Configuring scans on containers (BigFix scenario)

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Discovery of software that is installed in Docker or Podman containers is enabled by default. In some environments, you might need to perform additional steps to specify a non-default installation path, or to exclude directories from scanning.

Requirements

For information about requirements and how software that is installed in containers is reported in License Metric Tool, see: Discovering software in containers.

Specifying installation path for engine

If Docker or Podman engine is installed in a non-default path or Podman is installed in a default path but the podman command is not redirected to the docker command, add this path as a setting of the BigFix® client, so that the software can be successfully discovered.

Check the engine installation.
- To check whether the Docker is installed in the default installation path, run the following command.
```
$ docker version
```
  If the result of the command is a Docker version, the Docker is installed in the default installation path. Any other outcome indicates that the Docker is installed in a non-default path.
- To check whether the Podman is installed in the default installation path and that the docker command is correctly redirected to the podman command, run the following command.
```
$ docker version
```
  Note: The command intentionally refers to the docker command instead of directly to the podman command to check the correctness of the redirection configuration.
  If the result of the command is a Podman version, the Podman is installed in the default installation path and the podman command is correctly redirected. Any other outcome indicates that the Podman is installed in a non-default path or podman command is not correctly redirected.
Log in to the BigFix console, and click Computer Management > Computers.
Right-click on the computer that has the Docker or Podman installed, and click Edit Computer Settings.
Add a computer setting. Specify the name as DOCKER_EXEC, and provide an absolute path as the value, for example /usr/bin/docker or /usr/bin/podman.

Specifying additional command options

By default, the scan runs the docker command without any options. If you want to use additional options provided by Docker, for example -H (daemon socket to connect to), add these options as a new setting of the BigFix client. Enter all options in one setting.

Log in to the BigFix console, and click Computer Management > Computers.
Right-click on the computer that has the Docker or Podman installed, and click Edit Computer Settings.
Add a computer setting. Specify the name as DOCKER_OPTS, and provide options as the value, for example -H unix:///var/run/docker.sock.

Excluding directories from scans

The default Docker file system directory /var/lib/docker and the default Podman file system directory /var/lib/containers are excluded from scanning. If you change the engine file system directory to a custom directory, you need to manually exclude it from scanning because it might cause duplicated discoveries. For more information, see: Excluding directories.

Logs

To troubleshoot problems with discovery of software that is installed in containers, see the docker_scan.log log. The log is stored in the BigFix client installation directory. By default, it is:

var/opt/BesClient/LMT/CIT/docker_scan.log
C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BESClient\LMT\CIT\docker_scan.log