Transferring all files from Fixlet sites

To transfer files from Fixlet sites, perform the following steps:

  1. Locate the .efxm file for the site from which you want to gather downloads, for example, BES Asset Discovery.efxm.
  2. Run the BES Download Cacher utility with the following command: 
    BESDownloadCacher.exe -m BES Asset Discovery.efxm -x downloads
    Note: This might take a very long time because it downloads every file referenced in the Fixlet site and puts the files into the downloads folder. If the files already exist in the downloads folder, they are not re-downloaded. Files are named with their sha1 checksum.
  3. When the download finishes, copy the contents of the downloads folder (just the files, not the folder) into the sha1 folder on the main BigFix server. The default location for the sha1 folder is:
    • On Windows systems: %PROGRAM FILES%\BigFix Enterprise\BES Server\wwwrootbes\bfmirror\downloads\sha1
    • On Linux systems: /var/opt/BESServer/wwwrootbes/bfmirror/downloads/sha1
    The BigFix server uses these files instead of trying to download them from the Internet.
    Note: If you run the BES Download Cacher utility later, you can look at the modification time of the files to see which files are the newest. Using this method, you transfer only the newest files to the Main BigFix server instead of copying every file each time.

You might need to increase the size of the cache on the main BigFix server so that it does not try to delete any files from the cache. Run the BES Download Cacher utility to increase the size of the cache with the following command:

BESDownloadCacher.exe -c 1024

The default size of the cache is 1024 MB.

Note: Use the -c option only when the BigFix server or a relay is installed on the system where you run the BES Download Cacher utility. If no BigFix component is installed, cache has no limit.

After the files are cached in the BigFix server sha1 folder, they are automatically delivered to the BigFix relays and BigFix clients when you click an action in the Fixlet message that references a downloaded file. If the file is not cached, the BigFix console gives you a status of Waiting for Mirror Server after you deploy an action. For additional information about how the BigFix cache works, see How does the TEM Server and TEM Relay cache work.