In this time of Green Values, it's important to implement policies that cut down on power consumption, including having users keep their machines off when not at work. By default Intel ME (Management Engine) remains awake, using a little bit of power to remain active. The ME can be configured to sleep when the computer is turned off. This represents a challenge as ME needs to be awaken before RTSM or Task Server can successfully execute AMT functionality. This article covers this topic and how to work in this environment. This covers both versions 6.x and 7.0 of RTSM and Task Server.

Introduction

The "green" movement encourages companies to work smart, and technology has catered features to allow steps to be taken to lower the energy consumption footprint in a computer world. Intel has therefore built in energy-saving features into the vPro platform. The features of vPro allows an administrator to manage a system even when it is turned off, and this requires that something be awake enough to respond to an incoming request for management. The ME (Management Engine) that configures and interfaces with AMT and other vPro technologies provides a number of sleep policies that provide flexibility in how the power-saving features are used.

Intel ME Sleep States

The Intel ME allows multiple power policies to be invoked. These policies basically tell the ME when to be active, and when to put itself into a sleep mode. The power saving requirements within an enterprise will determine what power policy is invoked on the local systems. Symantec's Real-Time System Manager allows a user to choose which power policy will be used by the local AMT systems.

The following states are supported in AMT 3.0 (the options change depending on the platform, but the essentials are the same):

• ON in S0
• ON in S0, S3
• ON in S0, S3, S4-5
• ON in S0, ME WoL in S3
• ON in S0, ME WoL in S3, S4-5
• ON in S0, S3, S4-5, OFF After Power Loss
• ON in S0, ME Wo in S3, S4-5, OFF After Power Loss

The power states, S0 - S5, indicate a state the computer is in, as listed here:

• S0 > This mode is the 'ON' or 'working' state.
• S1, S2, S3, S4 > These modes are considered 'Sleeping' states. S1, S2, S3 are Standby states, while S4 is Hibernation. Note that S1 and S2 are not shown in the preceding list.
• S5 > This mode is the 'Off' state.

The following article contains a lot more detail on the power states: Utilizing Intel® vPro AMT Technology with Task Server - Part 1: Power Management

Note the WoL (Wake on LAN) states. These states put Intel ME into an Energy Star Compliance mode, taking very little power. For the best mix of management versus "green" mode is ON in S0, ME WoL in S3, S4-5.

Power Policies

One crucial question is what power policy are your vPro systems using? The simplest answer is it uses whatever the manufacturer set it to. In most instances I've seen, Desktops are set to have the ME on in all states. For Notebooks, often it's set to either only be on in a powered-up state, or one only in a power-up state and have ME WOL enabled for all other states.

Manual Configuring the Power Policy

The power policy is set within the Intel ME directly. The following directions were created using an AMT 3.0 system (specifically Dell 755). The specifics may vary depending on the version of Intel ME in use, but this should provide enough information to find where the power policies are set.

1. From a powered off state, turn on the system.
2. During the post, hold down the ctrl key and press 'P' repeatedly. If it starts beeping, you've pressed it enough and the system should book into the Intel ME.
3. Enter in the password to access the ME (this password will be what was set when the system was configured, or changed manually. If the system has never been configured, the username will be admin, the password: admin
4. Choose the option: Intel(R) ME Configuration.
5. The message: 'System resets after configuration changes, Configure: (Y/N) will appear. Press Y.
6. From the subsequent menu choose: Intel(R) ME Power Control.
7. Select the option: "Intel(R) ME ON in Host Sleep States, and press enter.
8. In the lower-pane the available sleep states will be shown, with an asterisk * showing the current selection.
9. Press Enter on the desired state.
10. When you exit the two menus the system will restart, and the new power policy will be in effect.

Programmatic Change

Unlike most other settings or features within AMT, RTSM and Task Server cannot change this setting. This is because the setting is part of the Configuration profile (also known as the Provisioning Profile). This, then, requires Out of Band Management to make the change. This also requires either an update to the profile or a partial reconfiguration in order to change it.

Note that this also means when a system is configured (Provisioned), a power policy is set at that time. While all power policies are not available via Out of Band, the following ones are. The following policies are available:

• Host is ON (S0)
• Host is ON (S0) or in Standby (S3)
• Host is ON (S0) or in Standby (S3) or in Hibernate (S4)
• Intel(R) AMT is always ON (S0-S5)

Additional research is underway to determine how any Intel ME WOL states are implemented in the above four options.

To change the Power Policy via Out of Band Management, follow these steps:

Out of Band Management 6.3

1. In the Altiris Console, browse through View > Solutions > Out of Band Management > Configuration > Provisioning > Configuration Service Settings > and select Provision Profiles.
2. Select your active Provision Profile and click the Edit icon.
3. Select the Power Policy tab.
4. Select the appropriate option from the dropdown list provided, as shown in this screenshot:
   

   Click to view.

5. Save the profile by clicking OK.
6. Now browse down through View > Solutions > Out of Band Management > Configuration > Provisioning > Intel(R) AMT Systems > and select Intel(R) AMT Systems.
7. Select one or more systems, right-click, and choose Reprovision. This will update the Provision Profile on the system.

1. In the Symantec Management Console, browse to Settings > All Settings > Monitoring and Alerting > Protocol Management > Connection Profiles > Manage Connection Profiles > select the Default Connection Profile > click the edit icon (pencil).
2. Expand the AMT section if it is not already expanded and browse to the bottom of this section.
3. Check the option ‘Retry after wakeup from sleep’, as shown below:


Click to view.

4. That should take care of the issue in version 7.0.

Working with Intel ME Sleep (WOL)

The following processes can be used to avoid any issues with the way we interact with a system that is currently in a sleep state.

Real-Time System Manager - One to One

For a one-to-one resolution using the Real-Time System Manager, simply follow these steps when connecting to a vPro enabled system:

1. Launch the Real-Time System Manager for a system (Real-Time tab for 6.x, the Manage function for 7.0).
2. Click on the function node desired, for example Hardware Management to do a power-control. Let the right-side pane load. AMT will not be detected as a supported protocol.
3. Click the refresh to reload the right-hand pane. This time AMT should be successfully detected when you go to any AMT node.

Task Server - One to Many

For Task Server, use the following method to avoid this situation:

1. Create a Server Job even if you only want to push one management function. This is necessary to avoid the situation.
2. In the left-hand pane select 'Server Job'.
3. In the right-hand pane click New > Task.
4. In the subsequent window, select 'Get Intel AMT Inventory', as shown in this screenshot:
   

   Click to view.

5. Name the Task and click OK.
6. Now add the Task or Tasks you wish to use. This can include power control, IDE Redirection, SOL, etc.
7. Uncheck the box 'Fail job if any task fails'. The first Task, Get Intel AMT Inventory, will fail due to the problem discussed above with the way Intel ME awakes. By default Task Server will continue through the job if a Task Fails, and by unchecking this box we will not get failure notices for the Job itself.
8. Name the job, Save it, and execute as desired.

The above example uses Get AMT Inventory because of its benign nature. Any AMT-directed packet will awake the Intel ME, making any subsequent calls successful. For those systems that are already awake and running, the Inventory job will complete successfully, providing updated Inventory.

Other Task types can be used, but I picked Inventory as it has the least impact should the Task succeed for those systems that do not have the Intel ME in a sleeping state.

Conclusion

Not only are green power policies important in helping us do our part for the greater good of the Earth, but this also saves money in electricity costs. Thus it is important to work successfully in this environment.

NOTE: This issue will be addressed in a future version of Real-Time Console Infrastructure, making these work-around methods unneeded.