System and method for providing virtual desktop extensions on a client desktop

• US 8,468,455 B2
• Filed: 02/24/2010
• Issued: 06/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Micro Focus Software, Inc. (Open Text Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Novell Incorporated (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Kranendonk, Nathaniel Brent, Sabin, Jason Allen, Fairbanks, Michael, Jorgensen, Michael, Larsen, Kal A.
• Primary Examiner(s): HO, RUAY L
• Application Number:
  US12/711,833
• Publication Number:
  US 20110209064A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,210 Days
• Field of Search: 715200-277, 715700-867, 700701-866, 709201-229, 705 50- 79, 345 30-111, 707200-206, 707/610, 717/178, 718/1
• US Class Current: 715/733
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/549 Remote execution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/452 Remote windowing, e.g. X-Window System, desktop virtualisation protocols for virtual reality H04L67/131
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/455 Emulation; Interpretation; Software simulation, e.g. virtualisation or emulation of application or operating system execution engines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/062 Pre-authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/084 using delegated authorisation, e.g. open authorisation [OAuth] protocol

Abstract

The system and method described herein may identify one or more virtual desktop extensions available in a cloud computing environment and launch virtual machine instances to host the available virtual desktop extensions in the cloud. For example, a virtual desktop extension manager may receive a virtual desktop extension request from a client desktop and determine whether authentication credentials for the client desktop indicate that the client desktop has access to the requested virtual desktop extension. In response to authenticating the client desktop, the virtual desktop extension manager may then launch a virtual machine instance to host the virtual desktop extension in the cloud and provide the client desktop with information for locally controlling the virtual desktop extension remotely hosted in the cloud.

Claims

1. A system for providing virtual desktop extensions on a client desktop, comprising:

a virtual desktop extension manager in communication with a client machine having a desktop interface, and in communication with a cloud computing environment, wherein the virtual desktop extension manager is configured to;

receive a request from a local application executing on the client machine, wherein the request identifies one or more virtual desktop extensions available to the client machine in the cloud computing environment;

receive authentication credentials for the client machine from a credentials cache locally coupled to the client machine;

determine whether to cause one or more virtual machine instances that host one or more identified virtual desktop extensions to be launched in a public cloud computing environment or to be launched in a private cloud computing environment; and

cause the cloud computing environment to launch the one or more virtual machine instances that host the one or more identified virtual desktop extensions in one of the public cloud computing environment or the private cloud computing environment in response to determining that the authentication credentials received from the credentials cache indicate that the client machine has access to the one or more identified virtual desktop extensions, wherein the one or more hosted virtual desktop extensions are displayable by the local application executing on the desktop interface for the client machine.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual desktop extension manager includes one or both of a policy engine and an identity engine, wherein one or both of the policy engine and the identity engine are configured to determine whether the authentication credentials received from the credentials cache indicate that the client machine has access to the one or more identified virtual desktop extensions.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the virtual desktop extension manager includes:

one or more mappings that describe relationships between one or more file types and a plurality of virtual desktop extensions available in the cloud computing environment; and

one or more connection services that define interfaces for connecting the client machine to the plurality of virtual desktop extensions available in the cloud computing environment.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual desktop extension manager is further configured to return remote console information to the client machine, wherein the client machine is configured to use the remote console information to interact with the one or more virtual machine instances that host the one or more virtual desktop extensions in the cloud computing environment.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the remote console information returned by the virtual desktop extension manager is usable by the local application to create a virtual window on the desktop interface that the client machine uses to interact with one or more of an application server or a complete desktop environment that hosts the one or more virtual desktop extensions in the cloud computing environment.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the remote console information is usable by the client machine to interact with the application server or the complete desktop environment to run an application that supports a document that lacks support on the client machine.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the virtual window is configured to provide the remote console information that the client machine uses to interact with the one or more virtual machine instances that host the one or more virtual desktop extensions in the cloud computing environment.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual desktop extension manager is further configured to attach a personal virtual disk to the one or more virtual machine instances that host the one or more virtual desktop extensions in the cloud computing environment, and wherein the local application is configured to display an icon on the desktop interface that the client machine uses to interact with the personal virtual disk in the cloud computing environment.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual desktop extension manager is further configured to:

invoke an application server that hosts the one or more virtual desktop extensions in the cloud computing environment, wherein the application server is configured to convert a document that lacks support on the client machine into a file type that the client machine supports; and

return the document converted into the file type that the client machine supports to the client machine.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the request identifies a plurality of desktop extensions available to the client machine in the cloud computing environment and the client machine is a first client machine, wherein the virtual desktop extension manager is further configured to:

receive the authentication credentials by receiving first authentication credentials stored at the credentials cache;

determine, based on the first authentication credentials, that the first client machine has access to a first subset of the plurality of virtual desktop extensions available in the cloud computing;

receive second authentication credentials stored at the credentials cache; and

determine, based on the second authentication credentials, that a second client machine has access to a second subset of the plurality of virtual desktop extensions available in the cloud computing, the second subset being different from the first subset.

