Upgrading to BigFix Inventory v10

BigFix Inventory is currently offered in single maintenance stream. Upgrading to the entire environment includes upgrading the BigFix Inventory server, VM Manager tool, the scanner, and the database. For best results, update the server regularly to benefit from new capabilities and defect fixes. Once you finish the upgrade, you must restart all ongoing actions to enable the fixlets.

Before you begin

Tip: It is recommended to upgrade BigFix Inventory frequently to make the new features and security fixes available. At least one upgrade per year is important.

Ensure that no files or directories in the BigFix Inventory installation directory are open in an external program. For example, ensure that no log files are open in a text editor. Also, ensure that no PDF reports are being generated during the server upgrade. Otherwise, the upgrade might fail with error code 41.

For information about space requirements, see Hardware requirements.
Important: For best results, especially for big environments, first run the fixlet in a test environment before you upgrade to check the component compatibility. To do so, back up your production database, restore it on the test server, and then upgrade. If the upgrade succeeds, upgrade the production server.

About this task

Note: You cannot upgrade between different operating systems.

For BigFix Inventory version lower than 10.0.2, it is necessary to upgrade to version 10.0.2 before upgrading it to newer versions. Additionally, starting from version 10.0.11 it is necessary to upgrade to interim versions. See upgrade considerations.

To upgrade to the latest version:
  1. Upgrade through all interim versions using dedicated BigFix fixlet. First, upgrade to version 10.0.2.0, then to 10.0.10.0. Next, upgrade to further interim versions if dedicated BigFix fixlets are available. See Upgrading to the interim version.
  2. Create a backup of the server. See Backing up the server.
  3. Update the fixlet site. See Updating the fixlet site.
  4. Upgrade BigFix Inventory using fixlet: Upgrade to the latest version of BigFix Inventory.
  5. Migrate the database schema. See Updating the server database schema
  6. Upgrade all BigFix Inventory components, such as BigFix Inventory server, the database, VM Manager tool, scanner and actions. See Upgrading the server in interactive mode, Upgrading the server in silent mode, Updating the server database schema, and Upgrading the scanner, tools and actions.
  7. In case the schema migration fails, restore the server. See Restoring the server after a failed upgrade.
    Result: The BigFix Inventory server is upgraded to the latest version.
    Note: Run data import post upgrading the server.
To upgrade to an interim version:
  1. Create a backup of the server. See Backing up the server.
  2. Update the fixlet site. See Updating the fixlet site.
  3. Upgrade BigFix Inventory using Upgrade to the interim version 10.0.10.0 of BigFix Inventory or Upgrade to the interim version 10.0.2.0 of BigFix Inventory fixlet. Select a fixlet with the lowest version which is newer than currently installed BigFix Inventory.

    The fixlet description includes links that allow you to manually download BigFix Inventory.

  4. Migrate the database schema. See Updating the server database schema
  5. In case the schema migration fails, restore the server. See Restoring the server after a failed upgrade.
    Result: The BigFix Inventory server is upgraded to interim version. To upgrade the server to the latest version, perform the steps mentioned in the Upgrade to the latest version section.
    Note: Run data import post upgrading the server.

Upgrade considerations

New features and improvements may impact the existing capabilities. You need to take some additional steps or expect temporary longer duration of some processing.

About this task

Refer to the upgrade consideration when you upgrade from a specific version.
Table 1. Upgrade considerations
Version from which you are upgrading Considerations
Version 10.0.10 and above Starting from BigFix Inventory version 10.0.10.0, direct upgrade is supported from the last 8 server versions. The minimal version for direct upgrade path increases with every release. Depending on the version number, one or more upgrade steps are necessary. For example, the minimal version for direct upgrade path to version 10.0.11.0 is 10.0.3.0. For versions up to 10.0.1.0 (inclusive), upgrade first to 10.0.2.0 then upgrade to 10.0.10.0 using Upgrade to interim version fixlet.
Earlier than 10.0.2 The first data import after the upgrade takes longer, because the data includes the installation path of non-IBM software for existing records. This import is a one-time operation, and the next import takes the usual time to finish.

Information about the of scanned files is re-imported to show more details. The data is displayed on the "Scanned File Data" report in the "File Version" column.
Earlier than 9.2.11 The data is re-imported during a number of consecutive imports to avoid performance issues. Each consecutive import contains data from 10000 computers. The number of imports during which the data is re-imported is specified in the resync_imports parameter that is available by clicking Management > Advanced Server Settings.
Earlier than 9.2.1 If you had computer groups defined, subcapacity calculations are disabled for those groups after the upgrade. As a result, some of the panels and reports are not available to users who are assigned to those computer groups. To re-enable subcapacity calculations, click Management > Computer Groups, open a computer group, and select PVU, RVU MAPC, and VPC. Then, click Save. For more information, see: Setting up computer groups.