MeshCentral - MeshCentral Satellite and Advanced Intel AMT 802.1x

MeshCentral is taking another big step today in adding capabilities for large organizations with advanced support for configuring Intel AMT® with 802.1x network access. Large organizations use the 802.1x protocol to secure their wireless access points and wired ports. This is normally handled by the operating system, however since Intel AMT is its own computer within a computer with its own network stack, it needs its own credentials to access enterprise networks. Today, MeshCentral Satellite is being released that allows MeshCentral to perform Intel AMT 802.1x configuration in Windows domain controller environments while continuing to allow MeshCentral to be hosted in the cloud. In detail:

  • MeshCentral Satellite. This is a new Windows tool that can run as a stand-alone application or as a background Windows service. It must run with sufficient permissions to create and remove domain computers and request that the domain certificate authority sign and revoke certificates. This tool will connect to a MeshCentral server and wait for domain account and certificate requests. This design allows MeshCentral to continue to run in the cloud, for example on a docker instance, while being able to interact with a customer’s domain controller to configure 802.1x profiles. You can download the latest signed MeshCentral Satellite here.
  • Updated MeshCentral. In addition to MeshCentral Satellite, MeshCentral itself was updated with support advanced 802.1x configurations of Intel AMT. MeshCentral v1.0.4 comes with MeshCentral Satellite built-in along with the extra code needed to support this new tool. The MeshCentral Intel AMT manager has been significantly enhanced to support the certificate issuing exchange required for 802.1x setup.
  • YouTube videos on Intel AMT 802.1x. This week and next week, two YouTube videos on configuring Intel AMT with 802.1x will premiere on the MeshCentral YouTube channel. The first video (21 minutes long) will cover the basics of Intel AMT 802.1x configuration using a single username/password account for all Intel AMT devices. In that video, JumpCloud™ is used as the online RADIUS server. In the second video (31 minutes long) will cover advanced 802.1x configuration using MeshCentral Satellite to a RADIUS server running as part of a Windows domain. Both videos are technical and assume familiarity with 802.1x.
  • MeshCentral Satellite Documentation. On top of it all, MeshCentral Satellite documentation is being released here. This document should help people get setup and running with MeshCentral Satellite and should be helpful along with the videos.

Many other features have been added and bug fixes included. As usual, feedback is appreciated. If you see any problems or need support on something, please create a new issue on GitHub or help other users. For more information, visit the portal at https://meshcentral.com.

Enjoy!
Ylian
MeshCentral, Blog, Twitter,
Reddit, GitHub, YouTube.




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