Retrieval of software instances
You use the GET
operation on the api/sam/software_instances
element
to request information about software installed in your infrastructure.
api/sam/v2/software_instances
REST API. If you have custom tools or
internal processes that are based on api/sam/software_instances
REST API, it is
best to adjust the tools to use the new version of the API. For information, see: Mapping columns between software_instances and v2/software_instances REST API.https://hostname:port/api/sam/software_instances?token=token
- To use this API, you must be assigned to the All Computers group and have the View Endpoints permission.
- Each API request must be authenticated with the token parameter. You can retrieve it by using REST API for retrieving authentication token. You can also log in to BigFix Inventory, hover over the User icon , and click Profile. Then, click Show token.
- By default, the retrieved data is sorted by
id
.
Operation details | Description |
---|---|
Operation | GET /api/sam/software_instances |
Purpose | Returns a list of software. |
HTTP method | GET |
Resource URI | https://server_host_name:port_number/api/sam/software_instances |
URL link relation | n/a |
URI query parameters | For a list of applicable query parameters, see: Query parameters. |
Request headers |
Used to negotiate the language of the response. If this header is not specified, the content is returned in the server language. |
Request payload | n/a |
Request Content-Type |
|
Response headers |
Specifies the content type of the response. |
Specifies the language of the response content. If this header is not specified, the content is returned in the server language. |
|
Specifies the data import status. |
|
Specifies the percentage progress of a data import. |
|
Specifies the status of the last data import. |
|
Specifies the time of the last successful data import. |
|
Response payload | Software Instances element |
Response Content-Type |
|
Normal HTTP response codes |
|
Error HTTP response codes |
Message body includes an error message with details. |
Query parameters
Parameter | Description | Required | Value |
---|---|---|---|
columns[] | Specify which columns to retrieve. If you do
not specify this parameter, a set of default columns is retrieved.
Example: Retrieve the name and version columns:
|
No | String |
order | Specify how to sort the returned data. The default
direction for sorting columns is ascending. If you want to specify
a descending sort, append desc to the column name.
Example: Order by computer system ID descending:
|
No | String |
limit | Specify the number of rows to retrieve. If you omit this parameter, all rows are retrieved. | No | Numeric |
offset | Specify the number of rows to skip for retrieving
results. You can use it together with the limit parameter to paginate
results. Example: Retrieve 50 records starting after record 150:
|
No | Numeric |
token | A unique user authentication identifier. You can view your token in the Profile preferences of BigFix Inventory. | Yes | Alphanumeric |
criteria | Retrieve records which match specific
conditions. The parameter should have the following structure, written
on one line:
For more information about operators, see Common connectors and operators. Example: Retrieve software
instances whose publisher name contains "IBM" OR the last seen date
within a specific date range:
For
columns that use the date and time values, such as Last Seen, you
can retrieve data also for a period instead of a specific date. To
do so, use last or next as <operator>,
and then specify the time value in the following convention: PxD/PxW/PxM/PxY,
where x is a number in the 1-999 range, and D, W, M, or Y is a designator
that represents days, weeks, months, or years respectively. For example,
to retrieve software instances that reported within last 7 days, use
the following API request:
|
Example HTTP conversation
- Request
GET api/sam/software_instances ?token=7adc3efb175e2bc0f4484bdd2efca54a8fa04623 Host: localhost:9081 Accept: application/json Accept-Language: en-US
- Response header
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Content-Type: application/json Content-Language: en-US
- Response body (JSON)
- If a particular entry is hidden by default, it is not retrieved
by using the general URL. To retrieve such data, you must use query
parameters to specify the name of the hidden column. For example,
you can retrieve the
computer_id
andsoftware_title_name
columns by using the columns[] parameter:URL?columns[]=computer_id&columns[]=catalog_dimension.software_title_name
{ "id": 123, "software_fact_id": 123, //hidden by default "computer_system_id": 3, "computer_id": 3, //hidden by default "discoverable_guid": "0768fb15-383c-4124-a7e2-0d76dda06874", "default_product_guid": "78d380e0-9fb9-11e3-a151-005056872dc7",//hidden by default "first_used": null, "last_used": null, "valid_from": "2014-04-02T14:24:04Z", "valid_to": "9999-12-31T23:59:59Z", "updated_at": "2014-04-02T14:24:04Z", "signature_count": 1, "total_time": 0, "total_runs": 0, "avg_run_time": null, "avg_runs_per_day": null, "process": null, "deleted": false, //hidden by default "catalog_dimension": //hidden by default { "software_title_name": "BigFix Platform Agent", "publisher_name": "IBM", "software_title_version_name": "BigFix Platform Agent", "software_title_release_name": "BigFix Platform Agent", "version": "9.0" } }