Configuring the Software Distribution Self Service Portal

Console operators can use the Software Distribution Self Service Portal Setup and Configuration wizard to install the components that are required for the portal.

Before you begin

Ensure that you meet the following criteria:

You must set up an LDAP server.
You must have at least IBM BigFix version 9.0.0 or later installed.

About this task

The Software Distribution Self Service Portal Setup and Configuration wizard provides an easy, step-by-step guided process to configure the required components. This wizard checks and notifies you of the status of each of the required steps.

These steps do not apply to multi-tenant environments or where more than one Self Service Portal or Trusted Service Provider are deployed. Such cases require manual configuration of the components. For more information about multitenancy setup, search for Multitenancy in the IBM BigFix wiki at https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/wikis/home?lang=en#/wiki/Tivoli%20Endpoint%20Manager/page/Home.

Note: If you already configured the Trusted Service Provider and the Self Service Portal, skip this task and complete the following actions:

Run the appropriate upgrade Fixlets.
Run the Enable Software Distribution for Self Service Portal task.

Procedure

From the Systems Lifecycle domain, click Software Distribution > Setup > Software Distribution Self Service Portal Setup.
Click Activate to activate the necessary analyses to view the dashboard.
Deploy and configure the Trusted Service Provider, if you have not already done so. The Trusted Service Provider manages the communication between the IBM BigFix server and an external LDAP server.
Note: If you already configured the Trusted Service Provider, skip the following steps and run the appropriate upgrade Fixlets.
1. Click Deploy Trusted Service Provider to run the Fixlet that is used to install the Software Distribution Trusted Service Provider.
  Note: The Trusted Service Provider must be installed on a computer that can access the LDAP server and can be accessed from the Self Service Portal.
2. Click Configure Authentication to direct the Trusted Service Provider to your external LDAP server and to set your credentials. The Configure Authentication dialog displays.
  Figure 2: Configure Authentication dialog
3. Enter the LDAP server information. This information is provided by your LDAP administrator.
  Note: You can choose the LDAP login attribute that the endpoint users use to log in to the Self Service Portal. For example, it can be an email address or a user ID.
4. Click Test Settings to check that you can communicate with your LDAP server.
5. Enter the host name of the Trusted Service Provider. The host name is pre-populated and does not need to be changed in most circumstances.
6. Click Configure Authentication to create and run the action.
Deploy and set up the Self Service Portal to communicate with the Trusted Service Provider, if you have not already done so.
Note: If you already configured the Self Service Portal, skip the following steps and run the appropriate upgrade Fixlets.
1. Click Deploy Self Service Portal to install the portal.
2. Click Configure Self Service Portal. The Configure Self Service Portal dialog displays.
  Figure 3: Configure Self Service Portal dialog
3. Enter the information to access the web reports.
4. Enter the credentials for the console operator.
5. Configure the SSL settings, if necessary.
6. Click Configure SSP to create and run the action.
  Note: Configuring the Self Service Portal creates two actions in the console. Ensure that both actions complete before you proceed. These actions can take several minutes to complete.
When you have successfully configured the Self Service Portal, the URL to access the portal displays in the dashboard.
Attention: Software Distribution and Mobile Device Management share the SSP component. Do not unsubscribe from the Mobile Device Management site without removing the Mobile Device Management specific extenders. Doing so can cause issues with the URL.
Figure 4: Self service portal URL
Click Enable Software Distribution for Self Service Portal, if you have not already done so.

Results

The wizard shows that you completed all the required steps as shown in the following screen capture:

Figure 5: Successfully installed and configured the software distribution Self Service Portal.

Configuration files for the Trusted Service Provider and the Self Service Portal are created in the folder path_to_TEM_Server_directory\MDM Provider\config. The default path is C:\Program Files\BigFix Enterprise\Management Extender\MDM Provider\config.

What to do next

Use Trusted Service Provider and Self Service Portal diagnostic pages and configuration files to ensure that these components were successfully configured.

For the Trusted Service Provider

Use the Trusted Service Provider diagnostics page to check whether the Trusted Service Provider was successfully configured.
This page examines SSL certificates, and attempts to connect to the LDAP and to BigFix. It also attempts to perform a sample relevance query.
The URL syntax for the Trusted Service Provider diagnostic page is as follows: https://<your_host_name>/diagnostics
Check the configuration file.
1. Open the tsp-config.yaml file, which can be found in path_to_TEM_Server_directory\MDM Provider\config. The default path is C:\Program Files\BigFix Enterprise\Management Extender\MDM Provider\config.
2. Reconfigure the Trusted Service Provider if any one of the following fields is missing:
  - :organization_name:
  - :hostname:
  - :ldap_admin_user:
  - :ldap_admin_pass:
  - :wr_path:
  - :wr_user:
  - :wr_pass:
  - :tem_user:
  - :tem_pass:
  - :tem_server:

For the Self Service Portal

Use the Self Service Portal diagnostics page to check whether the Self Service Portal was successfully configured.
This page examines the connection to the Trusted Services Provider, which is required for authenticated enrollment.
The URL syntax for the Self Service Portal diagnostic page is as follows: https://<your_host_name>/ssp/diagnostics
Check the configuration file.
1. Open the ssp-config.yaml file, which can be found in path_to_TEM_Server_directory\MDM Provider\config. The default path is C:\Program Files\BigFix Enterprise\Management Extender\MDM Provider\config.
2. Reconfigure the Self Service Portal if any one of the following fields is missing:
  - :install_mode:
  - :organization_name:
  - :tsp_host:
  - :tsp_port:
  - :hostname: