Documentation

netscaler_lb_monitor - Manage load balancing monitors

New in version 2.4.

Synopsis

  • Manage load balancing monitors.
  • This module is intended to run either on the ansible control node or a bastion (jumpserver) with access to the actual netscaler instance.

Requirements

The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module.

  • nitro python sdk

Parameters

Parameter
Choices/Defaults
Comments
acctapplicationid
List of Acct-Application-Id attribute value pairs (AVPs) for the Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER) message to use for monitoring Diameter servers. A maximum of eight of these AVPs are supported in a monitoring message.
Minimum value = 0
Maximum value = 4294967295
action
    Choices:
  • NONE
  • LOG
  • DOWN
Action to perform when the response to an inline monitor (a monitor of type HTTP-INLINE) indicates that the service is down. A service monitored by an inline monitor is considered DOWN if the response code is not one of the codes that have been specified for the Response Code parameter.
Available settings function as follows:
* NONE - Do not take any action. However, the show service command and the show lb monitor command indicate the total number of responses that were checked and the number of consecutive error responses received after the last successful probe.
* LOG - Log the event in NSLOG or SYSLOG.
* DOWN - Mark the service as being down, and then do not direct any traffic to the service until the configured down time has expired. Persistent connections to the service are terminated as soon as the service is marked as DOWN. Also, log the event in NSLOG or SYSLOG.
alertretries
Number of consecutive probe failures after which the appliance generates an SNMP trap called monProbeFailed.
Minimum value = 0
Maximum value = 32
application
Name of the application used to determine the state of the service. Applicable to monitors of type CITRIX-XML-SERVICE.
Minimum length = 1
attribute
Attribute to evaluate when the LDAP server responds to the query. Success or failure of the monitoring probe depends on whether the attribute exists in the response. Optional.
Minimum length = 1
authapplicationid
List of Auth-Application-Id attribute value pairs (AVPs) for the Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER) message to use for monitoring Diameter servers. A maximum of eight of these AVPs are supported in a monitoring CER message.
Minimum value = 0
Maximum value = 4294967295
basedn
The base distinguished name of the LDAP service, from where the LDAP server can begin the search for the attributes in the monitoring query. Required for LDAP service monitoring.
Minimum length = 1
binddn
The distinguished name with which an LDAP monitor can perform the Bind operation on the LDAP server. Optional. Applicable to LDAP monitors.
Minimum length = 1
customheaders
Custom header string to include in the monitoring probes.
database
Name of the database to connect to during authentication.
Minimum length = 1
destip
IP address of the service to which to send probes. If the parameter is set to 0, the IP address of the server to which the monitor is bound is considered the destination IP address.
destport
TCP or UDP port to which to send the probe. If the parameter is set to 0, the port number of the service to which the monitor is bound is considered the destination port. For a monitor of type USER, however, the destination port is the port number that is included in the HTTP request sent to the dispatcher. Does not apply to monitors of type PING.
deviation
Time value added to the learned average response time in dynamic response time monitoring (DRTM). When a deviation is specified, the appliance learns the average response time of bound services and adds the deviation to the average. The final value is then continually adjusted to accommodate response time variations over time. Specified in milliseconds, seconds, or minutes.
Minimum value = 0
Maximum value = 20939
dispatcherip
IP address of the dispatcher to which to send the probe.
dispatcherport
Port number on which the dispatcher listens for the monitoring probe.
domain
Domain in which the XenDesktop Desktop Delivery Controller (DDC) servers or Web Interface servers are present. Required by CITRIX-XD-DDC and CITRIX-WI-EXTENDED monitors for logging on to the DDC servers and Web Interface servers, respectively.
downtime
Time duration for which to wait before probing a service that has been marked as DOWN. Expressed in milliseconds, seconds, or minutes.
