Generating Intel vPro IDs

Intel vPro devices communicate with a provisioning server on the network. This provisioning server listens for messages from Intel vPro devices and allows IT staff to manage servers through out-of-band communication regardless of the state the device’s OS is in. The core server acts as a provisioning server for Intel vPro devices and includes features that help you provision devices when you set them up.

You must generate a Provisioning ID (PID) and a Provisioning Passphrase (PPS) for every Intel vPro device you want to provision. A PID is an eight-character encrypted ID used to ensure that the user has the credentials necessary to configure an Intel vPro device. A PPS is a 32-character password to authenticate the PID. The PID and the PPS are matched against each other.

The following two sections contain procedural steps for generating Intel vPro IDs. These steps are followed by details of the features in the Generate Intel vPro IDs dialog box.

For additional information, see Configuring Intel vPro devices.

Creating an Intel vPro password

Important: Before you can generate IDs, you must first create an Intel vPro password for the default "admin" account. If you have not yet created this password, follow the steps below.

To set the Intel vPro password

1. Click Configure > Intel vPro options > General Configuration.
2. Under Setup and Configuration, type a strong password and then confirm the password.
3. If you have Intel vPro devices that are already being managed and you want to use the same configuration password for those devices, select the Synchronize this password option.
4. If you have a highly secure configuration environment and prefer not to use TLS mode for configuring new devices, select the Use non-TLS communications option (we recommend that you use TLS mode).
5. Click OK.

Generating Intel vPro AMT IDs

After you have created an Intel vPro password, you can generate IDs for the devices you want to configure. Some options referred to in these steps are described in the sections below.

To generate a batch of Intel vPro provisioning IDs

1. Click Configure > Intel vPro options > ID Generation.
2. Type the number of IDs to generate (generally the number of devices you plan to provision).
3. If you want to use a different prefix for the PIDs, type it in the PID prefix text box. This prefix can only contain uppercase alphabetic characters and numerals in the ASCII character set. You can enter a maximum of 7 characters for a prefix.
4. Type a batch name to identify this group of generated IDs.
5. Click Generate IDs.
6. After the IDs have been generated, click Print ID list to print the list of IDs. (Only the IDs currently shown in the list are printed.) Your browser's print feature opens automatically.
7. To view all IDs that have been previously generated, select Show all in the View batch IDs list.
8. To view one batch of generated IDs, select the batch name in the View batch IDs list.
9. To print a list of the generated IDs for your reference, click Print ID list. The Windows print dialog box opens; select a printer and click Print.

The provisioning keys are stored in the database for future reference as you provision new Intel vPro devices. As the devices are provisioned and the provisioning keys are consumed, the Generate Intel vPro IDs page will display shading for the IDs that have been consumed, so you can track which IDs have been used.

Generate IDs

Use this section to enter the criteria for generating the PID and PPS.

• Number of IDs to generate: enter the number of IDs you want to generate (usually the number of devices you plan to provision). You must enter a value or the IDs can't be generated.
• PID Prefix for generated IDs: Enter a prefix to help identify the PIDs. A PID prefix is added for your convenience in identifying the IDs as PIDs, but you are not required to use a prefix. We recommend using 0-4 characters; you can use a maximum of 7 characters for the prefix.
• Batch name of generated IDs: Enter a name to identify the batch of generated IDs. This name is optional. It should be a descriptive name that indicates which devices the IDs apply to. For example, you could generate batches for each organization in your company and name the batches Development, Marketing, Finance, and so forth. If you later want to view the generated IDs, you type the batch name and click View batch IDs to see a list with only those IDs.

View batch IDs

If you enter names for different batches of generated IDs, the names are displayed in the View batch IDs drop-down list. The IDs available in the selected batch name are displayed in the list box below the drop-down list. If you do not generate IDs with a batch name, all IDs are displayed in the list box.

These IDs are stored in the database for future reference as you provision new Intel vPro devices. As the devices are provisioned and the provisioning keys are consumed, the Generate Intel vPro IDs page displays shading on the IDs that have been used.

Import/Export IDs

The IDs you generate can be exported to a file named setup.bin. The setup.bin file can be stored on a USB drive that can be transported to other provisioning servers so that IDs that have not already been used can be imported and put to use with other Intel vPro devices.

To export IDs

1. Click Configure > Intel vPro options > ID Generation
2. In the Generate Intel vPro AMT IDs dialog box, click Import/Export IDs. The Import/Export Intel vPro IDs dialog is displayed.
3. Select Export AMT IDs to setup.bin file.
   The number of IDs available to export is displayed in parentheses next to this option.
4. Enter and confirm the vPro Management Engine password (for Intel vPro versions 2.5 and later).
   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.
5. Type a number 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.
6. 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.
7. Click Apply.
   The dialog box remains open until you click Close.

To import IDs

1. In the Import/Export Intel vPro IDs dialog box, select Import from USB key file.
2. In the Specify the location for setup.bin text box, enter a path or browse to the folder that contains the setup.bin file.
3. Click Apply.
4. Click Close.

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

Print ID List

The Print ID List feature prints the IDs currently displayed in the list. If you have selected Show All or No batch name from the View batch IDs drop-down list, all available IDs are printed. If you select a batch name from the View batch IDs drop-down list, only the IDs in that batch of IDs are printed.