Maintenance and Troubleshooting

If you are subscribed to the Patches for Windows site, you can ensure that you have the latest upgrades and patches to your SQL server database servers. This means that you must install the client on all your computers, including the server and console computers. In addition, you might want to take advantage of these other tools and procedures:

  • If you have the SQL Server installed, you should become familiar with the MS SQL Server Tools, which can help you keep the database running smoothly.
  • It is standard practice to back up your database on a regular schedule, and the IBM BigFix database is no exception. It is also wise to run the occasional error-check to validate the data.
  • If you start to notice any performance degradation, check for fragmentation. IBM BigFix writes out many temporary files, which might create a lot of disk fragmentation, so defragment your drive when necessary. Regular maintenance also involves running the occasional error-check on your disk drives.
  • The IBM BigFix Diagnostics Tool performs a complete test on the server components and can be run any time you experience problems. For additional information see Running the IBM BigFix Diagnostics tool.
  • Check the BigFix Management domain often. There are a number of Fixlets available that can detect problems with any of your IBM BigFix components. This can often prevent problems before they ever affect your network.
  • Check the IBM BigFix Knowledge Base at IBM BigFix Support site. This site is continually updated, and if you cannot find an existing knowledge-base article about your question, you can find information about how to submit a question to IBM Software Support.
  • Add relays to improve the overall system performance and pay close attention to them. Healthy relays are important for a healthy deployment.
  • Review the Deployment Health Checks dashboard in the BigFix Management domain for optimizations and failures.
  • Set up monitoring activities on the servers to notify you in the event of a software or hardware failure, including:
    • Server powered off or unavailable
    • Disk failure
    • Event log errors about server applications
    • Server services states
    • FillDB buffer directory data back-up situations