text

Intel® vPro Platform Hardware Manageability: Software Integration Options

Add hardware-level device manageability features to software or services

  • The Intel AMT SDK offers low-level modules and sample code.

  • The Open AMT Cloud Toolkit offers microservices that can be integrated with cloud device management services.

  • Intel Endpoint Management Assistant is a standalone server that can manage devices independently or integrated with other services via APIs.

  • The Intel Endpoint Cloud Services' Chip-to-Cloud service is Intel-hosted and augments existing services with powerful Intel vPro manageability features.

author-image

By

Hardware-based Intel® Active Management Technology (Intel® AMT), available on Intel vPro Enterprise platform PCs, provides persistent out-of-band manageability that operates independently of the OS.  This enables fixes to a wide range of system issues, even when the system's OS is down or is unresponsive.  IT can remotely repair corrupted drivers, OS, or BIOS configuration using power commands, keyboard-video-mouse (KVM) control, or boot to the system BIOS.  Click here to learn more about Intel AMT.

 

A range of options is available to integrate Intel AMT hardware management features into your software.  Each offers different features, levels of complexity, and infrastructure hosting options. 

 

Intel AMT SDK

The Intel AMT SDK offers the lowest level of software integration, providing modules and sample code upon which Intel AMT services and software can be built.

The SDK includes low-level C++ and C# .NET libraries to communicate with Intel AMT, a C# .NET “High Level API” (HLAPI) module offering sample applications and a higher level of abstraction, as well as a PowerShell module.

These tools enable initial configuration of Intel AMT on devices as well as device management after Intel AMT has been configured.  Most SDK assets assume application execution in a context where local network or local device access to Intel AMT is available. 

More Intel AMT SDK resources are available at these links:

 

Open AMT Cloud Toolkit

The Open AMT Cloud Toolkit is a collection of open-source microservices and libraries designed to support remote device manageability using Intel AMT via the cloud. 

Components include:

  • Central microservices to support Intel AMT configuration and connectivity.  These are intended to be integrated into server software, in the cloud. 
  • A lightweight client to support Intel AMT provisioning.  This runs on the managed device, and can be integrated with agent software already running on the managed device.  The toolkit supports Windows and Linux managed Intel vPro platform PCs.
  • A UI toolkit with example device management interfaces, including KVM.

Connectivity to Intel AMT on managed devices is enabled exclusively via Client Initiated Remote Access (CIRA), where Intel AMT initiates and maintains a persistent connection to a provided microservice.  This makes out-of-band device management possible over the internet.

More Open AMT Cloud Toolkit resources are available at these links:

 

Intel® Endpoint Management Assistant (Intel® EMA)

Intel EMA is standalone device management server.  It has its own web interface and can be deployed on-premise or in the cloud.   

It is a complete solution that can be deployed by end customers or service providers to manage devices, and offers a Windows agent that provides in-band software-based management along with the ability to configure Intel AMT.  Once Intel AMT is configured, Intel EMA also offers out-of-band hardware-level device management. 

Software integration can be provided via simple web links to EMA’s web interface.  In addition, deeper integration is available via REST and JavaScript APIs.

Connectivity to Intel AMT on managed devices is possible via both CIRA or local network communication. 

More Intel EMA resources are available at these links:

 

Intel® Endpoint Cloud Services – Chip-to-Cloud

The Intel Endpoint Cloud Services are an Intel-hosted array of services designed to solve specific IT problems.  These services are designed to integrate into existing software via APIs, without requiring additional hosting infrastructure.

Chip-to-Cloud is one service among the Intel Endpoint Cloud Services.  It provides remote out-of-band configuration and management of Intel AMT.

Some of the management capabilities include power actions (such as rebooting, and powering up devices that are powered down) along with keyboard/video/mouse remote control.  Similar to the Open AMT Cloud Toolkit, connectivity to Intel AMT on managed devices is enabled exclusively via CIRA, with hardware-level device management possible over the internet.

Contact your Intel representative for more information on Intel Endpoint Cloud Services and Chip-to-Cloud.