# bigip_device_traffic_group – Manages traffic groups on BIG-IP

New in version 2.5.

- Synopsis

- Parameters

- Notes

- Examples

- Return Values

- Status

## Synopsis

- Supports managing traffic groups and their attributes on a BIG-IP.

Aliases: bigip_traffic_group

## Parameters

Parameter | Choices/Defaults | Comments
--- | --- | ---

auto_failback
boolean
added in 2.8

Choices:
- no
- yes

Specifies whether the traffic group fails back to the initial device specified in `ha_order`.

auto_failback_time integer added in 2.8 |  | Specifies the number of seconds the system delays before failing back to the initial device specified in `ha_order`. The correct value range is `0 - 300` inclusive.

ha_group
string
added in 2.8

Specifies a configured `HA group` to be associated with the traffic group.
Once you create an HA group on a device and associate the HA group with a traffic group, you must create an HA group and associate it with that same traffic group on every device in the device group.
To disable an HA group failover method , specify an empty string value (`""`) to this parameter.
Disabling HA group will revert the device back to using `Load Aware` method as it is the default, unless `ha_order` setting is also configured.
The `auto_failback` and `auto_failback_time` are not compatible with `ha_group`.

ha_load_factor integer added in 2.8 |  | The value of the load the traffic-group presents the system relative to other traffic groups. This parameter only takes effect when `Load Aware` failover method is in use. The correct value range is `1 - 1000` inclusive.

ha_order
list
added in 2.8

Specifies order in which you would like to assign devices for failover.
If you configure this setting, you must configure the setting on every traffic group in the device group.
The values should be device names of the devices that belong to the failover group configured beforehand.
The order in which the devices are placed as arguments to this parameter, determines their HA order on the device, in other words changing the order of the same elements will cause a change on the unit.
To disable an HA order failover method , specify an empty string value (`""`) to this parameter.
Disabling HA order will revert the device back to using Load Aware method as it is the default, unless `ha_group` setting is also configured.
Device names will be prepended by a partition by the module, so you can provide either the full path format name `/Common/bigip1` or just the name string `bigip1`.

mac_address
string
added in 2.6

Specifies the floating Media Access Control (MAC) address associated with the floating IP addresses defined for a traffic group.
Primarily, a MAC masquerade address minimizes ARP communications or dropped packets as a result of failover.
A MAC masquerade address ensures that any traffic destined for a specific traffic group reaches an available device after failover, which happens because along with the traffic group, the MAC masquerade address floats to the available device.
Without a MAC masquerade address, the sending host must learn the MAC address for a newly-active device, either by sending an ARP request or by relying on the gratuitous ARP from the newly-active device.
To unset the MAC address, specify an empty value (`""`) to this parameter.

name string / required |  | The name of the traffic group.
partition string | Default: "Common" | Device partition to manage resources on.
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`.

state
string

Choices:
- present ←
- absent

When `present`, ensures that the traffic group exists.
When `absent`, ensures the traffic group is removed.

## 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 a traffic group
      bigip_device_traffic_group:
        name: foo1
        state: present
        provider:
          user: admin
          password: secret
          server: lb.mydomain.com
      delegate_to: localhost

    - name: Create a traffic group with ha_group failover
      bigip_device_traffic_group:
        name: foo2
        state: present
        ha_group: foo_HA_grp
        provider:
          user: admin
          password: secret
          server: lb.mydomain.com
      delegate_to: localhost

    - name: Create a traffic group with ha_order failover
      bigip_device_traffic_group:
        name: foo3
        state: present
        ha_order:
          - /Common/bigip1.lab.local
          - /Common/bigip2.lab.local
        auto_failback: yes
        auto_failback_time: 40
        provider:
          user: admin
          password: secret
          server: lb.mydomain.com
      delegate_to: localhost

    - name: Change traffic group ha_order to ha_group
      bigip_device_traffic_group:
        name: foo3
        state: present
        ha_group: foo_HA_grp
        ha_order: ""
        auto_failback: no
        provider:
          user: admin
          password: secret
          server: lb.mydomain.com
      delegate_to: localhost

    - name: Remove traffic group
      bigip_device_traffic_group:
        name: foo
        state: absent
        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
--- | --- | ---
auto_failback boolean | changed | Specifies whether the traffic group fails back to the initial device specified in ha_order Sample: True
auto_failback_time integer | changed | Specifies the number of seconds the system delays before failing back Sample: 60
ha_group string | changed | The configured HA group associated with traffic group Sample: foo_HA_grp
ha_load_factor integer | changed | The value of the load the traffic-group presents the system relative to other traffic groups Sample: 20
ha_order list | changed | Specifies the order in which the devices will failover Sample: ['/Common/bigip1', '/Common/bigip2']
mac_address string | changed | The MAC masquerade address Sample: 02:01:d7:93:35:08

## Status

- This module is not guaranteed to have a backwards compatible interface. [preview]

- This module is maintained by an Ansible Partner. [certified]

### Authors

- Tim Rupp (@caphrim007)

- Wojciech Wypior (@wojtek0806)

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