What's new in Software Distribution

BigFix for Software Distribution application updates can contain a set of features, improvements, and bug fixes for the Software Distribution site.

What's new in the current release

From BigFix platform version 9.1 and later, the Manage Software Distribution dashboard is switching from using the upload manager tool to using the BigFix platform for file uploads to address potential security vulnerabilities. Users are now required to stay on the dashboard until the files are uploaded. Users who use the upload manager tool outside of the dashboard will need to update to the latest version.

Additional changes:

Fixed issue where certain packages cannot be exported from the Manage Software Distribution dashboard.
Fixed issue where the Fixlets that are created from Manage Software Distribution dashboard are recorded with a proper timestamp.
Fixed issue with the Client Dashboard for Software Offers where content is not translated on non-English systems.
Fixed issue with Upload Maintenance Service for Linux BigFix deployments where it cannot connect to the database.
The Software Distribution Deployment Results analysis was enhanced to include the number of lines returned from 200 to 1000.
Minor string changes in the Manage Software Distribution dashboard.

What's new in Software Distribution application update V7.2

Table 1. Features and enhancements for version Software Distribution 7.2
Feature	Description
Unicode support	With the Unicode support in BigFix version 9.5, the BigFix server can support any language. However, Unicode is not supported for Fixlets. A warning message was added to the Manage Software Distribution Packages dashboard when multiple languages are detected. This message is shown in the following scenarios involving unsupported Unicode characters: When creating, editing, or copying packages whose fields contain Unicode characters. When uploading a file whose name contains a Unicode character. When uploading a folder whose user supplied compressed file name contains a Unicode character. When adding a file URL whose user supplied file name contains a Unicode character. When creating a Fixlet in which the user manually enters action script or relevance containing Unicode characters. When creating a default task from a package whose filename contains a Unicode character. Known Bugs The dashboard might flag an unsupported Unicode character as supported due to false negative evaluations. The check to search for unsupported Unicode characters is quite broad; limiting the supported characters might be restrictive to some environments. Error when one of the files in a package folder contain characters that do not fall under the same language that is set in the BigFix server. There is no way to check the folder contents of a package that might contain files with Unicode characters in their name.
Package File URL source option	The HCL Software Distribution team recently released the feature that gives you the ability to add a file to a package by the file's URL. With this option available in the Manage Software Distribution Packages dashboard, you can choose to either download the file immediately, or download it during Fixlet runtime.
Bug Fixes	Fixed issue with the Manage Software Distribution Packages dashboard when uploading a file whose name and metadata contains the string %00. Fixed issue with the Manage Software Distribution Packages dashboard where an error appears if an improperly formatted OSD file is uploaded.

What's new in Software Distribution application update V7.1

Table 2. Features and enhancements for version Software Distribution 7.1
Feature	Description
Import and export progress indicator	You can now track the progress of the package import and export features. For more information about the import and export features, see Import and export packages.
Rename exported packages	You can now rename the file name of the exported package if you do not want to use the default file name format. For more information, see Exporting packages.
Application Management Group deployment type modification	You can now change the task deployment type of an Application Management Group without the need to delete it first.
Advanced options for DMG package file type	There are now additional options available for DMG file types, which you can set during the creation of the distribution task. For more information, see Creating distribution tasks.
Bug Fixes	Fixed the folder upload failure issue in the Manage Software Distribution Packages dashboard, as well as the Fixed the issue where Fixlets failed due to invalid characters in the compressed folder. Fixed the issue where Fixlets referencing multiple compressed folders is not able to properly extract all folders. Fixed the issue where certain packages cannot be exported for Linux BigFix servers. Fixed the issue with the Upload Maintenance Service where it cannot execute on Windows 2003 systems. Fixed the issue with the Client Dashboard for Software Offers where the offer tab does not fully expand in the BES Client UI window. Fixed issue where files are stuck at pending upload for certain Windows BigFix deployments. Fixed issue where certain MSI files cannot be uploaded. Fixed cookie overflow issue on the Self Service Portal (SSP). Fixed the issue with the SSP where non-master operators cannot deploy tasks. Updated TSP with support for additional configuration settings for tasks issued from SSP. The upload manager utility has been updated to remove pop-ups that occur on 32-bit Windows systems. Fixed the issue with upload manager utility where files of a compressed folder have a different timestamp than the original file. The `zip` and `unzip` utility that is used by the Import and Export feature in the Manage Software Distribution dashboard are now hosted on the Software Distribution site, making it always available for download. Fixed issue with the SSP where it caches pages that are not meant to be cached. Fixed issue with the relevance for the Software Distribution Download Plugin and Upload Maintenance Service Fixlets. The Fixlets are now relevant only to the correct systems. Fixed the issue where the actionscript fails if the compressed folder name contains certain characters. Fixed the issue where the actionscript fails when the log file exists. Fixed the issue where certain parameters disappeared when a Fixlet is edited through the Software Distribution dashboard. Fixed the issue where Fixlets cannot be edited through the Software Distribution dashboard if the Fixlet actionscript is marked as the default action. Fixed the issue where certain characters in the Application Management Group cause the deployment to fail. Fixed the issue where the package export process shows as failed when it actually succeeded. Fixed issue where certain characters in SPB parameters cause the deployment to fail. Improved warning message for Application Management Group tasks whose operator no longer exists. Improved error messages for when a non-master operator tries to edit a master operator's tasks.

