Configuration Options

The configuration options enable you to set the deployment options. The options available for you depends on how your BigFix administrator has configured it.

On the left pane you can navigate to the configuration categories to set the available configurations. Click the icon to know some information about a configuration. The Deployment Summary shows the summary of all the configurations you have set, which you can review before deploying. The deployment options are listed below.

Run

You can configure the time zone, time, date, day, and much more from here.

• Time Zone: You can select Client time or UTC time. Client Time is the local time on a BigFix client's device. Coordinated Universal Time is the primary standard for regulating clocks and time worldwide. This selection affects all the time-related parameters.
• Set Start and End Time: Schedule a deployment to start or end at a specific time; for example, to reduce network load a0nd device-holder inconvenience. When scheduling across time zones you can schedule actions to start in the past, relative to your own time zone. The option Immediately starts the deployment immediately after you click the deploy button. The option No end date creates open-ended deployment which does not have expiry date and runs continuously and checks whether endpoints comply. For more information, see the Glossary.
• Run between hours: Defines a period during which the action can be run. This functionally starts at the specified time, only if all the other conditions are valid.
• Run on selected: You can select one or more days in a week to run this deployment regularly.
• Run all member actions: This option is only visible when you have multiple actions. Actions in a multiple action group run sequentially and stop on the first action that fails. Select this option  to instruct the MAG to ignore a failure and proceed to the next action. Use this option when the actions in a MAG do not depend on the actions that precede them. 
  Note: This option appears only when you have multiple actions.
• Run Only When Select the check box to set a condition. Select the condition from the dropdown lists and specify a value for the condition .
• Retry: Select the check box to configure when to retry deployment on failure.
• Reapply action: Select the check box to configure when to reapply the action.
• Download: Select this check box to download deployment files immediately regardless of the start time schedule. Pre-cache deployment-related files, transferring them from a vendor's server to a BigFix server before deployment. You can save time when working with large files or a tight maintenance window by completing this part of the job first.
• Stagger deployment times to reduce network load: Enter an interval in hours and minutes.

Users

Allows you to specify whether or not you require a logged-on user (or specified group of users) to be present before running the Action.

• Run action: Select an option to run the deployment depending on the log in status.
• Select users: Select if the deployment needs to be run for all users, users in a local session, or users in a group. If you select group, enter the name of the group and click Insert.

Messages

Specify informative messages to be displayed on the targeted Clients, along with options for user interaction.

• Before running action: Select this option to display the message on targeted computers before the deployment running.
• While running action: Select this option to display the message on targeted computers while the deployment is running.

Send a Notification

Trigger an email alert when a deployment fails or completes. Enter one or more recipients in the To: field, separating multiple addresses with a comma.

• Send on Failure - enter a threshold value (1 - 250,000) to receive an email if the deployment fails on the specified number of devices.
• Send on Completion - check the box to receive an email when the deployment completes on all targets. Note: this notification option is not available when targeting computer groups.

Offer

Configure to enable the device owners to accept or decline an action and to control when the deployment can run. For example, whether or not to install an application, or to run an installation at night rather than during the day. An action that is made into an 'Offer' becomes available in the list of offers in the client UI on applicable machines. Users can browse through the list of available offers and apply those that they are interested in. Offers will only be visible to users selected on the 'Users' tab and on machines where the client Offer UI is enabled. To configure, select the Send this as an offer check box, enter the offer description. Select the Notify me of offers check box to notify when there is an offer.

Note: Do not send an offer as an open-ended deployment. Open-ended offers can cause problems for device owners, such as an optional piece of software they cannot permanently remove.

Offer options:

• ONLY to the Software Distribution Client dashboard - Display software offers on the Client UI’s Software Distribution Client Dashboard when it is enabled on the device, and the Self-Service Application is not enabled. When the Self-Service Application is enabled, all offers display there.
• Notify users of offer availability -  Include a notification on the endpoint that a new offer is available.
• Offer Description - Enter a description of the action in the box provided. The description will be presented to users. You can change fonts, sizes, styles, numbering, and formatting to customize the description. If the offer contains multiple actions the name of each component is included by default.

