Configure F5 Load Balancer Health Check for AAI Webswing Configuration Tool

Products

• Automation Analytics & Intelligence

Issue/Introduction

How to provide a status file location for the Automation Analytics & Intelligence (AAI) Webswing Configuration Tool to allow F5 Load Balancer health checks.
While the main AAI UI uses a JBoss-based redirect, the Webswing component runs on a separate Jetty server and requires specific configuration to serve static files for health monitoring.

Environment

• Product: Automation Analytics & Intelligence (AAI)
• Version: 24.x (or any release utilizing the Webswing-based Configuration Tool)
• Component: Webswing / Configuration Tool

Cause

The AAI Configuration Tool runs on a standalone Webswing/Jetty server independent of the main JBoss application server.
By default, static file serving (the webFolder property) is not configured, preventing the F5 Load Balancer from reaching a "status.txt" health check file.

Resolution

[!IMPORTANT]
This configuration applies only to the Webswing Configuration Tool.
It does not affect the main AAI JBoss server.
Always back up configuration files before modification.

Background
The AAI Configuration Tool runs on a separate Webswing/Jetty server, independent of the main JBoss server.
It has its own port (default 8088 HTTP / 8488 HTTPS) and its own configuration file.
Static file serving for F5 health checks is not enabled out of the box — the webFolder property is blank in the default config.

"webFolder": "${user.dir}/static",
Note: ${user.dir} resolves at runtime to the directory where webswing runs from ([AAI_install]/config/).

1. Modify the Webswing Configuration:

   • Locate the config file: [AAI_install]/config/webswing.config (Default Linux path: /opt/Automation_Analytics_Intelligence/config/webswing.config).
   • Find the "/main" block.
   • Locate the line "webFolder": "" and change it to:
     json

     "webFolder": "${user.dir}/static",

     Note: ${user.dir} resolves to the directory where Webswing is executed ([AAI_install]/config/).

2. Create the Status File:

   • Create the necessary directory and the status file on the server:
     bash

     mkdir -p [AAI_install]/config/static/f5_status
     echo "OK" > [AAI_install]/config/static/f5_status/status.txt

3. Restart the Webswing Service:

   • Navigate to the config directory and restart the service:
     bash

     cd [AAI_install]/config
     ./webswing.sh stop
     ./webswing.sh start

4. Configure F5 Health Check:

   • Set the F5 Load Balancer to poll the following endpoint: http://[hostname]:[port]/main/f5_status/status.txt
   • Note: The /main/ prefix is mandatory as the webFolder is configured within the /main application block. Use the HTTP port defined in [AAI_install]/config/jetty.properties.

Additional Information

Comparison with JBoss F5 Setup
Feature
JBoss (Main AAI UI)
Webswing (Config Tool)
Config file
standalone.xml
webswing.config
Setting
<file handler path=".../root-redirect">
"webFolder": "${user.dir}/static"
File location
.../jboss/root-redirect/f5_status/status.txt
.../config/static/f5_status/status.txt
Health check URL
http://host:8080/f5_status/status.txt
http://host:[port]/main/f5_status/status.txt

Expose a health check status file for F5 Load Balancers in AAI