®

Instructor Preparation Guide

IBM BigFix Platform Fundamentals
Course code IS721G ERC 1.0

IBM Training
January 2019 edition
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Contents
About this book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Preparing to teach this course. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Instructor qualifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Instructor background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Suggested instructor preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Other resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Software requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Virtual system requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Recommendations for students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
General recommendations for all IBM courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Course overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Delivering the course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Course outline and notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Unit 1 IBM BigFix Platform: Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Unit 2 IBM BigFix Platform: Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Unit 3 IBM BigFix Platform: Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Unit 4 IBM BigFix Platform: Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Unit 5 IBM BigFix Platform: Site Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Unit 6 IBM BigFix Platform: Patch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Unit 7 IBM BigFix Platform: Operator administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Unit 8 IBM BigFix Platform: Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Helpful hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

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About this book
This book prepares instructors to teach the IBM BigFix Platform Fundamentals course and is
intended for new and experienced instructors. The book provides the following information:
• Instructor qualifications
• Suggested preparation
• Materials for course
• Course overview
• Course updates
• Course outline and notes

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Preparing to teach this course

This section explains to the instructor’s management and the prospective instructor the background
skills that are required to effectively teach both the course and the prerequisite courses. It also lists
instructional documents and any other material that should be studied before teaching the course.
The prospective instructor must already possess all of the delivery skills that are required to be an
instructor.

This course is intended to teach the fundamental skills that apply across the BigFix applications
offering, inclusive of the platform. The course starts by presenting a very high-level overview
including value propositions, application offerings, and general product architecture. The course
drills down into typical operational tasks, configuration of the platform, use of the Patch application,
creation and management of users locally and LDAP options, and the web reporting capabilities,
and concludes with troubleshooting use cases.

Instructor qualifications
Instructors must possess all of the teaching skills that are required of a successful instructor. This
section describes the additional course-specific knowledge that instructors should have.

Instructor background
This section describes the technical and tool-specific knowledge that is necessary for instructors to
deliver the course successfully. If the instructor cannot address these topics and draw on industry
experience in doing so, the course might not be successful.

The instructor should have the following skills:

• The ability to use and manage a VMware Workstation or hosted environment service as
leveraged by typical instructor lead courses
• A working knowledge of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft Windows 7
• A working knowledge of SuSE Enterprise Linux, CentOS, or similar operating systems
• An in-depth knowledge of the BigFix platform to be able to answer questions and help students
troubleshoot labs and explain the varying operational times of some labs

The instructor should be certified in IBM BigFix or IBM Endpoint Manager products.

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Suggested instructor preparation
The following preparations are suggested specifically for this course:
• The instructor should be familiar with the IBM Knowledge Center to be able to guide students to
the latest offering product documentation.
http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSQL82/welcome
• The BigFix page at IBM developerWorks is continually updated with the latest demos and
information and is worth reviewing and gaining familiarity. This page can be found by going to
the developerWorks main site and searching on BigFix.
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/wikis/home?lang=en#!/wiki/Tivoli%20Endpoin
t%20Manager

Other resources
• The BigFix download center provides access to the product installation images as well as
various Support options and the BigFix forums.
http://support.bigfix.com/bes/install/downloadbes.html
• IBM Security offers an wealth of on-line training content available from the IBM Security
Learning Academy. From the main page, browse the catalog and select the Endpoint
Management: IBM BigFix icon to review course roadmaps, watch videos, or perform hands-on
virtual labs. This is intended to extend a student’s learning experience as well as answer a
variety of questions, saving a call to support.
https://www.securitylearningacademy.com/

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Software requirements
All of the required software has been provided in the virtual images.
• Adobe Flash
• Adobe Reader
• Adobe Shockwave Player
• Baretail
• Firefox
• IBM BigFix 9.5 Server
• IBM BigFix 9.5 Console
• IBM BigFix 9.5 Windows Client
• IBM BigFix 9.5 SuSE Client
• IBM BigFix 9.5 CentOS Client
• IBM DB2
• IBM Directory Server
• Microsoft SQL Server Express (part of the BigFix server installation)
• Thunderbird (not used by the labs at this time)

Virtual system requirements

The exercises in this course are performed on a set of six virtual machines. Using virtual machines
ensures that the systems are identical and allows for the consistent management of the network
interfaces, overall configuration, and the ability to return the systems to a known state. In the case
of these exercises, one network is active and configured across all of the virtual systems to provide
host-only communication, allowing each system to communicate with each other system.

