- Installing and configuring the email notification service
You can use the email notification service to send automatic email notifications to notify you about the completion status of Baselines that you run. To use this notification feature, you must first install the notification service by running a Task. After you have installed the service, you must configure it by running another Task.
- Configuring FillDB
The FillDB process runs on the BigFix Server system and is responsible for storing the information returned from the BigFix Agents into the BigFix database.
- Configuring ODBC data sources
How to use Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC) to set up and configure ODBC Data Sources with BigFix.
- Configuring the number of Web Reports results
To avoid excessive use of memory when displaying Web Reports results on Explore Computers reports, you can configure the MaxReportResults keyword. This keyword sets the maximum number of rows that can be displayed in a web report. Its default value is 1000000.
- Managing Daylight Saving Time (DST) for Web Reports
By default, Web Reports track scheduled activity next attempt times using UTC rather than the local time zone.
- FIPS 140-2 cryptography in the BigFix environment
BigFix uses the BigFix Cryptographic Module to perform cryptographic functions throughout its environment.
- Managing Client Encryption
Server and relay-bound communications from clients can be encrypted to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information. To enable it, you must generate a key and provide a value on clients for the setting named _BESClient_Report_Encryption.
- Message Level Encryption (MLE) Overview
Message Level Encryption (MLE) allows your Clients to encrypt upstream data using a combination of an RSA public/private key-pair and an AES session key.
- Changing the Client Icon
By default, the icon in the upper left corner of the client UI is the BigFix logo.
- Client UI main actions
The BigFix Client UI is used to display message boxes to the end users logged on to the client computer (including pre-action messages, action running messages, and restart/shutdown messages).
- Optimizing the servers
BigFix operates efficiently, with minimal impact on network resources. However, there might be installations that stretch the recommended configurations, where there are too many clients for the allotted server power.
- Optimizing the consoles
To be responsive, the console requires reasonable CPU power, memory, and cache space.
- Managing Bandwidth
File downloads consume the bulk of the bandwidth in a typical installation. You can control the bandwidth by throttling, which limits the number of bytes per second.
- Managing Downloads
BigFix uses several methods to ensure that downloads are efficient and make the best use of available bandwidth. Among other techniques, caching is used extensively by all the BigFix elements, including servers, relays, and clients.
- Customizing HTTPS for downloads
This page describes the usage of CA bundles in HTTPS downloads and how to customize them.
- Creating custom client dashboards
You can create custom Client Dashboards, similar to those in the console. Dashboards are HTML files with embedded Relevance clauses that can analyze the local computer and print out the current results.
- Geographically locating clients
Because clients are often deployed in remote offices, it is useful to create a property that lets the clients report their own location.
- Locking clients
You can change the locked status of any BigFix client in the network. This lets you exclude specific computers or groups of computers from the effects of Fixlet actions.
- Editing the Masthead on Windows systems
You can change default parameters stored in the masthead by using the BigFix Administration Tool.
- Editing the Masthead on Linux systems
To modify the masthead, run the following command as super user.
- Obfuscating server passwords
You can replace the passwords on the server with obfuscated passwords, by indicating the type of password that you want to replace and the new password.
- Modifying Global System Options
To modify a few basic system defaults, such as the minimum refresh time and the Fixlet visibility, perform the following steps.
- Extending the BigFix License
When you first request your action site license, you are issued a license for a specific period of time. Before your license expires, BigFix warns you, giving you sufficient time to renew your license.
- Re-creating Site Credentials
Private and public key encryption creates a chain of signing authority from the BigFix root down through the Site Administrator and including each console operator.
- Creating special custom sites whose name begins with FileOnlyCustomSite
You might delete special custom sites whose name begins with FileOnlyCustomSite that are generated to propagate files to agents accidentally or purposely, for example, when performing a gather reset. You can recreate them by using the PropagateFiles.exe tool.
- Configuring Client CPU Utilization
How to configure the amount of CPU the BigFix client uses on an endpoint machine.
- Customizing Client UI message strings
You can customize the Client UI message strings. It is possible to alter the English text output and also to change any of the localizable string translations by using the XLAT files for the Client UI. The Client UI XLAT files default location for a 64-bit machine is C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Client\BESLib\Reference.