Upgrade the Automation Plan Engine

To upgrade the Automation Plan Engine, you run a Task from your BigFix console. There are two upgrade scenarios described here. Use the first procedure if you upgraded your version of BigFix from V8.2 to V9.5 and want to upgrade the Automation Plan Engine. Use the second scenario if you upgraded BigFix V9.x to V9.5 and want to upgrade the Automation Plan Engine. The procedure is the same for Microsoft Windows and Linux upgrades, except where identified as platform-specific.

Upgrade from BigFix V8.2

If you previously had Server Automation running on BigFix V8.2 and upgraded your BigFix system to V9.5, complete the following steps to upgrade the Automation Plan Engine.

Procedure

  1. After upgrading BigFix to V9.5, check that your version of the BES Server Plugin Service is V2.0.0.0 or later. If necessary, update the BES Server Plugin Service. To check your version of the BES Server Plugin Service:
    • On Microsoft Windows® systems, the BES Server Plugin Service file is the MFS.exe file in the C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Server\Applications directory. Right-click the MFS.exe file and select Properties and then the Details tab to check the version number.
    • On Linux systems, the BES Server Plugin Service executable is the MFS executable file in the /var/opt/BESServer/Applications directory. The MFS-Linux.ver file contains the MFS version. Use the cat MFS-Linux.ver command to display the version.
  2. After upgrading BigFix to V9.5, the Configure REST API credentials for BES Server Plugin Service Task becomes relevant. Run this Task, targeting the BigFix server:
    1. Log on to the BigFix console as the master operator and go to the Server Automation domain.
    2. From the Automation node, click Setup and Maintenance and select the Configure REST API credentials for BES Server Plugin Service Task.
    3. Enter the master operator credentials on the Description section and click Take Action.
    4. From the Take Action dialog box, target the system on which the BigFix server is installed.
    A short time later, the Install Latest Automation Plan Engine Task becomes relevant.
  3. Run the Install Latest Automation Plan Engine Task targeting the BigFix server. The latest version of the Automation Plan Engine is installed in the BES Server\Applications\PlanEngine subdirectory of the installation directory.

Upgrade from BigFix V9.x

If you upgraded BigFix from V9.x to V9.5, use the Install Latest Automation Plan Engine Task to upgrade the Automation Plan Engine. You use the same Task to install the Automation Plan Engine. When the Automation Plan Engine is installed, the Install Latest Automation Plan Engine Task is relevant if the version of the Automation Plan Engine that is installed is earlier than the version in the Task.

About this task

Before an upgrade, the Install Latest Automation Plan Engine Task shuts down the Automation Plan Engine and removes it.

Note:
  • The Install Latest Automation Plan Engine Task cannot fully remove an existing Automation Plan Engine instance if the files in the BES Server\Applications\PlanEngine subdirectory of the installation directory are being accessed by another user or application. To ensure that the Install Latest Automation Plan Engine Task runs successfully, you must close all other applications that access this directory before you run the Task.
  • When the Install Latest Automation Plan Engine task is run and the BES Server Plugin Service does not start the Plan Engine, then the status of this task is displayed as 'Failed'; if the BES Server Plugin Service starts the Plan Engine, then the status of this task is displayed as 'Completed'.

Complete the following steps to upgrade the Automation Plan Engine.

Procedure

  1. Log on to the BigFix console as the master operator and go to the Server Automation domain.
  2. From the Automation node, click Setup and Maintenance and select the Install Latest Automation Plan Engine Task.
  3. Click Take Action.
  4. From the Take Action dialog box, target the system on which the BigFix server is installed.
  5. Click OK. The latest version of the Automation Plan Engine is installed in the BES Server\Applications\PlanEngine subdirectory of the installation directory.

Results

The latest version of the Automation Plan Engine is installed. The BigFix server plug-in service restarts the Automation Plan Engine automatically. The Automation Plan Engine resumes processing any Automation Plan actions and step actions that were running before the upgrade. All the configuration data in the config.xml file and the log4j.prop file is unchanged by the upgrade. The version of the Automation Plan Engine installed by the Install Latest Automation Plan Engine Task is logged in the pe_console.log file in the \BES Server\Applications\Logs subdirectory of the installation directory.

Note: Do not uncomment to enable any of the entries in the Local Settings section of the log4j.prop file in the BES Server\Applications\PlanEngine\config folder. If you enable any of these settings by uncommenting them, you might encounter errors.