During the BigFix Inventory (BFI) software scans, the scanner collects information about files with particular extensions, package data, and software identification tags to evaluate whether particular software is installed on the computers in your infrastructure. It also gathers information about the running processes to measure software usage.
The scanning policy will be assigned to USGS computers in phases. The progression is as follows:
- The first phase will target Windows workstations and Apple Mac OS X systems. This was initiated in 2016. The scans are scheduled to run once a week when the computer is available on the internal network and will only scan local drives.
- The second phase will include all Windows server operating systems. This will be initiated in February 2017. The scans are scheduled to run once a week only on weekends and will only scan local drives.
- The final phase will include all other OS’s. The start date for initiating the scanning policy is May 2018.
Excluding some directories from scanning is useful if the directories are large and contain no information that is important to the software inventory. By excluding them, you can speed up the scanning process and minimize any performance related issues on systems like file servers. If you find that directory exclusions are needed on some systems, use the following procedures to manage them.
Excluding Directories from BFI Software Scan
Once the scan is complete, the results will be uploaded to the BigFix servers via a DOI agent policy. If there are issues related to the scanning discovered at your site, contact the BigFix Support team via the Service Desk at servicedesk@usgs.gov or 703-648-HELP(4357).
The fixlet, Initiate Software Scan, is configured as shown below:
