The Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) has released the Alert Standard Format (ASF) 2.0 specification, which defines alerting and remote-control interfaces. The Intel® PRO Alerting Agent software, when combined with an ASF-enabled system, gives an IT manager the ability to remotely monitor and manage networked computers, independent of the operating system.
There are two primary components:
ASF-enabled client systems, which require the ASF agent software, ASF-enabled LOM or NICs and system sensors.
A management console, which must incorporate the ASF support either through the ASF MIB file or by using a SW ASF management console application. The management console does not require an ASF-enabled NIC, unless the system is also being monitored.
ASF provides remote alerting of key environmental events that are detected by sensors, such as temperature, electrical, fan and chassis-intrusion sensors. It also incorporates additional alerting in the operating-system-absent environment such as invalid password, system heartbeats, and failure-to-boot indications.
When a monitored event occurs, a Platform Event Trap (PET) is sent to the management console. These PET packets are recognized by management consoles, such as LANDesk Configuration Manager and other vendors. Some of these management consoles provide remote control functionality such that the administrator can take corrective actions to address the alerts. For additional information on the ASF specification, please review the DMTF ASF specification available at www.dmtf.org.
The system requirements are a computer that supports ASF; including an ASF enabled BIOS, ASF sensors to monitor the system health; and a LAN on Motherboard (LOM) or Network Interface Controller (NIC) that supports ASF.
| Software | Description |
| Intel's ASF-enabled Network Adapter Driver | Version 8.0 or higher installed. |
| Microsoft* Windows* Management Instrumentation (WMI) Provider Core | Version 1.5 or higher is included with Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Windows 2000. For Windows NT* 4.0, WMI software is available for download from www.microsoft.com. |
| Intel® PRO Alerting Agent | Installed as part of the installation process. |
ASF provides system health information and generates error notifications in low-power and operating-system-absent states, as well as during normal operation. Table 2 describes the superset of PETs that may be available depending on your vendor. For information on which alerts a specific ASF-enabled platform supports, consult the computer's User's Guide.
| Alert | Description |
| Chassis: Chassis Intrusion - Physical Security Violation | System chassis has been opened. |
| Chassis: Chassis Intrusion - Physical Security Violation Event Cleared | System chassis intrusion alert has been cleared. |
| BIOS: Corrupt BIOS | The system BIOS is corrupted. |
| Boot: Failure to Boot to BIOS | The system BIOS did not complete loading upon initiation. |
| CPU: CPU DOA Alert | The CPU is not functioning properly. |
| CPU: CPU DOA Alert Cleared | The CPU problem has been cleared. |
| Heartbeats: Entity Presence | Periodic heartbeats transmitted to verify client presence. |
| Temperature: Generic Critical Temperature Problem | System temperature is out of limits. |
| Voltage: Generic Critical Voltage Problem | The voltage from onboard voltage regulators is out of limits. |
| Voltage: Generic Critical Voltage Problem Cleared | The voltage problem has been cleared. |
| Power Supply: Critical Power Supply Problem | System power supply voltage is out of limits. |
| Power Supply: Critical Power Supply Problem Cleared | System power supply voltage problem has been resolved. |
| Cooling Device: Generic Critical Fan Failure | Fan speed/rpm is out of limits. |
| Cooling Device: Generic Critical Fan Failure Cleared | Fan speed/rpm problem has been resolved. |
| Connectivity: Link Lost | Ethernet connectivity was lost. Connectivity is restored. |
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NOTE: Not all PET events are supported by all computers. |
Remote control capability is defined in both the DMTF ASF V1.0 and ASF V2.0 specification. ASF V2.0 added security to the Remote Monitoring & Control Protocol (RMCP) to authenticate the communication between the management console and ASF enabled clients.
An ASF-enabled management console has the ability to query the client systems and take corrective action. An ASF-enabled management console can determine an ASF client's capabilities as well as state information. Furthermore, the IT administrator can remotely power up, power down, or reboot with various boot options via the management console. With ASF 2.0-enabled clients, corrective actions are authenticated. This ensures that the Management console is the only authenticated system that may perform corrective actions.
The IT administrator can disable the remote control functionality.
| Control Capability | Description |
| Get System State | Returns the current system status. |
| Get Client Capabilities | Returns client ASF configuration per the DMTF ASF specification. |
| Presence Ping | Similar in functionality (different protocol) to Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) ping utility; responds with pong to verify the system presence. |
| Power up | Powers up the remote system. |
| Power down | Powers down the remote system. (Note: Users are not alerted and will lose unsaved work.) |
| Reset | Reboots the remote system. (Note: Users are not alerted and will lose unsaved work.) |
| Power Cycle | Powers the remote system down and then powers it up again. (Note: Users are not alerted and will lose unsaved work.) |
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NOTE: Not all remote control functions are supported by all computers. |
Last modified on 7/31/07 10:30a Revision 10