Vmware, Inc.

Wanova Technologies, Ltd.

Vnware, Inc.

Tal Zamir

Leonid Vasetsky

Israel Zvi Ben-Shaul

Guy Yogev

Kfir Lev-Ari

Dan Ilan

Shahar Glixman

Eytan Heidingsfeld

Yehuda Itzhakov

Shlomo Wygodny

Ady Degany

Barak Yagour

Techniques are described for preserving desktop state between login sessions in desktop computing environments. During an active login session of a desktop by a user, the system intercepts all requests to open a file and records the requested file paths. The information can be recorded locally or at a remote location, such as a server accessed over a network connection. Before the login session is terminated, the system determines all open windows and captures a screenshot of each window that is open on the desktop at the time of terminating the login session. The location of each window is also determined and recorded along with the screenshots before the session is terminated. When the user starts a new active login session at a later time, the state of the desktop is restored using the recorded file paths, screenshots and window locations.

Preserving desktop state across login sessions

An enterprise management system is described for efficient operating system migration, preserving applications, data, and settings. A staging area, such as an empty folder, is created on a client device. A base layer for the new operating system and application layers for applications that will be installed on the computing device are downloaded to the staging area. After the base layer and application layers are downloaded, the layers are merged onto the computing device to instantly install the operating system and the applications. User settings, data, and other applications can be migrated to corresponding locations in the new operating system from the old operating system.

Operating system migration while preserving applications, data, and settings

A system is described allowing a virtual desktop to be booted directly from a desktop image stored in a backup database without requiring content from the desktop image to be copied into the virtual disk of the virtual machine hosting the virtual desktop. The hosting virtual machine contains a synthetic virtual disk acting as a stub disk by redirecting read requests targeted for the synthetic disk from the guest operating system to corresponding locations of the storage where the desktop image is kept.

Provisioning virtual desktops with stub virtual disks

Methods and systems for n-way cloning and synchronization of a user desktop image are provided. Example embodiments provide a Cloning and Synchronization System ('CSS') which binds a server stored CVD object representing the user's desktop image to one or more endpoint devices. Each endpoint device receives a clone of the CVD object that comprises one or more layers of the server CVD depending upon the suitability of the endpoint device hardware and operating system to the server stored desktop. The cloned CVDs in the endpoint devices are then kept synchronized by synchronization operations. In one embodiment, the CSS allows only one endpoint device to act as a master device and push up changes to the server CVD. These changes are then pushed down to the other devices using different synchronization methods dependent upon the layer.

N-way synchronization of desktop images

Techniques are described for creating a virtual machine clone of a physical host computing device. A hosted hypervisor running within a host operating system on the physical computing device receives a request to boot a virtual machine clone of the device. In response to the request, the hosted hypervisor synthesizes a virtual disk that is comprised of a master boot record of the host computing device, a read-only snapshot obtained from a volume snapshot service of the host operating system and a delta virtual disk for recording changes. The hosted hypervisor then launches the virtual machine clone by attaching the synthesized virtual disk to the virtual machine clone and booting the guest operating system from the master boot record and the snapshot. Any changes made during the use of the virtual machine clone can be automatically propagated back and applied to the physical host device.

Creating a virtual machine clone of the host computing device and handling of virtual machine clone requests via an I/O filter

Techniques disclosed herein provide an approach for creating snapshots and reverting to the same for virtual machine (VM) guest operating systems (OSes). In one embodiment, a snapshot module in a guest OS receives blocks for a snapshot of a guest OS volume. In turn, the snapshot module creates a snapshot file in a repository external to a virtual disk of the VM, and writes the received blocks to the external repository. By storing snapshot content outside the virtual disks of VMs, disk space limitations in local VM disks can be overcome, and it is also more difficult for malicious software to modify the snapshots and infect them. To reduce storage space requirements, snapshots stored in the external repository may be deduplicated with other snapshots stored therein, including snapshots from guest OSes running in other VMs and/or a host OS on which a hosted hypervisor runs.

