GTM Design
GTM Design
Version 1.2
Welcome to the F5 Deployment Guide for DNSSEC with Global Traffic Manager (GTM). This guide
What’s inside:
shows how to configure Authoritative DNSSEC signing for a zone in front of a pool of DNS servers,
2 Configuration options to sign responses from virtual servers in a global server load balancing configuration, or to do both
in Authoritative Screening mode.
5 Configuring
Authoritative Screening DNSSEC is a extension to the Domain Name Service (DNS) that ensures the integrity of data
mode returned by domain name lookups by incorporating a chain of trust in the DNS hierarchy. The basis
of DNSSEC is public key cryptography (PKI). A chain of trust is built with public-private keys at each
5 Screening mode for layer of the DNS architecture.
Global Server Loading
Balancing DNSSEC provides origin authenticity, data integrity and secure denial of existence. Specifically, Origin
Authenticity ensures that resolvers can verify that data has originated from the correct authoritative
11 Configuring DNS load source. Data Integrity verifies that responses are not modified in-flight and Secure Denial of
balancing only mode Existence ensures that when there is no data for a query, that the authoritative server can provide a
response that proves no data exists.
12 Configuring Delegation
mode This guide explains how to configure DNSSEC in BIG-IP Global Traffic Manager. For more
information on the F5 BIG-IP GTM, see
13 Configuring the BIG-IP http://www.f5.com/products/big-ip/global-traffic-manager.html
GTM for DNSSEC
15 DNSSEC Integration To provide feedback on this deployment guide or other F5 solution documents, contact us at
Verification [email protected].
Important: M
ake sure you are using the most recent version of this deployment guide, available at
http://www.f5.com/pdf/deployment-guides/gtm-dnssec-dg
hh Y
ou must have the BIG-IP GTM licensed, either as a standalone device, or a module on
the BIG-IP system. For DNSSEC, you must also have the DNSSEC add-on license.
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DNSSEC
hh W
hile not required for this configuration, we also strongly recommend using the BIG-IP
Local Traffic Manager (LTM) as described in this document.
hh Y
ou must have administrative access to both the Web management and SSH command
line interfaces on the BIG-IP system.
hh T he BIG-IP system must be initially configured with the proper VLANs and Self IP
addresses. For more information on VLANs and Self IPs, see the online help or the BIG-IP
documentation.
hh You must have administrative control of the DNS zone being protected.
hh If there are firewalls, you must have TCP port 443 open in both directions. TCP port
22 for SSH access to the command line interface is also needed for configuration
verification.
hh F or more configuration options on the BIG-IP GTM, see the Configuration Guide for BIG-
IP GTM Module, available on Ask F5.
hh W
e recommend you read the Technical Brief F5 and Infoblox DNS Integrated Architecture
(http://www.f5.com/pdf/white-papers/infoblox-wp.pdf) for a configuration overview.
Even if you are not using Infoblox, this brief provides detailed information on the
concepts found in this deployment guide.
hh W
e recommend you read the NIST Secure Domain Name System Deployment guide
(http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-81r1/sp-800-81r1.pdf). We use the NIST
recommended values in this guide.
Configuration options
There are three main ways to configure the BIG-IP GTM system for DNSSEC shown in this guide.
The method you choose depends on your configuration and whether you are also using the BIG-IP
LTM.
If the DNS request does not match the Wide IP list, BIG-IP GTM passes the request to a pool of
DNS servers, which provides an additional layer of scalability and availability, increasing the query
performance and ensuring optimal uptime of DNS services. Screening mode simplifies management
when used with InfoBlox DNS servers (see the Technical Brief mentioned above).
GTM inspects all DNS responses from the DNS servers. If the response contains a DNS name that
matches a Wide IP, GTM intercepts the response, applies the GTM operations for that item, and
re-writes the response before sending it on to the client.
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company.com
Delegation
Delegation has been the traditional deployment method. This solution involves delegating a
specific subzone that contains all the GSLB elements of the DNS architecture. In this scenario, a
CNAME is used to redirect other names to one located in the delegated subzone. One drawback
with delegation mode is that the administrator is required to create a CNAME for all related DNS
records.
In this example, the DNS servers completely manage the top-level zone (such as example.com).
The NS records point to the names and, indirectly, the IP address of the DNS servers . BIG-IP GTM is
authoritative for a subzone and handles all queries to that zone (for instance, gtm.example.com).
