Software Distribution - Site not found?

[csimonsen]

Hey BigFixers

I’m attempting something very simple: Distributing an .rpm package via BigFix Software Distribution.

But I’m running into trouble, and I’m having difficulty understanding what I’m missing.

We have SWD in our WebUI and I can create deployment fixlets. But when I try these fixlets made via SWD, they fail to deploy (log from first Relay):

Fri, 05 Aug 2022 12:24:48 +0200 - GatherMain (7936) - Download failed: aid=454393,index=1,sha1=e627cf430310aaff82fadb3e556169e9fd76407a,size=null,url=SWDProtocol%3a%2f%2f127.0.0.1%3a52311%2fuploads%2fE627CF430310AAFF82FADB3E556169E9FD76407A%2fagent-client-collector-2.9.0-el7-x86_64.rpm.bfswd
Reason: Unexpected HTTP response: 404 Not Found

I can confirm that the file exists via the “Export Software” action in the WebUI.

What I’m reading from the various documentation and posts is there is supposed to be a Software Distribution Content site which I can subscribe to via the License Overview. But when I check our License Overview for sites, there are no sites called Software Distribution. Only sites related to Patches (we use BigFix for Patching).

So how can I have Software Distribution as a WebUI app without having the Software Distribution site?

[csimonsen]

Just to add; As I suspected, not being subscribed to the site is probably what is causing the issue:

Download error: "HTTP Error 1: Unsupported protocol: Protocol “swdprotocol” not supported or disabled in libcurl"
Download requested on server:
URL: SWDProtocol://127.0.0.1:52311/Uploads/E627CF430310AAFF82FADB3E556169E9FD76407A/agent-client-collector-2.9.0-el7-x86_64.rpm.bfswd
Hash: (sha1)e627cf430310aaff82fadb3e556169e9fd76407a
Size:
Next retry: 9 minutes. Retry now

But how can I enable the site if it doesn’t show up in the License Overview?

[itsmpro92]

See this post: HTTP Error 6: Couldn't resolve host name: SWDProtocol

This task will target the BigFix Server.

[csimonsen]

Hey itsmpro92

I do not see that task in our BigFix: With or Without “Show Non-Relevant Content” turned on.

?

[itsmpro92]

Is there any data in the logs for the SWD Plugin? It should be in C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Server\DownloadPlugins\SWDProtocol\logs

I would recommend opening a case with HCL to troubleshoot this issue.

[JasonWalker]

Agree, we probably need a case opened for this…I’m afraid I’m not sure that the Software Distribution for WebUI should/could work if there’s not an entitlement for Software Distribution on the license.

[csimonsen]

Hey Jason

Can you confirm that SWD would be licensed under the BigFix Lifecycle product?

If so, it would explain why we can’t utilize SWD as we only operate with BigFix Patch. It wouldn’t explain why we have access to the SWD WebUI component though.

[DerrickD]

SWD requires LifeCycle or some other license other then just Patch.

You can disable the SWD UI component in your roles if desired. But it is odd that is shows up at all.

[csimonsen]

Hey DerrickD

Thanks for confirmation. We’ll just have to make due without the SWD part.

For the time being, I’ve been successful in utilizing the Windows Distribution method also for Linux. Requires a bit more finesse, but it works!

[JasonWalker]

Two conflicting things can be true -

• The Software Distribution App should not appear in WebUI if you don’t have a license for Software Distribution. That’s probably a WebUI bug, and I’d be concerned it may be fixed in a future release (removing the app from WebUI).

• Until then, if you edit the generated task and change SWDProtocol:// to https:// , the task will likely work. There are customizations that could be made to host SWD packages somewhere other than the root server, but since that hasn’t been done the files are still there and accessible from the root server over HTTPS.