Note |
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This topic appears in the Assets and Compliance in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide and in the Scenarios and Solutions Using System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide. |
The following sections in this topic provide an example scenario for implementing out of band management in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, by using a three-phased approach:
- Pilot: Implementing
and Testing a Few Computers that Use Certificate Services (Internal
CA) for the Provisioning Certificate
- Rollout: Full
Deployment by Using an External CA for the Provisioning
Certificate
- Add Wireless
Support: Extend Management to Wireless Networks
In the following scenario, Trey Research is interested in using out of band management to more efficiently troubleshoot computers that fail to start or stop responding, require powering on for routine maintenance, or require reconfiguring the BIOS settings. This company has Intel AMT-based computers with versions of AMT that are supported by Configuration Manager, but they do not have customized firmware that includes the certificate thumbprint of their own internal root certification authority (CA).
Trey Research has a single Configuration Manager primary site, and all the internal computers reside in the testnet.treyresearch.net domain. The company already has an existing public key infrastructure (PKI) infrastructure that is using Windows Server 2008 Certificate Services, and has an enterprise certification authority running Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition.
Adam is the Configuration Manager administrative user who has been asked to implement out of band management by using a three-phase approach. He first tests the functionality by using a small number of desktop computers and without purchasing a provisioning certificate from an external CA. If the testing goes well, Adam can purchase an AMT provisioning certificate and provision all the AMT-based desktop computers. For the final deployment phase, Adam is asked to extend the out of band management to laptops that use the wireless network.
Pilot: Implementing and Testing a Few Computers that Use Certificate Services (Internal CA) for the Provisioning Certificate
For the pilot phase to implement and test out of band management, Adam takes the course of action outlined in the following table.
Process | Reference |
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Adam checks the prerequisites for out of band management and decides to create a site system server on which he installs the out of band service point and the enrollment point. This computer has the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of server15.testnet.treyresearch.net. Adam also confirms that the existing DHCP and DNS configuration meets the requirements for AMT. |
For more information about the prerequisites, see Prerequisites for Out of Band Management in Configuration Manager. |
Adam works with his Active Directory service administrators to create the following Windows security groups:
They then create an organization unit (OU) in the testnet.treyresearch.net domain for the published AMT-based computer accounts, and grant the newly created group ConfigMgr Primary Site Servers the following permissions to this OU: Create Computer Objects and Delete Computer Objects. |
For more information about how to create groups and OUs, see the Active Directory Domain Services documentation. |
Adam works with the PKI team with the following results:
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For guidance about how to deploy the PKI certificates required for out of band management, see the Deploying the Certificates for AMT section in the Step-by-Step Example Deployment of the PKI Certificates for Configuration Manager: Windows Server 2008 Certification Authority topic. For more information about the certificate requirements, see PKI Certificate Requirements for Configuration Manager. |
To prepare the desktop AMT-based computers that Adam will use in the initial testing, Adam checks that the AMT firmware configuration is correct and adds the certificate thumbprint of their internal root CA:
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For more information, see the Intel documentation. |
Adam then configures the Configuration Manager primary site and makes the following changes:
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For more information, see the following sections in the How to Provision and Configure AMT-Based Computers in Configuration Manager topic: |
Adam wants to use Wake on LAN technology to install critical software updates on computers. He has tried this feature in the past and discovered that subnet-directed broadcasts consumed too much network bandwidth over the remote links and that few of their network adapters worked with unicast transmissions. He enables Wake on LAN and decides to keep the default option of Use power on commands if the computer supports this technology; otherwise, use wake-up packets. |
For more information, see the Configuring the Site to Send Power-On Commands for Scheduled Wake-Up Activities step in the How to Provision and Configure AMT-Based Computers in Configuration Manager topic. |
Adam adds the AMT Status column to the Configuration Manager console and creates a new collection that contains just five AMT-based computers as his initial pilot. These computers are for testing only and contain different supported versions of AMT. He configures this collection for AMT provisioning. |
For more information, see the Displaying the AMT Status and Enabling AMT provisioning step in the How to Provision and Configure AMT-Based Computers in Configuration Manager topic. |
Adam monitors the AMT provisioning process. |
For more information, see the Monitoring AMT Provisioning step in the How to Provision and Configure AMT-Based Computers in Configuration Manager topic. |
When the computers are successfully provisioned for AMT, Adam starts testing these computers for out of band management.
