Prerequisites for installing the BigFix DEX application

This topic provides information on the prerequisites applicable for installing the BigFix DEX application.

Before you begin

  • Windows server version must be 2019 or above.
  • SQL server version must be 2019 or above.
  • IIS should be installed and configured on to the DEX server. To cross check if IIS is installed or not press Window+R the type inetmgr in the run option and click enter. If nothing is populating that means IIS is not configured in the system.

About this task

Perform the below steps to configure the prerequisites:

Procedure

  1. To configure the IIS, perform the below steps:
    1. In Windows, navigate to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on or off.
    2. Select the Internet Information Services checkbox and
      select OK. The IIS installation might require a reboot.
    3. In the Add Roles and Features Wizard dialogue box, go to Before You Begin and click Next.
    4. Click Installation Types, select Role-based or feature-based installation and click Next.
    5. Click Server Selection, select Select a server from the server pool, and click Next.
    6. In Server Roles, select the following options:
      • Web Server (IIS): Web Server
        • Common HTTP Features: Default Document, Directory Browsing, HTTP Errors, Static Content, HTTP Redirection, WebDAV Publishing
        • Health and Diagnostics: HTTP Logging, Custom Logging, Logging Tools, Request Monitor, Tracing
        • Performance: Static Content Compression
        • Security: Request Filtering, Basic Authentication, Centralized SSL Certificate Support, Client Certificate Mapping Authentication, Windows Authentication
        • Application Development: .NET Extensibility 3.5, . NET Extensibility 4.7, ASP, ASP.NET 3.5, ASP.NET 4.7, CGI, ISAPI Extensions, ISAPI Filters
      • Management Tools: IIS Management Console, IIS 6 Management Compatibility, IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility, IIS 6 WMI Compatibility, IIS 6 Management Scripts and Tools, Management Service
    7. In Features, select the following options:
      • .NET Framework 3.5 Features (all options)
      • .NET Extensibility 4.7 Features (.NET Framework, ASP. NET 4.7, WCF Services - TCP Port Sharing)
  2. Supported version of .NET Hosting Bundles, framework, SDK required for the all the MyXalytics components on to the DEX server. These bundles, framework, SDK are available on the Microsoft Official website. The currently supported version is mentioned below and all the Hosting Bundles and SKD’s need to installs Links are mentioned in the version below just click on the versions to download.
    1. .NET Framework: 4.8 (Need to restart the server)
    2. Hosting bundle: (*)
      • 6.0 (Go to Run apps – Runtime and install ASP.NET Core Runtime)
      • 8.0 (Go to Run apps – Runtime and install ASP.NET Core Runtime)
    3. .NET SDK: (*)
      • 6.0 (Go to Run apps – Runtime and install ASP.NET Core Runtime)
      • 8.0 (Go to Run apps – Runtime and install ASP.NET Core Runtime)
      Note: (*): All versions are required.
  3. Open the PowerShell window.
    To open PowerShell on Windows type PowerShell into the search bar.

    To launch the PowerShell console, right-click on the Windows PowerShell application in the list and select Run as administrator.

    WinRM should be enabled on the machine (the system in which we are going to install the application as well as the other systems/machines where the other subcomponents like DME service/Metric service/Web API/schedular service will install.).

    DEX server’s IPs need to be added as trusted host to allow remote communication with DEX server during the installation process.
    How to enable: Run the below command as per given sequence. where IP address is the IP of DEX Prod Application Server.
    • Enable-PSRemoting
    • Set-Item wsman:\localhost\Client\TrustedHosts -value <IP Address>
      • For Single Server: Set-Item wsman:\localhost\Client\TrustedHosts -value 10.1.xxx.xx
      • For multiple server: Set-Item wsman:\localhost\Client\TrustedHosts -value '10.1.xxx.xx,10.1.xxx.xx'
      Note: The above command will override the already configured IPs under trusted hosts list.
  4. Create TEMP folder in C: drive if it does not exist.
  5. DEX Server’s Port should be free and accessible for use (for that we need to go to the IIS of the server and check the ports which are not in use only those need to be added)
  6. DEX Server should have a valid service account(integration account) with Admin privileges to establish the connectivity. User should be part of administrative group.
  7. DEX database instance should have a local SQL/Domain account with sysadmin privileges.
  8. To get the mailer we need to configure the SMTP relay in each MyXa server (App/Web) but its not a blocker.
  9. For AD integration the user should know the domain name. AdUserid and AdPassword is optional.
  10. The Service/Local account should have user right "Log on as a service."
    How to do:
    • Press Windows+R and type in Secpol.msc.
    • Press enter to launch the Local Security Policy Management Console.
    • Go to Local Policies > User Rights Assignment .
    • Right click on the Log on as a service policy and select Properties.
    • Click the Add User or Group button and type in the desired account name.
    • Click OK.
  11. BigFix source database must be renamed to 'BFInsights' for the DEX system to start collecting DEX scores and other metrics.
    In case the name of BigFix source DB is different then DEX will not collect the score and metrices data. To overcome the issue, we must run the below query in MYXA DME config database
    USE MXDMEConfig
Update SourceTable SET SourceQuery=REPLACE(SourceQuery,'BFInsights.dex.','BigFixSourceDBName.dex.')
FROM sourcetable WHERE vcTableID IN (SELECT vcSourceTableID FROM JobMaster WHERE jobname LIKE
'__dex%' AND active='Y')

    In above query, MXDMEConfig is the name of the MyXa DME config database and 'BigFixSourceDBName' is the name of Bigfix source database.

  12. In order to collect the DEX scores and other metrics from the BigFix, the BigFix database 'BFInsights' and the DEX databases need to be hosted on the same database server. In case 'BFInsights' database and DEX databases are on different servers then configure the bridge between these databases by following two steps:
    • Create a linked server setup
    • Update the source query of DEX ETL jobs through below query
    USE MXDMEConfig
UPDATE SourceTable SET
SourceQuery=REPLACE(SourceQuery,'BFInsights.dex.','[MyRemoteServer\SQL2018].[BFInsights].dex.')
FROM sourcetable WHERE vctableid in (SELECT vcsourcetableID FROM Jobmaster WHERE jobname LIKE
'__dex%' AND active='Y')
    In the above query, MXDMEConfig is the name of the MyXa DME config database and MyRemoteServer\SQL2018 is the name of the link server.
  13. The URL Rewrite module must be installed in IIS of the machine where MyXa web application is deployed. To verify whether the URL Rewrite module is installed or not, open the IIS manager in the machine where MyXa web application is to be deployed. Click on the machine name in left pane and check whether ‘URL Rewrite’ module is available in the IIS section in right pane. If it does not appear in the IIS section, you must download the binary from below link and install in the machine.
    URL Rewrite : The Official Microsoft IIS Site
    Note: Make sure that you install the binary as per your machine configuration (x86/x64) from the above link.