Installing on Linux systems

After understanding the terms and the administrative roles, you are ready to actually get authorized and install the programs.

Because BigFix is powerful, you might want to limit access to trusted, authorized personnel only. The program depends on a central repository of Fixlet actions called the Action site, which uses public/private key encryption to protect against spoofing and other unauthorized usage. To get started, you need authorization from HCL by getting a License Authorization file, which will have a name like CompanyName.BESLicenseAuthorization.

Note: If you run a fresh installation of BigFix V9.5.6 or later using the License Authorization file, be aware that limitations apply in managing Clients earlier than V9.0 and in using Relays earlier than V9.5.6. This is due to the introduction of two security enforcement services that are enabled, in this specific scenario, by default. You can change this behavior after the installation completes by changing the values assigned to minimumSupportedClient and minumumSupportedRelay as described in Running the BigFix Administration Tool.

The installation program collects further information about your deployment and then creates a file called the action site masthead. This file establishes a chain of authority from the BigFix root all the way down to the Console operators in your organization. The masthead combines configuration information (IP addresses, ports, and so on) and license information (how many Clients are authorized and for how long) together with a public key used to verify the digital signatures.