How to remove Software entry for a server out of BFI

Hello all,
as I run a software report via api for one of our customer.
[relevance=((id of it, hostname of it, values of (results (bes properties whose (name of it = %22Installed Applications - Windows%22), it))) of subscribed computers of (bes custom site whose (name of it equals %22X000%22)))]

Works fine.

The problem is, I do have entries in .xml file which contains many special characters.

Example:
< Tuple>
< Answer type=“integer”>16291649
< Answer type=“string”>aabbcc.global.company.com
< Answer type=“string”>Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable (x86) - 11.0.61030?~??~K?~~Q?~@?~C?~?~B?~Q~?~E?~?~]~~
?~M~T弯?~?~E?~M~H?~L??~L?ⴸ?~C?~Y~F⸳ⴰ?~Q~Iⴶ?~W?~W?~N?~Q~I?~M?~M~G?~D?~U~S?~C?~M?楲?~Q?屳楷⹮湡⹹?~Q?⹭?~Q~I?~Y~M尲潣?~Y??~]??~\浴??
~M~湯楦⹧硴⹴?~U??~A??~E??~U??~A?~O?~~@?~K?~K??~@~@?~R?~E?~?~M~O?~A?~?~M~A?~H?~U~N?~M~?~Y~O?~]~T?~I~A?~E?~M?~I??~M??~Y?屴?~I?~U?湲?~Q??~T||
?~A?潬?~U?屲?~M~A楴?~U??~A~X?~C?~A??~Q??~I?汩?~Q?屹?~A??~T??~D??~Y~Cⴲ?~Y~B?~T??~P??~I~C?~A?~I~A?~B?~D??~L??~]~F?~H??~Q~D?~L??~F?~]~?~Y??~~P?~K?~PP
~X?~@~@?~B?~E?~
?~M~O?~A?~?~M~A?~H?~U~N?~M~?~Y~O?~]~T?~I~A?~E?~M?~I??~M??~Y?屴?~I?~U?湲?~Q??~T| ?~A?潬?~U?屲?~M~A楴?~U??~A~X?~C?~A??~Q??~I?汩?~~
Q?屹?~E??~P??~T??~P??~A?~P??~P??~P?㤹?~C?| ??~L?㤭?~L??~C?~U~E?~H??~X?紱?~]~?~Y??~P| ?~K?~U~D?~@~@?~R?~E?~
?~M~O?~A?~?~M~A?~H?~U~N?~M~?~Y~O?~]~TT
?~I~A?~E?~M?~I??~M??~Y?屴?~I?~U?湲?~Q??~T| ?~A?潬?~U?屲?~M~A楴?~U??~A~X?~C?~A??~Q??~I?汩?~Q?屹?~E??~E~C?~P??| ?ⴴ?~D??~P??~D??~P?ⴲ?~Y~B?~H??~@??~LL
??~P??~]~F?~P??| ??~E?~]~?~Y??~P??~K?~Y??~@?~C?~?~B?~Q~?~E?~?~]~
?~M~T弯?~?~E?~M~H?~L??~L?ⴸ?~C?~Y~F⸳ⴰ?~E~T?~Q~D?~D?~A?~L?~E~T?~Q~D?~DD
?~M~G?~D?~U~S?~C潰楬祣?~M~\浵?~E?祲?~
?~Y??~I??~E?楴湯?~E~?~A~P?~E~T?~Q~D?~D?~P?~Q?潦浲?~M~?~E?湮?~Q??~H?汵?~M??~P~@?~K?~~X?| ~@?~L?~~B䨸??
~O?~T?~~B?~@?~O?~?~~B?~H?~O | 11.0.61030.0 < /Answer>
< /Tuple>

In the BFI GUI (SW Report) the software “Microsoft Visual C++ 2012…” is not shown for this computer.

My question: Is there a way to delete this entry out of BFI Database?

Thanks for any hint, Michael

Hi Michael,
is the issue related to Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 being reported by BFI and actually not installed on the computer? What level of BFI are you running?
In the latest BFI updated if you go to Software Classification report you get the list of discovered software components, associated product, install path and in the Details column an hyperlink that gets you to a page where details on what BFI has been using to identify the Software.
There might be a not clean situation for this software where the executable or some component of the compiler are still present in the computer.

Antonio

Hi Michael,

The analysis used here comes from BES Inventory and License. You may want to use analysis from IBM BigFix Inventory.

Instead of using below code:

((id of it, hostname of it, values of (results (bes properties whose (name of it = “Installed Applications - Windows”), it))) of bes computers)

it is possible to use following code:

((id of it, hostname of it, values of (results (bes properties whose (name of it = “Installed Windows Applications List”), it))) of bes computers)

If it fails it is a case to for support. If it will show same special characters then possibly these special characters are part of windows registry.

Regards,
Andrzej

1 Like

Hello Antonio
thanks for the hint.
and yes, there is something “weird” around Microsoft Visual C++ 2012.
In the API report, we got many installation of it; in the BFI GUI not even one.
Will work on it.
Michael

Hello Andrzej
thanks for the hint; will try your code.
Michael

H Michael,
besides of what Andrzej and myself already provided here after a further hint…

As of BFI 9.2.11 we delivered end of March we added a new report named Packed Data Summary where we do list all of Package gathered via Add/Remove program info regardless if the package is in the BFI SW Catalog.
More info are available on the BFI documentation. Here is the link to the what’s new section, please refer to the 9.2.11 section and Package Data Summary report in there.
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSKLLW_9.5.0/com.ibm.bigfix.inventory.doc/Inventory/overview/c_what_is_new.html
If Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 is reported in the Package Data Summary report you can further expand to the computers where it was discovered and if not reported in the other repoorts it might be die to the missing signature in the Catalog that you can add to.

Antonio