WMI contains an event infrastructure that produces notifications about changes in WMI data and services. WMI event classes provide notification when specific events occur.

User can create a semisynchronous or asynchronous query to monitor changes to event logs, process creation, service status, computer availability or disk drive free space, and other entities or events.

In C++, IWbemServices::ExecNotificationQueryAsync() is used to get the callback in case of event creation/deletion/modification.

AMPS (DASHService) uses WMI event registration mechanism to get notified about changes in deployment classes of SCCM. We observed following issues in large scale enterprise infrastructure while using this mechanism :

• WMI Event Registration failed. While registration for change in event for class SMS_ApplicationAssignment,  ExecNotificationQueryAsync() method failed with error code WBEM_E_QUOTA_VIOLATION.

• WMI Event notification not received even if WMI Event registration was successful.Notification query failed with error code WBEM_E_CALL_CANCELLED.

AMD discussed with Microsoft about the same and filed following bugs for these issues:

https://connect.microsoft.com/ConfigurationManagervnext/feedback/details/3126741/wmi-event-registration-f...

https://connect.microsoft.com/ConfigurationManagervnext/feedback/details/3126744/wmi-event-notificat...

Workaround :We proposes to increase polling memory per user and polling memory total to solve this issue as workaround.

Please refer to below blog to change polling memory settings:

HOW TO CHANGE POLLING MEMORY IN WMI

1. Go to Start–> run and type wbemtest.exe
2. Click Connect on the Windows Management Instrumentation Tester
3. In the namespace text box just enter "root" (without quotes)
   • 
4. Click on Query and run below query :
   • Select * from __ArbitratorConfiguration
   • 
5. Click on __ArbitratorConfiguration=@ and change following parameters :
   • PollingMemoryPerUser = 10000000
   • PollingMemoryTotal = 20000000
   • 
6. Click Save Property
7. Click Save Object in the Object Editor window
8. Close the other windows now and exit WMI Tester
9. Restart the machine.

Change values of following parameters:

PollingMemoryPerUser = 10000000

PollingMemoryTotal = 20000000

A new release of AMD Management Console, AMC 2.5 is now available.

AMC is a GUI based DASH manageability application for SMB (small & medium business) environments, capable of monitoring and managing up to 500 DMTF’s DASH-compliant client computer systems.

New features in 2.5 release are:

• Firmware Upgrade on the device  - this feature enables the user to upgrade or downgrade the firmware of a device.
• Boot text image workflow - text based ISO images can be remotely deployed.
• Support for Record Log profile - display platform logs of the DASH system.

The release note is attached, which provide more information on for this release and also the history of releases.

Visit @DASH Home for downloading this software.

A new release of AMD Management Console, AMC 2.0 is now available.

AMC is a GUI based DASH manageability application for SMB (small & medium business) environments, capable of monitoring and managing up to 500 DMTF’s DASH-compliant client computer systems.

New features in 2.0 release are:

• Demo mode, with the capability to work in private & closed networks.
• Built-in web server to host ISO images to support USB redirection feature.
• Support for Windows 8.1, Windows 10.
• Various bug fixes.

Release note is attached, which provide more information on for this release and also the history of releases. AMC User guide is also attached, which provides information on all the features and their usage in AMC 2.0.

Visit @DASH Home for downloading this software.

A new release of AMD Management Plugin for SCCM, AMPS 3.0 is now available.

AMPS is a product that extends Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012 to manage the desktop and mobile systems, out-of-band, using DASH standards. AMPS is essential part of enterprise IT management.

