Configuring Avi Load Balancer profiles

You can create Avi Load Balancer profiles, like application, persistence, and network profiles. You can also create, for example, a single persistence profile and provide that for another team in your organization to use later.

These sample templates cover several scenarios for creating Avi Load Balancer profiles. The first example shows how you might create a template that contains an application profile, a persistence profile, and a network profile. The second example shows a template that contains different types of persistence profiles that are available with Avi Load Balancer along with a cloud zone allocation helper. The remaining examples focus on single persistence profiles.

The template examples cover the minimum requirements for creating Avi Load Balancer profiles. When creating templates that are relevant to your organization, keep in mind that other properties might be required.

For more information about profiles, see the Load Balancing section in the VMware NSX Advanced Load Balancer Configuration guide.

Application, persistence, and network profiles

This sample Avi Load Balancer template uses an application profile, a network profile, and a persistence profile.

The application profile determines the behavior of the virtual service. The network profile determines the type and setting of the network protocol. Both the application profile and the network profile are associated with virtual services. The persistence profile governs the settings that make a client stay connected to the same server for a specified duration of time. It is attached to an Avi Load Balancer pool.

formatVersion: 1
inputs:
  count:
    type: integer
    title: count
    default: 2
resources:
  Idem_AVILB_PROFILES_HEALTH_MONITOR_1:
    type: Idem.AVILB.PROFILES.HEALTH_MONITOR
    properties:
      name: prof-monitor-${uuid()}
      type: HEALTH_MONITOR_PING
      account: Avi
      tenant_ref: admin
      cloud_ref: cloud01_vcenter-cmbu-w01-vc11
      is_federated: false
      monitor_port: 8000
      send_interval: 8
      receive_timeout: 4
      successful_checks: 4
      failed_checks: 4
  Idem_AVILB_PROFILES_APPLICATION_PROFILE_1:
    type: Idem.AVILB.PROFILES.APPLICATION_PROFILE
    properties:
      name: prof-application-${uuid()}
      type: APPLICATION_PROFILE_TYPE_HTTP
      account: Avi
      http_profile:
        connection_multiplexing_enabled: true
        detect_ntlm_app: true
        websockets_enabled: true
  Idem_AVILB_PROFILES_NETWORK_PROFILE_1:
    type: Idem.AVILB.PROFILES.NETWORK_PROFILE
    properties:
      name: prof-network-${uuid()}
      account: Avi
      profile:
        type: PROTOCOL_TYPE_TCP_PROXY
        tcp_proxy_profile:
          automatic: true
  Idem_AVILB_APPLICATIONS_VS_VIP_1:
    type: Idem.AVILB.APPLICATIONS.VS_VIP
    properties:
      name: prof-vip-${uuid()}
      account: Avi
      tenant_ref: admin
      cloud_ref: cloud01_vcenter-cmbu-w01-vc11
      vip:
        - auto_allocate_floating_ip: false
          auto_allocate_ip: true
          auto_allocate_ip_type: V4_ONLY
          avi_allocated_fip: false
          avi_allocated_vip: false
          enabled: true
          ipam_network_subnet:
            network_ref: ${resource.Cloud_vSphere_Network_1.resourceName}
            subnet:
              ip_addr:
                addr: 10.202.20.0
                type: V4
              mask: 22
  Idem_AVILB_PROFILES_APPLICATION_PERSISTENCE_PROFILE_1:
    type: Idem.AVILB.PROFILES.APPLICATION_PERSISTENCE_PROFILE
    properties:
      name: prof-persistence-${uuid()}
      account: Avi
      persistence_type: PERSISTENCE_TYPE_CLIENT_IP_ADDRESS
      server_hm_down_recovery: HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER
      ip_persistence_profile:
        ip_persistent_timeout: 5
  Idem_AVILB_APPLICATIONS_POOL_1:
    type: Idem.AVILB.APPLICATIONS.POOL
    properties:
      name: prof-pool-${uuid()}
      account: Avi
      tenant_ref: admin
      cloud_ref: cloud01_vcenter-cmbu-w01-vc11
      lb_algorithm: LB_ALGORITHM_ROUND_ROBIN
      default_server_port: 8000
      networks:
        - network_ref: ${resource.Cloud_vSphere_Network_1.resourceName}
      health_monitor_refs:
        - ${resource.Idem_AVILB_PROFILES_HEALTH_MONITOR_1.name}
      servers: ${map_to_object(resource.Cloud_vSphere_Machine_1[*].address, "ip", "addr")}
      application_persistence_profile_ref: ${resource.Idem_AVILB_PROFILES_APPLICATION_PERSISTENCE_PROFILE_1.name}
  Idem_AVILB_APPLICATIONS_VIRTUAL_SERVICE_1:
    type: Idem.AVILB.APPLICATIONS.VIRTUAL_SERVICE
    properties:
      name: prof-vs-${uuid()}
      account: Avi
      tenant_ref: admin
      cloud_ref: cloud01_vcenter-cmbu-w01-vc11
      cloud_type: CLOUD_NONE
      type: VS_TYPE_NORMAL
      traffic_enabled: true
      services:
        - enable_ssl: false
          port: 8000
      pool_ref: ${resource.Idem_AVILB_APPLICATIONS_POOL_1.name}
      vsvip_ref: ${resource.Idem_AVILB_APPLICATIONS_VS_VIP_1.name}
      application_profile_ref: ${resource.Idem_AVILB_PROFILES_APPLICATION_PROFILE_1.name}
      network_profile_ref: ${resource.Idem_AVILB_PROFILES_NETWORK_PROFILE_1.name}
  Cloud_vSphere_Machine_1:
    type: Cloud.vSphere.Machine
    properties:
      image: webserver
      cpuCount: 2
      totalMemoryMB: 4096
      networks:
        - network: ${resource.Cloud_vSphere_Network_1.id}
          assignment: static
      count: ${input.count}
  Cloud_vSphere_Network_1:
    type: Cloud.vSphere.Network
    properties:
      networkType: existing

