Virtual bus device using management engine
A management engine may be used to trap configuration cycles during the boot process and thereafter in response to operating system enumeration. As a result, a virtual bus device can be created. The bus device may be used to provision software to the platform even when the operating system is corrupted or non-functional.
1. A method comprising:
trapping a configuration cycle in a target device within a memory of a management engine of a computer platform;
creating a virtual bus device in a memory on said platform; and
pre-provisioning management engine firmware in a memory with a domain name of a provisioning server.
2. The method of claim 1 including provisioning software on said platform from a provisioning server.
3. The method of claim 1 including trapping a configuration cycle during booting of said platform.
4. The method of claim 1 including trapping a configuration cycle after the platform has booted.
5. The method of claim 1 including programming a system memory mapped input/output space with base address registers for the virtual bus device via the management engine.
6. The method of claim 1 including checking upon booting to see if management engine firmware has been provisioned with a virtual device identifier.
7. The method of claim 6 including initiating a connection to the provisioning server over the Internet.
8. The method of claim 7 including using a secure mechanism to provision the virtual device identifier, vendor identifier, or function identifier.
9. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions executed by a computer to:
trap a configuration cycle in a target device within a management engine of a platform;
create a virtual bus device on said platform; and
provision management engine firmware with a domain name of a provisioning server.
10. The medium of claim 9 further storing instructions to provision software on said platform from a provisioning server.
11. The medium of claim 9 further storing instructions to trap a configuration cycle during booting of said platform.
12. The medium of claim 9 further storing instructions to trap a configuration cycle after the platform has booted.
13. The medium of claim 9 further storing instructions to program a system memory map input/output space with base address registers for the virtual bus device via the management engine.
14. The medium of claim 9 further storing instructions to check upon booting to see if management engine firmware has been provisioned with a virtual device identifier.
15. The medium of claim 14 further storing instructions to initiate a connection to the provisioning server over the Internet.
16. The medium of claim 15 further storing instructions to use a secure mechanism to provision a virtual device identifier, a vendor identifier, or a function identifier.
17. An apparatus comprising:
a processor;
a bus coupled to said processor;
a management engine coupled to said bus; and
a configuration bus target within said management engine to initiate a connection to the provisioning server over the Internet, said bus target to trap a configuration cycle and to create a virtual bus device on said bus.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 , said configuration bus target to trap a configuration cycle during booting.
19. The apparatus of claim 17 , said configuration bus target to trap a configuration cycle after booting.
20. The apparatus of claim 17 , said processor including a memory mapped input/output space with base address registers for the virtual bus device via the management engine.
21. The apparatus of claim 17 , said management engine including firmware pre-provisioned with a domain name of a provisioning server.
22. The apparatus of claim 21 , said management engine to check upon booting to see if the management engine firmware has been provisioned with a virtual device identifier.
23. The apparatus of claim 17 , said management engine to use a secure mechanism to provision a virtual device identifier, vendor identifier, or function identifier.
24. The method of claim 1 including using said virtual bus device to provision software on the platform.
25. The medium of claim 9 further storing instructions to use said virtual bus device to provision software on the platform.
26. The apparatus of claim 17 , said virtual bus device to provision software on said apparatus.