Policy configuration management console

Methods and systems for managing policy configurations of different device types are described herein. An interface may be provided to a user where individual settings of different device types that are similar or the same are mapped to the same setting on the interface. The valid options or values for the individual device types are evaluated to identify common options or values. The user may select the common options or values of each common setting. The values selected as common settings values may be saved as the values for the corresponding individual settings of the different device types.

FIELD

Aspects described herein relate generally to configuring computing devices. More specifically, aspects described herein relate to managing policies and configuring policies and settings for different device types.

BACKGROUND

Different computing devices (e.g., different mobile phones or mobile operating systems) may offer different settings that can be configured by a user or administrator. In addition, these different devices and/or operating systems may each use different terminology to refer to a setting that performs the same function on each device. That is, across different devices the same setting may be named differently and/or there may be different options which are valid for each setting and different default values. The same settings may be presented using different interface elements for different platforms. It is difficult and tedious for an administrator to configure devices having such differing settings.

SUMMARY

To overcome limitations in the prior art described above, and to overcome other limitations that will be apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, aspects described herein are directed towards methods and systems for managing policy configurations of different device types. An interface may be provided to a user where individual settings of different device types that are similar or the same are mapped to the same setting on the interface. The valid options or values for the individual device types are evaluated to identify common options or values. The user may select the common options or values of each common setting. The values selected as common settings values may be saved as the values for the corresponding individual settings of the different device types.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the disclosure described herein relate to enabling managing of or configuring settings on different devices using a selection that can be applied to more than one device type. The system may identify settings which are labeled or named differently on different devices but relate to the same underlying concept and map those settings to a single common setting. Because different devices may have different options or values which are valid for each setting, the system can also determine common valid options for each setting and restrict or otherwise indicate the available options for each setting to the common valid options.

Computing Architecture

Each component103,105,107,109,133,135may be any type of known computer, server, or data processing device. Data server103, e.g., may include a processor111controlling overall operation of the rate server103. Data server103may further include random access memory (RAM)113, read only memory (ROM)115, network interface117, input/output interfaces119(e.g., keyboard, mouse, display, printer, etc.), and memory121. Input/output (I/O)119may include a variety of interface units and drives for reading, writing, displaying, and/or printing data or files. Memory121may further store operating system software123for controlling overall operation of the data processing device103, control logic125for instructing data server103to perform aspects described herein, and other application software127providing secondary, support, and/or other functionality which may or might not be used in conjunction with aspects described herein. The control logic may also be referred to herein as the data server software125. Functionality of the data server software may refer to operations or decisions made automatically based on rules coded into the control logic, made manually by a user providing input into the system, and/or a combination of automatic processing based on user input (e.g., queries, data updates, etc.).

Components105,107,109,133,135may be personal computers, mobile devices, laptop computers, tablets, or servers that include many or all of the elements described above with respect to the computing device103. The network connections depicted inFIG. 1include a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN), but may also include other networks. The components105may be connected to the LAN through a network interface or adapter. When used in a WAN networking environment, components105,107,109,133,135may include a modem or other wide area network interface for establishing communications over the WAN, such as computer network (e.g., the Internet). It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are illustrative and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used. Components107,109,133may also be mobile terminals (e.g., mobile phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), notebooks, etc.) including various other components, such as a battery, speaker, and antennas (not shown).

Configuring Common Settings and Device Type Settings

FIGS. 2 and 3depict illustrative aspects of enabling management and configuration of settings across different devices or device types which are common or similar to more than one device or device type. For example, computing device105may manage settings across one or more of computing devices107,109,133,135by enabling a user interacting with computing device105to select the settings for multiple computing devices. A group of settings may be categorized as a policy. The policy may be defined by multiple individual settings for one or more device types. A device type may be a characteristic or feature common to a group of devices or a characteristic representing a group of devices. The device type may be, for example, a general device category (e.g., laptop, desktop computer, tablet, mobile phone, smartphone, feature phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), gaming system, or any other hardware device category) or device operating system or platform (e.g., iOS, Android, Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac OS, Chrome OS, Samsung Knox, Samsung SAFE, etc.). The device types being configured may correspond to the device types of computing devices107,109,133,135. The computing device105may communicate with data server103for data and mappings between individual device settings and common settings.

