Software requirements

Ensure that all prerequisite software is installed on the computers in your infrastructure.

Server requirements

For information about operating systems on which BigFix, DB2® and SQL Server are supported, see: Detailed System requirements.

To learn about BigFix Platform system requirements, refer to BigFix 11 - Detailed System Requirements.

Table 1. Requirements for the BigFix Inventory server
Version Description
BigFix
  • 11.0
  • 10.0
  • 9.5
Note: Support for BigFix Platform 9.2 ends on April 30th, 2022. For more information, see BigFix forum annoucement.
 For information about the requirements, see:
  • BigFix 11.0 product documentation
  • BigFix 10.0 product documentation
  • BigFix 9.5 product documentation
    Important: BigFix Inventory can use TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3 (since version 10.0.9) for outbound communication. When using TLS encryption for BigFix Platform MS SQL database, please ensure that MS SQL database is on appropriate fixpack level that supports at least TLS 1.2. Otherwise data imports in BigFix Inventory will not work. For details on MS SQL minimum fixpack levels supporting TLS 1.2, refer to TLS 1.2 support article.

    Starting from BigFix Inventory version 10.0.9 or higher, BigFix Inventory supports BigFix version 11. To upgrade to BigFix version 11, you must first upgrade to interim version 10.0.9 or higher of BigFix Inventory. You can enforce TLS 1.3 on BigFix, it is supported with BigFix Inventory version 10.0.9 and higher.
DB2®
  • 10.0.0 DB2 11.5

    (The fixpack level should be in line with BigFix requirements.)
Operating system requirements

Firefox

To use DB2 as a database, BigFix Inventory must be installed on Linux™.
DB2 version
Note: DB2 11.5 For the list of databases supported by the BigFix platform, see: BigFix Platform 9.5: Detailed System Requirements and BigFix Platform 10: Detailed System Requirements.
DB2® requirements
For information about the database requirements, see, DB2® 11.5 product documentation.
DB2® edition
DB2® Workgroup Server Edition is sufficient to work with BigFix Inventory regardless of the number of endpoints. You can use DB2® Enterprise Server Edition, or Advanced Enterprise Server Edition to have access to advanced features of DB2®.
DB2 upgrade considerations
Below are some of the DB2 upgrade considerations:
  • You can upgrade the DB2 to version 11.5 using the same machine as well using a new machine.
    • If you consider upgrading DB2 using the same machine, make sure that RHEL operating system is on version 7.6 or higher, or 8.1 or higher. Refer to DB2 upgrade on Linux for more information.
    • If you consider using a new machine, you can move the BigFix Inventory database to the new machine and upgrade DB2. To know more about it, refer to Moving the BigFix Inventory database.
  • DB2 upgrade is multistep process. Refer to the IBM DB2 documentation for details.
  • Upgrading the database needs sufficient disk space.
DB2 settings
  • Use a DB2 instance with default settings. Other required database settings are configured by BigFix Inventory installer.
Restriction: If you specify non-default DB2 settings, BigFix Inventory might not work properly.
Download DB2® software
For more information, see: Downloading and installing DB2®.
Support for DB2 11.5 GA
Refer to the support article to know about how support works for DB2 11.5 GA.
SQL Server
  • 2016 Express SP2
  • 2012 SP2 CU 10 , SP3 CU 3
  • 2012 Express® SP2 CU 10, SP3 CU 3
  • 2014 CU 12, SP1 CU 5
  • 2014 Express® CU 12, SP1 CU 5
  • 2016
  • 2016 Express SP2 or higher
  • 2017 version 14.0.3162.1 or higher
  • 2017 Express CU15 or higher
  • 2019
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2022
Note: SP = Service Pack, CU = Content Update
 To use SQL Server as a database, BigFix Inventory must be installed on Windows™.
SQL Server settings
Ensure that snapshot isolation is enabled in the SQL Server. For information about the requirements, see the Microsoft™ SQL Server documentation.
The support for AlwaysOn solution has not been tested.
Permissions and roles
For more information about permissions and roles of MS SQL Server user, see: Installation accounts.
Linux icon X server
  • X11R7.x
 The X server is required if you want to install or uninstall the BigFix Inventory server in interactive mode on Red Hat Enterprise Linux™. It is also required if you want to complete the server configuration by using a browser that is available on the computer where the BigFix Inventory server is installed.
Restriction: XMing X Server for Windows™ is not supported.

Other software requirements

Table 2. Other software requirements for BigFix Inventory
Required software Required versions Comments
Web Reports A component of the BigFix platform that is required by BigFix Inventory to configure VM managers. Web Reports can be installed during the installation of BigFix, and must reside on the same server.
Browser Firefox 17 Extended Support Release (ESR) or higher ESR editions
Note: To use TLS 1.3, check whether your version of the browser supports it and whether TLS 1.3 is enabled. Otherwise, use TLS 1.2 for secure communication with SSL.
Requirements
  • JavaScript™ must be enabled in the browser.
  • Minimal supported screen resolution is 1360x768 pixels.
  • Recommended screen resolution is 1920x1080 pixels.

Proxies

Proxies are supported and depend on the server configuration. With the default configuration, use SSL proxies. If you disabled SSL on the server, then use HTTP proxies. In big environments, the connections might time out with time-consuming operations (downloading extensive reports). In such a case, increase the timeout limit for communication between the proxy and BigFix Inventory.
Chrome 35 or higher
Restriction: You can experience problems with checking the detailed information about the metric quantity on the Metric Quantity History and Maximal Trend Value History graphs on License Metrics reports. Once you hover over the graph, the information about metric quantity might not be properly displayed, or might not appear at all.
9.2.14 Microsoft Edge
Restriction:
  • Reports cannot be exported to PDF when multiple columns are selected. Export the data to CSV file instead.
  • In reports where IP Address column is enabled, the IP address is a link that is activated by an external plug-in, such as Skype. To remove the link, disable the plug-in.
  • You can experience problems with checking the detailed information about the metric quantity on the Metric Quantity History and Maximal Trend Value History graphs on License Metrics reports. Once you hover over the graph, the information about metric quantity might not be properly displayed, or might not appear at all.
Bash
National language pack for PDF reader To display PDF reports in a native language, a language pack that displays the native language fonts might be required.

Red Hat packages

The following packages are required if you install the components on Red Hat Enterprise Linux™.
Table 3. Red Hat packages that are required for the installation
Component Required packages
BigFix Inventory server
  • bash
DB2®
  • libstdc++.so.6.0.8
  • Red Hat binutils