Assign targets to target groups

When targets are registered in the server, they are assigned to target groups. The policies and permissions that are set for the groups are used to determine what the target members can or cannot do during a remote control session.

For more information about creating target groups, see Creating target groups. For more information about how policies and permissions are granted for remote control sessions, see How policies are determined for a remote control session.

Targets can then be assigned to target groups using the following methods.

The Default Target Group

By default the default target group name is DefaultTargetGroup. You can change the default target group name changing the default.group.name property in the trc.properties file on the server.

The target is assigned to the default target group when the other available methods are not used or when they do not assign the target to any group.

The Manage group membership Feature

You can use the Manage group membership feature to add targets to target groups thus making them members of the selected groups. This action must be performed after a new target is made known to the server.

The Target Group Label Parameter

You can also assign targets to target groups by using the GroupLabel target parameter thus letting the target define the target groups it belongs to. This assignment can occur during initial target registration or during subsequent target triggered callhomes. To enable the GroupLabel processing during initial target registration set the allow.target.group.override to Yes. To enable the GroupLabel processing during triggered call homes the allow.override.at.triggered.callhomes to Yes. Both properties are in the trc.properties file on the server.

When a managed target deployment occurs from the BigFix console it is not possible to define the GroupLabel parameter. In this case you can:

  • Deploy the target as Peer to Peer and then use the Target Configuration Wizard and make the target managed setting the GroupLabel as desired. In this case set target.group.override to Yes.
  • The default GroupLabel value "DefaultTargetGroup" indicates that the Default Target Group as defined on the server is to be used. However if the GroupLabel property includes the DefaultTargetGroup in a list of groups like "DefaultTargetGroup;MyOtherGroup", the DefaultTargetGroup will be considered as a target group.
  • Deploy the target as Managed and then use the Target Configuration Wizard to set the GroupLabel as desired. In this case set allow.override.at.triggered.callhomes to Yes.
Note:
  • It is not possible to remove a target group membership by removing the target group from the GroupLabel parameter even if the allow.override.at.triggered.callhomes is set to Yes. Use the Manage group membership feature to change the Target Group assignment in this case.

  • You could leverage BigFix Relevance language as in this example to define the target group membership.

    If {distinguished name of local computer of active directory contains "OU=Group1,DC=PROD,DC=HCLPNP"}
"GroupLabel"="TESTGroup1"
else
"GroupLabel"="DefaultGroup;OtherGroup"
Endif

The Target Membership Rules

You can also assign targets to target groups by creating target membership rules. The rules can be used to automatically assign targets to specific groups when they contact the Remote Control server. For more information about target membership rules, see Use rules to define target membership.
Note: If you define rules and the target group override function is also enabled, the target is assigned to the target groups that are defined for both options.