So I sent an email about this to HCL a few weeks ago, and it was ignored , so I wanted to go into it here because I’m annoyed that changes in how HCL does things have given me a bit of unnecessary new busywork every month.
It started when I notice that 32 bit N++ fixlets were constrained only to 32 bit Windows machines. That’s all well and good in a perfect world, but I don’t get to decide who installs what where, my job is to make sure it’s patched and not critically vulnerable. Unsurprisingly, my environment is full of 32 bit N++ on 64 bit OS machines, and I wager I’m not the only one. I noticed Firefox is the same way, but Acrobat isn’t.
I’ve decided to note some stand-out cases just so other people know. Especially since HCL pitches Bigfix as a platform where everything is supposed to work off the shelf and you shouldn’t have to edit fixlets to make them deployable.
32 bit fixlets that won’t run on 64 bit OS by default anymore:
Notepad++
Mozilla Firefox
Zoom
32 bit fixlets that will still run on 64 bit OS by default:
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Mozilla Thunderbird
PuTTY
TeamViewer
It’s bad enough I have to strip GUIDs out of some fixlets every month, now I have to remove OS architecture checks too.
At least the Updates for Windows Applications Extended has really been filled out and streamlined, kudos on that one.
Yeah, I’m annoyed at this change as well. More so that it wasn’t communicated.
I opened a ticket with HCL support and the reason for the change is that the vendor(Notepad++, Mozilla, Zoom) do not support 32bit applications running on 64bit OS. So HCL support said they are following the vendors guidelines.
If that’s the case a) why is Thunderbird exempt from the same publisher and b) why do these publishers make 32 bit installers that run on “unsupported” operating systems in the first place? c) When did this start being true?
I’m going on a vacation tomorrow, but I’ll make a note to reach out to the publishers and verify the story when I get back. We pay for Zoom so expect I can get at least one response without too much bother.
I have been down this path a few years ago when HCL released the “Extended” site and what I can share you is that they do not want to waste resources developing fixlets blindly for every single permutation that the vendors release unless there is real need from HCL clients. Chances are 99% of the usage for all those apps will be for the 64bit version of the respective product, so I do not think it is unreasonable stance from HCL at all…
That said, HCL did convey that they WOULD consider use cases where some 32bit software is required (I explicitly made the request for Winzip x32 and you’d notice that was made an exception for and it is being released) but such need to be requested via the Idea Portal (Support can’t make those decisions) and even if requested it will depends on the interest in it, how big of a problem it will be for the specific client, etc. In our case we had hundreds of machines with winzip x32 which were mostly used in inherited pipeline developments, so rewriting the pipelines would take years, hence HCL were kind enough to make the exception…
Generally speaking though, I do get occassionally get asked by our app/server owners - “can we patch 32-bit App X through BigFIx?” and when I tell them “No” and really push them on “Why do you have 32-bit App X instead of 64-bit?” they really have NO valid answer and usually the scope is a handful of machines, so I just tell them “If you do not have specific/binding need get rid of it and install x64 app, and your problem goes away!”. If you do, go through the idea process (it will take time - we had to wait several months to get the winzip x32, but it can be done).
Maybe the right option here is to open an Ideas suggest and let other Bigfix customers upvote it so HCL can gain a better insight as to the impact this change is having on their customers. It looks like it was a change in Aug where they added the OS check to the fixlet for 8.5.5 where as previous fixlets only checked the raw version of Notepad++.
As much as in the ideal world only 64 bit apps would get installed on 64 bit OS, where a vendor offers and supports both 32 and 64 versions and maybe users download/install the 32 bit version, or maybe a plugin only supports the 32 bit version, its not really a valid argument, IMHO, to say its unsupported just because 32 bit apps on 64 bit OS isn’t supported where a 64 bit version is available…but for HCL to see that, they need us the customers to let them know and I think the Ideas / Ah-Ha portal is the right platform for that.
Hi all,
Thanks for bringing up this topic (again, I believe) and for your participation.
Having an idea in the Ah-Ha Portal with votes will better allow us to understand the urgency and criticality of this feature, and prioritize it accordingly, so I kindly ask you to add that Idea.
In the meantime I’ll start internal discussion to understand effort and possible impacts/backwards that we should consider.
Regards
Alessandro De Lorenzi
BigFix Patch Product Manager
, so I wanted to go into it here because I’m annoyed that changes in how HCL does things have given me a bit of unnecessary new busywork every month.