Persistence profiles and allocation helper

This sample template contains all of the persistence profile types along with an allocation helper.

The cloud zone allocation helper assists in directing the deployment request to the desired VMware Avi Load Balancer controller based on tags on the cloud account.

formatVersion: 1
name: Create a ALB Persistence Profile
version: 1
inputs:
  env:
    type: string
    title: Environment
    description: Select Dev or Prod ALB environment
    default: env:dev
    oneOf:
      - title: Dev ALB
        const: env:dev
      - title: Prod ALB
        const: env:prod
  name:
    type: string
    title: Persistence Profile Name
    description: A user-friendly name for the persistence profile
  persistenceType:
    type: string
    title: Persistence Type
    description: Select a method used to persist clients to the same server for a duration of time or a session.
    oneOf:
      - title: App Cookie
        const: PERSISTENCE_TYPE_APP_COOKIE
      - title: Client IP Address
        const: PERSISTENCE_TYPE_CLIENT_IP_ADDRESS
      - title: Custom HTTP Header
        const: PERSISTENCE_TYPE_CUSTOM_HTTP_HEADER
      - title: GSLB Site
        const: PERSISTENCE_TYPE_GSLB_SITE
      - title: HTTP Cookie
        const: PERSISTENCE_TYPE_HTTP_COOKIE
      - title: TLS
        const: PERSISTENCE_TYPE_TLS
  server_hm_down_recovery:
    type: string
    title: Select New Server When Persistent Server Is Down ?
    description: Specifies behavior when a persistent server has been marked down by a health monitor. Enum options - HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER, HM_DOWN_ABORT_CONNECTION, HM_DOWN_CONTINUE_PERSISTENT_SERVER
    default: HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER
    oneOf:
      - title: Immediate
        const: HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER
      - title: Never
        const: HM_DOWN_CONTINUE_PERSISTENT_SERVER
  timeout:
    type: integer
    title: Persistence Timeout
    description: The length of time after a client's connections have closed before expiring the client's persistence to a server. Allowed values are 1-720. Unit is Min.
    minimum: 1
    maximum: 720
    default: 20
  ip_mask:
    type: integer
    title: IP Mask
    description: Mask to be applied on client IP. This may be used to persist clients from a subnet to the same server. When set to 0, all requests are sent to the same server. Allowed values are 0-128.
    minimum: 0
    maximum: 128
    default: 0
  prst_hdr_name:
    type: string
    title: Custom Header / App Cookie Name
    description: Header or App Cookie name for application cookie persistence or custom http header.
    default: Set Header Name
  always_send_cookie:
    type: boolean
    title: Always Send Cookie ?
    description: If no persistence cookie was received from the client, always send it.
  cookie_name:
    type: string
    title: Cookie Name
    description: HTTP cookie name for cookie persistence.
    default: Set HTTP Cookie Name
  http_only:
    type: boolean
    title: HTTP Only
    description: Sets the HttpOnly attribute in the cookie. Setting this helps to prevent the client side scripts from accessing this cookie, if supported by browser.
  is_persistent_cookie:
    type: boolean
    title: Is Persistent Cookie
    description: When True, the cookie used is a persistent cookie, i.e. the cookie shouldn't be used at the end of the timeout. By default, it is set to false, making the cookie a session cookie, which allows clients to use it even after the timeout, if the session is still open.
resources:
  Allocations_CloudZone_1:
    type: Allocations.CloudZone
    metadata:
      layoutPosition:
        - 1
        - 2
    properties:
      accountType: avilb
      constraints:
