Intel Manageability Developer Community Frequently Asked Questions - Getting Started

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Last Modified On :   August 26, 2009 1:25 PM PDT
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FAQs

 

What is the Intel® Manageability Developer Community?

This is an online site created to increase the expertise developers of Intel® Active Management technology based solutions. It has articles, blogs, videos, downloads, a forum and other items to help developers reduce the time to create their manageability solutions.

What is Intel® Active Management Technology?

Intel® notebooks and desktops with Intel® AMT combine high-end performance with security and manageability integrated right onto the chip. Optimized for business, Intel® vPro technology allows IT to reduce desk-side visits by remotely monitoring and diagnosing PCs and notebooks even when the OS is off or unresponsive.

  • Discover. With built-in manageability, IT can discover assets even while PCs are powered-off.
  • Diagnose. Providing out-of-band management capabilities, IT can remotely diagnose and recover systems reducing downtime.
  • Verify. Hardware-based agent presence checking proactively detects that software agents are running while missing agents are automatically detected and alerts are sent to the management console.
  • Isolate. Proactively blocking incoming threats and isolating the infected systems and containing infected clients before they impact the network while alerting IT when critical software agents are removed.
  • Update. Help keep patches and virus protection software up-to-date. Intel AMT provides the capability to store version numbers or policy data in non-volatile memory for off-hours retrieval.

 

What is Intel® vPro™ technology?

Intel® vPro Technology is “IT” embedded into the HW platform. Intel® vPro™ technology is a platform brand enabling business-class PCs with new capabilities to help address the needs and requirements faced by business today. Intel® vPro™ technology comprises a processor, chipset, networking, Intel AMT and other components working together to enable enhanced remote management capabilities for PCs. With Intel AMT a feature of Intel® vPro™ technology, IT personnel can use a third-party manageability and/or security software controller to collect inventory information, remotely diagnose problems, and provide many types of service remotely even to PCs that are turned off or have an inoperable OS. Administrators can also better protect individual PCs and the network from threats.

Will my management console be helpful when deployed without any systems with Intel® vPro™ Technology?

In order to utilize the usage models supported by Intel AMT, you need the support from PCs with Intel vPro Technology and Management console. It is recommended to augment the support for Intel AMT into your current management console solution to allow the management of systems that can and cannot support Intel AMT.

What are the following Intel® AMT tools for: SDK, Manageability DTK, SCS, WS-Man Translator?

These are all tools that can be used when experimenting with or writing applications for Intel® AMT. Here are some brief descriptions and when to use them:

SDK: Software Development Kit - Provides sample code and all the APIs needed for implementing Intel® AMT. The Manageability DTK uses the APIs provided in the SDK. Use the most recent release of the SDK to integrate Intel® AMT into your application.

Manageability DTK: Developer's Tool Kit - This is a solution written in C# using the Intel® AMT SDK. Use this to get a great idea of how Intel® AMT works and a lot of us also use it to verify if a certain feature is working. The source code is also available.

SCS: Setup and Configuration Service - provides developers with the tools to set up and configure Intel AMT devices.

WS-Man Translator: WS-Management Translator - makes it possible for WS-Management based software to be used in conjunction with Intel® AMT platforms older than version 3.0.

What are the guidelines for Intel® AMT Management Engine (ME) passwords?

You have to change the default ME password (admin) to a strong password the first time you login to the Management Engine BIOS Extensions (MEBx). Here are some guidelines for doing this:

  • Contains 7-bit ASCII characters, in the range of 32-126, excluding ':', ',' and '"' characters.
  • String length is limited to 32 characters.
  • At least one digit character ('0', '1', .... '9')
  • At least one 7-bit ASCII non alpha-numeric character, above 0x20, (e.g. '!', '$', ';'...) Note that '_' is considered alpha-numeric.
  • At least one lower-case Latin ('a', 'b',...,'z') and one upper case Latin ('A', 'B', ...'Z')

 

Is there some type of software I can install on my computer or a server so I can remotely manage the Intel® vPro™ computer?

