Logging

This section describes the log files associated with the BigFix components.

Running components logs

BES Root Server log
  • Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Server\BESRelay.log
  • Linux: /var/log/BESRelay.log
FillDB log
  • Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Server\FillDBData\FillDB.log
  • Linux: /var/opt/BESServer/FillDBData/FillDB.log
GatherDB log
  • Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Server\GatherDBData\GatherDB.log
  • Linux: /var/opt/BESServer/GatherDBData/GatherDB.log
Gather Status Report
  • Windows: http://127.0.0.1:52311/cgi-bin/bfenterprise/BESGatherMirrorNew.exe
  • Linux: Status Report does not exist.
Relay log
  • Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Relay\logfile.txt
  • Linux: /var/log/BESRelay.log

BigFix Administration Tool (BESAdmin) log

On Windows, there are two or more BESAdmin log files:
  • For each user that runs BESAdmin, there is a specific log file

    C:\Users\{USERNAME}\AppData\Local\BigFix\BESAdminDebugOut.txt

    For example: C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\BigFix\BESAdminDebugOut.txt

  • When BESAdmin is invoked by a Fixlet (or run by the LocalSystem user), the log file is

    C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\BigFix\BESAdminDebugOut.txt

On Linux systems, there is a single log file, located in the following folder:
  • /var/log/BESAdminDebugOut.txt
To change the default behavior of BESadmin logging, depending on the operating system, perform the following:
  • For Windows operating systems, create the following registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\BigFix\Enterprise Server\BESAdmin and add the desired options.
  • For Linux operating systems, in the /var/opt/BESServer/besserver.config file, add the following entry [Software\BigFix\Enterprise Server\BESAdmin] where to specify the options.
The following options control the logging behavior:
  • DebugOut: (string) Full path to the log file.
  • EnableLogging: (number, DWORD) Denotes whether the logging is active or not (1=yes, 0=no). The default is 1 when option DebugOut is not empty and 0 when DebugOut is empty.
  • EnabledLogs: (string) Holds a list, separated by semicolons, with the logs that are logged. The default is critical;debug;database.
  • LogFileSizeLimit: (number, DWORD) The size in bytes of each log before rotating them. The default is 10 MB.

Client log

The client records its current activity into a log file with the current date as the file name in the format [year][month][day].log. If an active log reaches 512K in size it will be moved to a backup (.bkg) file and a new log will be started for the current day. If the log reaches 512K again the backup will overwrite the existing backup. Both the active and backup logs will be deleted after ten days. These are the default locations of the BigFix client logs for each operating system:
  • Windows: C:\Program Files\BigFix Enterprise\BES Client\__BESData\__Global\Logs
  • UNIX, Linux: /var/opt/BESClient/__BESData/__Global/Logs
  • Mac: /Library/Application Support/Bigfix/BES Agent/__BESData/__Global/Logs

BES Server Plugin Service log

The directory of the log file is C:\Program Files\BigFix Enterprise\BES Server\Applications\Logs.

Note: If you change the name or the path of log files, to avoid character display problems, ensure to use names that have only ASCII characters and not non-ASCII characters.

BES WebReports Server install/update log
  • Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\BigFix\BESInitializeBESReportsDB.txt
  • Linux: /var/log/BESInitializeBESReportsDB.txt

Logging settings

You can enable or disable the logging activity on some BigFix components by setting the following Windows registry keys:

Table 1. Logging settings
BigFix component Registry key name Registry key type Registry key values
Windows Administration tool EnableLogging REG_DWORD 0 to disable and 1 to enable
Linux Administration tool EnableLogging REG_DWORD 0 to disable and 1 to enable
Console EnableLogging REG_DWORD 0 to disable and 1 to enable
Web Reports LogOn REG_DWORD 0 to disable and 1 to enable
Fixlet Debugger EnableLogging REG_DWORD 0 to disable and 1 to enable
FillDB EnableLogging REG_DWORD 0 to disable and 1 to enable
FillDB Performance EnablePerformanceLogging REG_DWORD 0 to disable and 1 to enable
FillDB Query Performance EnableQueryPerformanceLogging REG_DWORD 0 to disable and 1 to enable

Fixlet installation and upgrade logs

If you install or upgrade a BigFix component using a Fixlet, the path of the installation log is determined by the Fixlet.

The paths of the setup logs of the installation Fixlets are:
  • {BigFix Client folder}\BesClientDeployToolInstall.log, for the Client Deploy Tool (CDT)
  • {BigFix Client folder}\BesConsoleInstall.log, for the Console
  • {BigFix Client folder}\BesPluginPortalInstall.log, for the Plugin Portal
  • {BigFix Client folder}\BesRelayInstall.log, for the Relay
  • {BigFix Client folder}\BesWebUiInstall.log, for the WebUI Service
The paths of the setup logs of the upgrade Fixlets are:
  • C:\BesInstallationGeneratorUpgrade.log
  • C:\BesServerUpgrade.log, for the Server and local Web Reports
  • C:\BesWebReportsUpgrade.log, for standalone (remote) Web Reports
  • {BigFix Client folder}\BesClientDeployToolInstall.log, for the Client Deploy Tool (CDT)
  • {BigFix Client folder}\BesClientUpgrade.log, for the Windows Client
  • /Library/Logs/BESAgent.log, for the Mac Client
  • {BigFix Client folder}/BesClientUpgrade.log, for all the others Clients
  • {BigFix Relay folder}\BesRelayUpgrade.log, for the Relay
  • {BigFix Server API folder}\BesServerApiUpgrade.log, for the Server API
  • {BigFix WebUI folder}\BesWebUiUpgrade.log, for the WebUI Service

Manual installation and upgrade logs on Windows

Before BigFix 10.0.8, no log is created by default when manually running a BigFix installer on Windows.

Such logs can still be created by passing specific options to the installers or by changing the default Windows settings as described here to globally enable the installation logging.

Starting from BigFix 10.0.8, if you run an .exe setup manually to install or upgrade a BigFix component, the installation log will be saved in the %LocalAppData% folder.

The names of the installation logs of the .exe setups are:
  • BesClientInstall.log, for the Client
  • BesConsoleInstall.log, for the Console
  • BesInstallationGeneratorInstall.log, for the Installation Generator
  • BesPluginPortalInstall.log, for the Plugin Portal
  • BesRelayInstall.log, for the Relay
  • BesServerApiInstall.log, for the Server API
  • BesServerInstall.log, for the Server and/or Web Reports
  • BesWebUiInstall.log, for the WebUI Service
The names of the upgrade logs of the .exe setups are:
  • BesClientUpgrade.log, for the Client
  • BesConsoleUpgrade.log, for the Console
  • BesInstallationGeneratorUpgrade.log, for the Installation Generator
  • BesPluginPortalUpgrade.log, for the Plugin Portal
  • BesRelayUpgrade.log, for the Relay
  • BesServerApiUpgrade.log, for the Server API
  • BesServerUpgrade.log, for the Server and local Web Reports
  • BesWebReportsUpgrade, for standalone (remote) Web Reports
  • BesWebUiUpgrade.log, for the WebUI Service

If you run an .msi setup manually to install or upgrade a BigFix component, the installation log will be saved in the %temp% folder. Their names are randomly generated but follow the pattern: Msi*.log.

Manual installation and upgrade logs on Linux

On Linux, the BigFix Server installer always produces a log by default and saves it in /var/log/BESInstall.log

Remember that the BigFix Server installer can install several components at once: the Server, Web Reports, the WebUI and the Client.

The Client upgrade Fixlets create a log since BigFix Version 10 Patch 8.

Chart of installation log locations