Method, system, and computer readable medium for remote device management

• US 9,369,357 B2
• Filed: 02/03/2011
• Issued: 06/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Symantec Corporation (NortonLifeLock Inc.)
• Inventors: Gentile, Mark, Sullivan, Jim, Hanson, Mark, Wade, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Strange, Aaron
• Application Number:
  US13/020,396
• Publication Number:
  US 20110213831A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,958 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0246 Exchanging or transporting network management information using the Internet; Embedding network management web servers in network elements; Web-services-based protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0266 using meta-data, objects or commands for formatting management information, e.g. using eXtensible markup language [XML]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0273 using web services for network management, e.g. simple object access protocol [SOAP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/168 above the transport layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

The present disclosure enables remote device management. A programmatic interface is associated with each application plug-in. A web server included with the on-device agent provides access to the programmatic interfaces according to open standards such as HTML or XML. The present disclosure enables access to remote devices through existing infrastructure without the need for proprietary systems. An IT administrator or other administrator may remotely access and update software and hardware, track device data plan usage statistics, provide live support, and track current and historical device locations. Further, through the use of the present disclosure developers may provide customizable applications employing plug-ins on the remote device targeted for their own system.

Claims

1. A remote device management system encoded on a remote device, said system comprising:

a tunnel client operable to connect to a tunnel server, said tunnel client and said tunnel server comprising a communications link between said remote device and a management computer, the remote device being a mobile computer device; and

a service host on the remote device comprising a web server interface and a plurality of application plug-ins capable of communicating over said communications link, the web server interface making each of the plurality of application plug-ins available as web services description language (WSDL) documents as well as hypertext markup language (HTML) web pages, wherein said web server interface enables the management computer to remotely execute one or more application plug-ins, the web server interface providing simultaneous access to the application plug-ins via both the W SDL documents and the HTML web pages, said plurality of application plug-ins comprising;

a file manager plug-in capable of providing information about a file system on said remote device and capable of making changes to said file system;

a configuration plug-in capable of setting at least one configuration option on said remote device; and

a remote control plug-in capable of providing a view of a screen on said remote device to said management computer and further capable of allowing said management computer to remotely control said remote device;

wherein at least one of said plurality of application plug-ins are encoded on the remote device as dynamically linked library (DLL) files.

2. The remote device management system of claim 1, wherein said plurality of application plug-ins further comprises a tracker plug-in capable of recording position information about said remote device and transmitting said position information to said management computer.

3. The remote device management system of claim 2, wherein said plurality of application plug-ins further comprises a logging plug-in capable of recording information in essentially real time on said remote device, said information comprising at least email information and messaging information.

4. The remote device management system of claim 3, wherein said logging plug-in is further capable of periodically sending logs to said management computer on a predetermined schedule.

5. The remote device management system of claim 1, wherein said remote control plug-in is further capable of playing back macros on said remote device.

6. A method for managing a remote device, said method comprising:

waiting for said remote device to establish a tunnel connection to a tunnel server via a tunnel client on said remote device, the remote device being a mobile computing device;

connecting a device management console to said remote device via said tunnel connection;

accepting device management task input from a user to said device management console in conjunction with a service host on the remote device comprising a web server interface and a plurality of application plug-ins, the web server interface making each of the plurality of application plug-ins available as web services description language (WSDL) documents as well as hypertext markup language (HTML) web pages, wherein said web server interface enables the device management console to remotely execute one or more application plug-ins on the remote device, the web server interface providing simultaneous access to the application plug-ins via both the WSDL documents and the HTML web pages, wherein at least one of said plurality of application plug-ins are encoded on the remote device as dynamically linked library (DLL) files; and

transmitting said device management task input to said remote device via said tunnel connection.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said device management task input comprises instructions to modify a file system on said remote device.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein said device management task input comprises instructions to lock and wipe said remote device.

9. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions for a process comprising:

connecting a remote device to a tunnel server via a tunnel client, said tunnel client and said tunnel server comprising a communications link between said remote device and a management computer, the remote device being a mobile computing device;

connecting a service host on said remote device to said management computer, said service host comprising a web server interface and a plurality of application plug-ins capable of communicating over said communications link, the web server interface making each of the plurality of application plug-ins available as web services description language (WSDL) documents as well as hypertext markup language (HTML) web pages, wherein said web server interface enables the management computer to remotely execute one or more application plug-ins, the web server interface providing simultaneous access to the application plug-ins via both the WSDL documents and the HTML web pages, said plurality of application plug-ins comprising;

a file manager plug-in capable of providing information about a file system on said remote device and capable of making changes to said file system;

a configuration plug-in capable of setting at least one configuration option on said remote device; and

a remote control plug-in capable of allowing providing a view of a screen on said remote device to said management computer and further capable of allowing said management computer to remotely control said remote device;

wherein at least one of said plurality of application plug-ins are encoded on the remote device as dynamically linked library (DLL) files.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein said plurality of application plug-ins further comprises a tracker plug-in capable of recording position information about said remote device and transmitting said position information to said management computer.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein said plurality of application plug-ins further comprises a logging plug-in capable of recording information in essentially real time on said remote device, said information comprising at least email information and messaging information.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein said logging plug-in is further capable of periodically sending logs to said management computer on a predetermined schedule.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein said remote control plug-in is further capable of playing back macros on said remote device.