F5 monitoring integration

Gain deep insights into F5 performance with seamless data integration into New Relic. Our F5 BIG-IP integration collects and sends inventory and metrics from your F5 BIG-IP instance to our platform, where you can aggregate and visualize key performance metrics. We collect data at the system, application, pool, pool member, virtual server, and node levels.

Tip

Use guided install to quickly see your data in the UI

The guided install is a single CLI command you can run to monitor your F5 instance. It's a good option for small organizations, or for anyone who wants to test out New Relic.

Guided install

EU guided install

For a more permanent and scalable solution, we recommend the standard manual install of the agent: keep reading for how to do that.

F5 instance settings

The F5 integration collects both metrics(M) and inventory(I) information. In the table, use the Applies To column for the settings available to each collection:

Setting	Description	Default	Applies to
`HOSTNAME`	Hostname or IP where F5 is running.	`localhost`	M/I
`PORT`	Port on which F5 API is listening.	`443`	M/I
`USERNAME`	Username for accessing F5 API.	N/A	M/I
`PASSWORD`	Password for the given user.	N/A	M/I
`CA_BUNDLE_FILE`	Alternative Certificate Authority bundle file.	N/A	M/I
`CA_BUNDLE_DIR`	Alternative Certificate Authority bundle directory.	N/A	M/I
`TIMEOUT`	Timeout for requests, in seconds.	30	M/I
`PARTITION_FILTER`	A JSON array of BIG-IP partitions to collect from. See this metrics-only with partition filtering example.	`["Common"]`	M
`MAX_CONCURRENT_REQUESTS`	Maximum number of requests running concurrently.	`10`	M
`TLS_INSECURE_SKIP_VERIFY`	Skip verification of the certificate sent by the host.	`false`	M/I
`METRICS`	Set to `true` to enable metrics-only collection.	`false`
`INVENTORY`	Set to `true` to enable inventory-only collection.	`false`

You can define these setting values in different ways, depending on your preference and need:

Add the value directly in the config file. This is the most common way.
Replace the values from environment variables using the {{}} notation. This requires infrastructure agent v1.14.0 or higher. Read more on using passthrough or see the environment variables replacement example.
Use secrets management to protect sensitive information, such as passwords, that would be exposed in plain text in the configuration file. For more information, read more about using secrets management.

Labels and custom attributes

You can also decorate your metrics using labels. Labels allow you to add key/value pair attributes to your metrics, which you can then use to query, filter, or group your metrics.

Our default sample config file includes examples of labels. You can remove, modify, or add new ones of your choice.

labels:
  env: production
  role: load_balancer

Example configurations

This is the basic configuration used to collect metrics and inventory from your localhost:

integrations:
  - name: nri-f5
    env:
      HOSTNAME: localhost
      PORT: 443
      USERNAME: f5_user
      PASSWORD: f5_password
    interval: 15s
    labels:
      environment: production
    inventory_source: config/f5

This configuration collects metrics every 15 seconds and inventory every 60 seconds:

integrations:
  - name: nri-f5
    env:
      METRICS: true
      HOSTNAME: localhost
      PORT: 443
      USERNAME: f5_user
      PASSWORD: f5_password
    interval: 15s
    labels:
      environment: production

  - name: nri-f5
    env:
      INVENTORY: true
      HOSTNAME: localhost
      PORT: 443
      USERNAME: f5_user
      PASSWORD: f5_password
    interval: 60s
    labels:
      environment: production
    inventory_source: config/f5

In this configuration, the environment variable F5_HOST populates the HOSTNAME setting of the integration:

integrations:
  - name: nri-f5
    env:
      METRICS: "true"
      HOSTNAME: {{F5_HOST}}
      PORT: 443
      USERNAME: f5_user
      PASSWORD: f5_password
    interval: 15s
    labels:
      env: production
      role: load_balancer

This configuration only collects metrics and adds "MyOtherPartition" to the list of partitions to be sampled. By default, the integration only samples the "Common" partition:

integrations:
  - name: nri-f5
    env:
      METRICS: "true"
      HOSTNAME: {{F5_HOST}}
      PORT: 443
      USERNAME: f5_user
      PASSWORD: f5_password
      PARTITION_FILTER:  '["Common","MyOtherPartition"]'
    interval: 15s
    labels:
      env: production
      role: load_balancer

This configuration monitors multiple F5 servers from the same integration. The first instance (HOSTNAME: 1st_f5_host) collects metrics and inventory, while the second instance (HOSTNAME: 2nd_f5_host) only collects metrics.