Minimum value = 1
Maximum value = 20939
evalrule
Default syntax expression that evaluates the database server's response to a MYSQL-ECV or MSSQL-ECV monitoring query. Must produce a Boolean result. The result determines the state of the server. If the expression returns TRUE, the probe succeeds.
For example, if you want the appliance to evaluate the error message to determine the state of the server, use the rule MYSQL.RES.ROW(10 .TEXT_ELE2.EQ("MySQL")).
failureretries
Number of retries that must fail, out of the number specified for the Retries parameter, for a service to be marked as DOWN. For example, if the Retries parameter is set to 10 and the Failure Retries parameter is set to 6, out of the ten probes sent, at least six probes must fail if the service is to be marked as DOWN. The default value of 0 means that all the retries must fail if the service is to be marked as DOWN.
Minimum value = 0
Maximum value = 32
filename
Name of a file on the FTP server. The appliance monitors the FTP service by periodically checking the existence of the file on the server. Applicable to FTP-EXTENDED monitors.
Minimum length = 1
filter
Filter criteria for the LDAP query. Optional.
Minimum length = 1
firmwarerevision
Firmware-Revision value for the Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER) message to use for monitoring Diameter servers.
group
Name of a newsgroup available on the NNTP service that is to be monitored. The appliance periodically generates an NNTP query for the name of the newsgroup and evaluates the response. If the newsgroup is found on the server, the service is marked as UP. If the newsgroup does not exist or if the search fails, the service is marked as DOWN. Applicable to NNTP monitors.
Minimum length = 1
hostipaddress
Host-IP-Address value for the Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER) message to use for monitoring Diameter servers. If Host-IP-Address is not specified, the appliance inserts the mapped IP (MIP) address or subnet IP (SNIP) address from which the CER request (the monitoring probe) is sent.
Minimum length = 1
hostname
Hostname in the FQDN format (Example: porche.cars.org). Applicable to STOREFRONT monitors.
Minimum length = 1
httprequest
HTTP request to send to the server (for example, "HEAD /file.html").
inbandsecurityid
    Choices:
  • NO_INBAND_SECURITY
  • TLS
Inband-Security-Id for the Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER) message to use for monitoring Diameter servers.
interval
Time interval between two successive probes. Must be greater than the value of Response Time-out.
Minimum value = 1
Maximum value = 20940
ipaddress
Set of IP addresses expected in the monitoring response from the DNS server, if the record type is A or AAAA. Applicable to DNS monitors.
Minimum length = 1
iptunnel
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Send the monitoring probe to the service through an IP tunnel. A destination IP address must be specified.
kcdaccount
KCD Account used by MSSQL monitor.
Minimum length = 1
Maximum length = 32
lasversion
Version number of the Citrix Advanced Access Control Logon Agent. Required by the CITRIX-AAC-LAS monitor.
logonpointname
Name of the logon point that is configured for the Citrix Access Gateway Advanced Access Control software. Required if you want to monitor the associated login page or Logon Agent. Applicable to CITRIX-AAC-LAS and CITRIX-AAC-LOGINPAGE monitors.
lrtm
    Choices:
  • enabled
  • disabled
Calculate the least response times for bound services. If this parameter is not enabled, the appliance does not learn the response times of the bound services. Also used for LRTM load balancing.
maxforwards
Maximum number of hops that the SIP request used for monitoring can traverse to reach the server. Applicable only to monitors of type SIP-UDP.
Minimum value = 0
Maximum value = 255
metrictable
Metric table to which to bind metrics.
Minimum length = 1
Maximum length = 99
monitorname
Name for the monitor. Must begin with an ASCII alphanumeric or underscore _ character, and must contain only ASCII alphanumeric, underscore, hash #, period ., space , colon :, at @, equals =, and hyphen - characters.
Minimum length = 1
mssqlprotocolversion
    Choices:
  • 70
  • 2000
  • 2000SP1
  • 2005
  • 2008
  • 2008R2
  • 2012
  • 2014
Version of MSSQL server that is to be monitored.
netprofile
Name of the network profile.
Minimum length = 1
Maximum length = 127
nitro_pass
required
The password with which to authenticate to the netscaler node.
