You can not select more than 25 topics
Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.
266 lines
9.2 KiB
266 lines
9.2 KiB
Intel(R) Management Engine Interface (Intel(R) MEI)
|
|
===================================================
|
|
|
|
Introduction
|
|
============
|
|
|
|
The Intel Management Engine (Intel ME) is an isolated and protected computing
|
|
resource (Co-processor) residing inside certain Intel chipsets. The Intel ME
|
|
provides support for computer/IT management features. The feature set
|
|
depends on the Intel chipset SKU.
|
|
|
|
The Intel Management Engine Interface (Intel MEI, previously known as HECI)
|
|
is the interface between the Host and Intel ME. This interface is exposed
|
|
to the host as a PCI device. The Intel MEI Driver is in charge of the
|
|
communication channel between a host application and the Intel ME feature.
|
|
|
|
Each Intel ME feature (Intel ME Client) is addressed by a GUID/UUID and
|
|
each client has its own protocol. The protocol is message-based with a
|
|
header and payload up to 512 bytes.
|
|
|
|
Prominent usage of the Intel ME Interface is to communicate with Intel(R)
|
|
Active Management Technology (Intel AMT) implemented in firmware running on
|
|
the Intel ME.
|
|
|
|
Intel AMT provides the ability to manage a host remotely out-of-band (OOB)
|
|
even when the operating system running on the host processor has crashed or
|
|
is in a sleep state.
|
|
|
|
Some examples of Intel AMT usage are:
|
|
- Monitoring hardware state and platform components
|
|
- Remote power off/on (useful for green computing or overnight IT
|
|
maintenance)
|
|
- OS updates
|
|
- Storage of useful platform information such as software assets
|
|
- Built-in hardware KVM
|
|
- Selective network isolation of Ethernet and IP protocol flows based
|
|
on policies set by a remote management console
|
|
- IDE device redirection from remote management console
|
|
|
|
Intel AMT (OOB) communication is based on SOAP (deprecated
|
|
starting with Release 6.0) over HTTP/S or WS-Management protocol over
|
|
HTTP/S that are received from a remote management console application.
|
|
|
|
For more information about Intel AMT:
|
|
http://software.intel.com/sites/manageability/AMT_Implementation_and_Reference_Guide
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intel MEI Driver
|
|
================
|
|
|
|
The driver exposes a misc device called /dev/mei.
|
|
|
|
An application maintains communication with an Intel ME feature while
|
|
/dev/mei is open. The binding to a specific feature is performed by calling
|
|
MEI_CONNECT_CLIENT_IOCTL, which passes the desired UUID.
|
|
The number of instances of an Intel ME feature that can be opened
|
|
at the same time depends on the Intel ME feature, but most of the
|
|
features allow only a single instance.
|
|
|
|
The Intel AMT Host Interface (Intel AMTHI) feature supports multiple
|
|
simultaneous user connected applications. The Intel MEI driver
|
|
handles this internally by maintaining request queues for the applications.
|
|
|
|
The driver is transparent to data that are passed between firmware feature
|
|
and host application.
|
|
|
|
Because some of the Intel ME features can change the system
|
|
configuration, the driver by default allows only a privileged
|
|
user to access it.
|
|
|
|
A code snippet for an application communicating with Intel AMTHI client:
|
|
|
|
struct mei_connect_client_data data;
|
|
fd = open(MEI_DEVICE);
|
|
|
|
data.d.in_client_uuid = AMTHI_UUID;
|
|
|
|
ioctl(fd, IOCTL_MEI_CONNECT_CLIENT, &data);
|
|
|
|
printf("Ver=%d, MaxLen=%ld\n",
|
|
data.d.in_client_uuid.protocol_version,
|
|
data.d.in_client_uuid.max_msg_length);
|
|
|
|
[...]
|
|
|
|
write(fd, amthi_req_data, amthi_req_data_len);
|
|
|
|
[...]
|
|
|
|
read(fd, &amthi_res_data, amthi_res_data_len);
|
|
|
|
[...]
|
|
close(fd);
|
|
|
|
|
|
IOCTL
|
|
=====
|
|
|
|
The Intel MEI Driver supports the following IOCTL commands:
|
|
IOCTL_MEI_CONNECT_CLIENT Connect to firmware Feature (client).
|
|
|
|
usage:
|
|
struct mei_connect_client_data clientData;
|
|
ioctl(fd, IOCTL_MEI_CONNECT_CLIENT, &clientData);
|
|
|
|
inputs:
|
|
mei_connect_client_data struct contain the following
|
|
input field:
|
|
|
|
in_client_uuid - UUID of the FW Feature that needs
|
|
to connect to.
|
|
outputs:
|
|
out_client_properties - Client Properties: MTU and Protocol Version.
|
|
|
|
error returns:
|
|
EINVAL Wrong IOCTL Number
|
|
ENODEV Device or Connection is not initialized or ready.
|
|
(e.g. Wrong UUID)
|
|
ENOMEM Unable to allocate memory to client internal data.
|
|
EFAULT Fatal Error (e.g. Unable to access user input data)
|
|
EBUSY Connection Already Open
|
|
|
|
Notes:
|
|
max_msg_length (MTU) in client properties describes the maximum
|
|
data that can be sent or received. (e.g. if MTU=2K, can send
|
|
requests up to bytes 2k and received responses up to 2k bytes).
|
|
|
|
IOCTL_MEI_NOTIFY_SET: enable or disable event notifications
|
|
|
|
Usage:
|
|
uint32_t enable;
|
|
ioctl(fd, IOCTL_MEI_NOTIFY_SET, &enable);
|
|
|
|
Inputs:
|
|
uint32_t enable = 1;
|
|
or
|
|
uint32_t enable[disable] = 0;
|
|
|
|
Error returns:
|
|
EINVAL Wrong IOCTL Number
|
|
ENODEV Device is not initialized or the client not connected
|
|
ENOMEM Unable to allocate memory to client internal data.