In the examples shown inFIGS. 2 and 3, a password policy may be established for different device types. The policy name may be a name chosen by the user, and the user may provide a brief description in a field (not shown) of the policy to enable easy and quick identification of the purpose and contents of the policy.

FIG. 2shows an illustrative user interface202where a user can select device types206a-206ffor which the user would like to provide specific settings with respect to the policy, for example, the password policy. The user interface200may include a navigation menu202and a user input area204. Navigation menu202provides an overview of the stages or interfaces in the policy configuration process. A user may select items in navigation menu202to jump between different interfaces displayed in user input area204or stages in the process of configuring settings for the policy.

A user may use, for example, a cursor to select the device types the user would like to include in the policy setting. The selected device types may be indicated using a corresponding selection indicator210such as a check box. Once a device type is selected, the device type name208in navigation menu202may be bolded or otherwise differentiated (e.g., highlighted) to indicate that the device type has been selected and a configuration interface for the particular device type has been enabled. For example, device types1-3have been selected as indicated by boxes210a-c. The corresponding device type names208a-cin navigation menu202may be differentiated from the unselected device types using a font style (e.g., bold, italics, underline) or other indicator (e.g. highlighting, shading) and become enabled (e.g., clickable or selectable) while other device type names208d-fremain disabled (e.g., unclickable or unselectable). A navigation indicator212may be presented to indicate the current stage in the process. Navigation indicator212may be in the form of a shading or highlighting of the text of the current stage. In the example ofFIG. 2, progress indicator212is provided for “2. Device Types” to indicate that the user is at the device types selection interface. After the user has finished selecting the device types to configure, the user may choose the NEXT button214to proceed to the next screen, in this case, the configuration screen for Device Type1. The user may select the BACK button216to return to the policy information screen.

According to another aspect, the device types may further be listed in order of usage or popularity on the device type selection interface204. For example, the system may have knowledge of the number of deployed devices falling under each device type or the level of usage of each device type. The device type having the highest usage or the largest number of deployed devices may be listed first with subsequent device types being listed in order of decreasing popularity or usage. In another aspect, a number of the most popular or highest usage device types may be selected by default if the usage level or number of devices is above a threshold. For example, if the percentage of deployed devices that are Device Type1is above a certain percentage threshold, Device Type1may be selected by default. In yet another aspect, there may be many device types available, and a user might not manage all device types or might not deploy devices of all device types. In this aspect, the system may select by default only those devices which are used or deployed by the user.

As mentioned above, once a device type is selected, the configuration screen for the selected device types may be enabled or added to the policy configuration process. Because more than one device type may have individual settings which are the same or similar to an individual setting of another device type, a common settings user interface300may be provided where a user can select or enter options for settings which are common across more than one selected device type. The common settings user interface300enables the user to select or enter options once for a particular setting and have the chosen option propagated or saved for all of the device types rather than entering the setting separately at the configuration screen for each individual device type. The information provided through the common settings user interface300is mapped to each device type selected by the user, based on a mapping of the information provided in user interface300to the different particular variables used by each device type that correspond to the same principle.

FIG. 3shows an example of a common settings interface300. Before showing the configuration screen for Device Type1, common settings user interface300may be presented to the user to enable the user to select options or enter values for each setting which is common to more than one device type. As will be described in more detail with respect toFIG. 4, the system or computing device can determine which settings are common to more than one device type based on the selected device types and provide the common settings and options or values in the common settings user interface300. Continuing in the password policy example as illustrated inFIG. 2, common settings interface300presents individual settings302which may be common to two or more of the selected device types1-3. For example, device types1-3may each have a configuration setting for whether a password is required302a, a minimum length of a password302b, allowing simple passwords302c, requiring use of specific characters302d, a minimum number of symbols in the password302e, locking the device after a selected period of inactivity302f, a password expiration time period302g, previously saved passwords302h, and a maximum number of failed sign on attempts allowed302i. Each of these configuration settings302may be provided with an input field, for example, in the form of a toggle switch306, a dropdown menu308, or entry field310. An entry field310may be presented with information regarding the limits or range of the allowed inputs or values312. The limits of the inputs for the toggle switch306and the dropdown menu308are integrated into these input options. For example, the dropdown menu308may only be populated with values which are valid for the selected platforms containing these settings. The device settings may be prepopulated values. The prepopulated values may be default values. The default values of the same setting for different device types may be different. Additionally, some device types may have default values while other device types might not have default values. In this instance, a common value may be selected, if possible. If it is not possible to select a common value, a default value might not be prepopulated. In some instances, a type of field might not be used for certain device types. If a specific field is used or required for at least one of the selected device types, the specific may be used in common settings. After the user has provided inputs or selections for the common settings, the user can select the APPLY COMMON SETTINGS button316to save the values provided in the common settings interface300for all of the appropriate device types.

