BESClient Issue on Linux

Hi,

We are getting below error msg while checking status of BESClient service on Linux OS (RHEL 6).

BESClient dead but subsys locked

Please suggest & help.

If this is a persistent problem then I recommend you open PMR with IBM support.

If not - then restart the client.

$ service besclient restart

I tried that too but still getting same error msg.

Saw this hit

Not sure if the bes client is dying each time you start it or if it will not start because of this error.

As mentioned, if this keeps crashing, it might be time for a pmr.

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is there any update or solution for the error “BESClient dead but subsys locked” on RHEL 5 ?

we tried the below process

Confirm the BESClient lock file exists in the /var/lock/subsys directory

Check to see if the BESClient process is running: $> ps aux | grep -i besclient

Kill any besclient processes still hanging around: $> kill -9 <pid of BESClient>

Check to see if the BESClient lock file is still in the /var/lock/subsys directory. If it is, delete it.

Attempt to start the BESClient service again: $> service besclient start

but once restart the client service the file "BESClient lock " automatically created in “/var/lock/subsys”

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@Nagaraj

Was the BESClient on your RHEL5 endpoints ever working as expected?

We have a number of BESClient versions installed on tens-of-thousands of Linux endpoints.

While I have seen this error before, it’s typically on endpoints that are missing dependencies or there’s an issue with storage for the endpoint.

If the BESClient can run, enable debug logging to see what’s leading up to the subsys lock.

@cmcannady

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but the machine not reporting to BIGFIX console, so I couldn’t troubleshoot the debug log using fixlet
is there any other option please ?

If the BESClient is stopped, you can manually modify the besclient.config under /var/opt/BESClient, which is where all client settings are pulled from on Linux endpoints. This would include updating and/or adding client settings to enable debug logging.

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is this one right,
_BESClient_EMsg_Detail and value 1

could you please share the text entry format for adding the (dubug) value in actionsite.afxm ?

Here’s the action script from the “BES Client Setting: Enable Debug Logging” fixlet from the “BES Support” external site.

action parameter query "_BESClient_EMsg_Detail" with description "Please enter the level of detail for the BES Client debug log (1-10000):" and with default value "1000"

// Fail if level of detail is not between 1 and 10000
continue if {parameter "_BESClient_EMsg_Detail" of action as integer >= 1 AND parameter "_BESClient_EMsg_Detail" of action as integer <= 10000}

setting "_BESClient_EMsg_Detail"="{parameter "_BESClient_EMsg_Detail" of action}" on "{parameter "action issue date" of action}" for client

if {name of operating system contains "Android"}

setting "_BESClient_EMsg_File"="/mnt/sdcard/besclientdebug.log" on "{parameter "action issue date" of action}" for client

else

setting "_BESClient_EMsg_File"="{if (name of operating system as lowercase starts with "win") then (pathname of parent folder of regapp "BESClient.exe" & "\") else (pathname of (parent folder of parent folder of (client folder of current site)) & "/")}besclientdebug.log" on "{parameter "action issue date" of action}" for client

endif

setting "_BESClient_EMsg_EvalLog"="1" on "{parameter "action issue date" of action}" for client

You would need to add/modify the _BESClient_EMsg_Detail, _BESClient_EMsg_File and _BESClient_EMsg_EvalLog settings to the besclient.config under /var/opt/BESClient while the agent service is stopped.

I am not able to deploy the client to my linux servers. Can you point me to some documentation on the best way to do so. thanks

If you’re looking to deploy to many Linux servers, then you’ll want to leverage the BigFix Client Deployment Tool. Additionally you’ll want to put a post init script in your gold image process to automate the BESClient installation on all NetNew servers after 1st boot.

If that doesn’t suffice for your needs, respond back to this thread and I’ll post a generic bash script to install the BESClient.

Thank you for the reply.

Yes, 60 servers.

I tried using the Client Deploy Tool and it doesn’t even recognize the Linux servers. I select the OU in Active Directory for those in ldap, and it provides the name but under status says Windows Error 0x80070035: The network path was not found.

If I select a server and go to Advanced Options, there is only options windows only.

I am guessing maybe I need to do something in the Custom Settings?? Documentation for this product is less than helpful. Unless you can point me to something that I have been unable to find. Appreciate that>

thanks again
Janis

For 60 servers I might be inclined to create a bash script that downloads the proper BESClient installer and the masthead from the root BES server and then runs the installer. I’d build something similar into your Linux Gold image process too to ensure that any new endpoints automatically get the BESClient installed after the initial boot.

A great bash script example by @jgstew can be found at https://github.com/jgstew/tools/blob/master/bash/install_bigfix.sh

With regards to the BigFix Client Deployment Tool, if your Linux servers are tied to AD/LDAP for user authentication, then you should be able to use a single account that has sufficient (i.e. root) permissions to perform the installation. While it’s been a while, the last time I used the client deployment tool there were numerous options to deploy to AIX and Linux endpoints, but they are base port requirements like port 22 and others to be open.

Have you reviewed the BigFix Client Deployment Tool documentation at https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/wikis/home?lang=en#!/wiki/Tivoli+Endpoint+Manager/page/Unix,+Linux,+and+Mac+Client+Deploy+Tool

There’s also a plethora of BigFix documentation at the following URLs:

Best,
-Casey

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Thanks much. Got it working. But not quite sure why the Client update isn’t working but will look around.

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Hi
I had the same issue and got resolved by clean re-installation . With fresh actionsite file .

That is a very good script!! I was having trouble installing clients on Ubuntu and Centos, and this cleared it right up.

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Hi Team,

Is there a way to deploy BigFix agent for 32-bit RHEL6.10 OS through BigFix console. Under the OS families section i’m unable to see this i686 architecture to choose.

Regards,
Vinoth Kumar

@vinoth, please take a look at the client deployment tool (aka CDT). There is a stand-alone (deprecated) and BES console version of the CDT, so please review the online documentation before proceeding.

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