The BigFix Server Plugin Service facilitates communication and automation of the BigFix Server and Web Reports components with server side utilities. Several BigFix Applications, such as the new Power Management site require the BigFix Server Plugin Service in order to fully utilize the available functionality.

Setting up the BigFix Server Plugin Service

The BigFix Server plugin service will need access to the BigFix database (through ODBC) and also the BigFix Web Reports (through the SOAP API). Follow the instructions below to set up BigFix Server Plugin Service and provide the necessary database and web reports access.

Install the BigFix Server Plugin Service

  1. Use Task 708: "Install BES Server Plugin Service" in the BigFix Support site will be applicable to any BES Server without the plugin service already installed.



Setup BigFix Server Plugin Service to access Web Reports SOAP API

  1. Create a BigFix Web Reports user account - The plugin server requires a Web Reports username and password in order to communicate with Web Reports. You can create a new user for this purpose, or use an existing user.

    Note: The user should have "normal" account privileges, and should not be restricted by console operator or by saved web reports filter.
  2. Add Web Reports user information to the BigFix Server - The "Install BES Server Plugin Service" Task will automatically create on the server three empty registry keys to store the Web Reports server URL, username and password.

    Note: the username and password currently need to be stored in the server's registry in plaintext. Please add the associated values for the keys below:



    32-bit



    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\BigFix\Enterprise Server\BESReports]

    SOAPUsername     (String)

    Set with the name of your Web Reports user as its value.



    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\BigFix\Enterprise Server\BESReports]

    SOAPPassword     (String)

    Set with the users password as its value.



    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\BigFix\Enterprise Server\BESReports]

    WRHTTP     (String)

    Set with the name of your Web Reports Server url:

    e.g.: http://bigfix.company.com/webreports



    64-bit



    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\BigFix\Enterprise Server\BESReports]

    SOAPUsername     (String)

    Set with the name of your Web Reports user as its value.



    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\BigFix\Enterprise Server\BESReports]

    SOAPPassword     (String)

    Set with the users password as its value.



    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\BigFix\Enterprise Server\BESReports]

    WRHTTP     (String)

    Set with the name of your Web Reports Server url:

    e.g.: http://bigfix.company.com/webreports



     

Set up the BigFix Server Plugin Service to access the BigFix database

  1. If the database is on the same computer as the BigFix Server Plugin Service, then you will NOT need to make any changes because local services running as SYSTEM on the same computer as SQL Server will automatically have access to the database. This is the most common BigFix configuration.
  2. If the database is on a different computer as the BigFix Server Plugin Service AND you used the "NT Authentication" option when you initially installed the BigFix Server, then you will need to go to your Windows Services dialog (Administrative Tool > Services) and change the login user of the BigFix Server Plugin Service to be a Windows user that has access to the remote database (you can use the same user that the BigFix FillDB and BigFix GatherDB services user). (This is the most common configuration for remote databases if they are members of an Active Directory domain.)
  3. If the database is on a different computer as the BigFix Server Plugin Service AND you used the "SQL Server Authentication" option when you initially installed the BigFix Server, then you will NOT need to make any changes because the BigFix Server Plugin Service will use the username/password that were created by the BigFix Server installer at "HKLM\Software\BigFix\Enterprise Server\Database". (This configuration is less common for remote databases.)

Once this is set, BigFix applications can be installed on the server and registered with the service.



Logs for Troubleshooting

The log for the "Store Power Data Utility" is located in \BigFix Enterprise\BES Server\Applications\BESAggregator. The log for the "BES Server Plugin Service" (MFS.exe) is located in \BigFix Enterprise\BES Server\Applications\Logs Sample successful entries for both logs are below:BESAggregatePowerData.log



[Thu Oct 14 08:04:17 2010] [INFO] Running BESAggregatePowerData.exe version 0.7.35

[Thu Oct 14 08:04:17 2010] [INFO] Connecting to webreports at http://mycompany/webreports [Thu Oct 14 08:04:17 2010] [INFO] Connecting to database on bes_bfenterprise.

[Thu Oct 14 08:04:17 2010] [INFO] No aggregation policies were found.

[Thu Oct 14 08:04:17 2010] [INFO] Creating group for all computers

[Thu Oct 14 08:04:17 2010] [INFO] Found 1 groupings for manual grouping policy "All Computers"

[Thu Oct 14 08:04:17 2010] [INFO] Generating power data for group "All Computers"

[Thu Oct 14 08:04:18 2010] [INFO] Adding today's data to power history...

[Thu Oct 14 08:04:20 2010] [INFO] Utility Successfully Completed!

MFS.log

[Thu, 14 Oct 2010 08:04:16 -0700] Task 'BESAggregatePowerData' run by command: "C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Server\Applications\BESAggregator\BESAggregatePowerData.exe" -url http:// mycompany /webreports -u myUser -p ***** -odbc bes_bfenterprise -dbuser -dbpass