• TextPad
• Putty/Vi
• WinSCP
• BeyondCompare
• iRuleRedirector
• iRule Editor

Now the last two are F5 related software that are freeware that I use occasionally for the heck of it or convenience factor. I don’t think I could operate without a really solid “diff” tool, and BeyondCompare has given me by far the best “bang for the buck”.

It has a left/right pane view that quickly diff’s the files and shows you the discrepancies, it works over network drives and FTP connections so it makes diff’ing entire folders or file systems  a breeze. It lets you merge changes and quickly work through a mismatch situation. The trial is very generous with 30 days of actual use before it expires and the full copy only runs about $50 ( http://www.scootersoftware.com/ )

Putty is free, if you don’t know what Putty is you are probably stuck on SecureCRT or some other popular programs that cost far too much for what they offer. Putty can handle scp, ssh, sftp, telnet, Serial, pretty much anything you throw at it- and it’s free!( http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/ )

Vi is standard, you should really know the basics of Vi if you are going to be in charge of any linux based network device such as the LTM, but some people prefer to use tools like Textpad which run locally ( http://www.textpad.com/ ). It can color code tcl and make it pretty easy to read which I find useful.

F5 has released a tool called the iRule Editor. It connects via iControl and pulls your iRules locally and allows you to manage them, I played with this a few times and use it to help beginners out but after experiencing the Enterprise Manager, I no longer find a use for it.

The other tool I suggest to beginners and support engineers is the iRuleRedirector Generator program written by one of the guys at F5. It is available in devCentral and when I find a link I will place it in this post. It allows you to quickly throw together an iRule to handle a traffic flow issue without any knowledge of how iRules work.

And that’s it, if anyone has something that they feel is important please let me know, I’d love to check out a new toy!