integrations:
  - name: nri-f5
    env:
      METRICS: "true"
      HOSTNAME: 1st_f5_host
      PORT: 443
      USERNAME: f5_user
      PASSWORD: f5_password
    interval: 15s
    labels:
      env: production
      role: load_balancer
  - name: nri-f5
    env:
      INVENTORY: "true"
      HOSTNAME: 1st_f5_host
      PORT: 443
      USERNAME: f5_user
      PASSWORD: f5_password
    interval: 60s
    labels:
      env: production
      role: load_balancer
    inventory_source: config/f5

  - name: nri-f5
    env:
      METRICS: "true"
      HOSTNAME: 2nd_f5_host
      PORT: 443
      USERNAME: f5_user
      PASSWORD: f5_password
    interval: 15s
    labels:
      env: production
      role: load_balancer

Find and use data

To find your integration data, go to one.newrelic.com > All capabilities > Infrastructure > Third-party services and select one of the F5 BIG-IP integration links.

F5 BIG-IP data is attached to the following event types:

F5BigIpSystemSample
F5BigIpVirtualServerSample
F5BigIpPoolSample
F5BigIpPoolMemberSample
F5BigIpNodeSample

For more on how to find and use your data, see Understand integration data.

Metric data

The F5 BIG-IP integration collects the following metric data attributes. Some metric name are prefixed with a category indicator and a period, such as system., virtualserver., or pool..

System sample metrics

These attributes can be found by querying the F5BigIpSystemSample event types.

Metric	Description
`system.cpuIdleTicksPerSecond`	Amount of CPU ticks that the CPU was idle per second. Requires Administrator-level user permissions to collect.
`system.cpuIdleUtilization`	Average percentage of time the CPU is idle.
`system.cpuInterruptRequestUtilization`	Average percentage of time the CPU is handling interrupt requests.
`system.cpuIOWaitUtilization`	Average percentage of time the CPU is waiting on IO.
`system.cpuNiceLevelUtilization`	Average percentage of time the CPU is handling nice level processes.
`system.cpuSoftInterruptRequestUtilization`	Average percentage of time the CPU is handling soft interrupt requests.
`system.cpuStolenUtilization`	Average percentage of time the CPU is handling reclaimed cycles by the hypervisor.
`system.cpuSystemTicksPerSecond`	Amount of CPU ticks used by the kernel processes per second. Requires Administrator-level user permissions to collect.
`system.cpuSystemUtilization`	Average percentage of time the CPU is used by the kernel.
`system.cpuUserTicksPerSecond`	Amount of CPU ticks used by user processes per second. Requires Administrator-level user permissions to collect.
`system.cpuUserUtilization`	Average percentage of time the CPU is used by user processes.
`system.memoryFreeInBytes`	Total amount of memory free, in bytes.
`system.memoryTotalInBytes`	Total amount of memory, in bytes. Requires Administrator-level user permissions to collect.
`system.memoryUsedInBytes`	Total amount of memory used, in bytes. Requires Administrator-level user permissions to collect.
`system.otherMemoryFreeInBytes`	Free memory reserved for control plane processes, in bytes.
`system.otherMemoryTotalInBytes`	Total memory reserved for control plane processes, in bytes.
`system.otherMemoryUsedInBytes`	Used memory reserved for control plane processes, in bytes.
`system.swapFreeInBytes`	Swap space free, in bytes.
`system.swapTotalInBytes`	Swap space total, in bytes.
`system.swapUsedInBytes`	Swap space used, in bytes.
`system.tmmMemoryFreeInBytes`	Free memory reserved for Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM), in bytes.
`system.tmmMemoryTotalInBytes`	Total memory reserved for Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM), in bytes.
`system.tmmMemoryUsedInBytes`	Used memory reserved for Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM), in bytes.

Virtual server sample metrics

These attributes can be found by querying the F5BigIpVirtualServerSample event type.

