F5 BIG-IP

Connects to an F5 BIG-IP device's iControl REST API over HTTPS, authenticating with a username and password, and scrapes metrics for nodes, pools, pool members, and virtual servers on a fixed interval. Metrics are collected by the upstream OpenTelemetry bigip receiver.

Supported Telemetry Types

Platform	Metrics	Logs	Traces
Linux	✓
Windows	✓
macOS	✓

Prerequisites

• A reachable F5 BIG-IP device with its iControl REST API enabled and listening over HTTPS (port 443 by default).
• A BIG-IP user account whose credentials the collector can use to authenticate. The account needs read access to the statistics this source scrapes (nodes, pools, pool members, virtual servers). For creating users and assigning roles, see F5's official documentation: Manage user accounts and roles.
• Network reachability from the collector host to the BIG-IP management endpoint on the configured port. Open that path in any host or cloud firewall between them.
• For strict TLS verification, the certificate authority that signed the BIG-IP server certificate must be available to the collector (either trusted by the host OS or supplied via the CA file parameter). For mutual TLS, a client certificate and key trusted by the BIG-IP device are also required.

Configuration

Metrics

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Address	String	Yes	(empty)	The hostname or IP address of the BIG-IP environment.
Port	Integer	No	443	The TCP port of the BIG-IP environment.
Username	String	Yes	(empty)	Username used for authenticating with BIG-IP.
Password	String	Yes	(empty)	Password used for authenticating with BIG-IP. Stored as a sensitive value.

Advanced

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Collection Interval	Integer	No	60	How often (seconds) to scrape for metrics.
Strict TLS Certificate Verification	Boolean	No	false	Enable to require TLS certificate verification.
TLS Certificate Authority File	String	Yes	(empty)	Certificate authority used to validate TLS certificates. Only applies when Strict TLS Certificate Verification is enabled.
Mutual TLS Authentication	Boolean	No	false	Enable to require TLS mutual authentication. Only applies when Strict TLS Certificate Verification is enabled.
Mutual TLS Client Certificate File	String	Yes	(empty)	A TLS certificate used for client authentication, if mutual TLS is enabled. Only applies when Mutual TLS Authentication is enabled.
Mutual TLS Client Private Key File	String	Yes	(empty)	A TLS private key used for client authentication, if mutual TLS is enabled. Only applies when Mutual TLS Authentication is enabled.
Metrics	Metrics	No	(empty)	Toggle the individual node, pool, pool member, and virtual server metrics you wish to collect on and off.

Examples

Scrape a BIG-IP device with default TLS behavior

Collect metrics from a BIG-IP device at 10.0.0.10:443 every 60 seconds. With Strict TLS Certificate Verification left disabled, the collector does not verify the server certificate, which is convenient for self-signed certificates in lab environments.

apiVersion: bindplane.observiq.com/v1
kind: Source
metadata:
  name: f5-big-ip
spec:
  type: bigip
  parameters:
    - name: address
      value: 10.0.0.10
    - name: port
      value: 443
    - name: username
      value: monitoring
    - name: password
      value: REPLACE_WITH_PASSWORD
    - name: collection_interval
      value: 60

Configuration Tips

• Leave Strict TLS Certificate Verification off only for trusted internal or lab networks. In production, enable it and supply the CA file so the collector validates the BIG-IP server certificate.
• Use a dedicated, least-privilege BIG-IP account for the collector rather than an administrative login.
• Use the Metrics toggle to disable metrics you do not need, reducing scrape volume and downstream cardinality.

Troubleshooting

No metrics arriving

Symptoms: the source connects but produces no metrics, or the collector logs connection errors.

Solutions:

1. Confirm the BIG-IP iControl REST API is reachable from the collector host on the configured Address and Port (default 443), and that no firewall blocks the path.
2. Verify the Username and Password are correct and the account has read access to the requested statistics.

TLS handshake or certificate errors

Symptoms: scrapes fail with TLS verification or handshake errors after enabling Strict TLS Certificate Verification.

Solutions:

1. Provide a TLS Certificate Authority File that signed the BIG-IP server certificate, or ensure the host OS already trusts it.
2. If Mutual TLS Authentication is enabled, confirm the client certificate and private key are valid and trusted by the BIG-IP device.

Standalone Source

apiVersion: bindplane.observiq.com/v1
kind: Source
metadata:
  name: f5-big-ip
spec:
  type: bigip
  parameters:
    - name: address
      value: 10.0.0.10
    - name: port
      value: 443
    - name: username
      value: monitoring
    - name: password
      value: REPLACE_WITH_PASSWORD
    - name: collection_interval
      value: 60
    - name: strict_tls_verify
      value: false

Related Resources

• F5 BIG-IP user account administration and roles
• OpenTelemetry bigip receiver reference