Post-Action

Specify a follow-up behavior for the Action.

• Do nothing: Select this option to do nothing after the action is run.
• Restart the computer: Select this option to restart the computer after the action is run.
  • Prompt before restarting: Displays the message to the active user. Send the default message or enter the message title and text in the text boxes.
  • Allow me to cancel restart: Allows the user to cancel the restart after the deployment.
  • Set a deadline in minutes, hours, or days from the drop down and select an option to restart automatically at deadline or show the action message at the top until the user accepts.
• Shut down the computer: Select this option to shut down the computer after the action is run.
  • Prompt before shut down: Displays the message to the active user before shutting down the computer. Send the default message or enter the message title and text in the text boxes.
  • Allow me to cancel shut down: Allows the user to cancel the shutdown after the deployment.
  • Set a deadline in minutes, hours, or days from the drop down and select an option to shut down automatically at deadline or show the action message at the top until the user accepts.

Applicability relevance

This tab is also available from the following dialogs from the console:

• Take action
• Take multiple actions
• Edit Computer Settings

Specify the criteria to use to judge the relevance of a Fixlet action.

• When the relevance from the original Fixlet or Task Message evaluates to true: Select this option to confirm the relevance expression set in the default action. It is strongly recommended that you use the original Relevance expression. However, you can also customize it to better suit your needs.
• When the following custom relevance evaluates to true: Select this option to modify the existing relevance expression or to specify a new relevance expression to suite your needs.

Success criteria

Define the conditions under which the action is considered to be successful. Select one of the following options:

• When the applicability relevance evaluates to false

  This is the default success criteria, requiring that the Relevance statement that made the action applicable is no longer TRUE. Because the Relevance statement notices a problem and the action fixes it, this is generally sufficient to establish success.

• When all lines in the action script are correctly completed

  You can make success dependent on completing all steps of the action script.

• When the following custom relevance evaluates to false

  You can use a special Relevance clause to ensure that the action has accomplished it goals. In this case, the text box in the screen becomes editable, and you can create a new or revise an existing Relevance clause.

Action script

In general you are recommended to use the action script provided with the Fixlet or task. However, sometimes it might be useful to align the action script to your environment and business needs. The Action Script tab of the Take Action dialog allows you to modify the action script. There are two options in this dialog:

• From the original Fixlet or Task message

  This is the default for most Fixlet actions and is the recommended option.

• From the custom action script

  You can select one of the following options and either modify the existing script or enter a new script in the text area. Select the type of action script that you want to use for this script:

  • BigFix Action Script

    This is the BigFix standard scripting language for actions. For more information about the action language, see https://developer.bigfix.com/action-script/ the Action Script Language section in the BigFix Developer web site (https://developer.bigfix.co m).

  • AppleScript

    This is the scripting language of Apple for controlling computer resources.

  • SH

    The action is a shell script to be run by a Linux or a UNIX or a bsd shell.

  • PowerShell

    Starting from version 10.0.4, BigFix gives you the possibility to run PowerShell scripts too.

    You can run on a selected Windows Client the script that you write in the Action Script text box. The script runs on the PowerShell installed by default by your Windows operating system in the C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0 directory, if available, or in C:\Windows\SysWOW64\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0.

    The script is executed by default using the -ExecutionPolicy Bypass option. To avoid using this option, you can use the _BESClient_PowerShell_DisableExecPolicyBypass client setting described in the Miscellaneous section of the List of settings and detailed descriptions page.

    Since they are executed in hidden mode, PowerShell scripts requiring user interaction or showing pop-up windows or dialog boxes are not supported and might cause the action to remain in running status or the script to display an error in the log file.

Note: By default, actions cannot be undone. Make sure to test your action on a small scale before you deploy it in your entire network.

Pre/Post Execusion script

This option becomes available when you deploy a baseline. You can write the action script in BigFix Action Script, AppleScript, SH, or PowerShell.

• Pre-execution: Write the script to run before excuting this multiple action group.
• Post-execution: Write the script to run after excuting this multiple action group.