Processing JSON in automation scripts in IBM Control Desk 7.6

Background

You may need to deal with JSON-formatted data in an automation script, and it can be a little tricky. I've written this post to provide the few little pointers to make it easier for you.

JavaScript

You can write automation scripts in Rhino JavaScript or Jython. While Jython is the most common language used for automation scripts, it turns out that JSON processing is MUCH easier in JavaScript. Specifically, in a JavaScript automation script, you have access to the popular object named JSON that will give you everything you need. Here's an example:

var jsonObject = JSON.parse(jsonString);

And that's it. You can now work with jsonObject as a JSON object as described in this reference material from w3schools:

https://www.w3schools.com/js/js_json_parse.asp

As far as I know, this will work in both WebSphere and WebLogic application servers. One possible caveat is that the JavaScript engine is changing from JDK 7 to JDK 8. Here's more information on that:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21992706

Jython in WebSphere

For Maximo/ICD automation scripts, Jython is by far the most popular language. It's also more thoroughly documented and, IMO, easier to work with in this context. However, JSON parsing has a couple of caveats. Specifically, the Jython interpreter in ICD 7.6 is version 2.5.2, which doesn't have a built-in JSON parser (one was added in Jython version 2.6). However, we're still in luck because WebSphere actually includes a JAR file that provides JSON processing. The specific class that you need to import is com.ibm.json.java.JSONObject :

from com.ibm.json.java import JSONObject

...

my_json = JSONObject.parse(my_filebody)

And from there, you can deal with my_json appropriately according to the JavaDoc here:

https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/SSEUEX_3.0.0/com.ibm.javaeuc.doc/com/ibm/json/java/JSONObject.html

Jython in WebLogic

Admittedly, I haven't tested this one. I've tested the above two, and from my research, I believe this will work. Specifically, these two links give the necessary information:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/articles/java/json-1973242.html

https://docs.oracle.com/middleware/1213/wls/WLPRG/java-api-for-json-proc.htm#WLPRG1059

If you find that it doesn't work, please ping me and I'll help you get it to work then update this entry as necessary.

With that in mind, you just need to import the appropriate classes in your automation script:

from javax.json import Json

from javax.json import JsonObject

And there you go.

It only takes an hour to get a test BigFix environment installed and working

The only caveat (which they've maybe fixed now) is that the SQL Server that's bundled with the BigFix Eval is borked, so you first need to install an eval version of MSSQL Server 2014, which is available from Microsoft.

But the whole process is really easy:

1. Create/clone a Windows 2012 or 2016 server (you can download an eval copy of Windows Server 2016 if needed)

2. Google MSSQL Server 2014 evaluation download and download it

3. Install MSSQL with all the defaults

4. Click here to download an evaluation license of BigFix

5. Follow IBM's instructions for installation.

6. Once it's up and running (takes about 10 minutes), continue through the install instructions to add all of the available Sites. The site named IBM BigFix Inventory v9 is actually the one that will get you the BigFix Inventory install files.

7. Follow the instructions here for installing BigFix Inventory: https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSKLLW_9.5.0/com.ibm.bigfix.inventory.doc/Inventory/planinconf/c_installing_win_main.html

8. Optionally create/clone a Windows or Linux VM to be an additional client in your environment

That's it, and even if you need to install Windows Server from scratch, it only takes at most 1.5 hours.

There are other parts you can also install now, such as BigFix Inventory or the WebUI (both are available via fixlets in one of the available Sites).

How to change the BigFix WebUI database userid and password

I recently installed the BigFix WebUI with the wrong password and needed to fix it. I found the encrypted information in the db_config.json file in the folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES WebUI\WebUI

However, this is what the contents of that file are:

{"user":"96\u002fzY1rPfE40v69uFttQAg==","password":"MwKBDmT00BEwEZm1ctZahg==","hostname":"WIN-5M6866TPST1.mynet.foo","port":1433}

And while those look like Base64 encoded values, there's also some encryption going on (try putting either of those strings through an online Base64 encoder/decoder and you'll see).

So the first thing I tried was to just put the information in the file in cleartext and restart the WebUI service, so the file looked like:

{"user":"sa","password":"passw0rd","hostname":"WIN-5M6866TPST1.mynet.foo","port":1433}

Amazingly, that worked, and here's the logfile entry that shows it:

Wed, 04 Jul 2018 13:14:24 GMT bf:dbcredentials-error Failed to decrypt database credentials, attempting to use inputted credentials as plaintext

However, the file kept the cleartext data (I had hoped that it would re-encrypt the values on startup, but it did not).

Then I found the solution in the place I should have looked to begin with - in the BigFix console! There's a task defined in the BES Support site specifically for this purpose. The task is named "Deploy/Update WebUI Database Configuration". Run the action associated with that task and it will create a new db_config.json file with the properly encrypted data and you're good to go.

For business use, don't buy a laptop with higher than 1080p resolution

The high resolution screens available today are amazing for graphics and gaming, but absolutely horrible if you need to use any traditional/legacy applications. The main application that gives me trouble is Quickbooks Desktop Pro. We have version 2016, and I don't imagine they're going to fix it anytime soon since they seem to (rightly) want everyone to move to their online version. We've been using Quickbooks for over 15 years, so we're using some features that simply aren't available in the online version. I'm sure we'll move to the online version at some point, but it won't be any time soon. I'm certain there are other desktop applications that similarly have a problem with high resolution monitors - specifically, the text and windows are too small to see, and scaling doesn't work correctly at all. It's just ugly.

The higher end business laptops (Lenovo Thinkpad T, P or X series; Dell XPS; etc.) generally offer a 1920x1080 pixel option as a base, then higher resolutions and touchscreens cost more. In my experience, you'll be the happiest with the lower cost 1920x1080 option. Whether you get a touch-enabled screen or not is up to you, but definitely skip the high resolution screen.