Software repositories migration

The Software Distribution Upload Manager is a stand-alone tool that helps you to upload any packages that already exist in your deployment before installing Software Distribution.

The tool uploads your packages to the IBM® BigFix server. You can use the dashboard to create related default Software Distribution tasks.

Before BigFix can deploy software packages, it needs a tool to analyze, archive, and upload those packages to the IBM BigFix server. The tool is called uploadmanager.exe. This tool requires access to the IBM BigFix server and database. You can find the tool on your IBM BigFix server in the BES Server\BESReportsServer\wwwroot\SiteData\bes_bfenterprise\Sites\Software Distribution folder. The tool must be copied to a working directory before use.

The tool can be used to create a script to import a library in two ways:

  • A script can be written to produce a list of directory names that are passed into the Upload Manager as an inputdirslist. This process is the ideal approach for libraries that are structured. For example, if the software repository reliably follows the pattern of /VENDOR/PRODUCT/VERSION folders, a simple listing of those folders is sufficient.
  • A script can be written that iterates the file system and calls the tool repeatedly on a per product directory basis. This process is the ideal approach for libraries that are not structured, in which the external script must test a directory for applicability.

Packages that are uploaded in this manner have their files uploaded and their metadata entered with estimated values derived from file analysis. To generate Fixlets using these estimated values, select the uploaded packages and click Create Default Tasks.

Note: All Fixlets generated in this manner are marked as Validation Required.

For access to the upload manager, see the BigFix software download website. For detailed usage instructions, see this technote.

Return codes

Use the following uploadmanager.exe return codes when troubleshooting failures:
Return Code 0 = success  
Return Code 1 = incorrect command line usage
Return Code 2 = partial upload failure
Return Code 4 = full upload failure          
Return Code 8 = dsn login failed
Return Code 16 = json error;
Return Code 32 = compression partial failure
Return Code 64 = compression full failure
Return Code 128 = file access error
Return Code 256 = tempfile deletion failure
Return Code 512 = database query error
Return Code 1024 = Invalid file/folder error