Installing BigFix DEX Importer

This section provides information about the BigFix DEX Importer, which is an additional service under the DEX application.

DEX Importer allows you to perform the following actions:

  • Retrieving the reports from BigFix root server that are uploaded by the DEX agents, parsing their content, and storing the data into a new schema in the BigFix Insights database.
  • Deleting the files from both the local file system and root server cache once they have been utilized.
  • Ensuring that the data is not lost or duplicated in case of interruptions, such as the service crashes or the lost connections.

The mechanism to generate the data needed by the BigFix DEX application is provided by the DEX scan Fixlets, such as High Frequency Scan, Low Frequency Scan, and Boot Time Scan that regularly run as policies on the managed devices. The DEX scan Fixlets, available as each fixlet, manages different type of DEX report files that include different metrics according to the required sampling rate. For example, metrics like boot duration or system crashes are collected only after each machine reboots, while others like application freezes are recorded every 15 minutes and CPU usage every minute. These Fixlets generate report files with measured values that are regularly uploaded to the BigFix root server through the BigFix relay chain, according to a BigFix DEX defined upload configuration enforced by the 'Upload Scan Results' Fixlet. For more information on the Fixlets, refer to Managing the endpoint Fixlets.

System requirements

  • Windows with a 64-bit architecture is required. To optimize the DEX Importer completely, it should be deployed on a Windows machine with a high number of CPU cores, to leverage its multi-threading architecture.
  • All Fixlet parameters are required.
  • In the Server API Configuration section:
    • ServerURL is the basic URL of the root server the Importer connects to download the DEX report files, with a default value of https://<actual_root_server_dnsname(or IP address)>:<actual_root_server_port>.

    • UserName and Password are the credentials of a BigFix Master Operator that the DEX Importer leverages to login to the BigFix root server.

  • In the Database Configuration section:

    • HostName is the hostname of the machine where the MSSQL server is located, with a default localhost. As a prerequisite for the MyXalytics DEX application to be integrated with reported data, the hostname specified here must be the same as the one where MyXalytics databases are deployed. The DEX Importer supports the database configurations, local or remote, for Microsoft SQL Server 2019 and 2022. When installing DEX Importer in a production environment, Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise and Standard are recommended.

    • Database UserName is the database user that the DEX Importer leverages to connect to the database where DEX reports are stored. This user must have permissions to create a database.

    • Database Password is the password of the user specified in database username field.

    • Database Port is the MSSQL server port, defaulted to 1433.

    • Database Name is the name of the database where the Importer stores DEX reports. The database is created by the Importer if it does not exist. It is defaulted to BFInsights.

      If BigFix Insights is already deployed in the environment, it is recommended to use the same database, otherwise a separate BigFix Insights database is created and leveraged.

Note: Windows authentication is not supported for DEX Importer database connection. Only SQL authentication can be configured.

Upon successful installation of the installation Fixlet on the Windows target device, a new Windows service is created and named BigFix DEX Importer. A new folder is also created under %ProgramFiles(x86)%/Bigfix Enterprise and is named DEX, containing the required executables, configuration files, and subfolders.

The subfolders are named as follows:

  • BufferDir: It includes the DEX files downloaded from BigFix Root Server and not yet imported. These files are removed from BufferDir once successfully imported.
  • ErroredReports: It includes the DEX files, which is not completely processed by DEX Importer due to issues such as incorrect format, missing information, or database issues. The files are moved from BufferDir to the ErroredReports folder.
  • Logs: It includes the DEX Importer log files.
  • Installer: It includes the DEX Importer installer.

The Importer continuously downloads files and deletes files after they have been imported in database. The DEX Importer configuration file is located under the DEX installation folder together with the deximporter.exe executable. It is named deximporterconfig.json and includes all the parameters provided by the installation fixlet. Sensitive information is encrypted.

The following parameters are included in the configuration file:

  • log_level: defaulted to "error"

    By default, only start/stop messages and errors are logged. In cases where verbose logging is required, this parameter must be changed to "all."

  • log_max_size_mb: defaulted to 5

    It is the maximum size of DEX Importer log files.

  • log_max_backups: defaulted to 10

    It is the maximum number of backup log files for DEX Importer. Each time the current log file reaches its maximum size, specified by log_max_size_mb parameter, it is renamed, adding the timestamp to the filename, and backed up. After the log_max_backups files have been backed up, the next (oldest) backup file is preceded by the deletion of the oldest backup file.

  • folders_max_size_mb: defaulted to 512

    It is the maximum size of the BufferDir and ErroredReports folders. If the maximum size reaches for the BufferDir folder, file downloads are paused. The download resumes once the size of the folder is half of the maximum size. If the maximum size reaches for the ErroredReports folder, files are not moved to this folder until half of the maximum size is reached.