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SMB Mode to Enterprise Mode on Intel AMT v5.0

idata
Employee
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Greetings,

I'm a vPro novice and am seeking some guidence.

ENVIRONMENT:

HP Compaq DC7900 Small Form Factor

Windows XP Professional SP3

Intel AMT Firmware Version 5.0.1.1111

BACKGROUND:

We are currently deploying 5000+ HP DC7900 computers and are manually provisioning them in SMB mode going out the door.

We have changed the host name, the domain name, and set a password.

I decided to use SMB mode because my impression regarding Enterprise mode is numerious XYZ needed to be configured.

As only 700 of these machines have been deployed so far I'm getting worried when I read that SMB Mode cannot be remotely reprovissioned.

QUESTIONS:

Enterprise Mode Setup - The machines are comming from HP set at Factory mode in Enterprise Mode.

What is the minimum I can do to use Enterprise mode for the new systems going into our command.

I understand there is "Factory" "Setup" and "Provisioned" modes

Can these just be manually configured without a provisioning server initially?

If there is no provisioning server IP specified in the setup on each machine is there going to be a lot of broadcast traffic?

As passwords would be set manually, if it connects to provisioning server "which would be another site on our domain" it would not be accessable, and/or provisionable?

SWITCHING THE SMB Machines to Enterprise Mode:

How can I do this remotely? Can I do it with the WEB GUI...do I need 3rd party software, do I have to manually visit all machines?

Additionally, we are using SMS 2003 though using this with AMT right now has not been discussed. What this means is if I had to setup a provisioning server it would not be the SMS 2003 server, and if I did that could I switch the provisioning server to the SMS server in the future.

Much appreciation for any help in advance.

Best Regards,

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idata
Employee
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The good news is that it is NOT difficult to re-provision your current enabled SMB platforms. There is a tool called "activator.exe" here in the tool section of the Expert center, this is an "In-Band" tool - you can remotely push it to the platforms using your SMS software app distribution tool. Your concern for network traffic before provisioning is ounded, it could impact your infrastructure. With AMT the FW initialization does incur query's to DHCP/DNS in preparatin for provisioning, this is active posture. There are a couple of ways to eliminate this base network traffic.

1. Manually enter Ctrl-P and in the ME section - enter ME Features menu - you will see AMT is enabled, set it to disabled and reboot the system. this still allows you to remotely provision at a later date using "activator.exe" - this will eliminate any network traffic.

2. Go back to your OEM vendors web site and review the software / driver down load for your platform, confirm they have the latest AMT 5.1 based FW. This latest FW can be installed using the "FWupdLcL.exe" tool - this is dependat on the OEM, you may need to call them for support. You can run the update remotely "inband" to update all your platforms, In the tool is a new switch (-Haltrcfg) this will put AMT in a passive mode and will not initiate any network traffic but AMT is installed and can be remotely provisioned in the future. Again, contact yoru OEM to confirm they have AMT5.1 udpate, OEM's are adopting but may still be validating so not all OEM's have it posted yet. Just use the switch as a command line switch when you execute the FW update.

I recommend option 1 if your still receiving systems for deployment and Option 2 for systems already deployed.

As for SMS and the setup configuration server. First off, it is important to review the SMS version for AMT management console plug in, use the latest version in conjunction with the latest SCS server. There are plenty of bring up docs here in the expert center on setting up SMS/SCS. the SCS server can be on any platform and can be moved, but again there is a migration document here that should be reviewed before moving the server. I would also suggest looking at upgrading to SCCM,this is a full featured update to SMS & has AMT SCS integrated. This console is supported by Microsoft and has better management integration and support features. Again the Expert center docs can give you the overview of advantages / features of SCCM and upgrade path from SMS to SCCM, there is even a tool to transfer yrou database. whiel we all know this, remember to backup before you start any migrations.I have seen grown men cry becuse they skipped this step.

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