For example scenarios of using out of band management, see Example Scenarios for Using Out of Band Management in Configuration Manager.
Rollout: Full Deployment by Using an External CA for the Provisioning Certificate
When the initial testing is completed, Adam receives confirmation from his manager that out of band management can be rolled out to all AMT-based workstation computers. To eliminate the requirement to add the thumbprint of their internal root CA certificate to each AMT-based computer, Adam purchases a provisioning certificate from an external CA and installs it on server15, according to the accompanying instructions.
Adam then takes the course of action outlined in the following table.
Process | Reference |
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Adam checks the prerequisites for out of band management again, to see whether there are any additional changes that he has to make. He notes the following:
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For more information, see Prerequisites for Out of Band Management in Configuration Manager. |
Adam configures the properties of the out of band service point, browses to the newly purchased AMT provisioning certificate, and saves the changes. |
For more information, see the Configuring the Enrollment Point and Out of Band Service Point for AMT Provisioning step in the How to Provision and Configure AMT-Based Computers in Configuration Manager topic. |
Adam creates new collections to gradually roll out AMT provisioning for workstation computers. Over a period of four weeks, he enables these collections for AMT provisioning and monitors progress. |
For more information, see the Displaying the AMT Status and Enabling AMT provisioning step in the How to Provision and Configure AMT-Based Computers in Configuration Manager topic. |
As a result of this course of action, all Intel AMT-based workstation computers are provisioned for AMT and can be managed out of band by the help desk. The ability to troubleshoot and repair computers when the operating system is not functioning greatly reduces the total cost of ownership for the company because engineers no longer require local access to the computer.
Add Wireless Support: Extend Management to Wireless Networks
After the successful rollout for workstations to use out of band management, Trey Research now wants to extend this support to laptop computers that use the wireless network. The wireless network uses a Windows Server 2008-based server that is running Network Policy Server (NPS) and requires a client certificate for authentication.
Adam takes the course of action outlined in the following table.
Process | Reference | ||
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Adam checks the wireless support prerequisites for out of band management and confirms that the versions of AMT on the laptops supports wireless profiles. He notes the wireless configuration settings that are required by the Network Policy Server as WPA2 security, AES encryption, and EAP-TLS authentication. |
For more information about the prerequisites, see Prerequisites for Out of Band Management in Configuration Manager. |
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Adam works with the PKI team to create an additional certificate template that the AMT-based computers use to authenticate with the Network Policy Server. |
For more information about creating the client certificate template, see “Creating and Issuing the Client Authentication Certificates for 802.1X AMT-Based Computers” in the Deploying the Certificates for AMT section of the Step-by-Step Example Deployment of the PKI Certificates for Configuration Manager: Windows Server 2008 Certification Authority topic. For more information about the certificate requirements, see PKI Certificate Requirements for Configuration Manager. |
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Adam configures the Out of Band Management Component Properties: 802.1X and Wireless tab:
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For more information, see steps 26 through 39 in the Configuring the Out of Band Management Component section in the How to Provision and Configure AMT-Based Computers in Configuration Manager topic. |
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Adam creates a new collection for laptops that can support AMT. On the Out of Band Management tab, he selects Enable provisioning for AMT-based computers. Adam then monitors the provisioning status for these laptops, and uses the log file Amtopmgr.log, to verify that the wireless profile is successfully configured for these AMT-based computers.
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For more information about monitoring AMT provisioning, see the Monitoring AMT Provisioning step in the How to Provision and Configure AMT-Based Computers in Configuration Manager topic. |
As a result of this course of action, laptops can also now be managed out of band by the help desk, which reduces the time to resolve the problems reported by laptop users.