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BigFix Platform
  • BigFix Documentation Homepage
  • BigFix V9.5 Platform Documentation
  • Getting Started
  • Platform guides in PDF format
  • Detailed system requirements
  • HTTPS across BigFix applications
  • Installation Guide
  • Configuration Guide
  • Console Operator's Guide
  • Asset Discovery User's Guide
  • Web Reports Guide
  • Glossary
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  1. Home
  2. Installation Guide

    Learn the system requirements, licensing and installation instructions, and how to configure and maintain BigFix.

  3. BigFix Administration Tool

    The BigFix Administration Tool, also called BESAdmin, is the tool we use to perform configuration changes and maintenance operations.

  4. BESAdmin Windows GUI

    The Installer automatically creates the BigFix Administration Tool when it installs the other components of the Console program.

  5. Replication

    The fourth tab opens the Replication dialog.

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  • Installation Guide

    Learn the system requirements, licensing and installation instructions, and how to configure and maintain BigFix.

    • Introduction

      BigFix aims to solve the increasingly complex problem of keeping your critical systems updated, compatible, and free of security issues. It uses patented Fixlet technology to identify vulnerable computers in your enterprise. With just a few mouse-clicks you can remediate them across your entire network from a central console.

    • BigFix Platform Unicode Support Overview

      BigFix Platform V9.5 gathers data from BigFix clients deployed with different code pages and languages, encode the data into UTF-8 format, and report it back to the BigFix server.

    • Sample deployment scenarios

      The following deployment scenarios illustrate some basic configurations taken from actual case studies. Your organization might look similar to one of the examples below, depending on the size of your network, the various bandwidth restrictions between clusters and the number of relays and servers. The main constraint is not CPU power, but bandwidth.

    • Requirements and assumptions

      BigFix runs efficiently using minimal server, network, and client resources.

    • Types of installation

      Before you install the product, decide if you want to do an evaluation or production installation.

    • Managing licenses

      You must obtain a license key before you can install and use BigFix.

    • Before installing

      Before running the installation make sure that you read the following topics and run the requested activities if needed.

    • Installing on Windows systems

      Now that you understand the terms and the administrative roles, you are ready to get authorized and install the programs.

    • Installing on Linux systems

      After understanding the terms and the administrative roles, you are ready to actually get authorized and install the programs.

    • Installing the clients

      Install the BigFix client on every computer in your network that you want to administer, including the computer that is running the console.

    • BigFix Administration Tool

      The BigFix Administration Tool, also called BESAdmin, is the tool we use to perform configuration changes and maintenance operations.

      • BESAdmin Windows GUI

        The Installer automatically creates the BigFix Administration Tool when it installs the other components of the Console program.

        • Masthead Management

          Click the first tab to view the Masthead Management dialog.

        • System Options

          The second tab opens the System Options dialog.

        • Advanced Options

          The third tab opens the Advanced Options dialog.

        • Replication

          The fourth tab opens the Replication dialog.

        • Encryption

          The fifth tab opens the Encryption dialog.

        • Security

          Click the sixth tab to open the Security dialog.

        • Computer Remover

          Click Run Now in the BES Computer Remover section to remove computers.

        • Audit Trail Cleaner

          Use this tool to clear historical data, used as audit trail, from the bfenterprise database.

        • Property ID Mapper

          After updating a property you must run the Property ID Mapper tool to update the PropertyIDMap table of the BFEnterprise database with the corresponding changes.

      • BESAdmin Windows Command Line

        The installation automatically downloads the BigFix Administration Tool program BESAdmin.exe, in the %PROGRAM FILES%\BigFix Enterprise\BES Server directory.

      • BESAdmin Linux Command Line

        The BigFix Server installer places the script to run the BigFix Administration Tool, BESAdmin.sh, in the /opt/BESServer/bin directory.

      • Logging Cleanup Tasks Activities
    • Post-installation configuration steps

      After having run the installation, make sure that you read the following topics and run the requested activities if needed.

    • Managing relays

      Relays can significantly improve the performance of your installation.

    • Introduction to Tiny Core Linux - BigFix Virtual Relay

      Follow the step-by-step sequence of operations needed to build the virtual machine, from the downloading of the ISO image to the complete setup and configuration of the BigFix Virtual Relay.

    • Setting up a proxy connection

      If your enterprise uses a proxy to access the Internet, your BigFix environment can use that communication path to gather content from sites.

    • Running backup and restore

      You can schedule periodic backups (typically nightly) of the BigFix server and database files, to reduce the risk of losing productivity or data when a problem occurs by restoring the latest backup.

    • Upgrading on Windows systems
    • Upgrading on Linux systems
    • Known limitations and workarounds

      This section describes the known limitations and possible workarounds.

    • Logging

      This section describes the log files associated with the BigFix components.

    • Uninstalling the BigFix client

Replication

The fourth tab opens the Replication dialog.

Use this dialog to visualize your replication servers. For more information, see Managing Replication (DSA) on Windows systems.

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