Subscribing to content sites

Sites are collections of Fixlets, tasks, analysis, that are created internally by you, by HCL, or by vendors. You subscribe to a site and agree on a schedule for downloading the latest batch.

You can add a new site subscription by acquiring a masthead file from a vendor or from HCL. You can subscribe to a site also by using the Licensing Dashboard.

Sites are generally devoted to a single topic, such as security or the maintenance of a particular piece of software or hardware. However, several sites can share characteristics and are then grouped into domains, which might include a set of typical job tasks of your various Console managers. For example, the person responsible for patching and maintaining a common operating environment can find Support sites and Patching sites for various operating systems all bundled into the Patch Management Domain.

You can also set up your own custom site and populate it with Fixlets that you have developed specifically for your own network. You and other operators can then send and receive the latest in-house patches and quickly deploy them to the appropriate locations and departments.

Upon installation, the program is automatically set up to subscribe to certain management and maintenance sites. Depending on the terms of your license, you might have subscriptions to other sites as well. This means that content from those sites automatically flows into your enterprise and is evaluated for relevance on all computers running the BigFix client. These sites, in turn automatically register with an appropriate domain, providing a simple way to divide the content into functional sections.

Subscribing with a masthead

To subscribe to a site using a masthead file, follow these steps:
  1. Find an appropriate site. Finding a site is equivalent to finding a site masthead file, which has an extension of .efxm. There are several ways to do this:
    Fixlet sites:
    HCL might post a links list to new sites as they become available.
    Fixlet subscriptions:
    Sometimes a Fixlet message might offer a subscription. Click the Fixlet action to start the subscription.
    Download mastheads:
    You can also subscribe to a site by downloading a masthead file from a vendor's website. After the masthead is saved to your computer, you can activate it in one of the following ways:
    • Double-click the masthead, or
    • Select Add External Site Masthead from the Tools menu, browse the folder containing the masthead, and click Open.
  2. You are prompted for your private key password. Type it in and click OK.
The masthead is propagated to all Clients, which immediately begin to evaluate the Fixlet from the new site.

Subscribing with the Licensing Dashboard

You can subscribe to a Fixlet site also by using the Licensing Dashboard in BigFix Management, found in the Domain Panel:
  1. Open the BigFix Management domain and scroll to the top to view the associated dashboards.
  2. From the Licensing Dashboard, select the sites you want to subscribe to.