Device Explorer

The Device Explorer lets you view, monitor, and act on all the devices connected to your BigFix environment. Use the Overview page for a high-level, chart-based summary, and the List view page to work with device inventory in a customizable table.

To open the Device Explorer, expand Explore in the side navigation and select Devices. Use the view icons in the top-right corner to switch between the Overview (charts) page and the List view page. Both pages show an Updated timestamp that indicates when the data was last refreshed.

Note: Devices appear in the Device Explorer only if BigFix manages them. A device is managed when the BigFix Agent is installed and reporting. Proxied devices also appear, but the BigFix UI doesn't support them. BigFix discovers and manages proxied devices through remote proxy components, such as the Proxy Agent or Plugin Portal. The BigFix UI doesn't support correlated devices either. For more information, see Correlated devices.

Device Explorer – Overview page

The Overview page provides a high-level summary of your device environment through quick links and interactive charts. Use it to monitor device health, reporting status, remediation needs, and group distribution before you drill down into individual device data.

The top-right corner includes an Export (share) icon that exports the current page data and a Device groups icon that opens the Device Groups page. For more information, see Device Groups.

Quick links

The Quick links section at the top of the page provides fast access to commonly monitored device conditions. Each tile shows a count.

Table 1. Quick links
Quick link	Description
Total devices	The total number of devices that BigFix currently manages.
Devices requiring critical remediations	The number of devices that are missing security-critical patches or updates and require immediate attention.
Devices requiring at least one remediation	The number of devices that require any remediation, both critical and non-critical.
Workstations that haven't reported in 30 days	Workstation devices that haven't reported to BigFix in the last 30 days.
Servers that haven't reported in 48 hours	Server devices that haven't reported to BigFix in the last 48 hours.
Devices that lack maintenance windows	Devices that don't have an associated maintenance window.

Note: When a tile's count appears as a link, select it to open the Devices table filtered to the matching devices. Counts that aren't links are for reference only. Chart elements, such as segments of a donut or bar chart, are for visualization only and don't filter the table.

Charts

The Charts section presents high-level metrics as interactive chart widgets.

Table 2. Overview charts
Chart	Description
Device type by report date	Shows device counts grouped by device type based on their most recent report date, over a selected period such as the last 7 days.
OS family (top 5 by count)	Displays the top five operating system families in your environment, ranked by the number of devices.
Device groups (top 5 by member count)	Shows the five device groups with the most member devices, with the group name and member count. Select View all to open the Device Groups page.
Devices in maintenance Windows	Shows the number of devices in active maintenance windows. Select a month tab to view the distribution across the days of that month.

Each chart has a See data in data table format with download options icon in its top-right corner. Select it to view the chart's data as a table that you can copy or export. for more information, see Viewing chart data in a table.

Device Explorer – List view page

The List view page is the central workspace for managing and monitoring the endpoints in your environment. Use it to view inventory data in a customizable table, build charts from device properties, and run administrative actions on one or more devices. The page is organized into a view and utility bar, a collapsible Charts section, a command bar, and the device list table.

View and utility bar

The view and utility bar in the top-right corner manages the overall display and reporting features.

Table 3. View and utility bar controls
Control	Description
More options (three vertical dots)	Opens a menu with Prescriptive Guidance, which provides actionable recommendations based on best practices, and Export report, which downloads the tabular report for offline analysis. For more information, see Prescriptive Guidance and Exporting Data.
Filter (funnel icon)	Displays a subset of devices based on criteria that you define. For more information, see Filtering Data.
Manage reports	Saves, loads, and organizes custom reports that you generate in the BigFix UI. For more information, see Manage Reports.
Device groups (icon)	Opens the Device Groups page, where you view and manage static and dynamic device groups. For more information, see Device Groups.
View icons	Switch between the Overview (charts) page and the List view page.

Charts and Configure chart

The collapsible Charts section creates and displays custom visualizations from device inventory data. A badge next to the title, such as 0 charts set, shows how many charts are defined. Select the collapse icon (upward arrow) to hide the section. Use the Configure chart pane to create a chart. All fields are mandatory.

Table 4. Configure chart fields
Field	Description
Chart's name	A descriptive name that identifies the chart. Required.
Chart's Property	The device property to visualize, such as OS, CPU, or device type. Required. The dropdown lists all available properties.
Chart type	The visual format for the data, such as a bar chart or pie chart. Required.
Create chart	Generates the chart and adds it to the Charts section. This button stays dimmed until you complete all required fields. If the selected property has no data, the tile shows No Data Available.
Cancel	Closes the Configure chart pane without saving.

After you create a chart, select the More options icon on a chart tile to Edit or Delete it. To delete multiple charts, select the checkbox on each tile, or Select All, and then select Delete chart.
Each chart has a See data in data table format with download options icon in its top-right corner. Select it to view the chart's data as a table that you can copy or export. for more information, see Viewing chart data in a table.

Command bar

The command bar, directly above the table, is the primary area for adjusting the table and acting on devices.

Table 5. Command bar controls
Control	Description
Column	Chooses which device attributes appear as columns. Search for a property, select or clear checkboxes to show or hide columns, select Reset to restore the default columns, and select Apply to save. You can display a maximum of 63 columns.
Density	Adjusts the row spacing of the table.
View selected only	When turned on, limits the table to the devices that you selected. A counter, such as 1 of 8 Devices, shows how many devices are selected.
Select action	Runs a command on the selected devices. Select at least one device checkbox to enable the commands. See #device-explorer__select-action-table.
Remediate	Deploys a fix or configuration task to the selected devices. This button stays dimmed until you select at least one device that requires remediation.
Search	Filters the list as you type a keyword, such as a computer name or ID.

The Select action dropdown provides the following commands for the selected devices.

Table 6. Select action commands
Command	Description
Set maintenance window	Defines a period for updates or maintenance on the selected devices. For more information, see Managing Device Maintenance Windows.
Update client settings	Modifies configuration settings for the BigFix client on the selected devices. For more information, see Update Client Settings.
Unset maintenance window	Removes an existing maintenance schedule from the selected devices. For more information, see Managing Device Maintenance Windows.
Remove device(s)	Removes the selected devices from the inventory. Delete devices.
Add to static group	Adds the selected devices to a static device group. For more information, see Device Groups.

Device list table

The device list table displays details about the discovered devices in your environment. Select a device's Computer Name to open its Device Details page.

Each column header includes a sort icon: select it once to sort ascending, again to sort descending, and again to clear the sort. The table can include the following columns.

Table 7. Device list table columns
Column	Description
Number	The order in which BigFix added the device.
Computer Name	The BigFix computer name assigned to the device. Select it to open the Device Details page.
BES Relay Selection Method	How the device selected its relay: Automatic (selected by BigFix) or Manual (manually configured).
BES Relay Service Installed	Whether a BES Relay service is installed on the device, such as BES Root Server or Not Installed.
Device Type	The type of device, such as Server or Workstation.
Distance to BES Relay	The distance between the device and its assigned relay.
DNS Name	The fully qualified DNS name of the device.
ID	The unique BigFix identifier assigned to the device.
In Maintenance Windows	Whether the device is currently associated with a maintenance window, such as yes, no, or not set.
IP Address	The IP address reported by the device at its last check-in.
Last Report Time	When the device last reported to BigFix.
MAC Address	The MAC address of the device network interface.
OS Family	The operating system family, such as Windows or Linux.
OS Name	The specific operating system installed on the device.
OS Version	The operating system version number.
Relay	The relay server currently assigned to the device.
Relay Name of Client	The relay name as reported by the client.

Note: The columns that appear depend on your Column selection. When a value isn't available, the cell shows No data.