We have a detailed document in the Intel® AMT SDK Start Here Guide which will help you to get started. There is also a blog out there at http://softwareblogs.intel.com/2008/01/28/tips-tricks-for-setting-up-accessing-an-intel-Intel® AMT-client/ which could help you with this.

Why can’t I connect to the Intel® AMT system locally through WebUI?

Intel® AMT cannot serve web pages locally. The Intel® AMT system in not meant to be accessible locally through the WebUI or ping, even if it has a static IP.

Is there a utility to check if my system supports Intel® vPro™ Technology?

You can find a tool to do that here: http://communities.intel.com/docs/DOC-1171.

Which processors/chipsets support Intel® vPro™ Technology?

Desktops:

Processor -

 

Chipset -

 

Laptops:

Processor –

 

Chipset –

 

What are allowed network setup modes?

Intel® AMT supports DHCP and static IP. It is advised that the Intel® AMT network settings coincide with the system network settings.
• When using DHCP – Intel® AMT hostname must be set to the same hostname as the host.
• When using static IP – Intel® AMT host name AND IP address must differ from the host IP and hostname.

Does Intel® AMT support Windows* Vista?

Intel® AMT supports Windows Vista starting with AMT 2.1.

What features do the various versions of AMT support?

Refer to the AMT SDK Start Here Guide to see a list of versions and features http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/intel-active-management-technology-intel-amt-software-development-kit-sdk-start-here-guide

Does Intel® AMT support Linux?

Intel® AMT is generally OS independent. Please look at www.openamt.org for AMT documents related to Linux.

Can I control Intel® AMT clients from a Management Console running on a non-Intel® AMT computer with Windows or Linux?

The computer that runs the Intel® AMT Management does not have to support AMT.

Will Intel® AMT technology be coming to Apple Macintosh computer’s?

Intel® Centrino Pro processor technology on the Macintosh would be Apple's version of their Mobile platforms with Core 2 Duo processors. There are currently no plans currently to have AMT on Apple systems.

What is the preferred way of performing Setup and Configuration for Enterprise mode?

Please refer to this blog which compares the SCA, SCS and Manageability Director: http://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2007/06/13/intel-scs-sca-amt-director-youve-been-provisioned/.

Shall I need a server (such as Windows Server 2003) to manage and control AMT PC clients?

No. If you use the Intel Manageability Commander, any Microsoft Windows computer is ok.

Are there any software applications available to perform hardware inventory on AMT systems?

You can do it in two ways:

  1. Log on to your AMT system through web url http://ipaddress:16992. On the left side, you will see Hardware Information and under that there is system, processor, memory and Disk. You can click at each of them and see the details.
  2. Through Intel Manageability Commander, which comes with the Intel® AMT Manageability DTK. You can download the latest version from http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/download-the-latest-version-of-manageability-developer-tool-kit.

There is also a tutorial on Intel Manageability Commander, which will help you get started and how to perform the hardware inventory of your AMT system at http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/download-the-latest-version-of-manageability-developer-tool-kit.

 

Which versions of AMT can be configured using the Intel SCS application?

The Intel SCS performs all the necessary steps for all Intel® AMT releases.

What is the “Hello” message?

This is a message that an Intel® AMT device sends once it has been loaded with a PID/PPS key pair and had its default password changed. This indicates the start of the setup and configuration process. Note that “Hello” messages start once a PID/PPS is entered though the MEBx or USB key. They can start even if the Setup and Configuration Service is not installed.

What must be done on the AMT device prior to setup and configuration?

An Intel® AMT device must have its MEBx password changed from the default password to a strong password. A TLS-PSK key and identifier must also be loaded into the device. These values are entered manually by the IT administrator through the BIOS extension. (The administrator can also use a USB key with values exported from the SCS, or the values may have been preloaded by an OEM.)