The provided diagram demonstrates the connectivity discussed. Observe that there are 3 servers
and 3 clients. BFXClient2 however, has an instance of IBM Directory Server and thus can be
considered either. You will also observe that all systems have a BigFix agent, or BES Client,
installed so all systems are managed by the BFXServer.

Additionally, the BigFix Console is installed on both the BFXServer and BFXClient1 to emulate
remote management of the server and will be leveraged in the Operator Administration labs.

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Attention: These systems are configured with the network air-gapped from the Internet. That is,
the systems are not directly able to communicate beyond the private network to the Internet.
Therefore, the BigFix processes have been followed to precache content and third-party files
where the BigFix server would dynamically acquire content through the automatic gather and
download processes.

Recommendations for students

Prerequisites
• A strong understanding of Microsoft Windows operating system is required.
• It is highly recommended but not required that you have user skills with SUSE and CentOS
Linux.
• It is highly recommended but not required that you have user skills with LDAP or Active
Directory.
• It is highly recommended that you have skills with the patching of operating systems.

Course classification
Experience: Basic

End user level: BigFix administrators, BigFix architects, and professional services using BigFix

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General recommendations for all IBM courses
Some of these resources might not be available until later in the course development process.
Review what is available and check back later for more resources:
• Attend any instructor training that is available for this course.
• Check for an SPVC (self-paced virtual class) of the course and, if available, attend it.
• Review the following course information:
– Locate the course description in the online course catalog at www.ibm.com/training.
– Read the course overview and course outline to understand the overall course content.
– Review the audience for which the course is intended.
Know your audience so that you can assist the students and tailor the course for anyone
who does not meet the audience background but is still participating in the course.
– Review the student prerequisites for this course.
You must know all of the information in the prerequisite courses. Depending on the
audience background and prerequisites, it might be necessary to review previous materials.
– Review the skills taught in this course.
Be sure that you know and understand all of the target skills for the course before you
attempt delivery.
• Study the course materials.
Request the course materials, including the Instructor Guide, and request access to the course
labs at least two weeks before you are available to study them. Ensure that you understand
how to run the lab exercises and how to complete all lab setup steps that are required.
• Review all of the training paths that refer to this course.
You should know what comes before and after this course so that you can verify that your
audience meets the prerequisites and sell your audience on the follow-on courses.

Course overview
IBM BigFix offers a unified management platform that automates and streamlines systems and
security management for endpoints and servers. This course presents the fundamentals of the IBM
BigFix Platform, which is the core of the product that all of the layered applications exist on. The
course duration is three days and is intended to prepare administrators and operations staffers to
fully leverage the product in their daily roles.

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Strategy

Teaching strategy
Each classroom session uses a combination of facilitated lecture, discussions, group exercises,
and demonstrations to convey the material.

Due to the nature of the BigFix product, lab operational time can vary across machines. Depending
on an instructor’s style, the instructor might choose to provide some discussion during the longer
labs to reiterate to students the process that is occurring within the BigFix architecture, or use the
wait time to open the class to a question and answer period. In some situations, patience is indeed
a virtue.

Introduce the material

Inform the students of the objectives of the unit and topic. Give them a brief scenario that helps
them understand how the presented material will assist them in performing their jobs.

Facilitate the learning experience

Involve the students in the learning process. Ask them questions and present classroom scenarios
in which students use the available resources to solve situations involving process, procedure, or
content on the job.

Review the material

Review objectives at the conclusion of each unit to ensure that the students have a thorough
understanding of the material.

Group exercises and labs are used to reinforce knowledge and skills that the students have learned
in the previous classroom topics. The instructor serves as a mentor in checking results, answering
questions, and providing constructive feedback and evaluation.

