BES Utilities

Below are a variety of utilities that will assist you in using BES. Please note that these tools are very powerful and could cause serious damage to your BES installation if used improperly. Although the use of these tools are supported and recommended for use, they are separate from the BES product and you will need to assume the risk involved from using these utilities.

BES Remove Utility TOP

BES Remove - version 7.0.9.164 (744 KB).

The BES Remove utility will allow you to run each of the uninstallers for the BES components and then remove all the left-over data (BES database, user interface settings, etc.) from a computer.


Usage: besremove.exe [/silent] [/component]

Where component has one of the following values:

  • all - remove all BES components
  • server - remove the BES Server
  • console - remove the BES Console
  • client - remove the BES Client
  • msde - remove the MSDE 2000 installation that was installed with the BES Server
  • generator - remove the BES Installation Generator
  • relay - remove the BES Relay


Warning: BES Remove will remove all of the BES data from the file system, database, and registry. This data is not recoverable.


Note: If you are using SQL Server 2000 (instead of MSDE 2000), your databases will not be removed automatically. To delete the database, use the SQL Server Enterprise Manager to delete the 'BFEnterprise' and 'BESReporting' database.

BES Scanner TOP

Summary:
Use the BES Scanner to find computers in your network that don't have the BES Client installed. Click here for detailed information about this tool.

BES Property Exporter TOP

BES Property Exporter - version 5.0-5.1 (270 KB).

Summary:
The BES Property Exporter will allow you to export all of the retrieved properties from your BES deployment and put them into a file. This will allow you to backup your retrieved properties for later use or to move them between different BES Servers.


Usage: Download and run the BES Property Exporter and you will be prompted to choose a database and a file location. After you export your properties, they can be imported to any BES Console by double-clicking on the file.

BES Duplicate Computer Removal TOP

BES Duplicate Removal (1.1 MB).

Summary:
The BES Duplicate Removal application is a command line utility that will detect and allow you to remove the duplicate BES Clients from the BES database. Duplicate computer entries will appear in the BES Console for several reasons, including: if a computer with a BES Client is re-imaged, a computer is formatted, a computer is restored from a backup, a computer has a computerID conflict with another computer, a computer has its BES Client registry keys changed by another application, or various other reasons.


Click here to view the help file

BES Expired Computer Remover TOP

BES Expired Computer Remover (1.0 MB).

Summary:
Removes computers from the BES Console view if their LastReportTime is more then some number of minutes from the current time. Must be run from the BES Server computer. If a computer is accidently deleted that is still active, the BES Client will automatically re-establish itself with the BES Server on the BES Client's next heart beat.


Click here to view the help file

BES Download Cacher TOP

BES Download Cacher (1.3 MB).

Summary:
The BES Download Cacher is used to cache or pre-fetch all files that will be downloaded by all Fixlets in a BES Fixlet Site. By caching these files actions will not need to download the file from the internet before distributing the file to BES Clients. This application will cache the files on the machine it is run on and can be run from any machine that runs as a BES Server or BES Relay. The masthead file for the each action site may be provided using the -m command line arguement if no actionsites are found automatically. This application will not overfill the cache above its maximum size and can increase the cache size as needed.

Directions:
Download the file above to a BES Server or BES Relay computer. From the command line, run:
BESDownloadCacher.exe

This will download all the files from the Enterprise Security (Patch Manager for Windows) Fixlet site and store them in the download cache for the BES Server or BES Relay.


Click here to view the help file

BES Deleted Computer Remover TOP

BES Deleted Computer Remover (3.6 MB).

The BES Deleted Computer Remover application is a command line utility that will allow you to remove computers that are marked as deleted from the BES database.

This tool may be used to physically remove computers from the BES database. It will search for computers that have been marked as deleted in the database and delete the corresponding results from the ActionResults, QuestionResults and FixletResults tables.

Note: Please be aware that computers removed from the database are assumed to no longer exist. If a computer that has been removed begins to report into BES after being deleted, it will appear with error messages for most of its properties and it will not appear relevant for any Fixlet messages or appear to have run any actions. You can fix many of these problems by sending the computer a refresh in the BES Console.


Click here to view the help file

BES Client DiagnosticsTOP

Use the BES Client diagnostic tool to help find common problems in your BES deployment. BES Client Diagnostics - version 1.2.5.2 (4 MB)

Requirements - Must be run on a Win2000, WinXP, or Win2003 Server computer with the BES Client installed by a user with Administrative rights. Supported versions: BES 5.0, BES 5.1, BES 6.0, and BES 7.0.


The BES Client Diagnostics will perform the following tasks:
  • Gather a variety of information about the local computer (name, OS, DC, user, drive space, language, etc.)
  • Gather a variety of information about the BES Client (masthead info, service status, path, etc.)
  • Perform a variety of tests for each BES Client Fixlet site to ensure that it can be gathered, has been gathered, has the latest version, etc.
  • Returns all settings and retrieved properties
  • Analyzes the log files and provides summary error analysis
  • Checks for consistency across BES Client version files
  • Checks for permissions problems
  • Performs a test to determine the distance to all BES Relays (must run the tool with a command line argument '--runrelayselector')
  • Summarizes all warnings and errors
  • Exports a copy of the BES Client __BESData folder, emsg log (if exists), and the BES Client registry keys to the current folder
  • Zips up the data

Click here to view the help file