How do I manage PCs with vPro?

Question

I ordered some new PCs with Intel vPro enabled on them, but now that I have them I'm not sure how to use it.

I found some old websites about using Altiris and Microsoft SMS but those are expensive and really meant for large organizations. Does anyone know of a free or cheap way to use vPro?

Answer 1

Intel has a list of free tools at the below link:

http://communities.intel.com/docs/DOC-1171

Another option is Spiceworks, a free network monitoring/help desk/PC inventory tool. An Intel AMT plugin available to allow remote access, device sharing, and power on/off from within Spiceworks.

Answer 2

Every Intel AMT enabled PC has a web server running on port 16992 and/or 16993 (https).

Just point your web browser to:

 http://'Intel-AMT-enabled-host':16992 

or

 https://'Intel-AMT-enabled-host':16993

Answer 3

From Wikipedia:

VNC-based KVM Remote Control

In vPro 6.0 PCs with embedded Intel graphics, Intel AMT embeds a proprietary VNC Server, so you can connect out-of-band using dedicated VNC-compatible Viewer technology, and have full KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) capability throughout the power cycle - including uninterrupted control of the desktop when an operating system loads. Clients such as VNC Viewer Plus from RealVNC also >provide additional functionality that might make it easier to perform (and watch) certain Intel AMT operations, such as powering >the computer off and on, configuring the BIOS, and mounting a remote image (IDER).

Have you tried using a VNC Viewer to connect to these machines?

• RealVNC
• UltraVNC
• TightVNC

Answer 4

2018 Update:

UltraVNC now redirects to RealVNC. The RealVNC product you need is the Viewer Plus - the standard (and free client) does not do KVM over IP.

There is no information on TightVNC's site regarding capacity to access the VNC server running inside a vPro chip.

Other options are:

• MeshCommander (open source). Allows for controlling the Intel AMT and LMS, and also for KVM over IP, so you can watch the boot screen and set RAID or BIOS options (like RealVNC does)
• Dameware (paid)
• Intel's own free Management Command Tool (MDTK), which has been replaced by MeshCommander, but still might be required to use TLS with MeshCommander. Note that MeshCommander has released several fixes on TLS and MDTK might no longer be needed.
• As far as I understood this option, you can setup an intermediate Ubuntu box to use as a KVM over IP device into the machine you actually want to control (clumsy)