I have deployed a software deployment file and used the utility action to move it to the utility cache. I am doing this to test a way of pre-caching the install file ahead of the actual deployment so users don’t have to wait for the file to download from the server, especially over the wan. I intend to make a separate offer action that extracts this file and runs the install.
continue if {(size of it = 368566938) of file “office2007.tmp” of folder “__Download”}
utility __Download\office2007.tmp
The file is still in the __download folder. I don’t see a utility folder and the Action Guide doesn’t say where the utility cache is located. Is the file in the __download directory just marked to not be deleted? To delete it later do I just run an action to delete __Download\office2007.tmp?
If the utility cache is somewhare else how do I refer to it when I want to extract and run the install?
However, you do not need to reference that location. The client will look for requested download files in both the download cache and the utility cache based on sha1. If it finds it there, it will copy it to the __download folder before the action begins executing. Otherwise it will make a download request from it’s parent relay.
I looked in the directory you specified and didn’t see the office2007.tmp file or any file that is close to its size. Did I do something wrong in the action script? Is it unable to move a .tmp file to utilities? I am on client 7.2.5.22.
The file is in the actionsite__Download directory.
The default limit on the utility cache size is 10 MB. That’s probably why it’s not there. However, you definitely don’t want to tag an office deployment as a utility. The idea behind the utility cache is to tag binaries that are frequently used by fixlets on a recurring basis. This avoids the necessity to re-download them if they have been pushed out of the regular client cache. The office deployment binary is likely only used once and is therefore a poor candidate for utility designation.
You should consider making your BES Client download cache bigger (default is 20 MB)… If you do this, then any file you download (that has a specified sha1 value in the download command), will be cached until space runs out (cache scheme is LRU).
If you use this method, you won’t need to bother with the utility cache.
Why do you want to keep the office installer cached on the endpoint? You should only need the installation files once on each machine. You are probably better off not worrying about the caching algorithm.
The __Download folder is not the same as the download cache. It will contain the extracted file while the action is running. The folder will be cleared automatically the next time an action with a download runs or when the client restarts.
The download cache is at C:\Program Files\BigFix Enterprise\BES Client__BESData__Global__Cache\Downloads . It will only contain the installer and not the extracted files. The installer files will be removed when the cache limit is exceeded and the client needs to download new files. The files are removed starting with the least recently used and continuing until the size of the cache folder is lower than the specified limit.
I am looking at options for pre-caching the files locally so the users don’t have to wait so long when accepting the offer, especially over the WAN. If I can deploy the tmp file without extracting a day before deployment, then assign an install offer that will use the same tmp file, ideally the install will start right away.
I will try boosting the download cache size and see how it works.