Intel® AMT: From Factory Mode to Setup Mode - a 4 step process

By Gael Holmes (Intel) (91 posts) on November 25, 2008 at 12:44 pm

In the blogs that I wrote prior to this blog, I talked about some of the basics required for provisioning an Intel® AMT system. This blog will cover what is happening when an AMT System goes from Factory Mode to Setup Mode - you will be able to see that if this transition does not happen, we will not be provisioning the Intel AMT System.

SCA: Setup and Configuration Application. This could be your own SCA or it could be the Intel Setup and Configuration Server (SCS.)

When an Intel AMT device transitions from Factory Mode to Setup Mode, it attempts to create a TCP/IP connection with the SCA on the default port. This is a four-step process:

1. Intel AMT connects to the SCA either by using the IP address entered via the BIOS extension or by looking up the address on the domain name server (DNS), using the SCA host name. If an IP address of the provisioning server is entered, then the connection is direct. Continue with step 2.

Hint: Intel AMT attempts a DNS look-up using the host name "ProvisionServer" and the optional domain name entered via the BIOS sub-menu as one of the TCP/IP parameters or the default domain name, if no domain name was entered (this is an OEM option and may be blank). Intel AMT sends this look-up request even if no domain name was entered.

If this look-up fails (and it will if there is no FQDN or domain suffix), Intel AMT tries a DNS look-up using a DNS suffix returned by the DHCP server, if the DHCP server is configured to return domain names (DHCP option 15). If the DNS server does not have a record for the setup and configuration server FQDN, the device will not be able to look up the FQDN of the SCA server. You will need to either manually enter the setup and configuration server IP address via the BIOS extension or add a static alias to the DNS server, where the setup and configuration server host name, combined with Intel AMT local domain, resolves to the setup and configuration server IP address. I.E. Hello packets will not get sent until Intel AMT can connect to the provisioning server.

2. When the device successfully connects to the SCA, it sends a "Hello" Message, which has the following format:

3. The first two bytes will usually be 0x0001 unless the device has a localized BIOS. If there is a localized BIOS, the value will be 0x0000, indicating that new administrator credentials must be set in the Intel AMT device for Setup and Configuration to complete successfully.

4. After the "Hello" message is sent, the Intel AMT device closes the TCP/IP connection. Intel AMT sends the "Hello" message in Host order, not in network order. To compensate for this, the sample setup and configuration application processes the message in host order. An ISV-created setup and configuration application must do the same.

The Intel AMT device will retry the three steps until configuration is complete, which is defined as having all mandatory parameters set and the Commit Changes command issued by the Configuration Server. The Intel AMT device performs retries according to the following algorithm:

The retry algorithm restarts after a firmware reset, which can happen due to a power-cycle of the Intel AMT device (i.e., disconnecting AC power from the platform). Intel AMT Releases 2.2, 2.6, and 3.0 and later releases open the network interface for only six hours. If a PID-PPS based setup and configuration does not complete in six hours, the Intel AMT device will close the network interface. To re-open the network interface, either a local agent (like the Activator Utility.....) must command the device to open the interface or the partial unprovisioning option must be manually selected from the MEBx menu.

Note: While Intel AMT is in Setup Mode, the device cannot be used for other application purposes. Configuration must be completed before trying to use the capabilities of the Intel AMT device.

Again! I hope this helps AMT Folks understand what is going on during the provisioning process and hopefully be able to figure out quickly what might be going wrong in a provisioning session.

Categories: Manageability

Comments (1)

October 27, 2009 2:51 AM PDT

Roseele Dahang
Total Points:
110
Status Points:
60
Green Belt
 Hi Gael,

Hope you dont mind if I may ask how to restart the hello message algorithm if it expires after 24 hours without rebooting the terminal or diconnecting its power source? like is there a function that will restart the hello message algorithm? I humbly look forward to any response... (the AMT version I was running on is below 4.0, I havent touched on 4.0 implementation..)

Thanks -Sel

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