Importing and exporting provisioning IDs

You can generate provisioning IDs and export them to a key file for use in provisioning Intel vPro devices with a USB drive. The exported IDs are saved to a setup.bin file that you can copy to a USB drive. With that USB drive you can automatically populate the PID/PPS fields in the Intel AMT BIOS as you provision new Intel vPro devices, before you discover and manage them.

If a device manufacturer provides you with a set of provisioning IDs for the Intel vPro devices you have purchased, you can import those provisioning IDs into the core database so that the core server will recognize those devices as Intel vPro devices and discover them automatically.

These two processes are described below.

Exporting provisioning IDs for use with a USB drive

Endpoint Manager generates provisioning IDs (PID/PPS pairs) that you use to provision new Intel vPro devices. You can print a list of the generated IDs and enter them manually when you provision each device. Alternately you can export the IDs to a setup.bin key file, save that file on a USB drive, and then use the USB drive to provision the devices. This can reduce errors in provisioning because you don’t need to type the IDs manually at each device.

The USB drive you use must be in FAT-16 format for this process to work.

The setup.bin file is created with a specific key file format defined by Intel. When you provision the new Intel vPro device, you connect the USB drive to the device and reboot it. During the boot process a pair of provisioning IDs (PID and PPS) is taken from the setup.bin file and entered into the device's Intel AMT BIOS. When the device sends its “hello” message on the network, the core server will recognize it and be able to communicate securely with it because the provisioning IDs are found in the core database.

To export a batch of provisioning IDs for use with a USB drive
  1. Click Configure > Intel vPro options > Import/Export.
  2. Select Export AMT IDs to setup.bin file. The number of IDs available to export is displayed in parentheses next to this option.
  3. Enter and confirm the vPro Management Engine password. This is the password that allows you access to Intel vPro management features. The default password is "admin" if you have not already set a password for the Management Engine.
  4. Enter a value in the Number of IDs to export text box. You must enter at least "1" in this field. The maximum number you can enter is the number of available IDs indicated next to the Export AMT IDs to setup.bin file option.
  5. In the Specify the location for setup.bin text box, enter a path or browse to the folder where you want to save the setup.bin file.

    You can save the file to any location and then copy the file to a USB drive, or you can simply specify the location of the USB drive if it is connected to the core server. To use the setup.bin file for provisioning, the file must be saved to the root directory of the USB drive.
  6. Click Apply, and then click Close.

NOTE: The IDs you generate are listed with other IDs you have generated on the Generate Intel vPro IDs page. The IDs will have a green check mark in the list to indicate that they are not available for provisioning other devices.

To use exported provisioning IDs on new Intel vPro devices
  1. Export a batch of provisioning IDs as described above, and save the setup.bin file to the root directory of a USB drive.
  2. At each new Intel vPro device, connect the USB drive to the device and reboot it.

As the device boots, it accesses the setup.bin file and takes an available provisioning ID pair (PID and PPS) for use in the provisioning process. It then marks the provisioning ID pair as used so it will not be used by another device. The next device you provision will then take the next available provisioning ID pair.

Note that for this process to work correctly, the default username and password for accessing the Intel AMT BIOS must not have been changed (the default is typically admin/admin). You should not have already entered provisioning IDs on the device.

Importing provisioning IDs from a key file to the core database

If a device manufacturer provides you with a set of provisioning IDs for the Intel vPro devices you have purchased, you can import those provisioning IDs into the core database so that the core server will recognize those devices as Intel vPro devices and discover them automatically. The manufacturer supplies these IDs in a setup.bin key file when you purchase the devices.

To import the IDs into the core database, browse to the location of the setup.bin file that the manufacturer provided (this can be on a CD or DVD, or you can copy the file to any drive). After these IDs are saved to the database, when you start up the Intel vPro devices and they send a “hello” message, the core server recognizes them and discovers the devices.

To import provisioning IDs from a key file to the core database
  1. Click Configure > Intel vPro options > Import/Export.
  2. Select Import from USB key file.
  3. In the Specify the location for setup.bin text box, enter a path or browse to the folder that contains the setup.bin file.
  4. Click Apply, and then click Close.

The provisioning IDs are added to the core database and are listed on the Generate Intel vPro IDs dialog box.