Welcome
Installation Guide
Learn the system requirements, licensing and installation instructions, and how to configure and maintain BigFix.
Installing on Windows systems
Now that you understand the terms and the administrative roles, you are ready to get authorized and install the programs.
Installing the components
You have now created a private key, requested and received a certificate, used the certificate to create a masthead, and then generated the various installation components, including the BigFix Installation Guide.
Installing the Console
The BigFix Console lets the operator monitor and fix problems on all managed computers across the network.

BigFix Documentation Homepage
BigFix 11 Platform Documentation
Welcome to the BigFix Platform documentation, where you can find information about how to install, maintain, and use BigFix.
Detailed system requirements
The content of this page has moved to the HCL Support site. You will be redirected shortly. If the auto-redirect fails for some reason, use this link: https://support.hcltechsw.com/csm?id=kb_article&sysparm_article=KB0104120.
Platform guides in PDF format
Following is a list of links to the BigFix Platform user guides in PDF format:
Common Criteria Certification
BigFix 10.0.1.41 complies with the requirements of the standard ISO/IEC 15408 (Common Criteria) v. 3.1 for the assurance level: EAL2
Getting Started
Use this section to become familiar with BigFix infrastructure and key concepts necessary to understand how it works.
HTTPS across BigFix applications
This topic describes how the SSL/HTTPS communication works in BigFix applications and links the tasks on how to configure it.
Installation Guide
Learn the system requirements, licensing and installation instructions, and how to configure and maintain BigFix.
- Introduction
  BigFix aims to solve the increasingly complex problem of keeping your critical systems updated, compatible, and free of security issues. It uses patented Fixlet technology to identify vulnerable computers in your enterprise. With just a few mouse-clicks you can remediate them across your entire network from a central console.
- BigFix Platform Unicode Support Overview
  BigFix Platform V11 gathers data from BigFix clients deployed with different code pages and languages. It encodes all data into UTF-8 format, and reports it back to the BigFix server.
- Sample deployment scenarios
  The following deployment scenarios illustrate some basic configurations taken from actual case studies.
- Requirements and assumptions
  BigFix runs efficiently using minimal server, network, and client resources.
- Types of installation
  Before you install the product, decide if you want to do an evaluation or production installation.
- Managing licenses
  You must obtain a license key before you can install and use BigFix.
- Before installing
  Before running the installation make sure that you read the following topics and run the requested activities if needed.
- Installing on Windows systems
  Now that you understand the terms and the administrative roles, you are ready to get authorized and install the programs.
  - Installing and configuring DB on Cloud
    Starting from BigFix Version 11 Patch 2, the Windows Server installation introduces the support of Windows (2019 or later) with Google Cloud SQL for Microsoft SQL Server 2022 database.
  - Downloading BigFix
    Download BigFix from the HCL License & Delivery Portal (Flexnet).
  - Performing an evaluation installation
    When performing a fresh installation of BigFix Server Version 11, you can either perform an evaluation installation or a production installation.
  - Requesting a license certificate and creating the masthead
    Before you perform the steps below, you must have purchased a license and obtained a BigFix license authorization file (*.BESLicenseAuthorization) using your License Key Center account or, in the case of a Proof-of-Concept evaluation, that was provided to you by your HCL Technical Sales Representative.
  - Installing the components
    You have now created a private key, requested and received a certificate, used the certificate to create a masthead, and then generated the various installation components, including the BigFix Installation Guide.
    - Managing the Server ID limit
      The Server ID is the identifier of the BigFix server.
    - Installing the Windows primary server
      The BigFix server is the heart of the system. It runs on a server-class computer on your network, which must have direct Internet access as well as direct access to all the client computers in your network.
    - Running the BigFix Diagnostics tool
      The BigFix Diagnostics tool verifies that the server components are working correctly.
    - Installing the Client on Windows
    - Installing the Console
      The BigFix Console lets the operator monitor and fix problems on all managed computers across the network.
    - Installing Web Reports Standalone
      By default, the Web Reports component is installed along with the BigFix server.
    - Installing the WebUI Standalone
      Use this procedure to install the WebUI on BigFix Version 11.
  - Removing the BigFix components from Windows
    You can have one or more BigFix components installed on a local system and you can decide to remove one or all of them at the same time.
  - DSA on Windows
- Installing on Linux systems
  After understanding the terms and the administrative roles, you are ready to actually get authorized and install the programs.
- Installing the clients
  Install the BigFix client on every computer in your network that you want to administer, including the computer that is running the console.
- BigFix Administration Tool
  The BigFix Administration Tool, also called BESAdmin, is the tool we use to perform configuration changes and maintenance operations.
- Post-installation configuration steps
  After having run the installation, make sure that you read the following topics and run the requested activities if needed.
- Managing relays
  Relays can significantly improve the performance of your installation.
- Introduction to Tiny Core Linux - BigFix Virtual Relay
  Follow the step-by-step sequence of operations needed to build the virtual machine, from the downloading of the ISO image to the complete setup and configuration of the BigFix Virtual Relay.
- Setting up a proxy connection
  If your enterprise uses a proxy to access the Internet, your BigFix environment can use that communication path to gather content from sites.
- Running backup and restore
  You can schedule periodic backups (typically nightly) of the BigFix server and database files, to reduce the risk of losing productivity or data when a problem occurs by restoring the latest backup.
- Upgrading
  The steps to upgrade the BigFix Platform.
- SQL Server parallelism optimization
  The performance of an SQL Server database instance can often be improved by small tweaks. Performance might also be hindered by simple oversights. In fact, some SQL Server parallelism settings have suboptimal default values. Moreover, they have to be re-tuned after an hardware upgrade. Other issues might arise from inadvertent hardware configurations, especially when SQL Server is hosted on a virtual machine (VM).
- Known limitations and workarounds
  This section describes the known limitations and possible workarounds.
- Logging
  This section describes the log files associated with the BigFix components.
- Uninstalling the BigFix client
  To uninstall the BigFix client installed on the various operating systems, see the following sections.
Configuration Guide
Learn how to configure BigFix according to your needs.
Console Operator's Guide
Learn how to work with the BigFix Console.
Asset Discovery User's Guide
Learn how BigFix Asset Discovery works.
Web Reports Guide
Learn how the Web Reports feature extends the power of BigFix.
BigFix Explorer Guide
Learn how the BigFix Explorer feature extends the power of BigFix.
WebUI User's Guide
Read this guide for an introduction to the WebUI tools, concepts, and terminology.
WebUI Administration Guide
Read this guide for information about installing and administering the WebUI.
Glossary
This glossary provides terms and definitions for the Modern Client Management for BigFix software and products.