New features in 3.0 release are:

• Firmware Upgrade on device and collection - Upgrade or downgrade the firmware of a device or on a collection.
• Schedule DASH tasks on a collection - Power change and firmware upgrade operations.
• DASH Scheduled Tasks tab - UI screen view all the scheduled DASH tasks.
• "All AMPS Status Messages" Status Message Queries - Enable user to view all status messages related to AMPS.
• New groupings of DASH systems:
  • All DASH Capable Systems - contains all DASH systems.
  • All DASH Managed Systems - contains all manageable DASH systems, that is, DASH systems that are provisioned with working credentials.
  • All DASH Unmanaged Systems - contains all unmanageable DASH Systems, that is, those DASH systems which do not have working credentials.
• Reporting - Generate Configuration Manager style reports for DASH actions

Release notes is attached, which provide more information on for this release and also the history of releases. AMPS User guide is also attached, which provides information on all the features and their usage in AMPS 3.0.

Visit @DASH Home for downloading this software.

Related blogs:

Firmware Upgrade in AMPS 3.0​ - Detail steps on performing firmware upgrade

DASH User Action Report​ - Steps on generating report on DASH related actions performed by AMPS users

DASH User Action Report helps user to accumulate and organize all DASH activities along with details of user.

This report is enabled with AMPS 3.0 release.

SCCM users can generate this report by following below steps :

• Expand Monitoring node and select overview and then Reporting.
• Click on ‘Report Manager’ Link .
  

• And click on “ConfigMgr_<siteCode>” Folder . Create a new Folder named “DASH Reports”.
  

• Expand Reporting node and click on Report and select ‘Create Report’ and provide the name of report as ‘DASH User Action Report’ and path as ‘DASH Reports’ in Create Report Wizard. Select close on Create Report Wizard and Report builder will start where user can create the report query and its parameter.

• Creating DataSets:
  • Create a new dataset. Click on ‘Add DataSet’.Rename the name as ‘DASHUserActionLogs’ and select “Use a dataset embedded in my report” and select the Datasource from dropdown menu. Select ‘Query Type’ as Text and place the below query in “Query” text box.

SELECT [ComputerName0],[Creation_Date0],[EventDetails0],[RecordID0],[Severity0],[SiteCode0],[Username0] FROM[CM_<site Code>].[dbo].[v_R_DASHUserActionLogs_2_0_0] WHERE ( (@Severity = 0) OR (@Severity = 1 AND Severity0 = 'Informational') OR (@Severity = 2 AND Severity0 = 'Warning') OR (@Severity = 3 AND Severity0 = 'Error') )AND Username0 = @Login AND ( (@DateRange = 0) OR (@DateRange = 1 AND Creation_Date0  >= DATEADD(dd,DATEDIFF(dd,0,GETDATE()),0)) OR (@DateRange = 2 AND Creation_Date0  >= DATEADD(dd,DATEDIFF(dd,0,GETDATE())-30,0)) OR (@DateRange = 3 AND Creation_Date0 >= DATEADD(dd,DATEDIFF(dd,0,GETDATE())-90,0)) OR (@DateRange = 4 AND Creation_Date0 >= DATEADD(dd,DATEDIFF(dd,0,GETDATE())-365,0)) )

• Create a new dataset. Click on ‘Add DataSet’. Rename the name as ‘Users’ and select “Use a dataset embedded in my report” and select the Datasource from dropdown menu. Select ‘Query Type’ as Text and place the following query in “Query” text box.

SELECT DISTINCT[LogonName] FROM [CM_<siteCode>].[dbo].[v_Admins]

• Creating Parameters:

@Login:

• Expand the parameters and delete default parameters.
• Click on “Add Parameters…”
• Provide name as “Login” and prompt as “Users”
• Click on Available values and select ‘Get values from query’. Select Dataset as Users (created in step 😎 and ‘value field’ and ‘label field’ as “logonname”.

