# bigip_gtm_virtual_server – Manages F5 BIG-IP GTM virtual servers

New in version 2.6.

- Synopsis

- Parameters

- Notes

- Examples

- Return Values

- Status

## Synopsis

- Manages F5 BIG-IP GTM virtual servers. A GTM server can have many virtual servers associated with it. They are arranged in much the same way that pool members are to pools.

## Parameters

Parameter | Choices/Defaults | Comments
--- | --- | ---
address string added in 2.6 |  | Specifies the IP Address of the virtual server. When creating a new GTM virtual server, this parameter is required.
availability_requirements dictionary added in 2.6 |  | 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 virtual, if this value is not specified, the default of 'all' will be used.

limits
dictionary
added in 2.6

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

bits_enabled
boolean

Choices:
- no
- yes

Whether the bits limit is 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 virtual servers on the server. If the network traffic volume exceeds this limit, the system marks the server as unavailable.

connections_enabled
boolean

Choices:
- no
- yes

Whether the current connections limit is 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 virtual servers on the server. If the connections exceed this limit, the system marks the server as unavailable.

packets_enabled
boolean

Choices:
- no
- yes

Whether the packets limit is 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 virtual servers on the server. If the network traffic volume exceeds this limit, the system marks the server as unavailable.
link string added in 2.6 |  | Specifies a link to assign to the server or virtual server.
monitors list added in 2.6 |  | 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 added in 2.6 |  | Specifies the name of the virtual server.
partition string added in 2.6 | Default: "Common" | Device partition to manage resources on.
port integer |  | Specifies the service port number for the virtual server or pool member. For example, the HTTP service is typically port 80. To specify all ports, use an `*`. When creating a new GTM virtual server, if this parameter is not specified, a default of `*` will be used.
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_name string added in 2.6 |  | Specifies the name of the server that the virtual server is associated with.

state
string

Choices:
- present ←
- absent
- enabled
- disabled

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

translation_address string added in 2.6 |  | Specifies the translation IP address for the virtual server. To unset this parameter, provide an empty string (`""`) as a value. When creating a new GTM virtual server, if this parameter is not specified, a default of `::` will be used.
translation_port string added in 2.6 |  | Specifies the translation port number or service name for the virtual server. To specify all ports, use an `*`. When creating a new GTM virtual server, if this parameter is not specified, a default of `*` will be used.
virtual_server_dependencies list added in 2.6 |  | Specifies the virtual servers on which the current virtual server depends. If any of the specified servers are unavailable, the current virtual server is also listed as unavailable.
| server string / required |  | Server which the dependant virtual server is part of.
| virtual_server string / required |  | Virtual server to depend on.

## 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: Enable virtual server
      bigip_gtm_virtual_server:
        server_name: server1
        name: my-virtual-server
        state: enabled
        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
--- | --- | ---
address string | changed | The new address of the resource. Sample: 1.2.3.4
availability_requirements dictionary | changed | The new availability requirement configurations for the resource. Sample: {'type': 'all'}
limits dictionary | changed | The new limit configurations for the resource. Sample: {'bits_enabled': True, 'bits_limit': 100}
link string | changed | The new link value for the resource. Sample: /Common/my-link
monitors list | changed | The new list of monitors for the resource. Sample: ['/Common/monitor1', '/Common/monitor2']
port integer | changed | The new port of the resource. Sample: 500
server_name string | changed | The server name associated with the virtual server. Sample: /Common/my-gtm-server
translation_address integer | changed | The new translation address of the resource. Sample: 500
translation_port integer | changed | The new translation port of the resource. Sample: 500
virtual_server_dependencies list | changed | The new list of virtual server dependencies for the resource Sample: ['/Common/vs1', '/Common/vs2']

## Status

- This module is guaranteed to have backward compatible interface changes going forward. [stableinterface]

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

### Authors

- Tim Rupp (@caphrim007)

- Wojciech Wypior (@wojtek0806)

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