All GSLB resources are represented by A-records in the GTM zone. A BIND name server running
on BIG-IP GTM contains the subzone records. Host names in the top-level zone are referred to the
GTM-controlled subzone using CNAME alias records. CNAME references can be from almost any
other zone, including the subzone. More than one subzone can be delegated to and managed by
GTM zone.
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To create a Listener
n the Main tab of the navigation pane, expand Global Traffic and then click Listeners.
1. O
The main Listeners screen opens.
2. Click the Create button. The new Listener screen opens.
3. In the Destination box, type the IP address on which the Global Traffic Manager listens for
network traffic. In our example, this is the Self IP address of the GTM on the internal VLAN.
Important Be sure to use a Self IP address and not the Management address of the BIG-IP GTM.
4. From the VLAN Traffic list, select a VLAN setting appropriate for this listener.
5. Click the Finished button.
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4. From the Product list, select the either BIG-IP System (Single) or BIG-IP System
(Redundant).
5. In the Address List section, type the self IP of this GTM, and then click the Add button.
Important Be sure to use a Self IP address and not the Management address of the BIG-IP GTM.
If you selected BIG-IP System (Redundant) in step 4, type the appropriate IP address in the
Peer Address List section.
6. From the Data Center list, select the Data Center you created in Creating the GTM Data
Center on page 5. In our example, we select Local_Datacenter.
7. Optional: In the Health Monitors section, from the Available list, select the monitor type
bigip and then click the Add (<<) button.
8. From the Virtual Server Discovery list, perform the following depending on whether you
are using a third party load balancer, or a remote BIG-IP LTM:
• Third Party Load Balancer: Leave Discovery set to Disabled.
TM Module: From the Discovery list, select Enabled. (We strongly recommend Enabling
• G
Discovery, however you can leave this set to Disabled and manually configure the virtual
server information).
9. Click Finished.
10. The next step depends on your configuration:
• If you have additional BIG-IP GTMs in your implementation, repeat this procedure to add
them.
• If you are using the GTM and LTM on the same box, continue with the next section.
However, if there are external BIG-IP LTM devices that are a part of the configuration, you
must add a GTM Server object for those as well. Repeat this procedure for each external
LTM.
• If you are using a GTM standalone, repeat this procedure to create the GTM Server
objects for each of the load balancers (a BIG-LTM in our example) and continue with step
10.
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To create a wide IP
1. On the Main tab, expand Global Traffic and then click Wide IPs.
2. Click the Create button. The New Wide IP screen opens.
3. In the Name box, type a name for the Wide IP. In screening mode, this is the FQDN of the
host. In our example, we type www.example.com.
4. From the State list, ensure that Enabled is selected.
5. From the Pools section, from the Load Balancing Method list, select a load balancing
method appropriate for your configuration.
6. In the Pool List section, from the Pool list, select the name of the pool you created in
Creating the GTM Pool on page 7, and then click the Add button. In our example, we
select Local_pool.
7. All other settings are optional, configure as appropriate for your deployment.
8. Click the Finished button.
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Important Any zone that contains a Wide IP name in the GTM configuration must be signed by F5.
Warnings If GTM is not properly configured with data centers and GTM devices defined, and the
DNSSEC license, key generation will fail.
If you are using DNS load balancing or BIND, you should never sign the responses with the
back end DNS servers if you are going to sign them using GTM.
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3. In the Name box, type the domain name. In our example, we type example.com_zsk.
4. Optional: If you have a BIG-IP FIPS hardware security module installed in your BIG-IP
device, you have the option of storing this key on the hardware device. If so, from the
Use FIPS list, select Enabled. If you are unsure if you have this module, consult with
your F5 Sales Representative.
5. From the Type list, select Zone Signing Key.
6. In the Rollover Period row, we recommend a rollover set to 15 days, the NiST
standard for rollover. In the Days box, we type 15.
7. In the Expiration Period row, we recommend 30 days, the NiST standard for
expiration. In the Days box, we type 30.
8. We recommend you leave the other settings at the defaults.
9. Click the Finished button.
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This completes the configuration. For more information on configuring the BIG-IP GTM for
DNSSEC, see the product documentation, available on Ask F5:
http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us.html
Version Description
1.1 Modified the Rollover Period for Key Signing Key from 180 to 185. While the NiST
standard for rollover is 180 days, the BIG-IP requires a rollover that is at least half of the
Expiration Period (365 in our example).
1.2 Added section on providing the DNSSEC DS record to the parent domain and
referenced SOL12981 on Ask F5 for configuration instructions.
F5 Networks, Inc. 401 Elliott Avenue West, Seattle, WA 98119 888-882-4447 www.f5.com
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