@Severity:

• Click on “Add Parameters…”
• Provide name as “Severity” and prompt as “Severity”
• Click on Available values and select “Specific Values” and specify following pair of  values :

@DateRange:

• Click on “Add Parameters…”
• Provide name as “DateRange” and prompt as “Date Range”
• Click on Available values and select “Specific Values” and specify following pair of  values:

• Click on Table or Matrix option from center pane of Report Builder and select the dataset ‘DASHUserActionLogs’ created in step 5. Select all columns for final report and rename the header of selected columns as below:

[Creation_Date0] - > Date Time (UTC)

[Username0] -> Modified By

[Severity0] - > Severity

[EventDetails0] -> Event Details

[SiteCode0] -> Site Code

[ComputerName0] -> Resource Name

[RecordID0] -> Record Id.

Design header of the report and description like SCCM reports.

• Save the report.
• Expand DASH Category under Report Node and select ‘DASH User Action Report’ and run the report.

• Report will prompt user to select user from “Users” dropdown, select severity from “Severity” drop down and select a date range from “Date Range” drop down.

Note : Replace <siteCode> to appropriate sitecode.

Firmware Upgrade feature is introduced in AMPS 3.0. It is based on DMTF's DASH standard specification, 'software update profile'. Firmware Upgrade feature enables the IT Administrator to perform installation and update of BIOS, firmware, drivers and related software on a managed system.  Please check with your OEM support, to find the software modules enabled for firmware upgrade. This blog demonstrates Firmware Upgrade for Broadcom's Gigabit Ethernet client controller, BCM5762.

Here is the overview of using this feature:

Host firmware versions on web server

Setup a web-server and copy the firmware software modules.  These firmware must be accessible at the manged system. Figure 1 illustrates the firmware modules for BCM5762.

Figure 1, Web server hosting firmware

Save URLs in AMPS firmware list

In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to Assets and Compliance\Overview\Devices\All DASH Managed Systems. Select any DASH system and in DASH tab, click 'Firmware Upgrade'.

Figure 2, Firmware Upgrade icon in Configuration Manager console

Firmware Upgrade window opens with empty URL list if the URLs were not saved before. Click on '+' to add new URLs. After adding all URLs, save them using 'Save' button.

Figure 3, Adding URLs

After saving, the URLs will be listed as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4, URL List

Start Firmware Upgrade

In the Firmware Upgrade window, select software module. The current version of that software module is displayed below it. In this example, 'Management Controller Firmware' is selected and version of it is 3.04.01.

Figure 5, Firmware Selection

In this example, we will upgrade from 3.04 to 3.05. Version 3.05 is selected in the URL list and 'Apply' button is clicked to start Firmware Upgrade process. After few minutes, Firmware Upgrade will be completed and success message is displayed, as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6, Firmware Upgrade Success

Verify

To check whether the upgrade was successful, you can query the current version of the  software module by opening 'Firmware Upgrade' window.  In Figure 7, the version is '3.05.03', which means Firmware Upgrade was successful from 3.04 to 3.05.

Figure 7, Software Module Version

In case of management controller firmware, you also check the version in 'Discovery' window.

Figure 8, Management Controller Firmware version

Collection

Firmware Upgrade can be done on collection. Open 'Firmware Upgrade' on a collection, select the new URL and apply. You can also schedule the upgrade at a later time.

Figure 9, Firmware Upgrade on Collection

References:

1. DASH Home: http://developer.amd.com/tools-and-sdks/cpu-development/tools-for-dmtf-dash/
2. Software Update Profile: Software Update Profile | DMTF

A new release of AMD Management Plugin for SCCM, AMPS 2.5 is now available.

AMPS is a product that extends Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012 to manage the desktop and mobile systems, out-of-band, using DASH standards. AMPS is essential part of enterprise IT management.

New features in 2.5 release are:

• Boot text image feature – text based ISO images can be remotely deployed. Multiple DASH tasks are combined into a workflow to accomplish the deployment task.
• Performance enhancements to handle large number of devices in a collection - DASH tasks can be run on maximum supported clients by the Configuration Manager 2012 R2.

Check the attached release notes for more information and visit DASH Home for downloading this software.

Important links:

• DASH Home – http://www.amd.com/DASH
• DASH Community Forum - http://devgurus.amd.com/community/dmtf-dash

A new release of AMD Management Plugin for SCCM, AMPS 2.3 is now available.