This is another task that can be done during the execution of some labs to reinforce what has been
learned and to make good use of student and instructor time.

Course evaluation
Evaluation measures the quality, effectiveness, and impact of the course. It enables students to
answer the question, “Are the requirements and objectives of the course being met?”

For all classes, instructors will provide an end-of-course questionnaire that students will complete
as feedback on course quality.

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Materials
The following materials are available for this course:
• Course Guide
• Course Exercises
• Instructor Preparation Guide
• Slide presentations

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Delivering the course

This section provides information about the units and exercises in this course.

Course outline and notes

The tables in this section describe the topics or lessons and accompanying instructor notes for
each unit in this course.

Unit / Module Duration <hh:mm>

Introduction <0:10>
Unit 1 IBM BigFix Platform: Overview <0:45> lecture
Unit 2: IBM BigFix Platform: Architecture <1:10> lecture
Unit 3: IBM BigFix Platform: Operations <1:45> lecture
<2:30> exercises
Unit 4 IBM BigFix Platform: Configuration <1:45> lecture
<1:00> exercises
Unit 5 IBM BigFix Platform: Site Management <0:40> lecture
<0:25> exercises
Unit 6 IBM BigFix Platform: Patch <1:15> lecture
<2:15> exercises
Unit 7 IBM BigFix Platform: Operator administration <0:40> lecture
<1:00> exercises
Unit 8 IBM BigFix Platform: Troubleshooting <0:45> lecture
<1:50> exercises

The total time for all of the modular units in this course, including the demonstrations, introduction,
and wrap-up, is approximately 18 hours.

Unit 1 IBM BigFix Platform: Overview

Objectives
• Discuss benefits and applications of the BigFix product offering
• Discuss supported operating systems, recent enhancements, and technical resources of BigFix

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Content
Number of exercises: none

The estimated time for this unit is 30 minutes.

Topic/Lesson Notes
Lesson 1: Introduction • There are no exercises for this lesson.
Lesson 2: Support and
• There are no exercises for this lesson.
enhancements
Lesson 3: Reference terminology
• There are no exercises for this lesson.
and resources

Unit 2 IBM BigFix Platform: Architecture

Objectives
• Describe the components that make up the architecture of a BigFix enterprise deployment
• Identify the BigFix Platform server architecture and relay architecture
• List BigFix service components, services, and client loop behaviors

Content
Number of exercises: none

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The estimated time for this unit is 1 hour, 10 minutes.

Topic/Lesson Notes
Lesson 1: Component architecture • There are no exercises for this lesson.
• This lesson presents the relationship between high
level and some lower level components. It helps set the
tone for data flows and an understanding of time
requirements to accomplish tasks.
Lesson 2: Server software • There are no exercises for this lesson.
components • This lesson presents the lower level relationships of
specific server components and is critical to
troubleshooting operational issues.

Unit 3 IBM BigFix Platform: Operations

Objectives
• Navigate the BigFix Console and configure Console preferences
• Use the domain navigation tree, dashboards, and filters to view data in the BigFix Console
• Describe the effects of taking actions on target systems including reviewing and stopping
actions
• Create automatic, manual, and ad hoc groups
• Use the BigFix Console to view aggregated data and edit specific system settings
• Use dashboards and reports to view BigFix Platform client data

Content
Number of exercises: 18

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The estimated time for this unit is 1 hour, 45 minutes for lecture and 2 hours, 30 minutes for
exercises.

