Resolve Schema and Policy Conflicts

This guide demonstrates how to diagnose and resolve schema validation errors caused by mutually exclusive fields in F5 Distributed Cloud manifests.

Prerequisites

Before starting this procedure, ensure you have:

• Installed the F5 Distributed Cloud Tools extension in Visual Studio Code.
• A workspace containing JSON or YAML manifest files.

Understanding Mutual Exclusivity Conflicts

F5 Distributed Cloud schemas define explicit mutual exclusivity rules (x-f5xc-conflicts-with). Setting one property often requires that conflicting alternatives remain omitted.

For example, when configuring service policies on an HTTP Load Balancer, you can choose exactly one of three approaches:

1. active_service_policies: Attach explicit service policy rules.
2. service_policies_from_namespace: Inherit service policies defined at the namespace level.
3. no_service_policies: Explicitly disable Layer 7 access control policies.

If a manifest specifies both active_service_policies and no_service_policies, the API rejects the request.

Step 1: Identify Conflicting Properties

1. Open an invalid manifest file (for example, invalid-loadbalancer.json):

   {
     "metadata": {
       "name": "api-service",
       "namespace": "production"
     },
     "spec": {
       "domains": ["api.example.com"],
       "https_auto_cert": {
         "http_redirect": true
       },
       "default_route_pools": [],
       "no_service_policies": {},
       "active_service_policies": {
         "policies": [
           {
             "name": "ip-allowlist",
             "namespace": "production"
           }
         ]
       }
     }
   }

2. Notice the diagnostic squiggle under the active_service_policies and no_service_policies keys.

3. Open the Problems panel by pressing Ctrl+Shift+M (macOS: Cmd+Shift+M).

4. Read the diagnostic message indicating that active_service_policies conflicts with no_service_policies.

Step 2: Apply a Quick Fix Code Action

1. In the editor, place your text cursor on the underlined no_service_policies property.
2. Select the Quick Fix lightbulb icon in the margin, or press Ctrl+. (macOS: Cmd+.).
3. Select Remove conflicting ‘no_service_policies’ property.
4. Visual Studio Code automatically deletes the conflicting key and re-formats the JSON structure.

Step 3: Verify Manifest Validity

1. Check the Problems panel and verify that the diagnostic squiggle clears.
2. Select the Diff Against Tenant button in the editor title bar to verify the clean payload against your remote tenant.
3. Press Ctrl+Shift+A (macOS: Cmd+Shift+A) to apply the resolved manifest.

Clean Up

If you created invalid-loadbalancer.json for testing, delete the file from your workspace.