nitro_protocol
    Choices:
  • http ←
  • https
Which protocol to use when accessing the nitro API objects.
nitro_timeout
Default:
310
Time in seconds until a timeout error is thrown when establishing a new session with Netscaler
nitro_user
required
The username with which to authenticate to the netscaler node.
nsip
required
The ip address of the netscaler appliance where the nitro API calls will be made.
The port can be specified with the colon (:). E.g. 192.168.1.1:555.
oraclesid
Name of the service identifier that is used to connect to the Oracle database during authentication.
Minimum length = 1
originhost
Origin-Host value for the Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER) message to use for monitoring Diameter servers.
Minimum length = 1
originrealm
Origin-Realm value for the Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER) message to use for monitoring Diameter servers.
Minimum length = 1
password
Password that is required for logging on to the RADIUS, NNTP, FTP, FTP-EXTENDED, MYSQL, MSSQL, POP3, CITRIX-AG, CITRIX-XD-DDC, CITRIX-WI-EXTENDED, CITRIX-XNC-ECV or CITRIX-XDM server. Used in conjunction with the user name specified for the username parameter.
Minimum length = 1
productname
Product-Name value for the Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER) message to use for monitoring Diameter servers.
Minimum length = 1
query
Domain name to resolve as part of monitoring the DNS service (for example, example.com).
querytype
    Choices:
  • Address
  • Zone
  • AAAA
Type of DNS record for which to send monitoring queries. Set to Address for querying A records, AAAA for querying AAAA records, and Zone for querying the SOA record.
radaccountsession
Account Session ID to be used in Account Request Packet. Applicable to monitors of type RADIUS_ACCOUNTING.
Minimum length = 1
radaccounttype
Account Type to be used in Account Request Packet. Applicable to monitors of type RADIUS_ACCOUNTING.
Minimum value = 0
Maximum value = 15
radapn
Called Station Id to be used in Account Request Packet. Applicable to monitors of type RADIUS_ACCOUNTING.
Minimum length = 1
radframedip
Source ip with which the packet will go out . Applicable to monitors of type RADIUS_ACCOUNTING.
radkey
Authentication key (shared secret text string) for RADIUS clients and servers to exchange. Applicable to monitors of type RADIUS and RADIUS_ACCOUNTING.
Minimum length = 1
radmsisdn
Calling Stations Id to be used in Account Request Packet. Applicable to monitors of type RADIUS_ACCOUNTING.
Minimum length = 1
radnasid
NAS-Identifier to send in the Access-Request packet. Applicable to monitors of type RADIUS.
Minimum length = 1
radnasip
Network Access Server (NAS) IP address to use as the source IP address when monitoring a RADIUS server. Applicable to monitors of type RADIUS and RADIUS_ACCOUNTING.
recv
String expected from the server for the service to be marked as UP. Applicable to TCP-ECV, HTTP-ECV, and UDP-ECV monitors.
respcode
Response codes for which to mark the service as UP. For any other response code, the action performed depends on the monitor type. HTTP monitors and RADIUS monitors mark the service as DOWN, while HTTP-INLINE monitors perform the action indicated by the Action parameter.
resptimeout
Amount of time for which the appliance must wait before it marks a probe as FAILED. Must be less than the value specified for the Interval parameter.
Note: For UDP-ECV monitors for which a receive string is not configured, response timeout does not apply. For UDP-ECV monitors with no receive string, probe failure is indicated by an ICMP port unreachable error received from the service.
Minimum value = 1
Maximum value = 20939
resptimeoutthresh
Response time threshold, specified as a percentage of the Response Time-out parameter. If the response to a monitor probe has not arrived when the threshold is reached, the appliance generates an SNMP trap called monRespTimeoutAboveThresh. After the response time returns to a value below the threshold, the appliance generates a monRespTimeoutBelowThresh SNMP trap. For the traps to be generated, the "MONITOR-RTO-THRESHOLD" alarm must also be enabled.
Minimum value = 0
Maximum value = 100
retries
Maximum number of probes to send to establish the state of a service for which a monitoring probe failed.
Minimum value = 1
Maximum value = 127
reverse
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Mark a service as DOWN, instead of UP, when probe criteria are satisfied, and as UP instead of DOWN when probe criteria are not satisfied.
