Mixed installation: BigFix and disconnected scanners (Lite or Ansible)

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You can have a mixed License Metric Tool infrastructure in which some endpoints are monitored by BigFix clients and other endpoints are monitored by disconnected scanners. Both types of endpoints can report to a single License Metric Tool server. Such a setup might be used, for example, due to different security rules that govern different sets of endpoints or due to the networking topology.

If you decide to set up the mixed infrastructure, you can do this at any point of time. If you start by installing License Metric Tool with BigFix, you can add endpoints that are monitored by disconnected scanners later on. Analogically, if you start by installing License Metric Tool Lite or with Ansible, you can add endpoints that are monitored by BigFix clients later on.

Hardware requirements

Due to differences in how endpoints with the BigFix client and with the disconnected scanner operate, they are assigned different weights:

Endpoints with the BigFix client are assigned the weight of 1.
Endpoints with the disconnected scanner are assigned the weight of 2.

License Metric Tool supports the maximum of 250 000 endpoint units. For more information, see: Hardware requirements.

Important: License Metric Tool Lite is pre-approved in environments with up to 500 monitored computers. It means that up to 500 computers in your mixed environment can be monitored this way. The rest must be monitored by using the BigFix client or Ansible.

Installing the mixed infrastructure from scratch

If are installing the mixed License Metric Tool infrastructure from scratch, perform the following steps.

Install the License Metric Tool server, its database, and the BigFix platform. For more information, see: Installing and configuring the server (BigFix scenario).
Install the BigFix client on every computer from which you want to collect and transfer data by using this method. For more information, see: Installing the BigFix clients (BigFix scenario).
Add a disconnected data source. For more information, see: Adding a data source.
Set up collection of software and capacity data from the monitored computers. Steps that you need to perform depend on whether the computer is monitored by the BigFix client or the disconnected scanner.
- BigFix
  If you completed the All-in-One installation or enabled the default scan schedule, basic software and capacity data is collected automatically. In other cases, you need to manually set up software and capacity scans. Depending on your infrastructure, you might also want to perform advanced configuration of scans, for example set up scanning of shared disks or Docker containers. For more information, see: Setting up data collection (BigFix scenario).
- Disconnected scanner
  You can choose between two approaches to transferring scan results from the monitored computers to the License Metric Tool server.
  - Transferring scan result by using an automation technology of your choice (so-called License Metric Tool Lite). For more information, see: Installing and configuring disconnected scanners for Lite.
  - Transferring scan results by using Ansible and playbooks that are delivered with License Metric Tool. For more information, see: Installing and configuring disconnected scanners with Ansible (Ansible scenario).

Adding disconnected scanners (Lite or Ansible) to License Metric Tool with BigFix

If you already have BigFix set up and you want to add endpoints that are monitored by disconnected scanners, perform the following steps.

Add a disconnected data source. For more information, see: Adding a data source.
Set up collection of software and capacity data from computers with disconnected scanners. You can choose between two approaches to transferring scan results from the monitored computers to the License Metric Tool server.
- Transferring scan result by using an automation technology of your choice (so-called License Metric Tool Lite). For more information, see: Installing and configuring disconnected scanners for Lite.
- Transferring scan results by using Ansible and playbooks that are delivered with License Metric Tool. For more information, see: Installing and configuring disconnected scanners with Ansible (Ansible scenario).

Adding BigFix to License Metric Tool Lite or with Ansible

If you already have License Metric Tool Lite or with Ansible, and you want to add endpoints that are monitored by BigFix clients, perform the following steps.

Install the BigFix platform. For more information, see the following links:
- Installing the BigFix platform on Linux (BigFix scenario)
- Installing the BigFix platform on Windows (BigFix scenario)
Add the BigFix server as a data source. For more information, see: Adding a data source.
Install the BigFix client on every computer from which you want to collect and transfer data by using this method. For more information, see: Installing the BigFix clients (BigFix scenario).
Set up collection of software and capacity data from computers with the BigFix client. If you enabled the default scan schedule, basic software and capacity data is collected automatically. In other cases, you need to manually set up software and capacity scans. Depending on your infrastructure, you might also want to perform advanced configuration of scans, for example set up scanning of shared disks or Docker containers. For more information, see: Setting up data collection (BigFix scenario).