Welcome
Remote Control
BigFix Remote Control application helps to communicate between different components, clients, and endpoints within BigFix environment.
Remote Control Administrators Guide
This guide is for users who want to administer Remote Control.
Set a secure environment
Set a secure environment when you are using Remote Control.
Configure the server URL
Configure properties to allow the target to use a secure URL to communicate with the BigFix® Remote Control Server.
Enforce an HTTPS logon

BigFix Documentation Homepage
BigFix 11 Lifecycle Documentation
Welcome to the BigFix Lifecycle documentation, where you can find information about how to install, maintain, and use BigFix Lifecycle.
BigFix Platform
BigFix Query
Lifecycle overview
BigFix Lifecycle is single-agent, single-console technology that provides near real-time visibility into the state of endpoints.
Lifecycle guides in PDF format
Following is a list of links to the BigFix Lifecycle guides in PDF format:
Software Distribution
Use the BigFix Software Distribution applications to deploy software to endpoints across your network from a single location. Maintain control and visibility into software delivery and installation. Device owners can use the Self Service Application to manage software and other BigFix actions that are deployed to them as offers.
OS Deployment
BigFix OS Deployment, which is part of the BigFix Lifecycle Management suite, provides a consolidated, comprehensive solution to quickly deploy new workstations and servers throughout a network from a single, centralized location. This solution saves time and money, enforces a standardized and approved image, and reduces risks associated with non-compliant or insecure configurations.
Remote Control
BigFix Remote Control application helps to communicate between different components, clients, and endpoints within BigFix environment.
- Release notes
  A summary of changed or new features and enhancements included in BigFix Remote Control.
- Remote Control Installation Guide
  By using Remote Control you can remotely support and control thousands of PCs and servers, on an enterprise scale, from a central location or directly, in peer to peer mode.
- Remote Control Administrators Guide
  This guide is for users who want to administer Remote Control.
  - Set a secure environment
    Set a secure environment when you are using Remote Control.
    - Configure the server URL
      Configure properties to allow the target to use a secure URL to communicate with the BigFix® Remote Control Server.
      - HTTPS URL is enabled by default during installation
      - Enabling HTTP access
        During a new server installation, the option to use HTTPS in target to server communication is selected by default. You can also enable HTTP communication.
      - Disable the HTTP port
      - Enforce an HTTPS logon
      - Secure communication configuration
    - Protocol configuration after a server upgrade
      When you upgrade by using the server installer program and select to keep existing properties, you must configure properties after installation if you change your protocol selection.
    - Signed certificate management
      By default, Remote Control creates a self-signed certificate for the website.
    - Setting password rules
      You can use properties in the trc.properties file to create a set of password rules. The rules can define the type of passwords that can be created, how the passwords must be created, and whether the passwords must be periodically changed.
    - Lock user accounts
      You can lock users accounts after a number of unsuccessful logons so that someone cannot guess a user name and password combination.
    - Automatic passphrase encryption
      For security purposes, plain text passwords that are contained in the broker, gateway, target, and CLI component configuration, are now automatically encrypted. Use the DisableAutomaticPassphraseEncryption property to determine whether the passwords are automatically encrypted or not.
    - Enforcing strict HTTPS validation of certificates
      You can configure Remote Control to enforce strict HTTPS validation of certificates. All HTTPS connections from the target, broker, CLI, and controller are verified and the connection fails if the certificate is not trusted.
  - Secure target registration
    To prevent unauthorized targets from registering with the Remote Control server, you can use tokens to authenticate the target.
  - Configure SAML 2.0 authentication on the server
    Remote Control V9.1.3 introduced support for SAML 2.0 authentication on the Remote Control server.
  - Access the server web interface
    After you install the BigFix® Remote Control Server software and the BigFix Remote Control Target software, you can log on to the server application. For more information about installing and configuring the server and target software, see the Remote Control Installation Guide
  - Using the Deployment Status Dashboard
    The Deployment Status Dashboard provides a quick view of the system and brokers health status.
  - Unattended Target Support
    The Unattended Target Support feature allows you to take remote control sessions of targets that are connected through a broker, without the need to provide a connection code. In strict remote control terminology, an unattended target is a managed target that performs Call Home through a broker.
  - Unlocking user accounts
    When a user account is locked, you can unlock the account by using the Unlock locked userid feature.
  - Manage targets and target groups
  - Manage users and user groups
  - Server session policies
  - How session policies are determined
  - Starting a managed session by using an installed controller
    When you start a managed session, you can configure the server to use an installed controller rather than using the Java™ Web Start method. Note that the Java Web Start plugin method is deprecated in Remote Control starting from Version 10.0.0 Update 8 (Build Number 0802). This feature makes starting a session faster and it removes any warning message windows that are displayed while the session is starting.
  - Manage permission sets for temporary access to targets
  - Requests for temporary access to targets
  - Generate custom reports
  - Manage the home page for a user or group
  - Adding tables and columns to queries
  - Configuration and troubleshooting options in the Admin menu
  - Ensure targets are registered correctly
  - Record the session on the target
  - Set up for exporting recordings
  - Audit log distribution
  - Access targets on different networks
  - Editing the properties files
    You can use the properties files in Remote Control to customize your environment, configure Microsoft Entra ID or LDAP, set debug options, and set controller and on-demand target properties. The files can be edited in the BigFix® Remote Control Server UI.
  - Running tools on the target during a remote control session
  - Reduce the volume of target connections to the server
  - Broker configuration
    When you install broker support you can use the installed trc_broker.properties file to configure your environment for using the broker function.
  - Managing brokers
    After installing broker support you can register the broker machines in the Remote Control server. When they have been registered you can view the list of brokers, edit the broker details and delete brokers that are no longer required.
  - Certificate management
    Remote Control uses certificates in the Server and in the Broker to address the authentication and verification required for ensuring secure connections between the different product components.
  - Migrating to a new certificate
    If your existing certificates are due to expire, you can create new certificates. Distribute the new certificates to the relevant endpoints so that they can continue to successfully establish remote control sessions through the broker.
  - Configuring the session connection code
    You can define the number of characters required and the timeout value, for the connection code used when starting a remote control session through a broker.
  - Target registration before a remote control session
    When you have targets that are on the internet or third-party networks and cannot register directly with the Remote Control server you can configure server properties to allow the target to register with the server. When the target registers, you can start a remote control session with the target, by using a broker.
  - Configure target properties
  - Importing data from other sources
  - Database table and column descriptions
  - Troubleshooting and Help
  - Gateway sample scenarios
  - Properties for configuring logging activity
    Use properties to determine what type of information and how much is written to the broker, gateway, and target component log files.
  - Override proxy
    The controller uses the proxy defined at system level by default. In some conditions, this may not be desirable. Creating a file named “override.proxy” in the controller install folder changes the default behavior and the system proxy is ignored
- Remote Control Console User Guide
- BigFix Remote Control Controller Users Guide
- Remote Control Target Users Guide
- Remote Control On-demand Target Guide
  Use Remote Control to start remote control sessions over the internet with targets that do not have the target software installed.
- Remote Control V10 Readme
Power Management
Use Power Management to control, monitor, and manage conservation policies in your deployment.
Application Control
BigFix Application Control provides a robust framework for managing application usage within an organization. It allows administrators to define policies that dictate which applications can or can not be run on endpoints, thereby enhancing security and compliance.
Server Automation
Server Automation provides powerful automation. You can use it to sequence automation actions in steps across multiple endpoints.
Profile Management
Profile Management is a WebUI-based feature of BigFix Lifecycle. It provides Security Administrators the capability to define and deploy security policies to Windows 10 and macOS devices.
BigFix Remediate
BigFix MCM

