The Intel vPro® platform offers many advantages to IT departments seeking business-class performance, security, and stability in their PC fleet acquisitions. One of the most powerful capabilities built into the Intel vPro platform is the hardware-level manageability of endpoint PCs provided by Intel® Active Management Technology (Intel ® AMT). Intel AMT is the only solution with remote remediation to return your PCs to a known good state, over both wired and wireless connections, even when the operating system (OS) is down.
Now, in the era of widely dispersed workforces, IT teams need better ways to manage and troubleshoot PCs that might be in the office, in employee homes, or anywhere else. Intel EMA is modern, cloud-enabled software with integrated Intel AMT capabilities. You can incorporate it into your existing IT support processes for improved endpoint security, out-of-band access, and better remote management of business desktops virtually anywhere on known networks in your hybrid workplace.
This article explains the first steps for getting started with Intel EMA so you can harness the full power of Intel AMT.
Installing the Intel® EMA Server
To use Intel® EMA, you’ll need to download and install the Intel® EMA server.
First, download the latest version of Intel® EMA software. The Intel® EMA server software can be installed either on premises or in the cloud. On-premises installations can be either inside the firewall to manage devices in the corporate environment, or beyond the firewall to remotely manage devices in a security-enabled manner. The starting point for installing on premises is an installation .exe file and a familiar installation wizard. Intel provides complete instructions for on-premises installation here.
Deployment procedures differ when you install the Intel® EMA server in the cloud, depending on which cloud provider you use. Intel provides deployment guides for the three popular cloud providers (registration might be required to read the guidance):
The following section provides a roadmap to installing on Azure as an example.
Installation Example: Microsoft Azure
The high-level steps for installing the Intel® EMA server on Azure are:
- Create a new resource group in an existing Azure subscription.
- Deploy an Azure application security group and configure as needed.
- Deploy Azure Virtual Network and configure network security groups with security rules.
- Deploy an Azure SQL Database instance and add it to the existing virtual network.
- Deploy a Windows Server 2019 Datacenter Azure virtual machine (VM), add the VM to the existing virtual network, and configure Azure Bastion for Remote Desktop connectivity. If needed, deploy a load balancing solution for an availability set.
- Connect to Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) and Azure Active Directory Domain Services (Azure AD DS).
- Deploy and configure Intel EMA on the Windows Server 2019 Datacenter VM using the existing Azure SQL Database as the database endpoint.
Note that the Intel Cloud Start Tool for Azure can create a VM in Azure with all the necessary background services and Intel® EMA automatically installed in a default configuration. The Intel® EMA Cloud Start Tool for Azure allows you to start your evaluation or pilot process more quickly.
Next Steps
After you’ve installed the Intel® EMA server, you’ll set up a tenant and create users for that tenant. You’ll use Intel® EMA to create an Intel® AMT profile. Then you can create endpoint groups and group policies to define what Intel® EMA users can do with those endpoint devices. Finally, you’ll generate files to install the Intel® EMA agent on each of the endpoint devices.
To learn more about how to complete these next steps, read “For IT: A how-to guide to the Intel vPro® Platform.”
Next in the How To vPro video series: Getting started with Intel® Endpoint Management Assistant (Intel® EMA).