Welcome
Catalog Overview
This section provides information about catalog updates available with every release.
Software Data Harvesting
We are introducing a BigFix Inventory Catalog Enhancement program. The purpose of this program is to provide BigFix Inventory clients with better discovery capabilities adjusted to software installed on their Windows endpoints.
Architectural design
Data harvesting

BigFix Documentation Homepage
BigFix 11 Inventory Documentation
Welcome to the BigFix Inventory documentation, where you can find information about how to install and configure BigFix Inventory. The application provides you with information about your inventory and license metrics. You can manage your software assets, gather information about your hardware, and ensure license compliance for your enterprise using BigFix Inventory.
BigFix Platform
Overview
Become familiar with key concepts that are necessary to understand how BigFix Inventory works and learn about features and functions that are introduced in every version of the application.
Installing
Learn about the requirements and available installation scenarios to ensure that the deployment of BigFix Inventory goes smoothly in your environment.
Configuring
After you install BigFix Inventory, configure the application. Create accounts for the users who need access to the application and set up scans to collect software and hardware inventory data from your environment.
Upgrading
A new version of BigFix Inventory is released periodically, typically at the end of each calendar quarter. Upgrade to the new version regularly to take full advantage of new features and application fixes.
Catalog Overview
This section provides information about catalog updates available with every release.
- What's new in this Catalog release
  BigFix Inventory provides new features and enhancements that facilitate your work with the application. For more information, follow BigFix Forum - Inventory (Release Announcements).
- Catalog End-of-Support data schedule
  Learn about the catalog end-of-support data schedule about the publishers.
- Software Data Harvesting
  We are introducing a BigFix Inventory Catalog Enhancement program. The purpose of this program is to provide BigFix Inventory clients with better discovery capabilities adjusted to software installed on their Windows endpoints.
Managing the infrastructure
After you complete the initial configuration of BigFix Inventory, learn how to manage components of its infrastructure: VM managers, server, database, and data sources.
Software inventory and license utilization
You can classify the discovered software so that reports in BigFix Inventory reflect your entitlements and properly show utilization of license metrics by particular products.
Managing security threats
Learn how to use BigFix Inventory to manage security threats in your environment. You can view whether any of the installed components is prone to any Common Vulnerability and Exposure (CVE).
Tutorials
Tutorials help you understand how to use BigFix Inventory. They consist of modules that focus on broad goals. Modules consist of tasks that show how to configure specific settings step-by-step.
Security
Configure different security features to adequately protect business assets and resources in the data model when using BigFix Inventory.
Troubleshooting and support
Learn about solutions to common problems that might arise when you use BigFix Inventory BigFix Inventory and how to find logs and trace files that help you troubleshoot those problems.
Tuning performance
Learn how to plan the infrastructure of BigFix Inventory and to configure the application server to achieve optimal performance. The following guidelines are applicable in big data environments as well as in smaller environments that are running on low-performance hardware.
Integrating with REST API
External systems integration is one of the key features of BigFix Inventory. Business logic is enabled for integration and interfaces are provided for common integration points.
Glossary
Guide in PDF format

Data harvesting

Harvesting program is written in VBscript in combination with relevance to get information from the sources mentioned under Scope of the Harvesting tool.

All harvested data is saved at <BigFix client folder>\LMT\HARVESTER when run from fixlet and in standalone script folder, when run with the script.

Given below are the different scanners:

Main

This module calls other sub-module scanners in a sequence and ensures that each step has been run.

Scanners

Registry scanner for data from uninstall registry
Process scanner for data from windows task manager
Shortcut scanner for data from desktop shortcuts and pinned applications and start menu
Windows services scanner for data from windows services
Executable scanner for data from all executables that includes information pointed from point 1 to 5, and readme/license files found for the executables
Uploader compresses the JSON files and error logs, and uses BigFix Archive Manager to upload the compressed file on BigFix server and then clean up the output files and logs.

Note:

The output JSON is generated at C:\<parent folder of client>\ BESData\Harvester\ and the logs are collected at C:\<parent folder of client>\ BESData\Harvester\Logs.
When the harvester is run, the execution starts from the beginning, after deleting the contents of C:\<parent folder of client>\ BESData\Harvester\.
The program is deployed on the endpoints by embedding it in a fixlet. The Harvesting tool can be run as a standalone program also.
When harvester is run independently and manually without any parameters, the execution starts from the beginning. The output is timestamped in a compressed file.