Enabling the fixlet site without Internet access

If the BigFix server cannot access the Internet, use the Airgap tool to enable the fixlet site. When the site is enabled and the content loaded, use the BES Download Cacher to download and cache the files on the BigFix server.

About this task

To complete the following procedure, you need two computers:
  • Linux computer on which the BigFix server is installed
  • Windows computer with Internet access

Procedure

  1. Log in to a Windows computer with Internet access and download the Airgap tool.
    Important: Ensure that the version of the Airgap tool that you download corresponds with the version of your BigFix server.
  2. Create a request file to obtain the list of fixlet sites to which you are entitled.
    1. Log in to the Linux computer where the BigFix server is installed.
    2. Go to the BigFix server installation directory, by default /opt/BESServer/bin, and run the following command to start the Airgap tool. 
      ./Airgap.sh -remotedir /directory
      Where directory is the directory in which the airgap.tar file is created.
    3. Extract the airgap.tar file. 
      tar xvf airgap.tar
    4. Copy the extracted AirgapRequest.xml file to the Windows computer, and place it in the folder that contains the downloaded BESAirgapTool.exe file.
    5. On the Windows computer, run the BESAirgapTool.exe file. This action exchanges the request file for a response file.
    6. Copy the AirgapResponse file to the Linux computer, and place it in the /opt/BESServer/bin directory.
    7. Run the Airgap tool again on the Linux computer. 
      ./Airgap.sh -run
  3. Enable the BigFix Inventory site.
    1. Log in to the BigFix console.
    2. In the bottom-left corner of the console, click BigFix Management.


    3. In the left navigation panel, click License Overview.


    4. In the pane on the right, locate the entry called Inventory, and accept the license agreement.
    5. From the list of available sites, enable the IBM BigFix Inventory v9 site.
      Tip: If there is no site called Inventory, select the site called BigFix for Software Use Analysis v9.
  4. To create a request file to load the content into the site, repeat step 2.
  5. Subscribe all computers that you want to monitor to the BigFix Inventory fixlet site so that its content becomes applicable to these computers.
    1. Log in to the BigFix console.
    2. In the left navigation panel, click Sites > External Sites > IBM BigFix Inventory v9.
    3. In the pane on the right, open the Computer Subscriptions tab, and select All Computers. Click Save Changes.
      The BigFix Inventory.efxm file is created on the server.
  6. Cache the content of the fixlet site on the BigFix server.
    1. On the computer where the BigFix server is installed, go to the install_dir/BESServer/wwwrootbes/bfsites directory. Copy the BigFix Inventory.efxm file to a Windows computer with Internet access, and place it in the C:\BigFix directory.
    2. In the C:\BigFix directory create a folder called downloads.
    3. Run the BES Download Cacher with the following command: 
      BESDownloadCacher.exe -m "C:\BigFix\BigFix Inventory.efxm 
-x C:\BigFix\downloads

      The BES Download Cacher downloads approximately 1 GB of required files.

    4. Optional: The default cache size is enough if you use only the IBM BigFix Inventory v9 fixlet site. However, if you plan to run fixlets from other sites, such as BES Support, increase the cache size so that the BigFix server does not try to delete any files.
      1. Log in to the BigFix console.
      2. In the left navigation panel, click Computers and right-click the computer on which the BigFix server is installed. Then, click Edit Computer Settings.
      3. Increase the value of the _BESGather_Download_CacheLimitMB setting. If the setting is not on the list, add it and specify the value in MB.
        Tip: The size depends on each fixlet site, however you might need to increase it to at least a couple of gigabytes.
    5. Copy the contents of the downloads folder from the computer with Internet access to the following directory on the computer where the BigFix server is installed: 
      install_dir/BESServer/wwwrootbes/bfmirror/downloads/sha1

Results

You enabled the BigFix Inventory fixlet site and loaded its content.

What to do next

Download the BigFix Inventory installer to a selected computer and start the installation.