rtsprequest
RTSP request to send to the server (for example, "OPTIONS *").
save_config
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes ←
If true the module will save the configuration on the netscaler node if it makes any changes.
The module will not save the configuration on the netscaler node if it made no changes.
scriptargs
String of arguments for the script. The string is copied verbatim into the request.
scriptname
Path and name of the script to execute. The script must be available on the NetScaler appliance, in the /nsconfig/monitors/ directory.
Minimum length = 1
secondarypassword
Secondary password that users might have to provide to log on to the Access Gateway server. Applicable to CITRIX-AG monitors.
secure
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Use a secure SSL connection when monitoring a service. Applicable only to TCP based monitors. The secure option cannot be used with a CITRIX-AG monitor, because a CITRIX-AG monitor uses a secure connection by default.
send
String to send to the service. Applicable to TCP-ECV, HTTP-ECV, and UDP-ECV monitors.
sipmethod
    Choices:
  • OPTIONS
  • INVITE
  • REGISTER
SIP method to use for the query. Applicable only to monitors of type SIP-UDP.
sipreguri
SIP user to be registered. Applicable only if the monitor is of type SIP-UDP and the SIP Method parameter is set to REGISTER.
Minimum length = 1
sipuri
SIP URI string to send to the service (for example, sip:sip.test). Applicable only to monitors of type SIP-UDP.
Minimum length = 1
sitepath
URL of the logon page. For monitors of type CITRIX-WEB-INTERFACE, to monitor a dynamic page under the site path, terminate the site path with a slash /. Applicable to CITRIX-WEB-INTERFACE, CITRIX-WI-EXTENDED and CITRIX-XDM monitors.
Minimum length = 1
snmpcommunity
Community name for SNMP monitors.
Minimum length = 1
Snmpoid
SNMP OID for SNMP monitors.
Minimum length = 1
snmpthreshold
Threshold for SNMP monitors.
Minimum length = 1
snmpversion
    Choices:
  • V1
  • V2
SNMP version to be used for SNMP monitors.
sqlquery
SQL query for a MYSQL-ECV or MSSQL-ECV monitor. Sent to the database server after the server authenticates the connection.
Minimum length = 1
state
    Choices:
  • enabled
  • disabled
Default:
present
State of the monitor. The disabled setting disables not only the monitor being configured, but all monitors of the same type, until the parameter is set to enabled. If the monitor is bound to a service, the state of the monitor is not taken into account when the state of the service is determined.
storedb
    Choices:
  • enabled
  • disabled
Store the database list populated with the responses to monitor probes. Used in database specific load balancing if MSSQL-ECV/MYSQL-ECV monitor is configured.
storefrontacctservice
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Enable/Disable probing for Account Service. Applicable only to Store Front monitors. For multi-tenancy configuration users my skip account service.
storefrontcheckbackendservices
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
This option will enable monitoring of services running on storefront server. Storefront services are monitored by probing to a Windows service that runs on the Storefront server and exposes details of which storefront services are running.
storename
Store Name. For monitors of type STOREFRONT, storename is an optional argument defining storefront service store name. Applicable to STOREFRONT monitors.
Minimum length = 1
successretries
Number of consecutive successful probes required to transition a service's state from DOWN to UP.
Minimum value = 1
Maximum value = 32
supportedvendorids
List of Supported-Vendor-Id attribute value pairs (AVPs) for the Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER) message to use for monitoring Diameter servers. A maximum eight of these AVPs are supported in a monitoring message.
Minimum value = 1
Maximum value = 4294967295
tos
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Probe the service by encoding the destination IP address in the IP TOS (6) bits.
tosid
The TOS ID of the specified destination IP. Applicable only when the TOS parameter is set.
Minimum value = 1
Maximum value = 63
transparent
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
