BMC Client Management 20.08

BMC Client Management automates client management helping organizations control costs, maintain compliance, and reduce data and financial risks. From device acquisition to disposal, BMC Client Management provides an accurate view of software installations, ensures device adherence to organizational and industry policies, and supports systems and software currency.

Release notes and notices Updated 23 Nov 2021

Learn what’s new or changed for BMC Client Management 20.08, including new features, urgent issues, documentation updates, and fixes or patches.

The following table lists the enhancements in this release:

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Date	Title	Summary
24 November 2021	20.08 Patch 3 (211109k)	Fixes a number of important defects.
31 May 2021	20.08 Patch 2 (210503x)	Fixes a number of important defects.
27 November 2020	20.08 Patch 1 (201027r)	Fixes a number of important defects.
21 August 2020	20-08-enhancements	This version includes the following enhancements and unavailable features: Enhancements: Enhancements to remote control Enhancements to Patch Management Enhancements to the web console Enhancements to the Java console Enhancements to the security settings Implementation of the bearer authentication scheme In-product messaging Unavailable feature: The SCAP validation package that was present in earlier versions is removed from BMC Client Management version 12.9. Therefore, verifying an imported SCAP package is currently not possible.

For BMC Cloud hosted BMC Helix Client Management, patching is undertaken by BMC. For information on the scheduling of such patches, see the BMC Client Management Patch-deployment-schedule.

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Frequently asked questions

Here are some answers to the most frequently asked questions about BCM Client Management.

What is the upgrade path? Can I upgrade from 12.1 to 21.02?

You can find the answer to this question and more information about upgrade in Upgrading.

Do I need to create new tablespaces when upgrading from 20.08 to 21.02?

Starting from version 12.0, updating the tablespaces is no longer required.

Can BMC Client Management integrate with the CMDB or Track-it version X?

You can find the answer to this question and more information about the product compatibility in Product-matrix-compatibility.

How many devices does the master server support?

Master server does not support any children other than relays. It should not have more than 500 direct children. It is mandatory to have a first level relay for SaaS. You have to configure these settings on the Linux master. For more information, see Best-practices-for-masters-and-relays-deployed-on-Linux.

How many children does the relays support?

Relays have 2000 clients for Windows and 5000 for Linux. You have to configure these settings on the Linux master. For more information, see Best-practices-for-masters-and-relays-deployed-on-Linux.

What do I do if my Linux master or relay frequently stops communicating?

You have to ensure that the configuration is set on the master or relay. For more information, see Best-practices-for-masters-and-relays-deployed-on-Linux.

Why can't I access to my device through the console even though the device icon is green?

BMC Client Management is not a real-time agent. The time before the device icon turns red is set in Global Settings > System Variables > Connection management. It is recommended to not reduce the default values.

Can I use BMC Client Management to install updates on the Mac and Linux devices?

For information about about installing updates on the Mac devices, see Patch-Management-steps.

For Linux, it is possible to run commands through BMC Client Management. For more information, see this Knowledge Article Client Management: How to use BCM to Patch Mac OS X or Linux devices

Can BMC Client Management manage devices in the WAN? Is a DMZ relay required to manage devices across the internet?

Yes, BMC Client Management manages devices through internet either through a DMZ relay if no VPN is available or it is not necessary to set up a DMZ relay. If you cannot use VPN to connect to the relays, see DMZ-architecture for more information.

If you are using a DMZ relay, you must configure the DMZ relay and its clients to properly manage unstable communications. For more information, see this Knowledge Article Client Management: Improve Internet / DMZ / VPN communication and limit "Queue Full" on Relays.

Relays support 2000 clients for Windows and 5000 for Linux. You have to configure these settings on the Linux master. For more information, see Best-practices-for-masters-and-relays-deployed-on-Linux.

What type of objects can BMC Client Management discover?

You can find the answer to this question and more information about the type of objects BMC Client Management can discover in the Attributes-collected-for-managed-and-unmanaged-devices topic and its sub-topics.

What type of hardware information can the asset discovery scan gather from a printer and a network equipment?

You can find the answer to this question at Attributes-collected-for-Hardware-class and Attributes-collected-for-Connectivity-class.

How to include Windows 7 ESU patches in BMC Client Management?

BMC Client Management does not support patching of older operating systems that have reached their end of support (i.e. Windows 2007). These older systems can be patched by BMC Client Management through a special process if needed. To accomplish this, you must subscribe to extended support with Microsoft and then work with BMC Support and to purchase and set up a custom configuration in the Patch Management module in BMC Client Management to include these older patches.

To do this, perform the following steps:

Contact Microsoft to purchase extended support for the older operating systems like Windows 7.
Contact BMC Support to request more information on purchasing a custom subscription for these older systems.
BMC Support will refer you to BMC Product Management to help you connect with and purchase this extended support subscription from our 3^rd party patch vendor Ivanti.
The 3^rd party vendor will provide a URL to a custom patch manifest file to be used with BMC Client Management.
Once you have your URL, you must perform the following steps on the BMC Client Management agent that is set as your Patch Manager:
1. Go to Program Files\BMC Software\Client Management\Client\config and edit PatchManagementPremium.ini.
2. Under [ConfigFilesManagement] section, add the following entry with the custom URL:
  ConfigFileUpdateURL=<URL received from Ivanti>
3. Restart BCM service and then update the patch knowledge base.
  The new URL can now be used.

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