(imported topic written by Marty23)
Is there currently any plans to add the ability to to do software auditing on non-windows based systems such as HP-UX, Sun and MAC?
(imported comment written by SystemAdmin)
Not an official answer per se, but we asked a similar question about os x and got this reply:
http://forum.bigfix.com/viewtopic.php?id=5443
Never did get a clarification on exactly HOW to do this and we haven’t had time to test anything. As of now Windows and OS X are the only two supported platforms (unless something changed very recently).
(imported comment written by SystemAdmin)
Using the DSS SAM Control Panel, you can add custom Software ID Sources to get recognition of software on platforms other than Windows. Software ID Sources are BigFix analysis properties that carry forensic information about installed software from your computers. When you set up a new Software ID Source, you augment the default properties, causing DSS SAM to also pull the data in the targeted property each time an import occurs, and the system correlates the items found in these property results into the DSS SAM catalog for inventory recognition.
For example, if you set up a Software ID Source that points to an “Installed Applications (Mac OS X)” property, you will have inventory data coming from Mac OS X computers streamed into DSS SAM for possible catalog correlation.
Note that there are three types of Software ID Sources:
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App Usage (carries application usage data to correlate into the Applications-Executables of the DSS SAM catalog). Any custom properties you use for this must look identical to the default Application Usage property we ship and the data must correlate to an Application-Executable entry in the catalog. See a Computer Details>Raw Applications Usage Data for a sample or look at the property results in the BES Console to see the format.
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Package (carries package data that correlates into the Packages of the DSS SAM catalog – used to disambiguate when one Application-Executable is used by more than one STV).
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Definitive Package (carries data that correlates into the Packages of the DSS SAM catalog, but can stand alone as the sole and definitive source of software identification (no Application-Executable required)).
It’s a very flexible system and so you have some options. For the Mac OS X case, for example, you would:
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Activate Installed Applications (Mac OS X) analysis property on your BES Server.
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Add a Software ID Source in DSS SAM pointing to the Installed Applications (Mac OS X) analysis property as a Definitive Package.
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Run a DSS SAM import.
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Add catalog entries to ‘convert’ the raw data carried in the Software ID Source into software titles. The strings in the source need to be entered into the corresponding Packages area of software title versions in the catalog. You can use the Unmapped Packages tool to find all the .app files that now appear in your raw inventory so you can add them, one by one, into the DSS SAM catalog.
You can do the same thing with other platforms… E.g. if you have an Installed Applications property from Linux computers, you could add it as a Software ID Source in DSS SAM and add the catalog entries to do the conversions into software titles for inventory counting.
Here’s a screen recording I did in 2009 demonstrating this. Some of the DSS SAM UI elements have changed a little bit since the recording, but the gist is the same.
(imported comment written by SystemAdmin)
jeffs - Step 4 is the magical step. It’s the step we were missing. On an OS X scan, can you explain what the number means after the application name? We thought is was version at first, but 7.4 seems to be a recurring number across many apps. Some apps have a version in their name - adobe for example - with the 7.4 number appended to the end of the name.
Just to be clear, this is only application inventory. Is there a way to grab usage data?
John