Migrating the BigFix server between computers

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To migrate the BigFix® server to a different computer, install a new server on the desired computer, and add it as a datasource in License Metric Tool. Then, resubscribe endpoints from the old BigFix server to the new one.

Before you begin

Some of the settings of the old BigFix server need to be manually recreated in the new server. Before you stop and uninstall the old BigFix server, check the settings to be able to recreate them in the new server. For the list of the settings, see: What to do next.

Procedure

  1. Back up the old BigFix server to be able to perform disaster recovery.
  2. Install a new BigFix server on the desired computer.
  3. Add the new BigFix server as a datasource in License Metric Tool.
  4. Optional: If you did not enable the default scan schedule while adding the new datasource in step 3, set up scans to discover software and hardware inventory.
  5. Migrate computers between BigFix data sources. For more information, see: Migrating computers between data sources.
  6. Log in to the new BigFix console and go to Computers. Verify that all endpoints were migrated to the new BigFix server.
  7. If you use the central VM Manager Tool, copy its definitions and customizations to the new BigFix server.
    1. Optional: If the VM Manager Tool did not install automatically, install it manually and schedule uploads of its scan results.
    2. Copy the content of the following directories from the computer on which the old BigFix server is installed to the same directories on the computer where the new BigFix server is installed.
      • <BES_client>/LMT/VMMAN/config
      • <BES_client>/LMT/VMMAN/keydb
    3. Run the VM Manager Tool.
      The procedure describes running the VM Manager Tool in distributed mode. However, it should be used also in case of central VM Manager Tool that was migrated.
  8. Optional: Decommission the old BigFix server from License Metric Tool.
    1. Log in to License Metric Tool, and go to Management > Data Sources. Select the old BigFix server, and click Delete.
    2. Uninstall the old BigFix server.

What to do next

If you have computer groups created in License Metric Tool that are based on computer groups created in the old BigFix server, recreate the same groups in the new BigFix server. Then, update the computer groups in License Metric Tool.
  1. Recreate computer groups from the old BigFix server in the new one. You can create automatic or manual computer groups.
  2. Log in to License Metric Tool, go to Management > Data Imports, and click Import Now.
  3. After the import finishes, go to Management > Computer Groups. Open computer groups that are based on computer groups created in the old BigFix server, and recreate them by specifying the same conditions from the new BigFix server.
If you have custom properties defined in License Metric Tool, update the properties to point to the new BigFix server.
  1. Log in to License Metric Tool, go to Management > Data Imports, and click Import Now.
  2. After the import finishes, go to Management > Computer Properties. Open custom computer properties and update them to point to properties from the new BigFix server.