Enforce an HTTPS logon

You can configure properties to force logons from the server UI to use HTTPS, by editing the trc.properties file. In a new server installation, the following properties are all set to True by default.

enforce.secure.weblogon=


Modifiable field	enforce.secure.weblogon
Field Description	Make the default log on action from the web UI use HTTPS. This property requires secure.url to be set with the full host name.
Possible Values	True or False
Value Definition	True Logons from the BigFix® Remote Control Server UI use HTTPS. Logons that use HTTP through another tool or page are not prevented. HTTPS is not shown in the URL, but the logon page with USERID/PASSWORD is posted as HTTPS. The secure.url parameter is used. If this property is set incorrectly, the logon does not succeed. This value is the default value. False Log on by using HTTP or HTTPS, whichever is entered in the browser URL.

enforce.secure.alllogon=


Modifiable field	enforce.secure.alllogon
Field Description	Force any logon action to use HTTPS, deny any logon that does not use HTTPS. This property requires secure.url to be set with the full host name.
Possible Values	True or false
Value Definition	True Any logon attempt that uses HTTP is rejected and redirected to the logon page. This value is the default value. False Log on by using HTTP or HTTPS, whichever is entered in the browser URL.

The difference between the parameters is as follows. Use the enforce.secure.weblogon parameter to ensure that the user ID and password are passed from the logon page and posted over HTTPS regardless of the URL. However, you can still log on by using HTTP either through a custom page or another tool. Use enforce.secure.alllogon to prevent all logons that are using HTTP. The logon link rejects any connection that is not HTTPS, when enforce.secure.alllogon is set.

Note: The secure.url property must be set with a proper host name, not localhost.