F5

F5 BIG-IP or BIG-IQ: Can’t run config tool on CLI

What if you’re deploying a new F5 BIG-IP or BIG-IQ virtual appliance and you get the following error when running the config² command.

Ryan Gelobter

Ryan Gelobter

— 1 min read
F5 BIG-IP or BIG-IQ: Can’t run config tool on CLI
Screenshot of the above error on the CLI

What if you’re deploying a new F5 BIG-IP or BIG-IQ virtual appliance and you get the following error when running the config² command.

MCP must be in the running or base phase to run this script. Examine the output of ‘tmsh show sys mcp-state’ for failures

The short answer is you need to wait a few minutes and try again. The appliance hasn’t finished starting all of the necessary processes in the background. If you are running the VM in a lab with a less than ideal CPU or RAM, it can take awhile for everything to start on first boot.

[1] MCP is short for Master Control Program daemon (mcpd). It is the messenger daemon that enables communication between userland processes and the Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM).

[2] The config command is used to configure a new management IP.

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