I found a lack of initial setup information when I received new BIG-IP GTM devices, so here is the full list of steps I took to set up the GTM sync group after getting the device on the network. This was performed on version 12.1.3 devices.
- License/Provision devices
- Go to Platform to set Management IP, Hostname, Timezone, and admin/root passwords
- Go to Network Click Finished to perform device setup manually
- Create VLAN on both devices
- Create Self IP on both devices (set Port Lockdown to Allow Default)
- Create Default Route if necessary on both devices
- Go to System > Configuration > Device > NTP to configure NTP on both devices
- Renew Device Certificate using new Hostname on both devices
- Add DNS Listeners on both devices using Self IP
- Add Trusted Device Certificates on both devices
- Add Trusted Server Certificates on both devices (same certificate as in previous step)
- Create Data Centers on both devices
- Create Prober Pools on both devices (one for each Data Center)
- Create a Server for each device on both devices
- Assign each Server to its respective Prober Pool
- Go to DNS > Settings > GSLB > General
- Click checkboxes for Synchronize and Synchronize DNS Zone Files on both devices.* Ensure that the Group Name is the same between these devices, and different from any other GTMs that are in your environment.* Click Update!
And that should do it! As long as your Firewalls/ACLs are allowing Destination Port 4353 between the devices... This is just meant to be a very simple guide, so there may be other considerations to think about when performing these steps in your environment. Hope this helps somebody out there!
Nimbostratus