User profile migration to virtual desktop infrastructure

Abstract

A method of migrating a user profile to a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) system includes enumerating applications installed at an endpoint of a user, retrieving a list of application settings files, determining file and registry locations of user profile data relating to the applications installed at the endpoint from the application settings files, and retrieving the user profile data from the determined file and registry locations and storing the user profile data in a shared storage. When a user logs into a virtual desktop of the VDI system, the user profile data is retrieved from the shared storage and imported into file and registry locations specified by the application settings files of applications that are installed in the virtual desktop.

1 . A method of migrating a user profile to a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) system, comprising:
 preparing a user profile for migration at an endpoint of a user by:
 enumerating applications installed at the endpoint, 
 retrieving a list of application settings files, 
 determining file and registry locations of user profile data relating to the applications installed at the endpoint from the application settings files, and 
 retrieving the user profile data from the determined file and registry locations and storing the user profile data in a shared storage; and 
   when a user logs into a virtual desktop of the VDI system, retrieving the user profile data from the shared storage and importing the retrieved user profile data into file and registry locations specified by the application settings files of applications that are installed in the virtual desktop.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein preparing the user profile for the migration further comprises:
 determining that one or more of the applications installed at the endpoint of the user does not have a corresponding application settings file, and   generating an application settings file for each of said one or more of the applications and storing each of the generated application settings files in the shared storage to be used during migration of other users who log in subsequently.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the virtual desktop is hosted in a virtual machine and a virtual disk for the virtual machine includes a base disk, an application volume, and a writable volume into which the user profile data is imported. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the base disk and the application volume are shared by other users of the VDI. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the endpoint is a physical endpoint device. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the endpoint is a virtual machine. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the virtual machine is hosting a first virtual desktop of the user, and a virtual disk for the virtual machine includes a base disk, an application volume, and a writable volume from which the user profile data is retrieved. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the base disk contains an image of a migration tool that is launched when the user logs into the first virtual desktop to execute steps of retrieving the user profile data from the determined file and registry locations and storing the user profile data in the shared storage. 
     
     
         9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . (canceled) 
     
     
         12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . A computer system comprising:
 an endpoint of a user, wherein the endpoint has applications installed therein and a processor configured to carry out a method of preparing a user profile for migration from the endpoint to a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) system, said method comprising:
 enumerating applications installed at the endpoint, 
 retrieving a list of application settings files, 
 determining file and registry locations of user profile data relating to the applications installed at the endpoint from the application settings files, and 
 retrieving the user profile data from the determined file and registry locations and storing the user profile data in a shared storage; and 
   a VDI system having a virtual machine hosting a virtual desktop of the user, the virtual desktop having applications installed therein and the virtual machine being configured to:
 when the user logs into the virtual desktop, retrieve the user profile data from the shared storage and import the retrieved user profile data into file and registry locations specified by the application settings files of the applications that are installed in the virtual desktop. 
   
     
     
         16 . The computer system of  claim 15 , wherein the method of preparing the user profile for the migration further comprises:
 determining that one or more of the applications installed at the endpoint of the user does not have a corresponding application settings file, and   generating an application settings file for each of said one or more of the applications and storing each of the generated application settings files in the shared storage to be used during migration of other users who log in subsequently.   
     
     
         17 . The computer system of  claim 15 , wherein the endpoint is a physical endpoint device. 
     
     
         18 . The computer system of  claim 15 , wherein the endpoint is a first virtual machine. 
     
     
         19 . The computer system of  claim 18 , wherein the first virtual machine is hosting a first virtual desktop of the user, and a virtual disk for the first virtual machine includes a base disk, an application volume, and a writable volume from which the user profile data is retrieved. 
     
     
         20 . The computer system of  claim 19 , wherein the base disk contains an image of a migration tool that is launched when the user logs into the virtual desktop to execute steps of retrieving the user profile data from the determined file and registry locations and storing the user profile data in the shared storage.