11. A computer-implemented method for providing virtual desktop extensions on a client desktop, the method being implemented on a computer system that includes one or more physical processors, the method comprising:

receiving, at a virtual desktop extension manager in communication with a client machine displaying a desktop interface, a request from a local application executing on the client machine, wherein the request identifies one or more virtual desktop extensions available to the client machine in the cloud computing environment;

receiving, at the virtual desktop extension manager, authentication credentials for the client machine from a credentials cache locally coupled to the client machine;

determining, by the virtual desktop extension manager, whether to launch one or more virtual machine instances that host one or more identified virtual desktop extensions in a public cloud computing environment or a private cloud computing environment;

causing, by the virtual desktop extension manager, launching of the one or more virtual machine instances that host the one or more virtual desktop extensions in one of the public cloud computing environment or the private cloud computing environment in response to determining that the authentication credentials received from the credentials cache indicate that the client machine has access to the one or more identified virtual desktop extensions; and

connecting, with one or more connection services of the virtual desktop extension manager, the client machine to the one or more virtual desktop extensions hosted by the virtual machine instance.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the virtual desktop extension manager includes one or both of a policy engine and an identity engine, wherein one or both of the policy engine and the identity engine are configured are configured to determine whether the authentication credentials received from the credentials cache indicate that the client machine has access to the one or more identified virtual desktop extensions.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the virtual desktop extension manager includes:

one or more mappings that describe relationships between one or more file types and a plurality of virtual desktop extensions available in the cloud computing environment; and

one or more connection services that define interfaces for connecting the client machine to the plurality of virtual desktop extensions available in the cloud computing environment.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising returning remote console information from the virtual desktop extension manager to the client machine, wherein the client machine is configured to use the remote console information to interact with the one or more virtual machine instances that host the one or more virtual desktop extensions in the cloud computing environment.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the remote console information returned by the virtual desktop extension manager is usable by the local application to create a virtual window on the desktop interface that the client machine uses to interact with one or more of an application server or a complete desktop environment that hosts the one or more virtual desktop extensions in the cloud computing environment.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the remote console information is usable by the client machine to interact with the application server or the complete desktop environment to run an application that supports a document that lacks support on the client machine.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the virtual window is configured to provide the remote console information that the client machine uses to interact with the one or more virtual machine instances that host the one or more virtual desktop extensions in the cloud computing environment.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

attaching, by the virtual desktop extension manager, a personal virtual disk to the one or more virtual machine instances that host the one or more virtual desktop extensions in the cloud computing environment.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

invoking, by the virtual desktop extension manager, an application server that hosts the one or more virtual desktop extensions in the cloud computing environment, wherein the application server is configured to convert a document that lacks support on the client machine into a file type that the client machine supports; and

returning the document converted into the file type that the client machine supports from the virtual desktop extension manager to the client machine.

20. A system for providing virtual desktop extensions on a client desktop, comprising:

a virtual desktop extension manager in communication with a client machine having a desktop interface, and in communication with a cloud computing environment, wherein the virtual desktop extension manager is configured to;

receive a request from a local application executing on the client machine, wherein the request identifies one or more virtual desktop extensions available to the client machine in the cloud computing environment;

receive authentication credentials for the client machine from a credentials cache locally coupled to the client machine;

cause the cloud computing environment to launch one or more virtual machine instances that host an identified one or more virtual desktop extensions in the cloud computing environment in response to determining that the authentication credentials received from the credentials cache indicate that the client machine has access to the identified one or more virtual desktop extensions, wherein the hosted one or more virtual desktop extension are displayable by the local application executing on the desktop interface for the client machine;

invoke an application server that hosts the one or more virtual desktop extensions in the cloud computing environment, wherein the application server is configured to convert a document that lacks support on the client machine into a file type that the client machine supports; and

return, to the client machine, the document converted into the file type that the client machine supports.