Working at NYU

• General information: Please refer to Gallatin's guide to Technology, Operations, and Facilities Assistance.

• Part-time faculty are provided with a shared office that has a computer and printer (or access to a shared printer).

• Equipment: Offices are equipped with a telephone and a computer, which you can log into using your NetID and password. The current recommended configurations for workstations are based on NYU standards for computers as provided by NYU IT.

• Mailboxes: You will be given a Gallatin mailbox where you will be able to pick up important items like course evaluations and other correspondence. Mailboxes are located near the front desk on each floor at Gallatin and you will be assigned a mailbox that is on the same floor as your office. If you have an office outside of the Gallatin offices (1 Washington Place or 411 Lafayette), your mailbox will be located at 1 Washington Place on the 4th floor. We recommend that you check for mail at least once a week, and we ask you not to use your mailbox to leave assignments or other correspondence for students; instead please use the wall pocket outside of your office door.

• Help: Contact Gallatin Operations (gallatin.operations@nyu.edu) for questions regarding your office setup.

What is Endpoint Management and BIGFIX?

Endpoint management allows your departmental IT staff to manage and distribute operating system and software/application updates. It also provides an effective method for managing device security policies, asset inventory, and reporting for supported devices.The BIGFIX Management platform is a hardware and software inventory management tool employed school-wide at NYU Gallatin, primarily to automate and expedite the process of software updates.

Why is NYU and Gallatin using BIGFIX?

BIGFIX provides numerous benefits such as an automated and expedited process of software updates, license management, software management/distribution, inventory management, remote support, and better enforced security. Recent global ransomware incidents have demonstrated the importance of timely operating system patches.

Key Features:

• Inventory – Automatically collect information about desktop and notebook computers.

• Software Distribution – Remotely install software on included machines, with or without the owner’s interaction.

• OS and Software Patching – Push patches for latest computer operating systems, such as Windows 7, 8, and 10; Mac OS X 10.7 and above; andmajor popular applications such as Mozilla Firefox, the Adobe Flash Plugin, and Java.

• Reporting – Consolidate, analyze, and sort any information gathered on included machines, as well as any manually tracked information.

• Scripting – Push scripts to any included machines, regardless of OS, and view ‘immediate’ results.

What benefits will I see as an end user?

• Users will experience faster technical support from IT, more efficient and automated patch management via BIGFIX, better remote IT support, and fewer OS support-related issues.

• IT technical support will be able to diagnose your computer issues and fix the problem more quickly and easily based on the data collected from the computer via a web-based console.

What type of data does the BIGFIX client collect from my computer?

The BIGFIX agent collects information that is accessible through Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) on Windows devices or the System Profiler on Macintosh devices. The following is a partial list of information collected from university-owned computers with the BIGFIX Agent installed.

• Computer Hardware Inventory

• Make, model, serial/service tag number

• Physical specifications such as CPU, RAM memory, hard disk size

• Network configuration such as Ethernet MAC address, IP address

• Computer Software Inventory

• Operating system version and patch level

• Install programs and versions as listed in ‘Add/Remove Programs’

• Software license compliance (i.e. metering for per-seat and concurrent-use license agreements)

• Computer Security Inventory

• Last logged on user

• Security patches applied/missing

• Change management information (i.e. dates/times when hardware/software changes were reported by the BIGFIX client).

Who will see the data and where is it stored?

The data will be seen by the Gallatin Helpdesk team and reports with aggregated data may be periodically presented to NYU IT senior management for review and action on the HCL BIGFIX platform, and only authorized personnel will be able access the asset database.

Can BIGFIX or the BIGFIX administrator see the name of my files or the contents?

BigFix can check for the existence of a file on a machine, but it is not designed to read contents of user files. If you are concerned that your personal files will be visible to BigFix and NYU, do not store them on your machine.

Please note:

• BigFix will not have read\write access to your files.

• BigFix will not have access to your browsing history.

• BigFix does not have access to your stored passwords.

Does my computer have the BIGFIX agent installed?

If your device was procured by Gallatin IT on or after December 11, 2020 the BIGFIX agent is installed.
The BIGFIX client is not licensed for use on personally-owned computers. Gallatin currently installs BIGFIX on both laptop and desktop computers used by faculty and staff, as well as classroom, meeting room, lab, lounge, and kiosk machines.

Under what circumstances could my computer lose the BIGFIX connection?

• The BIGFIX connection will always be on when the computer is in use by a user. (i.e. with user keyboard interaction and mouse movement)

• The BIGFIX connection stays on when the screen saver has been turned on.

• The BIGFIX connection will be disconnected when the computer is in sleep mode.

Will I notice the BIGFIX agent running on my machine?

Generally: no, the agent does not use many resources and runs in the background by itself. Users will not notice any performance issues as the agent scan runs in the background and the scan is not intrusive to the end user. However, if software or operating system updates are pushed to your computer you may see a dialog box alerting you to this.

What would happen when the BIGFIX administrator pushes out software to my computer?

When the BIGFIX administrator pushes out software to your computer, you will see a BIGFIX dialog box appear at the lower right hand screen. Depending on the nature of the software, users may be given the option to delay (snooze) the installation. However, users will certainly be given the option when s/he would like to reboot the computer (if needed).

What would happen when BIGFIX pushes out security /application patches to my computer?

The BIGFIX agent will periodically notify you when critical operating system or application updates /patches are needed and alert you when you must restart to install them. When BIGFIX pushes out security patching to your computer and if rebooting is required to complete the process, users will have the option to snooze the reboot up to 30 times. After that, a BIGFIX system dialog box (similar to the one below) will immediately appear. DO NOT hit the OK button (this is the only button in the box) unless and until you are ready for the reboot. This box will stay on for 1440 minutes (1 day). If OK is not clicked in 1440 minutes, your computer will be rebooted in 1 day automatically.

Below are the dialog box set parameters:

• Time-out interval: 1440 minutes (1 day)

• Number of re-prompts: 30

• Re-prompt interval: 1440 minutes (1 day)

Will BIGFIX scan any storage connected to the computer (flash drives or hard disks)?

The BIGFIX agent will report the computer Inventory of all drives attached to a computer, but only during the scheduled inventory scan. (Default is every 2 hours.)

Which operating systems are supported by BIGFIX ?

• Windows 8.1 to 11

• macOS Mojave (10.14) and above

• Linux (not support by Gallatin IT)

For more information regarding HCL BIGFIX please contact the Gallatin Helpdesk at gallatin.helpdesk@nyu.edu or 212-998-9157.