Discovery of software on shared disks

9.2.8 Available from 9.2.8. Discovery of software that is installed on shared disks is done in two phases. In the first phase, one of the computers on which the shared disk is mounted is scanned. In the second phase, discovery results from the designated computer are propagated within a computer group that consists of all computers on which the shared disk is mounted. This approach allows for optimizing the process of software discovery. It also allows for avoiding a situation in which performance of the shared disk is degraded due to multiple scans that run on that disk.

Requirements

For detailed instructions, see: Step 2b: Optimized mode - Manual scanning of remote shared disks.

Scenario 1: Each computer has access to one shared disk

There are two shared disks, each mounted on six computers. To properly report the discovered software, create two computer groups in BigFix Inventory:
  • Computer Group 1 that contains computers on which Shared Disk 1 is mounted
  • Computer Group 2 that contains computers on which Shared Disk 2 is mounted
From each group, select one computer to be scanned. Scan results from the designated computer are propagated to the remaining computers in the computer group. Thus, software that is installed on Shared Disk 1 is reported on all computers in Computer Group 1 without the need to scan all computers in that group. The same happens for computers in Computer Group 2.


Scenario 2: Some computers have access to two shared disks

There are two shared disks. Shared Disk 1 is mounted on nine computers. Shared Disk 2 is mounted on six computers. To properly report the discovered software, create two computer groups in BigFix Inventory:
  • Computer Group 1 that contains computers on which Shared Disk 1 is mounted
  • Computer Group 2 that contains computers on which Shared Disk 2 is mounted
Three of the computers belong to both computer groups because they have both disks mounted. Select one of these computers to be scanned. This way, only one computer is scanned to discover software that is installed on both shared disks. Scan results from the designated computer are propagated to the rest of computers in both groups. Computers on which only one disk is mounted show software from that disk only. Computers on which both disks are mounted show software from both disks.


Scenario 3: Computers have access to one shared disk but run on different operating systems

There is one shared disk that is mounted on nine computers. Three of the computers run on Linux, three on AIX, and three on Solaris. To properly report the discovered software, create one computer group in BigFix Inventory. From this group, designate three computers to be scanned, one for every operating system.

It is necessary because the software catalog that is propagated to each computer monitored by BigFix Inventory contains software signatures specific to the operating system on which that computer runs. Thus, scan results from the shared disk must be matched against software catalog for every operating system. Scan results from each designated computer are propagated to the rest of computers that run on the same operating system.