Domain join and managed directory support for virtual computing environments

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9565190-B1
Application number	US-201414536137-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Nov 7, 2014
Priority date	Nov 7, 2014
Publication date	Feb 7, 2017
Grant date	Feb 7, 2017

Abstract

A virtual computing environment service may receive a request from a customer to provision a virtual computing environment and join the virtual computing environment to a managed directory. The virtual computing environment service may provision the virtual computing environment and uses a set of administrator credentials from the customer and a set of credentials corresponding to the environment to access the managed directory and request joining of the environment to the managed directory. In response, the managed directory may create a computer account corresponding to the environment and which enables the environment to be used to access the managed directory. The virtual computing environment service may then enable the customer to specify one or more users that may utilize the virtual computing environment to access the managed directory.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving a first request to provision a virtual computing environment, the request including a set of encrypted domain join credentials capable of being decrypted through the virtual computing environment and usable to authenticate a domain user of the virtual computing environment, the set of domain join credentials associated with an account specifying one or more permissions for accessing and creating computer objects within a directory;
provisioning the virtual computing environment;
transmitting, to the directory, a second request to join the virtual computing environment to the directory, the second request including the set of domain join credentials and a set of machine credentials corresponding to the virtual computing environment;
adding one or more user accounts to a group of user accounts specifying one or more users authorized to access the virtual computing environment;
receiving, from a computer system, one or more access tokens, the one or more access tokens specifying an identifier corresponding to a user account; and
as a result of the identifier corresponding to a user account of the one or more user accounts, establishing a communications channel between the virtual computing environment and the computer system.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the second request to the directory includes:
establishing a communications channel with a directory domain controller of an on-premises network, managed on behalf of a customer, through a virtual network interface; and
transmitting, through the communications channel, the second request to the directory domain controller to enable joining of the virtual computing environment and the directory.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the directory is a managed directory managed on behalf of the customer within a managed directory service provided by a computing resource service provider.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:
the one or more access tokens further specify an Internet Protocol address of a network gateway usable to establish the communications channel with the virtual computing environment; and
the method further comprises using the Internet Protocol address to access the network gateway to provide the one or more access tokens to enable the network gateway to establish the communications channel.

5. A system, comprising at least one computer to implement one or more services, wherein the one or more services:
receive a first request to provision a virtual computing resource, the request including a set of encrypted domain join credentials decryptable by the virtual computing resource and usable to enable joining the virtual computing resource to a directory;
provision the virtual computing resource;
transmit a second request to join the virtual computing resource to the directory, the second request including the set of encrypted domain join credentials and one or more machine credentials corresponding to the virtual computing resource thereby causing a computer account to be added to the directory, the computer account being accessible using the one or more machine credentials; and
enable one or more users to access the directory through use of the virtual computing resource.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the computing resource is a virtual computing environment.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the virtual computing environment is a virtual operating system desktop.

8. The system of claim 5 , wherein enabling one or more users to access the directory through use of the virtual computing resource includes adding one or more user accounts to a group of user accounts within the virtual computing resource.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more services further:
receive, from a computer system, one or more access tokens, the one or more access tokens specifying an identifier corresponding to a user; and
as a result of the identifier corresponding to a user account of the one or more user accounts, establish a communications channel between the virtual computing resource and the computer system.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein:
the one or more access tokens further specify a network address of a network gateway usable to establish the communications channel with the virtual computing resource; and
the one or more services further establish the communications channel with the virtual computing resource as a result of the network gateway receiving the one or more access tokens.

11. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more services further:
establish a communications channel with a directory domain controller of an on-premises network, managed on behalf of a customer, through a virtual network interface; and
transmit, through the communications channel, the second request to the directory domain controller to enable joining of the virtual computing resource and the directory.

12. The system of claim 5 , wherein the virtual computing resource is a virtual machine instance.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to at least:
transmit a request to join a virtual computing resource to a directory, the request including a set of encrypted domain join credentials decryptable by the virtual computing resource and usable to enable joining of the virtual computing resource to the directory;
provision the virtual computing resource;
transmit, to the directory, a second request to join the virtual computing environment to the directory, the second request including the set of domain join credentials and one or more machine credentials corresponding to the virtual computing resource;
cause a computer account to be added to the directory, the computer account being accessible using the one or more machine credentials; and
enable one or more users to access the directory through use of the virtual computing resource.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to add one or more user accounts to a group of user accounts comprising the one or more users to enable the one or more users to access the directory using the virtual computing resource.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to:
receive, from a second computer system, one or more access tokens, the one or more access tokens specifying an identifier for a user authorized to access the virtual computing resource; and
establish a communications channel between the virtual computing resource and the second computer system.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to:
transmit the identifier for the user to a network gateway usable to establish the communications channel with the virtual computing resource; and
establish the communications channel with the virtual computing resource as a result of the network gateway receiving the one or more access tokens specifying the identifier corresponding to the user.

17. The non-transitory computer-reada

Assignees

• Telvik Erik Jonathan
• Mehta Gaurang Pankaj
• Padukone Ajit Nagendra
• Pandya Chirag Pravin
• Brace Colin Harrison
• Suryanarayanan Deepak
• Rao Guruprakash Bangalore
• Rai Krithi
• Ah Kun Malcolm Russell
• Palande Sameer
• Shah Shon Kiran
• Lakshmanan Vivek
• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Telvik Erik Jonathan
• Mehta Gaurang Pankaj
• Padukone Ajit Nagendra
• Pandya Chirag Pravin
• Brace Colin Harrison
• Suryanarayanan Deepak
• Rao Guruprakash Bangalore
• Rai Krithi
• Ah Kun Malcolm Russell
• Palande Sameer
• Shah Shon Kiran
• Lakshmanan Vivek

Classifications

• H04L63/0884 Primary

  by delegation of authentication, e.g. a proxy authenticates an entity to be authenticated on behalf of this entity vis-à-vis an authentication entity · CPC title

• H04L63/0807 Primary

  using tickets, e.g. Kerberos (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using tickets or tokens H04L9/3213) · CPC title

• H04L63/083

  using passwords (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using a predetermined code H04L9/3226) · CPC title