Metric	Description
`virtualserver.avaibilityState`	The BIG-IP defined availability. Options: `0` = Offline `1` = Unknown `2` = Online
`virtualserver.clientsideConnectionsPerSecond`	The rate of connections created through the client side of the object per second.
`virtualserver.cmpEnabled`	Indicates whether or not Cluster Multiprocessing (CMP) is enabled.
`virtualserver.cmpEnableMode`	Shows the Cluster Multiprocessing (CMP) mode indicators. Options: CMP disabled = `none`, `disable`, or `single`. CMP enabled = `enable` or `all`.
`virtualserver.connections`	The current number of connections from BIG-IP.
`virtualserver.csMaxConnDur`	Maximum connection duration from the client side of the object.
`virtualserver.csMinConnDur`	Minimum connection duration from the client side of the object.
`virtualserver.enabled`	The current enabled state. Options: `0` = Disabled `1` = Enabled
`virtualserver.ephemeralBytesInPerSecond`	Total number of bytes in through the ephemeral port per second.
`virtualserver.ephemeralBytesOutPerSecond`	Total number of bytes out through the ephemeral port per second.
`virtualserver.ephemeralConnectionsPerSecond`	The rate of connection creation through the ephemeral port per second.
`virtualserver.ephemeralCurrentConnections`	The current number of connections through the ephemeral port.
`virtualserver.ephemeralEvictedConnectionsPerSecond`	The number of connections that are evicted through the ephemeral port per second.
`virtualserver.ephemeralMaxConnections`	Maximum number of connections through the ephemeral port.
`virtualserver.ephemeralPacketsReceivedPerSecond`	The number of packets in through the ephemeral port per second.
`virtualserver.ephemeralPacketsSentPerSecond`	The number of packets out through the ephemeral port per second.
`virtualserver.ephemeralSlowKilledPerSecond`	The number of slow connections that are killed through the ephemeral port per second.
`virtualserver.evictedConnsPerSecond`	The rate of connections evicted per second.
`virtualserver.inDataInBytes`	The amount of data received from the BIG-IP virtual server, in bytes.
`virtualserver.outDataInBytes`	The amount of data sent to the BIG-IP virtual server, in bytes.
`virtualserver.packetsReceived`	The number of packets received from the BIG-IP virtual server.
`virtualserver.packetsSent`	The number of packets sent to the BIG-IP virtual server.
`virtualserver.requests`	The number of requests in the last collection interval to BIG-IP.
`virtualserver.slowKilledPerSecond`	The number of slow connections killed through the client side of the object per second.
`virtualserver.statusReason`	An explanation of the current status.
`virtualserver.usageRatio`	The usage ratio for the virtual server.

Pool sample metrics

These attributes can be found by querying the F5BigIpPoolSample event type.

Metric	Description
`pool.activeMembers`	The number of active pool members.
`pool.availabilityState`	The current availability state. Options: `0` = Offline `1` = Unknown `2` = Online
`pool.connections`	The current number of connections.
`pool.connqAgeEdm`	The queue age exponential-decaying max.
`pool.connqAgeEma`	The queue age exponential-moving average.
`pool.connqAgeHead`	The current queue age head.
`pool.connqAgeMax`	The queue age all-time max.
`pool.connqAllAgeEdm`	The sum of pool member queue age exponential-decaying max.
`pool.connqAllAgeEma`	The sum of pool member queue age exponential-moving average.
`pool.connqAllAgeHead`	The sum of pool member queue age head.
`pool.connqAllAgeMax`	The sum of pool member queue age all-time max.
`pool.connqAllDepth`	The sum of pool member depth.
`pool.connqDepth`	The queue depth.
`pool.currentConnections`	The current connections.
`pool.enabled`	The current enabled state, can be user defined. Options: `0` = Disabled `1` = Enabled
`pool.inDataInBytes`	The amount of data received from the BIG-IP pool, in bytes.
`pool.minActiveMembers`	Pool minimum active members.
`pool.outDataInBytes`	The amount of data sent to the BIG-IP pool, in bytes.
`pool.packetsReceived`	The number of packets received from the BIG-IP pool.
`pool.packetsSent`	The number of packets sent to the BIG-IP pool.
`pool.requests`	The total number of requests to the pool.
`pool.statusReason`	Textual property explaining the overall health reason.

Pool member sample metrics

These attributes can be found by querying the F5BigIpPoolMemberSample event type.

Metric	Description
`member.availabilityState`	The current availability from the BIG-IP system. Options: `0` = Offline `1` = Unknown `2` = Online
`member.connections`	The current connections.
`member.enabled`	Enabled state of the pool member with regards to the parent pool. Options: `0` = Disabled `1` = Enabled
`member.inDataInBytes`	The amount of data received from the BIG-IP pool member, in bytes.
`member.monitorStatus`	The status of the monitor. Options: `0` = Down `1` = Unchecked `2` = Any other status
`member.outDataInBytes`	The amount of data sent to the BIG-IP pool member, in bytes.
`member.packetsReceived`	The number of packets received from the BIG-IP pool member.
`member.packetsSent`	The number of packets sent to the BIG-IP pool member.
`member.requests`	The current number of requests over the last collection interval.
`member.sessions`	The current session count.
`member.sessionStatus`	The current session health status. Options: `0` = Disabled `1` = Enabled
`member.state`	The current state. Options: `0` = Down `1` = Up
`member.statusReason`	Explanation of the current status.

