F5 ASM LAB Deployment

Minimum requirement to setup a LAB in your PC / Laptop
• PC / Laptop with minimum 8GB RAM

• VMware workstation.
• F5 BIG-IP IOS image.

• F5 Free evaluation license (30days validity).
• Vulnerable Auction web server
Step 1: Download and install VM workstation in your PC / Laptop
Step 2: Using the below link, register a free account in F5 Business portal
https://login.f5.com/resource/login.jsp
It can also be done from the home page, https://f5.com . But I suggest to use the above link to make
it easy.
Once you click the given link, you will see the below page:
Register the account using your email address as below:
Fill all the information to register the account
Don’t select this option

Once you fill the information and clicked Register Now, you will see the below message
Once the account is registered you will receive a confirmation email from F5 as below and
you need to create a Password for your F5 account using the link given in the email.
If you click the link given in the email for Password reset, it will redirect to the below page
Once Account is registered, download the required F5 IOS file from the F5 portal.
Below is the link to download the IOS file. You can also navigate to software download
option in the F5 portal for the same.
https://downloads.f5.com/esd/index.jsp
Select the required version of IOS from the below page.
For LAB I choose 16.x version
Once you selected the version, now need to choose the format of the IOS to be
downloaded. As we are going to deploy it in VM workstation. I am downloading Virtual
Edition in OVA format
Once selected the version and format, need to choose the nearest downloading hub for
downloading the IOS. And it will take time based on the country you choose and your
Internet connectivity
After downloaded, the IOS file will be like below
Installing the IOS in VM Workstation:
Double click the downloaded IOS file and it will automatically start to install in the VM
Workstation that you have already installed
Follow the screenshots for step by step configuration and installation
If you have good space in your device, please go with 2CPU option
Once the IOS is imported to VM, you will see the below
Click the Power ON option in the VM to start the F5 inside the VM:
Once the boot is completed, use the below default login credentials to login the F5
Username : root
Password : default
Need to change the default login root credentials once you login to the device.
After changing the default credentials. Use the command config to get in to the configure
utility to configure the Management IP address.
Either you can use the automatic IP that it received from the network. Else if required we
can configure the IP address manually from the Bridged Network ( LAN network
configured in your home Router)
I want to manually assign different IP address from the same subnet so selected the option as NO
and configure the new IP address as below
Once you configured the IP address, check the connectivity by pinging the gateway of the network.
Need to check the Network adapter VMnet configuration if unable to reach the gateway. Have
shared the screenshots for the same in upcoming pages.
Once confirming the connectivity. Check that Management IP address in the web browser
from the PC / Laptop where the VM workstation is running.
F5 GUI should be working as below

Once you proceed from there, Use the below credentials in F5 GUI home page
Username : admin
Password : The new root password you have created earlier in CLI
Then you can configure a new password for GUI access.
Step 3: After deploying F5 in VM Workstation, Need to activation license for the same
To request for the trail license in F5 portal. Click the below link or Navigate to trails in the
F5 portal
https://www.f5.com/trials
Fill the below information to get the 30 days valid free license. Maximum we can request 3
license at a time.
Whenever you request, ask for 3 license. So that you can make use of it for 3 months (each
license for one month)
After submitting the request, you will receive the license to your registered email address as below:
Once you receive the license again open your F5 dashboard and by default for the first time you
login it will take you to the License setup utility.
Copy and paste one of your license key and proceed further
License can be activated either automatically or manually. If your F5 has internet connectivity then
you can choose Automatic Method. Else you can choose Manual method.
For this lab I choose manual method. You can also choose automatic method and proceed further.
In the above screenshot it shows Automatic, Please choose Manual
You can copy the Dossier and or download it as plain text. Then Click the link given in Step 2
and paste the Dossier there.
Paste the copied Dossier in the box or upload the dossier file
You can copy the complete license and paste it in the activation page or you can download the
license as file and upload it in the activation page
Copied and pasted the complete license in the activation page

After activating the license F5 will restart the services
We need to provision and allocate resources.
By default LTM module will be provisioned and if you need other modules like ASM / WAF to
provision just enable it. Choose Nominal option
Below is the VMnet settings on Vmware workstation.
VMnet1 (10.10.10.0 /24) is used for the communication between F5 and the backend server.
VMnet0 (192.168.0.0 /24) is the management network that is auto bridged in VMnet.
After configuring the Self-IP address in the BIG-IP F5, Check if you have mapped the correct VMnet
to the interface. The MAC address in the self-ip page and the MAC address mentioned in the VMnet
NIC should be same.
Below is the IP subnet configuration for the VMnet in the VMware workstation Network
adaptor settings.

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Minimum requirement to setup a LAB in your PC / Laptop

• PC / Laptop with minimum 8GB RAM

• F5 BIG-IP IOS image.

Step 1: Download and install VM workstation in your PC / Laptop

Fill all the information to register the account

Don’t select this option

F5 GUI should be working as below

Copied and pasted the complete license in the activation page

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