|
|
EFAULT Fatal Error (e.g. Unable to access user input data)
|
|
EOPNOTSUPP if the device doesn't support the feature
|
|
|
|
Notes:
|
|
The client must be connected in order to enable notification events
|
|
|
|
|
|
IOCTL_MEI_NOTIFY_GET : retrieve event
|
|
|
|
Usage:
|
|
uint32_t event;
|
|
ioctl(fd, IOCTL_MEI_NOTIFY_GET, &event);
|
|
|
|
Outputs:
|
|
1 - if an event is pending
|
|
0 - if there is no even pending
|
|
|
|
Error returns:
|
|
EINVAL Wrong IOCTL Number
|
|
ENODEV Device is not initialized or the client not connected
|
|
ENOMEM Unable to allocate memory to client internal data.
|
|
EFAULT Fatal Error (e.g. Unable to access user input data)
|
|
EOPNOTSUPP if the device doesn't support the feature
|
|
|
|
Notes:
|
|
The client must be connected and event notification has to be enabled
|
|
in order to receive an event
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intel ME Applications
|
|
=====================
|
|
|
|
1) Intel Local Management Service (Intel LMS)
|
|
|
|
Applications running locally on the platform communicate with Intel AMT Release
|
|
2.0 and later releases in the same way that network applications do via SOAP
|
|
over HTTP (deprecated starting with Release 6.0) or with WS-Management over
|
|
SOAP over HTTP. This means that some Intel AMT features can be accessed from a
|
|
local application using the same network interface as a remote application
|
|
communicating with Intel AMT over the network.
|
|
|
|
When a local application sends a message addressed to the local Intel AMT host
|
|
name, the Intel LMS, which listens for traffic directed to the host name,
|
|
intercepts the message and routes it to the Intel MEI.
|
|
For more information:
|
|
http://software.intel.com/sites/manageability/AMT_Implementation_and_Reference_Guide
|
|
Under "About Intel AMT" => "Local Access"
|
|
|
|
For downloading Intel LMS:
|
|
http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/download-the-latest-intel-amt-open-source-drivers/
|
|
|
|
The Intel LMS opens a connection using the Intel MEI driver to the Intel LMS
|
|
firmware feature using a defined UUID and then communicates with the feature
|
|
using a protocol called Intel AMT Port Forwarding Protocol (Intel APF protocol).
|
|
The protocol is used to maintain multiple sessions with Intel AMT from a
|
|
single application.
|
|
|
|
See the protocol specification in the Intel AMT Software Development Kit (SDK)
|
|
http://software.intel.com/sites/manageability/AMT_Implementation_and_Reference_Guide
|
|
Under "SDK Resources" => "Intel(R) vPro(TM) Gateway (MPS)"
|
|
=> "Information for Intel(R) vPro(TM) Gateway Developers"
|
|
=> "Description of the Intel AMT Port Forwarding (APF) Protocol"
|
|
|
|
2) Intel AMT Remote configuration using a Local Agent
|
|
|
|
A Local Agent enables IT personnel to configure Intel AMT out-of-the-box
|
|
without requiring installing additional data to enable setup. The remote
|
|
configuration process may involve an ISV-developed remote configuration
|
|
agent that runs on the host.
|
|
For more information:
|
|
http://software.intel.com/sites/manageability/AMT_Implementation_and_Reference_Guide
|
|
Under "Setup and Configuration of Intel AMT" =>
|
|
"SDK Tools Supporting Setup and Configuration" =>
|
|
"Using the Local Agent Sample"
|
|
|
|
An open source Intel AMT configuration utility, implementing a local agent
|
|
that accesses the Intel MEI driver, can be found here:
|
|
http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/download-the-latest-intel-amt-open-source-drivers/
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intel AMT OS Health Watchdog
|
|
============================
|
|
|
|
The Intel AMT Watchdog is an OS Health (Hang/Crash) watchdog.
|
|
Whenever the OS hangs or crashes, Intel AMT will send an event
|
|
to any subscriber to this event. This mechanism means that
|
|
IT knows when a platform crashes even when there is a hard failure on the host.
|
|
|
|
The Intel AMT Watchdog is composed of two parts:
|
|
1) Firmware feature - receives the heartbeats
|
|
and sends an event when the heartbeats stop.
|
|
2) Intel MEI iAMT watchdog driver - connects to the watchdog feature,
|
|
configures the watchdog and sends the heartbeats.
|
|
|
|
The Intel iAMT watchdog MEI driver uses the kernel watchdog API to configure
|
|
the Intel AMT Watchdog and to send heartbeats to it. The default timeout of the
|
|
watchdog is 120 seconds.
|
|
|
|
If the Intel AMT is not enabled in the firmware then the watchdog client won't enumerate
|
|
on the me client bus and watchdog devices won't be exposed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Supported Chipsets
|
|
==================
|
|
|
|
7 Series Chipset Family
|
|
6 Series Chipset Family
|
|
5 Series Chipset Family
|
|
4 Series Chipset Family
|
|
Mobile 4 Series Chipset Family
|
|
ICH9
|
|
82946GZ/GL
|
|
82G35 Express
|
|
82Q963/Q965
|
|
82P965/G965
|
|
Mobile PM965/GM965
|
|
Mobile GME965/GLE960
|
|
82Q35 Express
|
|
82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express
|
|
82Q33 Express
|
|
82X38/X48 Express
|
|
|
|
---
|
|
linux-mei@linux.intel.com
|
|
|