BigFix WebUI Query Client-Context Support

Are you a BigFix user looking for a way of retrieving device data without feeling restricted in terms of what you can and what you can't? Look no further – the BigFix WebUI Query app makes it possible with its all new "Client-context support" feature.  

With BigFix Query app, BigFix Administrators can create and save custom queries to retrieve device data. In earlier versions of the app however, the scope of the retrieval was limited to the BigFix QnA. BigFix Platform version 9.5.13 introduces "Client-context support" with which you can now retrieve all relevant data associated with BigFix clients. For this feature to work, you need BigFix Platform version 9.5.13 or higher. For details, see BigFix Query. 

Let's first consider the "Before client-context support" scenario. You as a BigFix Operator want to retrieve the ID of a computer on your network, and you run the query as follows:   

The query fetches the result shown in the screenshot below:  

With "client-context support" in the picture now, the outcome is as follows:   

When BigFix Query runs in the client-context, an additional set of inspectors become available which allows you to retrieve a larger spectrum of information.  

Requests sent over REST API can be evaluated either by the client or QnA as shown in this following diagram: 

When queries are run in client-context, every request is handled as soon as the Agent becomes available. Hence, the request could create an overhead in some cases. 

To run a query with client-context support, select the “Evaluate by Agent” checkbox (as shown below): 

If the checkbox is not selected, the query is evaluated as usual. 

You can also use the WebUIAppEnv_USE_CLIENT_CONTEXT configuration setting to enable or disable the feature. When set to 1, the option “Evaluate by Agent” is selected by default when a new query is saved or if the Administrator decides not to choose any value for a selected query.  

Note that only Administrators can overwrite the value for each query. For operators to use the client-context, individual queries should be saved with the option “Evaluate by Agent” enabled (the feature is not available in the Operator view).