AMPS is a product that extends Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012 to manage the desktop and mobile systems, out-of-band, using DASH standards. AMPS is essential part of enterprise IT management.

New features in 2.3 release are:

• DMTF DASH 1.2 compliance
  • Record Log
  • Service Processor
• Role based administration supported for DASH operations
• Enhancements to power operations on collections
• Dash wake-up support for software updates & deployments

Check the attached release notes for more information and visit DASH Home for downloading this software.

Important links:

• DASH Home – http://www.amd.com/DASH
• DASH Community - http://devgurus.amd.com/community/dmtf-dash
• Desktop and mobile Architecture for System Hardware
  
• DASH Manageability Video

This post will illustrate how DASH option can be enabled on fresh HP 6305 system and later provisioned for access from management consoles.

HP 6305 comes with Broadcom 5761 ethernet controller. DASH management option must be enabled in BIOS and required software must be installed on Windows OS. Let us start with changes in BIOS.

BIOS Changes

DASH Management option must be enabled in the BIOS. To confirm, goto BIOS\Advanced, select and enter Management Operations

In the Management Operations, these options must be enabled

• DASH Support
• DASH Console Redirection.

Press F10 to save the changes and exit BIOS.

Note: You could request the OEM (HP in this case) to have these options enabled by default in factory BIOS.

Microsoft Windows Changes

This post illustrates the changes to be made on Windows OS. For other OS, check either HP or Broadcom documentation.

(1) Network Driver

Boot to Windows OS. The recommended network driver version is 16.6.0.4b or above. To confirm the driver version, goto 'Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\System', open 'Device Manager', expand 'Network adapters', right click on 'Broadcom NetXTreme Gigabit Ethernet Plus' adapter and select 'Properties'. In the driver tab, verify the 'Driver Version'.

In case the driver version is old, to get the latest driver, download Broadcom's 'NetXtreme Software Kit' version 16.6.4.1 or highrer. Extract the archive, go to the folder 'B57HPCD-DT-v16.6.4.1/MgmtApps/x64' and run,

setup /s /v /qn

This option will install the required driver and the software required for DASH management.

Note: Broadcom NetXtreme Software Kit can be obtained from either HP support or Broadcom support site.

(2) Broadcom Management Agent

Open 'Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools\Services' windows and ensure status of 'Broadcom Management Agent' is 'Running'. If it is not running, check if 'Broadcom NetXtreme Software Kit' version is right and is correctly installed.

(3) Broadcom WMI namespaces

This is additional verification step. Goto Start\Run, enter 'wbemtest' and click OK. In the window, Connect to  'root\BrcmBnxNs' namespace and verify if connect is successful. If connect fails, check if 'Broadcom NetXtreme Software Kit' version is right and is correctly installed.

Note: You could add the right version of Broadcom NetXtreme Software Kit to your organization's OS image.

Once these settings are in place, HP 6305 can be provisioned either locally or remotely using DASHConfig tool. Checkout the detailed usage of DASHConfig here - How to use AMD DASHConfig tool to provision DASH capable targets

(4) Quick steps using DASHConfig

DASHConfig is packaged with AMPS (AMD Management Plugin for SCCM), AMC (AMD Management Console) and DASHCli. These tools can downloaded from http://www.amd.com/DASH

1) In the DASHConfig folder, edit the 'DASHConfigExample.xml' file. Fill in digest credentials or active directory settings and save the file.

2) On the HP 6305 DASH system, from the Command-Prompt, go to the DASHConfig folder and run the command,  "DASHConfig.exe –xf:DASHConfigExample.xml -lf:DASHProvision.log"

HP 6305 will be provisioned. Now the system can be discovered and managed by any Management Console which supports DASH.

Resources:

• DASH Community: AMD Manageability Community
• DASH Resources: http://www.amd.com/DASH