Topic/Lesson Notes
Lesson 1: Console navigation • This lesson demonstrates the over hierarchical design
of the console. That is starting with a domain, moving to
the tree view, the list view, and finally the work area.
Familiarity with the user interface is key for the success
of the students.
Lesson 2: Workflow • This lesson presents the sequence of events when
managing a BigFix infrastructure. Understanding it will
help a student identify tasks and plan work efforts.
Lesson 3: Actions • This lesson presents the core of the technology to
perform work.
Lesson 4: Computer groups • This lesson is not difficult but helps students gain insight
into optimizing the BigFix deployment.
Lesson 5: Analyses and settings • This lesson is the first step in gaining insight into the
customization and tuning of their environment.
Lesson 6: Dashboards and web • This lesson is a quick introduction so students know
reports such data presentation exists and are free to browse it.
Unit exercises • Exercise 1: Verify the virtual machines
• Exercise 2: Navigate the Console
• Exercise 3: Set Console preferences
• Exercise 4: Use console filters
• Exercise 5: Take an action
• Exercise 6: Review an action
• Exercise 7: Stop an action
• Exercise 8: Take a default action
• Exercise 9: Create a baseline
• Exercise 10: Create two automatic groups
• Exercise 11: Work with a manual group
• Exercise 12: Create an ad hoc group
• Exercise 13: Work with an analysis
• Exercise 14: Review computer settings
• Exercise 15: Understanding dashboards
• Exercise 16: Access Web Reports
• Exercise 17: Create a private report and apply a filter
• Exercise 18: Report administration and preferences

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Unit 4 IBM BigFix Platform: Configuration

Objectives
• Use the BigFix Platform administration tool to manage masthead settings, configure system
options, and enable Message Level Encryption (MLE)
• Install a relay and diagram how to configure autoselection and implement relay affiliation
• Configure BigFix client settings to enable relay autoselection and relay affiliation
• Configure and troubleshoot HTTP proxy settings on Windows and Linux clients

Content
Number of exercises: 4

The estimated time for this unit is 1 hour, 45 minutes for lecture and 1 hour for exercises.

Topic/Lesson Notes
Lesson 1: Server configuration • This lesson presents configuration options specific to
the server components of BigFix.
Lesson 2: Relay configuration • This lesson presents configuration options specific to
the relay components of BigFix.
Lesson 3: Client configuration • This lesson presents configuration options specific to
the client components of BigFix.
Lesson 4: HTTP Proxy • This lesson presents configuration options specific to
configuration the use of the HTTP Proxy by the BigFix components.
Unit exercises • Exercise 1: Examine the masthead
• Exercise 2: Install a relay
• Exercise 3: Configure relay autoselection
• Exercise 4: Configure relay affiliation

Unit 5 IBM BigFix Platform: Site Management

Objectives
• View BigFix Platform licenses
• Use the BigFix Console to locate and manage sites
• Describe user roles and their relationships in BigFix Platform and grant permissions

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Content
Number of exercises: 3

The estimated time for this unit is 40 minutes for lecture and 25 minutes for exercises.

Topic/Lesson Notes
Lesson 1: Product licensing • This lesson presents the files used by the licensing and
authorization components.
Lesson 2: Content sites • This lesson presents the critical information about
content and how it is obtained and organized within the
product.
Lesson 3: Site governance • This lesson discusses the management of content sites
and is the perfect opportunity to discuss proprietary or
custom usage by customers.
Unit exercises • Exercise 1: Manage external site access
• Exercise 2: Create a custom site
• Exercise 3: Manage custom site content

Unit 6 IBM BigFix Platform: Patch

Objectives
• Discuss the BigFix Patch product including key capabilities, supported platforms, the
management cycle and process, and application content
• Use the Patches for Window Overview Dashboard and Microsoft Patch Wizard to patch a
Windows machine
• Outline the steps needed to patch Unix and Linux machines
• List some advanced patching solutions including wizards, baselines, and air gap tools
• Use metrics and progress reporting to monitor patch deployment

Content
Number of exercises: 11

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Course outline and notes

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The estimated time for this unit is 1 hour, 15 minutes for lecture and 2 hours, 15 minutes for
exercises.

Topic/Lesson Notes
Lesson 1: Overview • This lesson presents the general introduction to the
patch product.
• Some information is repeated from the Overview and
may be skipped or used as review so students
understand that Patch is technically an application or
product presented within this course.
• Patch is licensed with most if not all other BigFix
products, so the commonality of it and the fact that it is
a core technology is why it is presented here.
Lesson 2: Patching Windows • This lesson presents the most common patching
systems performed by BigFix. As numerous Linux variations are
offered to align with client requirements, Windows is the
most common to present the base technology and
process used by Patch.
Lesson 3: Patching other platforms • This lesson presents SuSE Linux as the demonstration
platform.
• Most Linux variants work in similar fashion.
Lesson 4: Advanced topics • This lesson present the knowledge for students to gain
additional value from the product.
• Various topics in this lesson also tie together some of
the work tasks previously presented to a more coherent
work flow.

