for the following properties:
- snmp_address.
- snmp!community. This config_options setting must match the snmp!community setting on the instance itself.
You must then configure the externally-deployed Traffic Manager instance itself:
- Enable SNMP.
- The snmp!community setting must match the snmp!community setting in the config_options on the instance resource.
When you are configuring an externally-deployed instance, an Instance Host resource is not required.