Managing proxies

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:

On a 64-bit system this is:

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

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:

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.