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Topic/Lesson Notes
Lesson 5: Reporting and metrics • This lesson revisits the reporting capabilities but is
focused on the specific deliverables of the Patch
product.
Unit exercises • Exercise 1: Explore the Patch Management domain
• Exercise 2: Apply a Windows patch
• Exercise 3: Use the Microsoft Rollback Task wizard
• Exercise 4: Configure patch constraints
• Exercise 5: Create a patch baseline
• Exercise 6: Use the Windows Software Distribution
Wizard
• Exercise 7: Create an offer using the Firefox distribution
task
• Exercise 8: Configuring the download plug-in for
CentOS
• Exercise 9: Installing a patch leveraging the Download
Plug-in
• Exercise 10: Configure the Custom Repository for
CentOS within BigFix
• Exercise 11: Updating a CentOS package

Unit 7 IBM BigFix Platform: Operator administration

Objectives
• Discuss server, console, and database communication and content authentication mechanisms
• Create and manage BigFix user accounts locally or through Active Directory and LDAP servers

Content
Number of exercises: 7

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Course outline and notes

Uempty
The estimated time for this unit is 40 minutes for lecture and 1 hour for exercises.

Topic/Lesson Notes
Lesson 1: Server and console • This lesson is a brief discussion on the authentication
communications mechanisms between the server and console to provide
background for operator management.
Lesson 2: Managing operator • This lesson is highly valuable by presenting local and
accounts LDAP operator management.
Unit exercises • Exercise 1: Create a BigFix operator locally
• Exercise 2: Configure an Active Directory server
• Exercise 3: Configure an LDAP server
• Exercise 4: Add a BigFix operator from LDAP
• Exercise 5: Create and set a local operator role
• Exercise 6: Create and set and LDAP operator role
• Exercise 7: Set a role within an LDAP group

Unit 8 IBM BigFix Platform: Troubleshooting

Objectives
• Use the BigFix Diagnostics tool, dashboards, logs, and utilities to troubleshoot the IBM BigFix
Platform
• Describe how to correct some common client communication issues:
– Managed clients are not updated in the Console
– Server content is not updated
– Management actions are not propagating to a client
– Ensuring patch deployment

Content
Number of exercises: 13

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Delivering the course
Helpful hints

Uempty
The estimated time for this unit is 45 minutes for lecture and 1 hour, 50 minutes for exercises.

Topic/Lesson Notes
Lesson 1: Diagnostic aids • This lesson provides insight to the various tools
available for diagnosing problems.
Lesson 2: Method and use cases • This lesson is extremely valuable to students and
critical to their understanding of how to perform
troubleshooting.
• While Use Cases are presented, broken configurations
cannot be provided, so exercises are presented to walk
through the breaking of an environment component,
followed by the troubleshooting, identification, and
remediation of the problem.
Unit exercises • Exercise 1: Force the environment failure
• Exercise 2: Generate endpoint updates
• Exercise 3: Diagnosis and remediation
• Exercise 4: Inspect the server diagnostics
• Exercise 5: Check the server connectivity
• Exercise 6: Force the environment failure
• Exercise 7: Take action on a Task
• Exercise 8: Investigate the BFXClient1
• Exercise 9: Remediation and validation
• Exercise 10: Deploy a designated patch
• Exercise 11: Investigate the situation
• Exercise 12: Remediation and validation
• Exercise 13: Explore the debug logging

Helpful hints
It should be noted, for those with less BigFix experience, that the nature of the three-tiered
architecture and the process loops performed by the BigFix agents of the BigFix Platform creates
variable delays when performing exercise tasks. Some systems will complete exercises faster than
other systems. Additionally, some labs will also take longer to execute than other labs. Ensure that
you have experience with the labs to better understand and identify where such delays might take
place, as it is not possible to predict the actual impact.

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 ®

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