SupportAssist for Business PCs Deployment Guide for Partners

• Ensure that a valid version of SupportAssist for Business PCs is installed on your PC fleet. See Version and validity.
• Create the SupportAssist deployment package.
• Ensure that Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime version 8.0.x is installed on the system on which the Central Resource Manager is installed.
• Ensure that Transport Layer Security (TLS) version 1.2 is enabled on the system on which the Central Resource Manager is installed.
• Ensure that port 5690 is open on the system on which the Central Resource Manager is installed.
• To retrieve the BIOS administrator passwords, the PC fleet must be able to communicate with the system on which the Central Resource Manager is installed.
• A highly available system running the Windows operating system for successful BIOS updates. The system can be a server, virtual machine, desktop, and so on.
• Verify the validity of the Central Resource Manager version. See Version and validity.

If you have included the Central Resource Manager while creating the SupportAssist deployment package, you can install the Central Resource Manager on a system running the Windows operating system. The Central Resource Manager stores BIOS administrator passwords that SupportAssist for Business PCs can use to install BIOS updates on your PC fleet.

After you install Central Resource Manager, you can either use a default password for BIOS updates or import the passwords using a spreadsheet.

You can install multiple Central Resource Manager instances in your PC fleet as required. However, only one Central Resource Manager instance can be externally accessible without a corporate network or VPN connection. For PCs that are outside the corporate network, not connected through VPN, or switching between corporate and external networks, ensure that you allow the PCs to access and retrieve BIOS password information over external networks. To enable the external network access, install and open Central Resource Manager, go to Home > Settings, and enable Allow access in the External network access section.

The Central Resource Manager is installed on the system.

To verify if the PC fleet is communicating with the system on which the Central Resource Manager is installed, Run the SupportAssist self-diagnosis test.

Open Central Resource Manager as an administrator and use the following options to store the BIOS administrator passwords for your PC fleet:

• Store default password—if you have a common BIOS administrator password for most or all your PCs.
• Store passwords via spreadsheet—if you have different BIOS administrator passwords for each PC.

  To store passwords using the spreadsheet, perform the following steps:

  1. From the TechDirect dashboard, go to Connect and manage > Manage PC fleet > Connect and manage PCs > Manage > PCs > Inventory.
  2. From the Export list, select Central Resource Manager List.
  3. In the downloaded spreadsheet, enter the BIOS administrator passwords for each PC.
  4. Import the spreadsheet in the Central Resource Manager.