What's new in Software Distribution application update V7.0

Software Distribution application update V7.0 contains the following new features and enhancements.

Table 3. Features and enhancements for version Software Distribution 7.0
Feature	Description
SPB support for AIX systems	In addition to the SPB support for Windows and Linux systems, BigFix for Software Distribution can now deploy SPB files to AIX endpoints that are supported by the BigFix platform. To see a complete list of clients supported by the platform, see http://support.bigfix.com/cgi-bin/redir.pl?page=besclients-nonwindows. You can create and deploy installation tasks for SPB files to AIX endpoints from the Manage Software Distribution dashboard.
Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) version 5.0 support	BigFix for Software Distribution now supports the distribution and management of packages for App-V version 5.0.
Preinstallation and postinstallation commands	You can now include any additional commands during the creation of the installation task through the wizard rather than editing the task after its creation.
Import and export packages	You can easily export packages that are created from one deployment and import them to a different deployment by clicking a few buttons. This feature saves you time from having to manually re-create the packages that you need. For more information, see Import and export packages. This migration feature is available in BigFix version 9.1 and later.
Rename uploaded folders	This feature is available when you select to compress nested folders when adding an entire folder of content to your package.
Additional actionscript closing markers	Tasks that are created from the Manage Software Distribution dashboard now contain extra closing markers for easier identification. The closing markers identify the final steps of the actionscript, which gets updated every time a user edits the task. Note: Ensure that custom changes that are made to the actionscript are outside of the markers to prevent the changes from being overwritten. For more information about markers, see KB article SWG21668807 at HCL Software.
Upload Manager logging feature	A new log for uploading installation files is provided for troubleshooting purposes. If you upload software packages from the Manage Software Distribution dashboard, access the log at <`Windows Temp`>\SoftwareDistributionLogs\Uploadmanager. If you upload software packages from outside the BigFix console, access the log from the command line with the following switch: `- log <log file>` For information about the upload manager, see Software repositories migration.
Bug Fixes	The Linux Upload Maintenance Service no longer reveals the database password in the process monitor. When editing a software distribution task, switching between run as system user and run as current user now works as intended. Fixed issue where installation commands do not work on UNIX systems. Note: You need to update the Upload Maintenance Service for Linux BigFix servers. Use Fixlet 6: TEM Server: Upgrade TEM Upload Maintenance Service.

What's new in Software Distribution application update V6.0

Software Distribution application update V6.0 contains the following new features and enhancements.

Table 4. Features and enhancements for version Software Distribution 6.0
Feature	Description
Support for the installation of PKG files on Solaris	You can now create and deploy installation tasks for PKG files to your Solaris endpoints from the Manage Software Distribution dashboard.
Self Service Portal (SSP) support for AIX and Solaris	The SSP can now add and remove computers with AIX and Solaris operating systems and the SSP Registration Management Dashboard can block users from these machines.
SSP Registration Management Dashboard Enhancements	You can now search, sort, and paginate computers in scroll view to enhance dashboard performance.
Modifiable SPB variable during deployment	Software Distribution tasks with SPB files support variable templating that enables the creation of customizable tasks.
Installation files custom directory support	Software Distribution tasks can now specify a custom file path location to download and run files instead of using the default location.

Note: An advanced option to automatically convert old tasks with SHA-1 validation, which were created from the Software Distribution dashboard, into tasks with SHA-256 validation is available. For more information, see SHA-256 task conversion.