Node sample metrics

These attributes can be found by querying the F5BigIpNodeSample event type.

Metric	Description
`node.availabilityState`	The current BIG-IP availability state to the node. Options: `0` = Offline `1` = Unknown `2` = Online
`node.connections`	The current number of network connections from BIG-IP.
`node.connectionsPerSecond`	The number of connections made per second.
`node.enabled`	The current BIG-IP enabled state. Options: `0` = Disabled `1` = Enabled ,
`node.inDataInBytes`	The amount of data received from the BIG-IP node, in bytes.
`node.monitorStatus`	The current health monitor rule status. Options: `0` = Down `1` = Unchecked `2` = Any other status
`node.outDataInBytes`	The amount of data sent to the BIG-IP node, in bytes.
`node.packetsReceived`	The number of packets received from the BIG-IP node.
`node.packetsSent`	The number of packets sent to the BIG-IP node.
`node.requests`	The current number of requests over the last collection from BIG-IP.
`node.sessions`	The current number of sessions.
`node.sessionStatus`	The current status of the session. Options: `0` = Disabled `1` = Enabled
`node.statusReason`	BIG-IP reason for the current status.

Inventory data

The F5 BIG-IP integration also collects configuration data at system, application, pool, pool member, virtual server, and node levels.

The data is available on the Inventory page in the infrastructure UI, under the config/f5 source. For more about inventory data, see Understand integration data.

The integration captures data for the following F5 BIG-IP configuration parameters:

Metric	Description
`currentLoadMode`	Current load balancing mode.
`description`	User defined description.
`kind`	Kind of pool.
`maxConnections`	Current max number of connections seen at one point.
`monitorRule`	Current health monitoring rule applied.

Metric	Description
`address`	BIG-IP network address to send to the node.
`fqdn`	FQDN of node.
`kind`	Type of Node in BIG-IP.
`maxConnections`	Current highest number of network connections reported from BIG-IP.
`monitorRule`	BIG-IP Health Monitor rule.

Metric	Description
`kind`	Type of Pool member.
`maxConnections`	Current highest number of network connections reported from BIG-IP.
`monitorRule`	BIG-IP health monitor rule.
`nodeName`	Name of the node the pool member is using.
`poolName`	Name of the pool the pool member belongs.
`port`	Port the pool member listens on.

Metric	Description
`applicationService`	Current application service assigned.
`destination`	Destination address picked up by BIG-IP.
`kind`	Type of virtual server.
`maxConnections`	Current highest number of network connections reported from BIG-IP.
`name`	User defined name.
`pool`	Pool the virtual server uses for load balancing.

Metric	Description
`chassisSerialNumber`	Chassis Serial Number for the current device. Requires Access Administrator-level user permissions to collect.
`platform`	Platform of the current device. Requires Access Administrator-level user permissions to collect.
`product`	Product Name for the current device. Requires Access Administrator-level user permissions to collect.

Metric	Description
`deviceGroup`	Device group running application service.
`kind`	BIG-IP Defined type.
`name`	User defined name.
`poolToUse`	Server side pool load balancing requests.
`template`	Template applied to application including security and monitoring rules.
`templateModified`	Indicator of modifications made to out of the box template.
`trafficGroup`	Current traffic group to which service is applied.

Check the source code

This integration is open source software. That means you can browse its source code and send improvements, or create your own fork and build it.

F5 monitoring integration

Tip

F5 instance settings

Labels and custom attributes

Example configurations

Basic configuration

Basic configuration with different metric or inventory intervals

Environment variables replacement

Metrics-only with partition filtering

Multi-instance monitoring

Find and use data

Metric data

System sample metrics

Virtual server sample metrics

Pool sample metrics

Pool member sample metrics

Node sample metrics

Inventory data

Pool Inventory

Node inventory

Pool Member Inventory

Virtual Server Inventory

System Inventory

Application Inventory

Check the source code

F5 monitoring integration

Tip

F5 instance settings .css-21sua1{background:none;border:none;width:0;padding:0;}

Labels and custom attributes

Example configurations

Basic configuration with different metric or inventory intervals

Environment variables replacement

Metrics-only with partition filtering

Multi-instance monitoring

Find and use data

Metric data

System sample metrics

Virtual server sample metrics

Pool sample metrics

Pool member sample metrics

Node sample metrics

Inventory data

Pool Inventory

Node inventory

Pool Member Inventory

Virtual Server Inventory

System Inventory

Application Inventory

Check the source code

F5 instance settings