The monitor is bound to a transparent device such as a firewall or router. The state of a transparent device depends on the responsiveness of the services behind it. If a transparent device is being monitored, a destination IP address must be specified. The probe is sent to the specified IP address by using the MAC address of the transparent device.
trofscode
Code expected when the server is under maintenance.
trofsstring
String expected from the server for the service to be marked as trofs. Applicable to HTTP-ECV/TCP-ECV monitors.
type
    Choices:
  • PING
  • TCP
  • HTTP
  • TCP-ECV
  • HTTP-ECV
  • UDP-ECV
  • DNS
  • FTP
  • LDNS-PING
  • LDNS-TCP
  • LDNS-DNS
  • RADIUS
  • USER
  • HTTP-INLINE
  • SIP-UDP
  • SIP-TCP
  • LOAD
  • FTP-EXTENDED
  • SMTP
  • SNMP
  • NNTP
  • MYSQL
  • MYSQL-ECV
  • MSSQL-ECV
  • ORACLE-ECV
  • LDAP
  • POP3
  • CITRIX-XML-SERVICE
  • CITRIX-WEB-INTERFACE
  • DNS-TCP
  • RTSP
  • ARP
  • CITRIX-AG
  • CITRIX-AAC-LOGINPAGE
  • CITRIX-AAC-LAS
  • CITRIX-XD-DDC
  • ND6
  • CITRIX-WI-EXTENDED
  • DIAMETER
  • RADIUS_ACCOUNTING
  • STOREFRONT
  • APPC
  • SMPP
  • CITRIX-XNC-ECV
  • CITRIX-XDM
  • CITRIX-STA-SERVICE
  • CITRIX-STA-SERVICE-NHOP
Type of monitor that you want to create.
units1
    Choices:
  • SEC
  • MSEC
  • MIN
Unit of measurement for the Deviation parameter. Cannot be changed after the monitor is created.
units2
    Choices:
  • SEC
  • MSEC
  • MIN
Unit of measurement for the Down Time parameter. Cannot be changed after the monitor is created.
units3
    Choices:
  • SEC
  • MSEC
  • MIN
monitor interval units.
units4
    Choices:
  • SEC
  • MSEC
  • MIN
monitor response timeout units.
username
User name with which to probe the RADIUS, NNTP, FTP, FTP-EXTENDED, MYSQL, MSSQL, POP3, CITRIX-AG, CITRIX-XD-DDC, CITRIX-WI-EXTENDED, CITRIX-XNC or CITRIX-XDM server.
Minimum length = 1
validate_certs
Default:
yes
If no, SSL certificates will not be validated. This should only be used on personally controlled sites using self-signed certificates.
validatecred
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Validate the credentials of the Xen Desktop DDC server user. Applicable to monitors of type CITRIX-XD-DDC.
vendorid
Vendor-Id value for the Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER) message to use for monitoring Diameter servers.
vendorspecificacctapplicationids
List of Vendor-Specific-Acct-Application-Id attribute value pairs (AVPs) to use for monitoring Diameter servers. A maximum of eight of these AVPs are supported in a monitoring message. The specified value is combined with the value of vendorSpecificVendorId to obtain the Vendor-Specific-Application-Id AVP in the CER monitoring message.
Minimum value = 0
Maximum value = 4294967295
vendorspecificauthapplicationids
List of Vendor-Specific-Auth-Application-Id attribute value pairs (AVPs) for the Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER) message to use for monitoring Diameter servers. A maximum of eight of these AVPs are supported in a monitoring message. The specified value is combined with the value of vendorSpecificVendorId to obtain the Vendor-Specific-Application-Id AVP in the CER monitoring message.
Minimum value = 0
Maximum value = 4294967295
vendorspecificvendorid
Vendor-Id to use in the Vendor-Specific-Application-Id grouped attribute-value pair (AVP) in the monitoring CER message. To specify Auth-Application-Id or Acct-Application-Id in Vendor-Specific-Application-Id, use vendorSpecificAuthApplicationIds or vendorSpecificAcctApplicationIds, respectively. Only one Vendor-Id is supported for all the Vendor-Specific-Application-Id AVPs in a CER monitoring message.
Minimum value = 1

Notes

Note

Examples

- name: Set lb monitor
  local_action:
    nsip: 172.18.0.2
    nitro_user: nsroot
    nitro_pass: nsroot
    validate_certs: no


    module: netscaler_lb_monitor
    state: present

    monitorname: monitor_1
    type: HTTP-INLINE
    action: DOWN
    respcode: ['400']

Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key
Returned
Description
diff
dict
failure
List of differences between the actual configured object and the configuration specified in the module

Sample:
{'targetlbvserver': 'difference. ours: (str) server1 other: (str) server2'}
loglines
list
always
list of logged messages by the module

Sample:
['message 1', 'message 2']
msg
str
failure
Message detailing the failure reason

Sample:
Action does not exist


Status

This module is flagged as preview which means that it is not guaranteed to have a backwards compatible interface.

Author

  • George Nikolopoulos (@giorgos-nikolopoulos)

Hint

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