Hi.
Learning “Patch policy” feature, which is available via WebUI.
It seems pretty useful to me, but I don’t really like an idea of using WebUI just for that (while I use BigFix Console for everything else).
So, my question is: can I use “patch policies” via BigFix Console somehow?
I’ve searched here and there, found some mentions of (unofficial?) patch policies API, but, first of all, I’m looking for a way to manage it via Console.
There’s no support for managing Patch Policy directly inside the console.
The closest thing from directly inside the console is in the Server Automation features (part of the LifeCycle license), where you can run an operation like ‘Send actions for all Baselines in a site’.
Anything is possible through the REST API, if you wanted to approximate Patch Policy in a script, but that’s still outside the Console. In fact Patch Policy itself is using the API.
In the long run, as new features are added they are generally being added to the WebUI rather than the Console, and in the longer term the WebUI will be the primary interface. While you still need the Console for many areas today, the apps in the WebUI are generally more modern and have better functionality - like Patch Policy, Query, Self-Service App, and Software Deployment App.
Just to add, one of the limitations for managing Patch Policy via the Console is…if you’re not logged on, the Console isn’t running, and it wouldn’t be able to issue a Policy. There’s no Scheduler in the console, no way to automatically launch it, etc., while WebUI is a Service and has its internal scheduler to issue policy actions on an interval.
@JasonWalker, thanks for detailed answer. I appreciate it.