Remote Administration Of Initial Computer Operating System Setup Options

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018246732-A1
Application number	US-201715444251-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 27, 2017
Priority date	Feb 27, 2017
Publication date	Aug 30, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

Remote administration of initial computer operating system setup options is facilitated by systems and mechanisms that provide such initial setup options to a computing device during an earlier stage of the operating system setup. An administrator defines, in a profile, how such initial setup options are to be set and when an operating system is being set up it communicates with licensing servers to validate the copy of the operating system. If authorized, and if set up by an administrator, initial setup options are provided to the computing device at such an early stage of the operating system setup. Processes executing on the computing device then utilize software licensing application program interfaces to not only validate the copy of the operating system, but also to set the initial setup options in the manner pre-specified by the administrator. A customized directory service login user interface is one such initial setup option.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A computing device comprising:
one or more processing units; a network interface; a graphics hardware interface; and one or more computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the one or more processing units, cause the computing device to:
locally obtain device-identifying information;
receive, through the network interface, operating system license data based on the obtained device-identifying information, the received operating system license data comprising both a license for an operating system to be set up on the computing device and initial operating system setup options;
automatically set operating system options in accordance with the received initial operating system setup options;
present, through the graphics hardware interface, a customized directory sign-in that was specified by the received initial operating system setup options; and
complete setting up the operating system in accordance with subsequent operating system setup options received based on user identifying information provided through the customized directory sign-in.

2 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions causing the computing device to obtain the device-identifying information comprise computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processing units cause the computing device to obtain at least one of: a MAC address of the network interface, a BIOS identifier, or a cryptographic certificate of a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) of the computing device.

3 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions causing the computing device to obtain the device-identifying information comprise computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processing units cause the computing device to generate a single hardware hash value that incorporates two or more identifiers assigned to hardware components of the computing device.

4 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions causing the computing device to automatically set the operating system options comprise computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the one or more processing units, set the operating system options through one or more software licensing Application Program Interfaces (APIs).

5 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the operating system license data further comprises a license that authorizes the automatic setting of the operating system options in accordance with the received initial operating system setup options.

6 . A method of automatically setting initial setup options for an operating system, the method comprising:
receiving a computing device record comprising both hardware-identifying information of a computing device and operating system software-identifying information of a copy of the operating system that is to be set up on the computing device; subsequently associating the computing device and its copy of the operating system with an entity based on a subsequent receipt of the computing device record in conjunction with an identification of the entity; validating the copy of the operating system based on the operating system software-identifying information, the validating comprising determining that the automatic setting of the initial setup options is authorized for the copy of the operating system; receiving a profile comprising settings for the initial setup options; associating the received profile with the computing device and its copy of the operating system if the validating determined that the automatic setting of the initial setup options is authorized for the copy of the operating system; generating operating system license data comprising both a license that authorizes the automatic setting of the initial setup options and the initial setup options that were specified in the received profile; and providing the operating system license data to the computing device in response to a request containing the hardware-identifying information.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the receiving the computing device record comprises receiving a computer build record from a manufacturer of the computing device.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the hardware-identifying information comprises at least one of: MAC address of the network interface, a BIOS identifier, or a cryptographic certificate of a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) of the computing device.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising generating a single hardware hash value that incorporates two or more identifiers assigned to hardware components of the computing device.

10 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the hardware-identifying information comprises a single hardware hash value incorporating two or more identifiers assigned to hardware components of the computing device.

11 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the subsequent receipt of the computing device record is from an administrator of the entity; and wherein further the receiving the profile is also from the administrator of the entity.

12 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising requesting the generation of a durable device identifier for the computing device and the copy of the operating system from at least one of the hardware-identifying information or the operating system software-identifying information, the durable device identifier continuing to uniquely identify the computing device after upgrades to hardware components of the computing device.

13 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising associating the same received profile with multiple other computing devices.

14 . The method of claim 6 , wherein a setting for an initial setup option specified in the profile comprises disallowing a local administration of the computing device.

15 . The method of claim 6 , wherein a setting for an initial setup option specified in the profile comprises skipping presentation of an end-user license agreement associated with the operating system.

16 . The method of claim 6 , wherein a setting for an initial setup option specified in the profile comprises a customized directory sign-in that is specific to the entity.

17 . A system comprising:
a computing device configured to perform steps comprising:
locally obtaining hardware-identifying information of the computing device;
receiving, through the network interface, operating system license data based on the obtained hardware-identifying information, the received operating system license data comprising both a license for an operating system to be set up on the computing device and initial operating system setup options; and
automatically setting operating system options in accordance with the received initial operating system setup options; and
the one or more server computing devices configured to perform steps comprising:
receiving a computing device record comprising both the hardware-identifying information and operating system software-identifying information of a copy of the operating system that is to be set up on the computing device;
subsequently associating the computing device and its copy of the operating system with an entity based on a subsequent receipt of the computing device record in conjunction with an identification of the entity;
validating the copy of the operating system based on the operating system software-identifying information, the validating comprising determining that the automatic setting of the initial setup options is authorized for the copy

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Puri Namrata Shankar
• Barhudarian Anna
• Mantri Siddharth
• Bostanci Hakki Tunc
• Shepard Marc

Classifications

• G06F9/44505 Primary

  Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files · CPC title

• G06F3/065

  Replication mechanisms · CPC title

• H04L41/0806

  for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play · CPC title

• G06F9/54

  Interprogram communication · CPC title

• G06F9/4416 Primary

  Network booting; Remote initial program loading [RIPL] · CPC title