Having trouble connecting to BigFix DB2 server

[CareyThomasKAD]

My team was given access to the BigFix DB2 server and after entering the connection string, the connection was successful. However,  the reader file does not seem to know how to read the database properly to find the right version and therefore grab the right data. Can anyone point me to where the most recent BigFix/Tivoli Endpoint Manager reader is so I can read this correctly? Thanks in advance

[kclausen]

@CareyThomasKAD - When connecting to the ILMT/BigFix database (whether DB2 or SQL backend), the name of the database you want to connect to is normally named TEMADB.

Is that the database you are connecting to?

Are you also sure that the Logon Account you are using to connect to DB2 has the correct access rights to the DB?

[CareyThomasKAD]

Thanks for the quick reply. So there are definitely discrepancies between the 2 databases and I believe they serve 2 different purposes. Our local BigFix team says that the TEMADB is only used for ILMT and IBM related products while the BFEnterprise DB has all of the software and hardware. When connecting to the BFEnterprise on SQL servers, the adapter we are using works fine (where we got it from, I don't know). But on DB2, where I guess the structure is different, it does not work. I've read the post regarding the two databases though. I want to try to use what that team is using so it's apples to apples.

[kclausen]

@CareyThomasKAD - Thank you for the confirmation.

Unfortunately, the adapter for BigFix Platform/Tivoli only supports a SQL Server backend.  

There is no support for reading from a BFEnterprise database on DB2.

[CareyThomasKAD]

Well that's unfortunate. So what do you suggest - use the TEMADB and the ILMT connector for that BigFix instance? Any ideas what the differences are in the data that's collected?

[kclausen]

@CareyThomasKAD - Talk to your BigFix administrator.  When using BigFix for more than ILMT, things get a bit complicated:

If your BigFix Platform (TEM) has incorporated BigFix Inventory, then you should connect to the TEMADB database as that is where the raw BigFix inventory will be found, and you can connect to it through the Beacon by selecting "ILMT", and not ILMT SQL.

If you implementation of BigFix Platform does not include BigFix Inventory, then you really don't have an option as there is no adapter written for the DB2 schema against the BFEnterprise database.