This documentation supports the 20.02 (12.0) version of BMC Discovery.

To view an earlier version of the product, select the version from the Product version menu.

Managing proxies

The BMC Discovery Proxy Manager (Proxy Manager) enables you to install and manage proxies on the Windows host on which the Proxy Manager is installed. This section explains the various tasks that you can perform using the Proxy Manager. For more information about installing proxies, see Installing BMC Discovery Proxy Manager. The Windows Proxy Manager enables you to perform only the tasks listed on this page.

You can perform tasks such as adding a Windows proxy to a pool or configuring advanced proxy settings (for example, configuring the log level, recording mode, discovery methods, purging, and so on) only from the appliance UI. To learn how to manage Windows proxies from the appliance UI, see editing Windows Proxies

To create a Windows Proxy

  1. Select Start > Programs > BMC Software > Proxy Manager.
    The BMC Discovery Proxy Manager is displayed with a credential and an Active Directory proxy, as shown in the following illustration.



  2. In the BMC Discovery Proxy Manager, click the Create button.
  3. In the Create proxy dialog, specify the following details:
    1. Name—The name for the proxy.
    2. Type—Whether the proxy that you are creating is Active Directory or Credential.
    3. Port—If you need to use a specific unused port, specify it in this field. Otherwise, skip to step d.
    4. Log on as—Select either Local System or This account.
      If you select Local System, the Windows proxy will run as the Local System user. An Active Directory Proxy running as a Local System user will not have the necessary domain credentials to perform discovery.
      If you select This account, you must enter the domain and username for the user account that will run the Windows proxy in the domain\username format, and the corresponding password.
    5. Options—Select the check box to run the proxy immediately after installation.
    6. Register With—Select the appliance for the proxy to register
  4. Click OK.
    You are prompted to log in to the Create Windows Proxy page of the UI with pre-populated proxy details.

To edit a Windows Proxy

  1. Select Start > Programs > BMC Software > Proxy Manager.
    The BMC Discovery Proxy Manager is displayed with a credential and an Active Directory proxy.
  2. In the Proxy Manager, click the Edit button.
  3. Edit the following required fields:
    • Port—The port that the proxy uses.
    • User account—The user account using which the proxy runs.
  4. When prompted, confirm the changes by clicking OK.
    Changes in the user account automatically update the file permissions and restart the proxy service.

    Note

    Editing proxy config files is only undertaken through the main user interface. Do not attempt to edit the proxy configuration file using the Proxy Manager. You must edit the file centrally from the appliance.

Starting or stopping the Windows proxy service

We recommend that you start or stop the Windows proxy service by using the Proxy Manager. However, you can also perform the same task by using the Windows Control Panel. The following section explains how to start or stop the proxy service using the Proxy Manager and Windows Control Panel. 

To start or stop using the Proxy Manager

  1. Select Start > Programs > BMC Software > Proxy Manager.
    The BMC Discovery Proxy Manager is displayed with a credential and an Active Directory proxy.
  2. In the Proxy Manager, select the proxy service that you want to start or stop.
  3. To start a proxy, click the Start button from the submenu.
  4. To stop a proxy, click the Stop button from the submenu.
  5. To restart a proxy, click the Restart button from the submenu.

To start or stop using the Windows Control Panel 

  1. Go to Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools and access the Services list.
    The Services panel is refreshed with information and links enabling you to start, restart, or stop the Windows proxy.
  2. Select the Windows proxy service that you want to start or stop.
  3. To start the Windows proxy, click Start the service.
  4. To restart the Windows proxy, click Restart the service.
  5. To stop the Windows proxy, click Stop the service.

To start the Windows proxy automatically

When you create a new proxy from the Windows Proxy Manager, you can configure the proxy service to start automatically. 

  1. Go to Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools and access the Services list.
    The services panel is refreshed with information and links enabling you to start, restart, or stop the Windows proxy.
  2. Select the Windows proxy service that you want to start automatically, and select Properties from the popup menu.
  3. Select Automatic from the Startup type drop-down list, and click OK.

Specifying additional startup options

After you configure a Windows proxy, you can specify additional startup options, such as purge logs, configuration file location, port options, and so on. You can specify many of these options using the editing Windows Proxy page.

To address specific requirements, you can also enter the startup options described in the table in a registry value. On a 32-bit system, this is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\BMC Software\Atrium Discovery Proxy\<proxyname>\CommandLine

On a 64-bit system this is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\BMC Software\Atrium Discovery Proxy\<proxyname>\CommandLine


Option

Description

--auto-purge-all

You can configure the Windows proxy to automatically purge its log and record data directories. The default behavior is not to purge.

Log and record data directories will be purged.

Set via the UI.

--auto-purge-logs

Only log directories will be purged.

Set via the UI.

--auto-purge-record

Only record data directories will be purged.

Set via the UI.

--auto-purge-max-data-age value

Age above which data is automatically purged. Set in days; the default is seven (weekly).

Set via the UI.

--auto-purge-period value

Frequency at which the automatic purge occurs. Set in hours; the default is 24 (daily).

Set via the UI.

--log-soft-limit value

Size limit (in MB) for the log directories. If this limit is exceeded, the oldest records are deleted. The default behavior is not to specify a limit (zero).

--record-soft-limit value

Size limit (in MB) for the record data directories. If this limit is exceeded, the oldest data is deleted. The default behavior is not to specify a limit (zero).

--enable-config-upload
--disable-config-upload

Enable or disable uploading configuration, overriding the setting specified in the configuration file.

--config-file-limit value

Number of backup configuration files to keep. The default is none. If the default is exceeded, the oldest file is deleted.

--conf <config file>

Specify a configuration file to use.

--openports
--no-openports

Enable or disable OpenPorts, overriding the setting specified in the configuration file.

--tcpvcon
--no-tcpvcon

Enable or disable Tcpvcon, overriding the setting specified in the configuration file.

--dont-resolve-hostnames

The getInfo method retrieves patch, device, and host information. If no hostname is found, a reverse DNS lookup is performed to determine the hostname. Specify --dont-resolve-hostnames to prevent this.

--remquery
--no-remquery

Enable or disable RemQuery, overriding the setting specified in the configuration file.
Set via the UI.

--remquery-timeout value

Specify a timeout value (in seconds) for RemQuery calls. The default is 60 seconds.
Set via the UI.

--wmi
--no-wmi

Enable or disable WMI, overriding the setting specified in the configuration file.
Set via the UI.

--wmi-timeout value

Specify a timeout value (in seconds) for WMI queries. The default is 120 seconds.
Set via the UI.

Testing Windows credentials and communication

You can test the credentials by using it to discover a Windows computer that you know the user can access. From a command prompt on the Windows proxy, use the runas command to run a Discovery command such as systeminfo as the Domain user:

C:\> runas /user:DOMAIN\username "systeminfo /S TARGET"

Replace DOMAIN with the domain name (for example, TIDEWAY); username with the user name (for example, discovery); and TARGET with the resolvable hostname or IP address.



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