Intel,Altiris Group

Migrating from OOBM 6.x to 7.x - What happens to Intel SCS? 

Dec 06, 2010 12:52 PM

As customers are preparing to update from Altiris 6.x to 7.x, common questions have been raised in the context of Intel vPro Technology and Altiris Out-of-Band Management.   Will the migration wizard update the IntelAMT database?  What about all of the configured Intel vPro systems?  What are the key changes and updates? and so forth.

View this article as an initial answer.   If deeper answers or details are needed, best to consult with Symantec support representatives.   In fact - a number of base troubleshooting insights have been shared via an article series from Joel.   See Troubleshooting Out of Band Management and Real-Time System Manager for vPro Technology versions 7.0

Key items to remember:

  • Altiris 6.x to 7.x migration wizards will update the CMDB and Altiris software components
  • The IntelAMT database and AMTconfig service used by Intel SCS (wrapped into Altiris Out-of-Band Setup and Configuration Service) might not be migrated and updated.   If this happens - it's a simple matter of post-migration cleanup by running the installation manually (mentioned in the troubleshooting steps)
  • If you are using Remote Configuration with a Provisioning Certificate, the location of the certificate changes to the user context of the logon account for AMTconfig.   This is explained in the article series noted above and at Four Insights to OOB Site Service Installation and Usage
  • You do NOT need to unprovision or reconfigure all of the vPro systems... unless you are doing a massive migration to a totally new domain structure, renaming all of the clients, or other items which go beyond just an Altiris migration\upgrade.   You still may be okay - but there are more variables to consider.

As with any migration or update, a common best practice is to have a backup of the database.   The IntelAMT database contains AMTconfig service settings, configuration settings applied to client systems, and so forth.  

In an Altiris 6.x environment, the Intel SCS version was 3.x.   Should the Altiris 7 OOB Site service fail to install correctly - meaning that Intel SCS version 5.x didn't install\update - refer to the troubleshooting insights shared by Joel.   If needed - call Symantec support.

Anytime Intel SCS is updated on a system, there is a very good chance the database schema will be updated along with AMTconfig service application.   To help provide some confidence here - if you were testing the original release of Out-of-Band Management, you likely have Intel SCS 3.0.x.   Overtime, you likely updated to Intel SCS 3.2.1 - all data was still intact, and systems didn't need to be unconfigured or reconfigured.   Similarly - if you started testing Altiris 7 right at release, you likely had Intel SCS 5.1.x.   Overtime as you applied updates to Altiris 7 - you likely came to version 5.3.x or possibly 5.4.x without changing the configuration the clients.

If you have further inputs or experiences to share - please do.

The opinions expressed on this site are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or strategies of Intel Corporation or its worldwide subsidiaries.

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Jan 17, 2011 01:18 PM

Nitin - this is good news.   How many systems have you been able to configure since this issue was corrected?  

Jan 17, 2011 02:07 AM

Thanx Dmitri & Terry, Finally the issue of integrating OOB 7.0 SP3 MR1 @ CMS 7.0 SP5 (on remote box) with Intel SCS 5.3.0.22. has been resolved successfully.

What we did is the following -

1. Yes we downloaded SCS 5.3.0.22 directly from Intel FTP site and upgraded the box which is remote server and not residing on NS 7.0 box. 

2. Even after upgrade, while integrating NS 7.0 was giving error saying SCS server is out of date.

Then, We check there was an old entry of SCS 3.0 in intelAMT database (at scs box). Which we removed it by following steps....

1. Please perform a full backup of the IntelAMT database.

2. Run the following SQL Query to determine if there is an outdated IntelSCS Server entry in the IntelAMT database:

SELECT * FROM csto_servers

3. Delete the Outdated IntelSCS Server entry from the csto_server table in the IntelAMT database:

DELETE FROM csto_server WHERE server_name='<Place outdated IntelSCS here>'

4. Try to configure the alternative IntelSCS URL via the Symantec Management Console under Settings --> Remote Management --> Out of Band Management -->Configuration Service Settings --> Service Location

You can also refer following KB Articles for using Remote Intel SCS server --

Article URL http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH148064

Search for this title in KB --> "Using Out of Band Management with Intel SCS in a Multiple Notification Server Environment, Part 3: Non-NS Intel SCS"

Cheers!! Nitin

Jan 07, 2011 08:58 AM

Nitin - Curious whether you downloaded\installed SCS as provided directly by Intel, or if you updated via Altiris OOB Site Service.

5.3.0.22 is the latest\current version provided with CMS 7.0.   For CMS 7.1 (currently in beta) - a newer SCS version is used

Screenshot below shows source installation files along with silent install script settings as provided the NSCap directory

If you plan to continue running SCS "off-box" from the core Altiris server and CMDB database - a manual installation\update of your SCS 3.x or 5.2 environment may require some cleanup actions to ensure full\correct association.

A fresh\default installation will have both the CMDB and IntelAMT databases on the same server.   (i.e. Symantec_CMDB and Symantec_CMDB_IntelAMT).   More information on moving and reassociating the IntelAMT database is available at http://www.symantec.com/connect/articles/moving-or-reassociating-intelamt-database

Best to work with Symantec\Altiris support on these items.  

 

Hope that helps

Jan 06, 2011 11:05 AM

Hi Nitin,

> what should be the the SCS version to be integrated with latest CMS 7.0 SP5.

it should be 5.3

Best regards, Dmitri

Jan 06, 2011 01:50 AM

Hello Terry, thanks for this wonderful article.. It is really helpful to troubleshoot OOB.. however I would like to know what should be the the SCS version to be integrated with latest CMS 7.0 SP5. As above article states only about CMS 7.0 sp3.

 

We had intel SCS 3.0 integrated with Altiris CMS 6.0. Now we r implementing new server with CMS 7.0 and want to integrate with SCS. Hence we upgrade SCS to 5.2, after that I am getting following error while registering Intel SCS servr (5.2.0.4) as alternate server for provisioning with CMS 7.0 SP5 under "Settings --> All Settings --> Remote Mgmt --> OOB Mgmt --> Configuration service Settings --> Service location.

-- The selected Intel @AMT setup & configuration server is outdated. (Attached snapshot)

Kindly help with any pointers to resolve the above  issue.

Regards/Nitin

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