Kubernetes

Use Kubernetes when you already run applications with Helm and want BigIPReport managed by your cluster. The chart deploys a frontend Deployment, a data collector CronJob, a shared persistent volume, and a ConfigMap for bigipreportconfig.xml.

The collector and frontend images are published on GHCR (ghcr.io/net-utilities/bigipreport-data-collector and ghcr.io/net-utilities/bigipreport-frontend).

On this page

• 1. Check prerequisites
• 2. Create the namespace and Secret
• 3. Create a local config directory
• 4. Copy the example configuration and Helm values
• 5. Configure device groups
• 6. Leave XML credentials empty
• 7. Customize Helm values
• 8. Install with Helm
• 9. Verify the deployment
• Optional: install from the local chart
• Optional: render manifests without installing
• Useful commands

1. Check prerequisites

Make sure you have:

• A Kubernetes cluster with a storage class that can satisfy a ReadWriteOnce PVC.
• kubectl and helm installed
• HTTPS access from the data collector pods to each BIG-IP management interface.
• A configured BIG-IP report user.

Run the steps below from a machine with cluster access. Use a clone of this repository as the working directory.

2. Create the namespace and Secret

Create a namespace and a Kubernetes Secret for the BIG-IP report user. The collector reads F5_USERNAME and F5_PASSWORD from this Secret at runtime.

kubectl create namespace bigipreport

kubectl create secret generic bigipreport-secrets \
  --from-literal=F5_USERNAME='bigipreport' \
  --from-literal=F5_PASSWORD='change-this-password' \
  -n bigipreport

Avoid putting passwords in bigipreportconfig.xml; the collector prefers the Kubernetes Secret.

3. Create a local config directory

Create config/ for files you customize locally (this directory is gitignored):

mkdir -p config

4. Copy the example configuration and Helm values

Copy the example BIG-IP config and the chart defaults into config/:

cp ./data-collector/bigipreportconfig.xml config/bigipreportconfig.xml
cp ./helm/values.yaml config/values.yaml

5. Configure device groups

Edit config/bigipreportconfig.xml and configure your device groups:

<DeviceGroups>
    <DeviceGroup>
        <Name>Production</Name>
        <Device>bigip-a.example.com</Device>
        <Device>bigip-b.example.com</Device>
        <StatusVip></StatusVip>
    </DeviceGroup>
</DeviceGroups>

StatusVip is optional. See Pool member state polling in Additional config.

6. Leave XML credentials empty

<Credentials>
    <Username></Username>
    <Password></Password>
</Credentials>

7. Customize Helm values

Edit config/values.yaml for your cluster. At minimum, set ingress.host to a hostname your Ingress controller can reach. The default dataCollector.secret.name is bigipreport-secrets — it must match the Secret from step 2.

Other common changes:

• ingress.className, ingress.tls, or ingress.certManager for HTTPS
• frontend.service.type if you expose the UI without Ingress (for example LoadBalancer)
• dataCollector.schedule (default: every 30 minutes, */30 * * * *)
• egress.cilium, egress.istio.serviceEntry, or egress.networkPolicy if the cluster restricts collector egress to BIG-IP management hosts

The copied file includes comments for each option. For the full reference, see the Helm chart README.

8. Install with Helm

Install from the published OCI chart:

helm upgrade --install bigipreport oci://ghcr.io/net-utilities/charts/bigipreport \
  -f config/values.yaml \
  --set-file config.xml=./config/bigipreportconfig.xml \
  --set validateResources=true \
  -n bigipreport

Helm renders config/bigipreportconfig.xml into a ConfigMap for the collector. Image tags default to the chart appVersion when not overridden in values.

9. Verify the deployment

kubectl get pods -n bigipreport
kubectl get cronjobs -n bigipreport
kubectl get ingress -n bigipreport

Open the UI using your Ingress host or port-forward to the frontend Service. The data collector CronJob needs the frontend pod scheduled on the same node so they can share the ReadWriteOnce volume; collector Jobs may stay Pending until the frontend is running.

Optional: install from the local chart

To test chart changes from this repository:

helm upgrade --install bigipreport ./helm \
  -f config/values.yaml \
  --set-file config.xml=./config/bigipreportconfig.xml \
  --set validateResources=true \
  -n bigipreport

Optional: render manifests without installing

helm template bigipreport ./helm \
  -f config/values.yaml \
  --set-file config.xml=./config/bigipreportconfig.xml \
  -n bigipreport

Useful commands

Follow frontend logs:

kubectl logs -n bigipreport -l app.kubernetes.io/component=frontend -f

Follow the latest data collector job:

kubectl logs -n bigipreport -l app.kubernetes.io/component=data-collector --tail=100 -f

Remove the release:

helm uninstall bigipreport -n bigipreport

For the full chart reference, see the Helm chart README.