Viewing the relay chain on the client

Starting from Version 9.5 Patch 13, the capability to view the relay chain on a specific BigFix client was added to the product.

To use this capability, both the client and the relay/server must be at Version 9.5 Patch 13 level or later. The purpose of this capability is to allow the client to trace his relay chain for each registration.

The relay chain information is stored within a new client folder named RelayChain located under the BESClient/_BESData/_Global client directory.

The Relay chain information is saved each day into a text file and each file follows the naming convention "yyyymmdd.txt"

Where:

yyyymmdd: Represents the year, month and day on which the relay chain information was saved.

A Sample TXT file is displayed below:

At 05:05:13 +0100 - S - s:11668927(server_hostname) - r:6843826(relay1_hostname) 
- r:1083414982(relay2_hostname) - c:12183892(client_hostname)
At 11:05:10 +0100 - S - s:11668927(server_hostname) - r:6843826(relay1_hostname) 
- r:1083414982(relay2_hostname) - c:12183892(client_hostname)
At 12:13:34 +0100 - S - s:11668927(server_hostname) - r:1083414982(relay2_hostname) 
- c:12183892(client_hostname)

Note:

If the computer ID is related to the server, it will be preceded by s:
If the computer ID is related to the relay, it will be preceded by r:
If the computer ID is related to the client, it will be preceded by c:

Each Relay chain information follows the same pattern:


computerID(computer_hostname)

Each Relay chain TXT file follows the same pattern:


At [hh:mm:ss] [local_zone] - [registration_response] - [computerID_1(hostname)]
-[computerID_2(hostname)] - ... - [computerID_3(hostname)]

Where:

hh:mm:ss: The time on which the registration occurred.
local_zone: The related time zone.
registration_response: The status of the registration. It can have two values: S for a successful registration. F for a failed registration.
computerID_1(hostname): (Successful registration) It is the BigFix server.
computerID_2(hostname): (Successful registration) It is the top-level relay that connects directly to the BigFix server.
...: (Successful registration) The child relays follow, if present in your environment.
computerID_3(hostname): (Successful registration) It is the client that connects to the relay, or child relay if present in your environment.

The maximum amount of TXT files saved within the new client folder named RelayChain can be specified by using a new configuration setting named _BESClient_Relay_Chain_Days.

For more details about the setting, see Relay Management.

Failed Registration Scenario 1

In the following example, if the relay chain is not available, the string N/A is displayed instead of the computer ID. This error occurs, for example, when the client is at Patch 13 level and the relay/server is at an older level.

A Sample TXT file is displayed below:

At 23:36:01 +0100 - F - N/A

Failed Registration Scenario 2

In the following example, the error GetURL Failed refers to a failed registration caused by a communication issue between two components inside the relay chain.

A Sample TXT file is displayed below:

At 08:04:55 +0100 - F - GetURL Failed

Failed Registration Scenario 3

In the following example, the registration failed at Relay with ID 6843826.

A Sample TXT file showing the relay chain is displayed below:

At 16:25:44 +0100 - F - r:6843826(relay1_hostname)
- r:1083414982(relay2_hostname) - c:12183892(client_hostname)

Viewing the relay chain on the BigFix server

After running the Fixlets named "TROUBLESHOOTING: Run BES Client Diagnostics" on Windows and "TROUBLESHOOTING: Run BES Client Diagnostics (Linux/UNIX/Mac)" on Linux and macOS, the BESClient data is uploaded to the BigFix server in the Upload Manager directory. Among other data, also the relay chain information of the client gets uploaded.

You can view the client relay chain information in the following BigFix server directory:

Windows: BigFix_Server_installation_path\UploadManagerData
Where the server installation path is by default C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Server
Linux: BigFix_Server_installation_path/UploadManagerData
Where the server installation path is by default /var/opt/BESServer