{"id":8983,"library":"f5-icontrol-rest","title":"F5 BIG-IP iControl REST API client","description":"The `f5-icontrol-rest` Python library simplifies interaction with the F5 BIG-IP iControl REST API. It manages HTTP sessions (leveraging `requests.Session`), handles URI validation, and provides integrated logging. This generic library is used by other F5 SDKs and projects for programmatic communication with BIG-IP and BIG-IQ devices via the REST API. [1, 4, 5, 7] As of version 1.3.13, the project's GitHub repository is archived and no longer maintained.","status":"abandoned","version":"1.3.13","language":"python","source_language":"en","source_url":"https://github.com/F5Networks/f5-icontrol-rest-python","tags":["f5","big-ip","icontrol","rest","api","network","automation","big-iq"],"install":[{"cmd":"pip install f5-icontrol-rest","lang":"bash","label":"Install latest version"}],"dependencies":[{"reason":"Used for HTTP session management and underlying REST communication.","package":"requests","optional":false}],"imports":[{"wrong":"from icontrol.session import iControlRESTSession","symbol":"iControlRESTSession","correct":"from icontrol.session import iControlRESTSession"}],"quickstart":{"code":"import os\nfrom icontrol.session import iControlRESTSession\n\nBIGIP_HOST = os.environ.get('F5_BIGIP_HOST', 'your_bigip_ip_or_hostname')\nBIGIP_USER = os.environ.get('F5_BIGIP_USER', 'admin')\nBIGIP_PASS = os.environ.get('F5_BIGIP_PASSWORD', 'password')\n\n\ntry:\n    # Initialize the session\n    icr_session = iControlRESTSession(BIGIP_USER, BIGIP_PASS, address=BIGIP_HOST)\n\n    # Example: Get a list of all LTM NAT objects in Common partition\n    # Note: For versions < 1.3.13, 'proxies' kwarg only works on method calls, not instantiation.\n    response = icr_session.get(\n        f'https://{BIGIP_HOST}/mgmt/tm/ltm/nat',\n        name='*', \n        partition='Common',\n        uri_as_parts=True,\n        verify=False # Use with caution in production without proper certs\n    )\n\n    print(f\"Successfully connected to {BIGIP_HOST}.\")\n    print(\"LTM NAT objects:\")\n    for item in response.json().get('items', []):\n        print(f\"  - Name: {item.get('name')}, Partition: {item.get('partition')}\")\n\nexcept Exception as e:\n    print(f\"An error occurred: {e}\")","lang":"python","description":"This quickstart demonstrates how to establish a session with an F5 BIG-IP device using `iControlRESTSession` and perform a basic GET request to retrieve LTM NAT objects. Ensure to replace placeholder credentials and host with actual values, preferably using environment variables for security. It disables SSL verification for simplicity, which should be avoided in production environments. [1, 5]"},"warnings":[{"fix":"Evaluate migration to actively developed F5 SDKs (e.g., `f5-sdk` or `bigrest`) for long-term project stability and security. [5, 7, 19]","message":"The `f5-icontrol-rest-python` GitHub repository is archived and explicitly marked as no longer maintained. This means there will be no further feature development, bug fixes, or security updates. Users are advised to consider migrating to actively maintained alternatives like `f5-sdk` or `BIGREST` for ongoing support and new features.","severity":"breaking","affected_versions":"<=1.3.13"},{"fix":"Implement pagination for requests returning large datasets using OData `$skip` and `$top` query parameters in your API calls (e.g., `?%24skip=0&%24top=100`). [5]","message":"Fetching a large number of objects via iControl REST can result in 'HTTP 500 - Internal Server Error' or 'AsyncContext timeout' on the BIG-IP. This is due to resource limitations on the device. [1, 5, 11]","severity":"gotcha","affected_versions":"All versions"},{"fix":"On the BIG-IP device, consider deleting all current tokens (`restcurl -X DELETE /shared/authz/tokens`), increasing management and REST daemon memory, or restarting the `restjavad` service during a maintenance window. [8, 12]","message":"Intermittent 'HTTP 400 Bad Request' or '401 Unauthorized' errors can occur during API authentication or subsequent calls. Common causes include insufficient memory on the BIG-IP for management daemons, exhaustion of login tokens, or corrupted REST storage. [8, 12]","severity":"gotcha","affected_versions":"All versions"},{"fix":"For versions older than 1.3.13, explicitly pass the `proxies` dictionary to each method call. For 1.3.13 and newer, it can be passed during `iControlRESTSession` instantiation for global proxy configuration.","message":"Prior to version 1.3.13, the `proxies` keyword argument was only functional when passed directly to individual HTTP method calls (e.g., `icr_session.get(..., proxies=...)`) and was ignored if provided during the `iControlRESTSession` instantiation. [v1.3.13 release notes from prompt]","severity":"gotcha","affected_versions":"<1.3.13"},{"fix":"Ensure `urllib3` is compatible with the `requests` version installed. If encountering issues, try reinstalling `requests` to pull a compatible `urllib3` version, or explicitly align `urllib3` version with `requests`' requirements.","message":"Version 1.3.9 removed a hard dependency on `urllib3`, instead relying on the version installed by the `requests` library. This change could cause conflicts or unexpected behavior if your environment had a specific `urllib3` version pinned independently of `requests`. [v1.3.9 release notes from prompt]","severity":"gotcha","affected_versions":">=1.3.9"}],"env_vars":null,"search_vec":"'1':67 '1.3.13':74 '4':68 '5':69 '7':70 'api':7,26,66,92 'archiv':81 'autom':94 'big':3,22,56,60,88,96 'big-ip':2,21,55,87 'big-iq':59,95 'client':8 'communic':53 'devic':62 'f5':1,11,20,47,86 'f5-icontrol-rest':10 'generic':41 'github':78 'handl':33 'http':29 'icontrol':5,12,24,90 'integr':38 'interact':17 'ip':4,23,57,89 'iq':61,97 'leverag':31 'librari':15,42 'log':39 'longer':84 'maintain':85 'manag':28 'network':93 'programmat':52 'project':50,76 'provid':37 'python':14 'repositori':79 'requests.session':32 'rest':6,13,25,65,91 'sdks':48 'session':30 'simplifi':16 'uri':34 'use':44 'valid':35 'version':73 'via':63","created_at":"2026-04-16T18:47:52.032716+00:00","updated_at":"2026-04-16T18:47:52.032716+00:00","problems":{"verify_error":"/tmp/tmp68umaadh/venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/icontrol/session.py:491: SyntaxWarning: invalid escape sequence '\\*'\n  :param \\**kwargs: The :meth:`reqeusts.Session.delete` optional params\n/tmp/tmp68umaadh/venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/icontrol/session.py:519: SyntaxWarning: invalid escape se"},"ecosystem":"pypi","meta_description":null,"install_score":null,"quickstart_score":null,"quickstart_tag":null,"pypi_latest":"1.3.13","cli_name":"","cli_version":null,"type":"library","homepage":null,"github":"https://github.com/F5Networks/f5-icontrol-rest-python","docs":null,"changelog":null,"pypi":"https://pypi.org/project/f5-icontrol-rest/","npm":null,"openapi_spec":null,"status_page":null,"smithery":null,"categories":["devops","http-networking"],"base_url":null,"auth_type":null,"provenance":{"verified_status":"import_fail","verified_at":"2026-07-03","last_verified":"2026-07-03","next_check":"2026-07-10","install_tag":null}}