BigFix Scanner for Middleware Application

Learn more about middleware scanner tasks that detect software versions and paths accurately for middleware.

The middleware scanner supports applications such as IBM DB2, IBM WebSphere, Apache Tomcat, WebLogic, and JBoss running on Linux, Windows, Solaris, and AIX.

Execute the Middleware Scanner

  1. To execute middleware scanner, make sure that the BigFix Scanner (Task ID 1) is installed. Refer to Prerequisite for Multi-instance Patching.
  2. Open the middleware scanner task for your OS (Windows, Linux, AIX, Solaris).
  3. Check if the scanner is applicable to your system by clicking Details > Relevance on the specific middleware scanner task.
  4. Execute the task to identify current versions and paths:
    Note: It is recommended to set the policy actions scheduled to run every 48 hours by default.
  5. When you execute the tasks, three files get created mw_config.xml, mw_config.logs, and mw_results.xml.

Manage MW scanner settings

Use the Manage MW Scanner Settings task to customize how the scan behaves on specific machines.
  • Go to folder BES client > middleware > mw_Scanner to locate the configuration and result files.
  • You can limit CPU usage of the scanner process using CPU utilization threshold settings.
    • Default = 100 (full usage)
    • Users can set lower values as per system performance requirements

  • After you update the settings using the Manage MW Scanner Settings task, the mw_config.xml file is updated with the configured values. It includes:

    • IncludeDirectory — folders included for scanning
    • ExcludeDirectory — folders excluded from scanning
  • Users can modify scanning preferences using Manage MW scanner settings task:
    1. Copy include directory values from mw_config.xml into the Manage MW scanner settings task.
    2. If you want to exclude Program Files or custom directories, copy them to the "Excluded Directories" path and run the task.
    Note: The next scan will completely ignore the excluded paths.

Removing the Middleware Scanner

To permanently remove the middleware scanner and all related files:
  • Run the task Remove MW scanner.
  • This deletes the entire folder middleware/mw_Scanner inside the BES Client directory.