Installing the Console

The BigFix Console lets the operator monitor and fix problems on all managed computers across the network.

It can be installed on any computer that can make a network connection via HTTPS port 52311 to the server. Except in testing or evaluation environments, do not run the console on the server computer itself due to the performance and security implications of having the publisher key credentials on a computer that is running a database or web server.

To install the BigFix Console on a Windows BigFix Server machine, follow these steps:

Run the Installation Guide (Start > Programs > BigFix > BigFix Installation Guide).
On the BigFix Installation Guide panel, click Install or Upgrade Console.
When prompted, enter the installation location for the Console. The default location is C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Installers\Console. To choose another destination, click Browse and navigate to the desired location. Click Next to continue.
After the files are installed, click Finish to complete the installation. You can now choose to launch the Console, or continue to the next section to install the Clients.

To install the BigFix Console on a Windows machine with the BigFix Client, use the Fixlet "Install BigFix Console (Version X)" available in the BES Support site. For example, to install the BigFix Console Version 11 GA, use the Fixlet named "Install BigFix Console (Version 11.0.0)".

To install the BigFix Console on a Windows machine without the BigFix Client, follow these steps:

From the Windows BigFix Server machine C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Installers directory, copy the "Console" folder on the machine where you intend to install the Console.
Replace the masthead.afxm file in the "Console" folder with an updated version. The updated version can be taken from the BigFix Server directory C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Server and it is named ActionSite.afxm, or it can be downloaded from the http://servername:port/masthead/masthead.afxm site.
Run the setup.exe, located in the "Console" folder, to start the installation of the BigFix Console.

For more details about using the BigFix Console, see the BigFix Console Users Guide.