Method and system for virtualizing guest-generated file system snapshots

A desktop management system is described that provides an automated process for distributing and suggesting modifications. The system is comprised of a central server and multiple client devices connected through a network. Application layer drafts for a particular modification (such as an installation, update, un-installation, fix, etc.) are generated based on snapshots of client devices before and after the modification is applied. Several application layer drafts are produced for a particular modification. Based on commonalities between the several application layer drafts, an official application layer is produced. When a client device requests a modification, an official application layer for the requested modification is retrieved and merged onto the requesting client device to apply the modification. If a client device on the network lacks an application that is present on similar client devices on the network, the system can suggest the application to the client device.

Automatic application layer suggestion

A cloud-based system is described for producing application deltas based on application recipes that identify components of the application deltas using unique identifiers, without the recipe containing all or any content of the actual application. The application recipe can be conveyed to an organization operating on an enterprise network, where the application recipe can be matched with application files in the organization's backup storage containing copies of content of endpoint devices on the network to retrieve components identified by the recipe and produce the application delta for the application. Subsequently, the application delta can be used as an installation package to perform IT operations such as installing the application on endpoint devices.

Application management in enterprise environments using cloud-based application recipes

Automatic application layer capture

A system is described for replacing the desktop image on a computing device with a network-based desktop image (e.g., a backup copy of a desktop image) while allowing the user to resume working on the computing device with the new desktop with minimal downtime. The computing device is booted directly from the backed-up desktop image on the network. After boot, the system allows the user to use the computing device with the new desktop image by directing read requests for information that is only available on the network to the desktop image on the network. Write operations are performed on the local disk of the computing device. While the user is using the computing device, the desktop image is streamed in the background and stored on the local disk.

Booting a computing device by streaming a desktop image over a network

A desktop image management system is described that can efficiently distribute updates to virtual desktops running on host servers in a data center. The system is comprised of a central server and multiple agents, each agent installed on a virtual machine. When a VM receives an update from the central server, the files are stored in a single instance store on the host server. The agent running on the VM then creates a corresponding stub file (empty of content) on the VM for each file in the single instance store. The agent further marks the stub file to indicate that the stub file is mapped to the single instance store. When the guest operating system requests to read the stub file, the virtual disk layer of the host server detects that the requested block has been marked and fetches the content of the file from the single instance store.

Desktop image management for virtual desktops

A system for a mass centralization approach to full image cloning of multiple computing devices is provided. The system includes a server, and a computing device that includes a disk for data storage, wherein the disk includes a plurality of blocks within a plurality of regions. The system also includes a processor programmed to map each file stored on the disk to at least one of the plurality of blocks, for one or more of the plurality of regions of the disk, determine that a number of files appearing in sequential blocks exceeds a predefined threshold number of files, perform a continuous scan of the one or more of the plurality of regions of the disk occupied by the number of files appearing in sequential blocks exceeding the predefined threshold number of files, and send a copy of the files scanned from the one or more plurality of regions of the disk to the server.

Rapid cloud-based image centralization

Methods, systems, and techniques for remote contextual access to an operating system desktop are provided. Example embodiments provide a desktop state agent the harvests information from a user's desktop regarding state of various objects such as open documents, recent documents, links, shared links, bookmarks, upcoming events, and/or recent emails. The harvested information is translated to html or other web browser recognized language where possible and uploaded to be accessible to a web server configured to respond to requests for desktop state using a web address. In one embodiment, the RCAS allows access to a user's desktop transparently&#x2014;without the user needing to take explicit action. Further, a remote mobile device can render the desktop data without using a session or connection to the user's desktop machine and without use of a remote desktop protocol.

Remote contextual access to operating system desktops

A system is described for integrating menu bars of applications executed on a virtual machine in a computing device with menu bars in the host operating system. A hosted hypervisor is executed on the computing device. The hypervisor manages a virtual machine running a guest operating system (OS) on the computing device. An application is executed on the guest OS. A call by the application to the guest OS is detected, the call requesting the guest OS to set a menu bar for the application. The call is intercepted, information regarding the content of the menu bar is retrieved from the intercepted call, and the information is used to set a menu bar for the application in the host OS. Subsequently, when a selection is made from the menu bar in the host OS, the selection is translated to the application running in the virtual machine to effectuate the selection.

Growing community of inventors

Haifa, Israel

Tal Zamir