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Integrating
External systems integration is one of the key features of BigFix Inventory. Business logic is enabled for integration and interfaces are provided for common integration points.
REST API
Managing large amounts of information by using the application user interface can be time-consuming. You can use the REST APIs as an alternative to the graphical user interface to reduce the time that is needed to manage your software inventory and the content of your software catalog.
REST API associations
Available from 9.2.8. For REST APIs in version 2, you can use associations to retrieve additional data as part of API requests. For example, you can retrieve detailed information about computer hardware as part of the software_instances API request.

Integrating
External systems integration is one of the key features of BigFix Inventory. Business logic is enabled for integration and interfaces are provided for common integration points.
- REST API
  Managing large amounts of information by using the application user interface can be time-consuming. You can use the REST APIs as an alternative to the graphical user interface to reduce the time that is needed to manage your software inventory and the content of your software catalog.
  - Software Products and Software Components
    BigFix Inventory detects software components which are bundled with the product.
  - REST API resources and HTTP methods
    The operations of the BigFix Inventory REST API protocol are defined as HTTP methods on certain REST resources.
  - Common REST API elements
    You use connectors and operators to build query segments that filter on matching conditions and values.
  - Mapping REST API versions
    Available from 9.2.8. For some REST APIs, version 2 is created to provide improved functions or experience. In such cases, the original API becomes deprecated with time and only version 2 is further developed. If you have custom tools or internal processes that are based on such REST APIs, it is best to adjust the tools to use the new version of the APIs.
  - REST API for retrieving authentication token
    You use the POST operation on the api/get_token element to request your unique token that is required to authenticate the REST API requests.
  - REST API for retrieving the BigFix Inventory version
    You use the GET operation on the api/sam/about element to request information about the version of BigFix Inventory.
  - REST API for retrieving raw scan results
    Available from 9.2.2. Retrieving raw scan results through REST API is intended to improve the monitoring of your environment by allowing you to quickly discover software that was installed or modified recently. By using shortened data imports, data about your software reaches the server much quicker, and at the same time allows you to increase the number of imports that you can run each day.
  - REST API for software inventory management
    You can reduce the time needed to manage your software inventory in a large environment by using REST API instead of the application user interface. You can use REST API to get a list of software products, releases, and release instances. You can also find out how your software can be bundled.
  - REST API for software classification
    You can reduce the time that is needed to manage your software instances in a large environment by using REST API instead of the application user interface. You can use REST API to share instances, include or exclude instances from a pricing calculation, confirm and assign instances, and reassign instances.
  - REST API for managing VM managers
    You can use REST API requests to add and change VM managers in your infrastructure.
  - REST API for changing advanced server settings
    Available from 9.2.3. You can change the parameters of the BigFix Inventory server by using REST API.
  - REST API for retrieving computer systems, clusters, software instances, and license usage
    You can use this REST API to quickly retrieve large amounts of data related to your computer systems, clusters, software instances, and license usage. Once the data is retrieved, it can be passed to other applications for further processing and analysis.
  - REST API for retrieving software inventory and metric utilization and classifying software (v2)
    Available from 9.2.8. You can use REST API requests to quickly retrieve large amounts of data related to license metric utilization as well as your software inventory, including historical data about uninstalled software. You can then pass this data to other applications for further processing and analysis.
  - REST API for hardware (v2)
    Available from 9.2.8. You can use REST API requests to quickly retrieve large amounts of data related to hardware inventory, including historical data about removed computers. You can then pass this data to other applications for further processing and analysis.
  - REST API for setting and deleting the end of support date
    Available from 9.2.11. You can set and delete the end of support date for any software component by using REST API.
  - REST API for adding and removing tags
    Available from 9.2.14. You can add and remove tags for any software component by using REST API.
  - REST API for export and import of saved report views
    You can use REST API requests to export a saved report view from one instance of BigFix Inventory and import it to another instance of the application.
  - REST API for import of contracts
    You can use REST API requests to import contracts from a csv file.
  - REST API for updating the Oracle core factor
    Available from 9.2.8. You use the PUT operation on the api/v1/servers element to change the processor core factor that is applied to a group of servers for the purpose of calculating utilization of the Oracle Processor Core metric.
  - REST API associations
    Available from 9.2.8. For REST APIs in version 2, you can use associations to retrieve additional data as part of API requests. For example, you can retrieve detailed information about computer hardware as part of the software_instances API request.
    - component_cpe association
      Available from 9.2.12. Use the component_cpe association to retrieve information about the discovered component as specified in the Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) dictionary as part of other REST API requests.
    - computer association
      Available from 9.2.10. Use the computer association to retrieve information about details of the computer and custom computer properties as part of REST API requests.
    - computer_details association
      Available from 9.2.10. Use the computer_details association to retrieve information about details of the computer and custom computer properties as part of REST API requests.
    - computer_health association
      Available from 9.2.8. Use the computer_health association to retrieve information about health of the computer, such as the status of software scans, or version of the installed BigFix client, as part of REST API requests.
    - computer_hardware association
      Available from 9.2.8. Use the computer_hardware association to retrieve detailed hardware information as part of other REST API requests.
    - cve association
      Available from 9.2.13. Use the cve association to retrieve information about Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) that were matched with a particular component through its detailed version as part of other REST API requests.
    - discovery_details association
      Available from 9.2.11. Use the discovery_details association to retrieve details of a file that caused component discovery as part of a REST API request. The details include the name and size of the file as well as the path under which it was found.
    - designated_computer association
      Available from 9.2.12. Use the designated_computer association to retrieve information about computers that were designated to scan shared disks as part of other REST API requests.
    - mounted_shared_disks association
      Available from 9.2.12. Use the mounted_shared_disks association to retrieve information about shared disks that are mounted on each computer as part of other REST API requests.
    - release_component_lifecycle association
      Available from 9.2.13. Use the release_component_lifecycle association to retrieve information about when a component reaches its end of support as part of other REST API requests.
    - shared_disk_members association
      Available from 9.2.12. Use the shared_disk_members association to retrieve information about computers on which shared disks are mounted as part of other REST API requests.
    - tags association
      Available from 9.2.14. Use the tags association to retrieve information about tags as part of other REST API requests.
    - usage_data association
      Available from 9.2.8. Use the usage_data association to retrieve information about application usage as part of other REST API requests.
- Integrating with IBM Control Desk
  IBM Control Desk is an integrated service management solution that helps you manage a comprehensive range of IT processes, services, and assets. You can use one of its components, Integration Composer, to import and then process data from external applications, like BigFix Inventory.

REST API associations

Available from 9.2.8. For REST APIs in version 2, you can use associations to retrieve additional data as part of API requests. For example, you can retrieve detailed information about computer hardware as part of the software_instances API request.

Syntax

To retrieve the additional data, use the following syntax of the query:

<URL>?columns[]=<association>.<column>&token=<token>

Where:

<URL> is the REST API request
<association> is the name of the association from which you want to retrieve the column
<column> is the name of the column that you want to retrieve
<token> is the unique user authentication identifier

For example:

GET api/sam/v2/software_instances?columns[]=computer_health.catalog_version
&token=7adc3efb175e2bc0f4484bdd2efca54a8fa04623

Note: Use API associations to retrieve information that cannot be obtained directly through an existing API.