BigFix Console Overview

What Is "BigFix"?

BigFix (aka TEM: Tivoli Endpoint Manager) is an endpoint management solution that can help with inventory, software and patch installation, and endpoint analysis and reporting.  One installs the client on MacOS or Windows (Linux options are also available).  The clients communicate with the departmental relay (tem.pharmacy.wisc.edu, currently running on rtvm.pharmacy.wisc.edu), which in turn communicates with the campus relay.  The relays act as a repository for fixlet installer files among other things.

Support

For information on support, please visit campus KB 10751.  There you can find starting points for

• Requesting console access
• Information on downloading the client and console installers
• Email and Teams channel support
• Canvas course options
• A list of relevant campus KB articles

With great power comes ... great complexity.  I strongly recommend that the novice BigFix console operator review the KB articles campus has already written.  I have not taken the Canvas course, so I cannot comment on it.  

Console Overview

There are two things to keep in mind about the console.

1. Anything that it shows in light gray is usually not "available" or "relevant" or "not seen in a while".  In the example below, you may notice that anything in light gray for a fixlet also has zero applicable computers for it.  For fixlets this means that no endpoints met the criteria/relevance for applying the fixlet.  On the "Computers" menu list, it usually refers to endpoints that have not recently communicated with the console.
   
   
2. The console is slower than the slowest slow thing you can imagine when it comes to updating the status of objects.  Usually a new endpoint will check in for the first time within 10 minutes or so.  However, if you change relevance on a fixlet or create a new or update an existing analysis I'd give it at least half a day for it to figure out which endpoints the change applies to.

There's a lot you can do in the console, but I only ever needed to do a few things on it.  Here is a sample of what the console looks like, along with highlights of options that I've used most frequently.

1. Pane #1: The console menu pane.  BigFix breaks options into different sections.  Some sections have unique options, others overlap.  I have usually just stayed with the "All Content" section.
   
   
2. Pane #2: Once you select a menu option, BigFix will populate this pane with all of the related objects.  So in this image we selected "Fixlets and Tasks" under the Pharmacy Site (Option #8), and this pane lists all the fixlets and tasks that we created.  If we had selected "Computers", this pane would list all of the computers that report to out console. 
   One feature of this pane is the Search box in its upper right corner.  This will search all of the displayed columns for the string (or substring) that you enter here.  This is especially useful when listing computers.
   
   
3. Pane #3: If you select an object in pane 2, this pane will show you details related to it.  So in this example we selected the "Cisco AMP Uninstall Full" fixlet, and pane 3 shows us the computers to which we can apply that fixlet.  
   1. The "Edit" tab would open a window where you can make changes to the fixlet.
   2. The "Details" tab would let you look at (but not change) things such as relevance and actionscript.
   3. "Take Action" would let you run the fixlet on selected computers.
   4. Other menu selections will give you different details.  For example, if you had selected "Computers" in the menu, and then clicked on a specific computer, you'd see various details related to that computer.
      
      
4. Menu option #4: Fixlets and Tasks.  Here you can find a LOT of fixlets and tasks provided by BigFix/IBM.  If you go down into the "Sites" suboption, you can find fixlets provided by DoIT.  Please know that finding the right and most recent fixlet here can be hit and miss, but it's usually been sufficient for the monthly baseline I run for general updates.
   
   
5. Menu option #5: Software Distribution.  This "wizard" (oddly located under "Dashboards") can help you create a fixlet provided you have a .msi, .exe, or .pkg file to use and you don't need much relevance to filter target computers.
   
   
6. Menu option #6: Custom Filters.  This may be handy if you want to filter some of the objects in pane 2 as it gives you a few more options for creating a search than just the search box.
   
   
7. Menu option #7: Computers.  This will list in pane 2 all the computers that have a client installed and are reporting to the console.  If you click on an computer, you can get certain details about it in pane 3.  Some of these are AD information, installed software and running services (as of the last time it reported in), hardware information, and a lot more.
   
   
8. Menu option #8: Site options.  When you have been granted access to use the console, you will be placed into an access group that can only see Pharmacy computers.  This is where you can create objects that are available only to the Pharmacy department.
   
   1. Fixlets and Tasks is where you store any custom made (or copies or existing) fixlets and tasks that you would push out to computers.  I have lots of examples in here, some of which I created be hand and some of which are just copies of existing fixlets.
   2. Baselines let you push multiple fixlets at once to computers, based on the fixlet's own relevance and any relevance defined for the baseline itself.  I use this mostly for pushing monthly updates to our computers, but you can create a baseline for just about any purpose.  One thing to keep in mind is that baselines are meant to run repeatedly, or even never end, since their purpose it to make sure computers meet some defined baseline configuration.
   3. Analyses let you look for various things in your computers.  For example, I have an analysis that looks at computers I have identified as PHI endpoints and identifies which ones meet our compliance standards.
   4. Computer Groups let you define groups based on certain criteria.  You can then use these groups elsewhere as a convenient way to refer to a subset of your computers.
      
      
9. Menu option #9: Operator Site.  Account also have their own "operator site" that contains the same folders as the Site Options.  How you use it is pretty much up to you, but do be aware of the following.
   1. Objects kept in the Operator Site folders are visible only to that site operator.  If you create objects and want them to be visible to other BF operators in your group, place them in the Department's Custom Sites folder (Pharmacy in our case).
   2. When you create new fixlets either manually or using the Software Distribution Wizard, then default location is the Operator Site.  You should change it to the Pharmacy custom site.  If you forget, you can always copy objects from one site to another.
   3. The personal operator site might be best used for testing things, and then copied to the Pharmacy site when you are sure they are working correctly.