        - tag: ${input.env}
  hdr_persistence_profile:
    type: Idem.AVILB.PROFILES.APPLICATION_PERSISTENCE_PROFILE
    metadata:
      layoutPosition:
        - 0
        - 1
    properties:
      name: ${input.name}
      account: ${resource.Allocations_CloudZone_1.selectedCloudAccount.name}
      description: Managed by Aria Automation
      count: ${input.persistenceType == "PERSISTENCE_TYPE_CUSTOM_HTTP_HEADER" ? 1 :0}
      persistence_type: ${input.persistenceType}
      server_hm_down_recovery: ${input.server_hm_down_recovery}
      hdr_persistence_profile:
        prst_hdr_name: ${input.prst_hdr_name}
  tls_persistence_profile:
    type: Idem.AVILB.PROFILES.APPLICATION_PERSISTENCE_PROFILE
    metadata:
      layoutPosition:
        - 0
        - 3
    properties:
      name: ${input.name}
      account: ${resource.Allocations_CloudZone_1.selectedCloudAccount.name}
      description: Managed by Aria Automation
      count: ${input.persistenceType == "PERSISTENCE_TYPE_TLS" ? 1 :0}
      persistence_type: ${input.persistenceType}
  app_cookie_persistence_profile:
    type: Idem.AVILB.PROFILES.APPLICATION_PERSISTENCE_PROFILE
    metadata:
      layoutPosition:
        - 1
        - 0
    properties:
      name: ${input.name}
      account: ${resource.Allocations_CloudZone_1.selectedCloudAccount.name}
      description: Managed by Aria Automation
      count: ${input.persistenceType == "PERSISTENCE_TYPE_APP_COOKIE" ? 1 :0}
      persistence_type: ${input.persistenceType}
      server_hm_down_recovery: ${input.server_hm_down_recovery}
      app_cookie_persistence_profile:
        prst_hdr_name: ${input.prst_hdr_name}
        timeout: ${input.timeout}
  ip_persistence_profile:
    type: Idem.AVILB.PROFILES.APPLICATION_PERSISTENCE_PROFILE
    metadata:
      layoutPosition:
        - 1
        - 1
    properties:
      name: ${input.name}
      account: ${resource.Allocations_CloudZone_1.selectedCloudAccount.name}
      description: Managed by Aria Automation
      count: ${input.persistenceType == "PERSISTENCE_TYPE_CLIENT_IP_ADDRESS" ? 1 :0}
      persistence_type: ${input.persistenceType}
      server_hm_down_recovery: ${input.server_hm_down_recovery}
      ip_persistence_profile:
        ip_mask: ${input.ip_mask}
        ip_persistent_timeout: ${input.timeout}
  gslb_persistence_profile:
    type: Idem.AVILB.PROFILES.APPLICATION_PERSISTENCE_PROFILE
    metadata:
      layoutPosition:
        - 1
        - 3
    properties:
      name: ${input.name}
      account: ${resource.Allocations_CloudZone_1.selectedCloudAccount.name}
      description: Managed by Aria Automation
      count: ${input.persistenceType == "PERSISTENCE_TYPE_GSLB_SITE" ? 1 :0}
      persistence_type: ${input.persistenceType}
      server_hm_down_recovery: ${input.server_hm_down_recovery}
      is_federated: true
      http_cookie_persistence_profile:
        cookie_name: ${input.cookie_name}
        is_persistent_cookie: ${input.is_persistent_cookie}
        timeout: ${input.timeout}
  http_cookie_persistence_profile:
    type: Idem.AVILB.PROFILES.APPLICATION_PERSISTENCE_PROFILE
    metadata:
      layoutPosition:
        - 1
        - 4
    properties:
      name: ${input.name}
      account: ${resource.Allocations_CloudZone_1.selectedCloudAccount.name}
      description: Managed by Aria Automation
      count: ${input.persistenceType == "PERSISTENCE_TYPE_HTTP_COOKIE" ? 1 :0}
      persistence_type: ${input.persistenceType}
      server_hm_down_recovery: ${input.server_hm_down_recovery}
      http_cookie_persistence_profile:
        always_send_cookie: ${input.always_send_cookie}
        cookie_name: ${input.cookie_name}
        http_only: ${input.http_only}
        is_persistent_cookie: ${input.is_persistent_cookie}
        timeout: ${input.timeout}

