Automatically assigning relays to existing clients

You can configure clients to automatically find the closest relay and point to that computer instead of the server. This is the recommended technique, because it dynamically balances your system with minimal administrative overhead. Clients can determine which relays are the fewest number of hops away, so your topology is optimized.

This behavior is key when your network configuration is constantly shifting as laptops dock and undock, as computers start up or shut down, or as new hardware is added or removed. Clients can dynamically assess the configuration to maintain the most efficient connections as your network changes.

To make sure that your clients are set up to automatically discover relays run the following steps:

1. Start up the Console and select the BigFix Management Domain. From the Computer Management folder, click the Computers node to see a list of Clients in the list panel.
2. Shift- and ctrl-click to select the set of computers you want to automatically detect relays. Press Ctrl-A to select the entire set of clients.
3. Right-click this highlighted set and choose Edit Computer Settings from the pop-up menu. Depending on whether you selected one or more computers, the dialog boxes are slightly different. Typically, you select all the Clients in your network, so you will see the multiple-select dialog.
4. Check Relay Selection Method.
5. Click Automatically Locate Best Relay.
6. Click OK.