Individual persistence profiles

For more information about persistence profiles, see Persistence in the VMware NSX Advanced Load Balancer Configuration guide.

Profile	Sample template
HTTP cookie persistence profile This sample template shows how you might create an HTTP cookie persistence profile in an Avi Load Balancer cloud account.	formatVersion: 1 name: Persistence Profile - HTTP Cookie version: 1 inputs: name: type: string title: Persistence Profile Name description: A user-friendly name for the persistence profile server_hm_down_recovery: type: string title: Select New Server When Persistent Server Is Down ? description: Specifies behavior when a persistent server has been marked down by a health monitor. Enum options - HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER, HM_DOWN_ABORT_CONNECTION, HM_DOWN_CONTINUE_PERSISTENT_SERVER default: HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER oneOf: - title: Immediate const: HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER - title: Never const: HM_DOWN_CONTINUE_PERSISTENT_SERVER timeout: type: integer title: Persistence Timeout description: The length of time after a client's connections have closed before expiring the client's persistence to a server. Allowed values are 1-720. Unit is Min. minimum: 1 maximum: 720 default: 20 always_send_cookie: type: boolean title: Always Send Cookie ? description: If no persistence cookie was received from the client, always send it. cookie_name: type: string title: Cookie Name description: HTTP cookie name for cookie persistence. http_only: type: boolean title: HTTP Only description: Sets the HttpOnly attribute in the cookie. Setting this helps to prevent the client side scripts from accessing this cookie, if supported by browser. is_persistent_cookie: type: boolean title: Is Persistent Cookie description: When True, the cookie used is a persistent cookie, i.e. the cookie shouldn't be used at the end of the timeout. By default, it is set to false, making the cookie a session cookie, which allows clients to use it even after the timeout, if the session is still open. resources: http_cookie_persistence_profile: type: Idem.AVILB.PROFILES.APPLICATION_PERSISTENCE_PROFILE metadata: layoutPosition: - 1 - 1 properties: name: ${input.name} account: avi-account description: Managed by Aria Automation persistence_type: PERSISTENCE_TYPE_HTTP_COOKIE server_hm_down_recovery: ${input.server_hm_down_recovery} http_cookie_persistence_profile: always_send_cookie: ${input.always_send_cookie} cookie_name: ${input.cookie_name} http_only: ${input.http_only} is_persistent_cookie: ${input.is_persistent_cookie} timeout: ${input.timeout}
App cookie persistence profile This sample template shows how you might create an application cookie persistence profile in an Avi Load Balancer cloud account.	formatVersion: 1 name: Persistence Profile - App Cookie version: 1 inputs: name: type: string title: Persistence Profile Name description: A user-friendly name for the persistence profile server_hm_down_recovery: type: string title: Select New Server When Persistent Server Is Down ? description: Specifies behavior when a persistent server has been marked down by a health monitor. Enum options - HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER, HM_DOWN_ABORT_CONNECTION, HM_DOWN_CONTINUE_PERSISTENT_SERVER default: HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER oneOf: - title: Immediate const: HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER - title: Never const: HM_DOWN_CONTINUE_PERSISTENT_SERVER timeout: type: integer title: Persistence Timeout description: The length of time after a client's connections have closed before expiring the client's persistence to a server. Allowed values are 1-720. Unit is Min. minimum: 1 maximum: 720 default: 20 prst_hdr_name: type: string title: App Cookie Name description: App Cookie name for application cookie persistence or custom http header. resources: app_cookie_persistence_profile: type: Idem.AVILB.PROFILES.APPLICATION_PERSISTENCE_PROFILE metadata: layoutPosition: - 1 - 0 properties: name: ${input.name} account: avi-account description: Managed by Aria Automation persistence_type: PERSISTENCE_TYPE_APP_COOKIE server_hm_down_recovery: ${input.server_hm_down_recovery} app_cookie_persistence_profile: prst_hdr_name: ${input.prst_hdr_name} timeout: ${input.timeout}
HTTP custom header persistence profile This sample template shows how you might create a custom HTTP header persistence profile in an Avi Load Balancer cloud account.	formatVersion: 1 name: Persistence Profile - Custom HTTP Header version: 1 inputs: name: type: string title: Persistence Profile Name description: A user-friendly name for the persistence profile server_hm_down_recovery: type: string title: Select New Server When Persistent Server Is Down ? description: Specifies behavior when a persistent server has been marked down by a health monitor. Enum options - HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER, HM_DOWN_ABORT_CONNECTION, HM_DOWN_CONTINUE_PERSISTENT_SERVER default: HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER oneOf: - title: Immediate const: HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER - title: Never const: HM_DOWN_CONTINUE_PERSISTENT_SERVER prst_hdr_name: type: string title: Custom Header Name description: Header name for application cookie persistence or custom http header. resources: hdr_persistence_profile: type: Idem.AVILB.PROFILES.APPLICATION_PERSISTENCE_PROFILE metadata: layoutPosition: - 0 - 1 properties: name: ${input.name} account: avi-account description: Managed by Aria Automation persistence_type: PERSISTENCE_TYPE_CUSTOM_HTTP_HEADER server_hm_down_recovery: ${input.server_hm_down_recovery} hdr_persistence_profile: prst_hdr_name: ${input.prst_hdr_name}
Client IP persistence profile This sample template shows how you might create a client IP persistence profile in an Avi Load Balancer cloud account.	formatVersion: 1 name: Persistence Profile - Client IP version: 1 inputs: name: type: string title: Persistence Profile Name description: A user-friendly name for the persistence profile server_hm_down_recovery: type: string title: Select New Server When Persistent Server Is Down ? description: Specifies behavior when a persistent server has been marked down by a health monitor. Enum options - HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER, HM_DOWN_ABORT_CONNECTION, HM_DOWN_CONTINUE_PERSISTENT_SERVER default: HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER oneOf: - title: Immediate const: HM_DOWN_PICK_NEW_SERVER - title: Never const: HM_DOWN_CONTINUE_PERSISTENT_SERVER timeout: type: integer title: Persistence Timeout description: The length of time after a client's connections have closed before expiring the client's persistence to a server. Allowed values are 1-720. Unit is Min. minimum: 1 maximum: 720 default: 20 ip_mask: type: integer title: IP Mask description: Mask to be applied on client IP. This may be used to persist clients from a subnet to the same server. When set to 0, all requests are sent to the same server. Allowed values are 0-128. minimum: 0 maximum: 128 default: 0 resources: ip_persistence_profile: type: Idem.AVILB.PROFILES.APPLICATION_PERSISTENCE_PROFILE metadata: layoutPosition: - 1 - 1 properties: name: ${input.name} account: avi-account description: Managed by Aria Automation persistence_type: PERSISTENCE_TYPE_CLIENT_IP_ADDRESS server_hm_down_recovery: ${input.server_hm_down_recovery} ip_persistence_profile: ip_mask: ${input.ip_mask} ip_persistent_timeout: ${input.timeout}
TLS persistence profile This sample template shows how you might create a TLS persistence profile in an Avi Load Balancer cloud account.	formatVersion: 1 name: Persistence Profile - TLS version: 1 inputs: name: type: string title: Persistence Profile Name description: A user-friendly name for the persistence profile resources: tls_persistence_profile: type: Idem.AVILB.PROFILES.APPLICATION_PERSISTENCE_PROFILE metadata: layoutPosition: - 0 - 1 properties: name: ${input.name} account: avi-account description: Managed by Aria Automation persistence_type: PERSISTENCE_TYPE_TLS