The user also has the option of inputting all the settings individually for each device type by choosing to skip the common settings interface300. This can be done by selecting the SKIP button314.

FIG. 4shows an illustrative method of receiving and applying common settings across multiple device types for a policy. At step400, a computing device may receive a user input selecting a policy for configuration. Following the password policy example, the user may name the policy, for example, “password policy” and include a description of the password policy. The user may select the device types for which the password policy is to be applied, for example, via user interface200. As discussed above, the computing device or system may be aware of the number of devices managed by the user or associated with the user and the device types of these devices. For example, the computing device may store this information or have access to a storage device containing this data such as data server103. Using this knowledge, the computing device may prepopulate or select by default a number of the most popular device types or device types having the highest usage level. Popularity of the device may be measured by the percentage of managed devices for each device type. Usage level may be the aggregate amount of time each device of a particular device type has been used. The user may then select or confirm the device types to which the password policy that is being configured is to be applied.

At step404, the computing device may determine which settings are present for more than one of the selected device type. The computing device may reference a database or data server103storing settings of different device types and their associations with a common settings concept. For example, for the feature of erasing all content from a device after a certain number of failed password entries, Device Type1may identify this feature as maximum failed attempts while Device Type2may identify this feature as maximum failed attempts before erasing device content. Device Type3might not include this feature. The database may store information indicating that the maximum failed attempts for Device Type1and that the maximum failed attempts for Device Type2are associated with the common setting concept of maximum failed attempts. Since Device Type1settings and Device Type2settings both include this concept, this feature is shown on the common settings page even though Device Type3settings might not include this concept.

At step406, the computing device can determine the options or inputs which the device types have in common for each common settings/concept. For example, Device Type1and Device Type2may allow the user to select from different ranges of maximum failed attempts. Device Type1may allow between 2-10 maximum failed attempts before erasing device content, and Device Type2may allow between 4-17 maximum failed attempts before erasing device content. To set this feature in the common settings interface300, the computing device may determine the options for maximum failed attempts that Device Type1and Device Type2have in common and only present those options. For example, computing device may compare the ranges and determine that Device Type1and Device Type2have between 4-10 maximum failed attempts in common. In other words, of the device types which support the concept of maximum failed attempts, these device types all allow for the option of between 4-10 maximum failed attempts.

At step408, the computing device can present, for example, through common settings interface300, the settings which are common to two or more selected device types. The input method may provide the user with or limit the user to the available options for each common setting depending on the underlying device types sharing this common setting. For example, for the feature of password expiration where the password expires after the selected amount of days, the interface300may present an open-ended input field for the user to enter a value indicating the number of days after which the password is to expire. Device Type1may only allow a value between 1-730 while the other device types may have no limits. Thus, the limits of Device Type1control for this feature, and interface300provides the user with this information312. Another mechanism for limiting a user's choices to only the available options is in the form of a dropdown menu where the available choices in the dropdown menu are limited to the available options common to all included device types. Based on the determined available choices from step406, the computing device can prepopulate the dropdown menu with the available options. Certain values for each common setting may be identified as the default, and the computing device may present the default option and allow the user to change from the default option. Some device types may have different default values. If the selected device types have the same default value for a common setting, the default value may be prepopulated. If the selected device types have different default values for a common setting, a default value might not be prepopulated.

At step410, the computing device can receive the selections entered by the user for each common setting/concept via interface300. At step412, the computing device may apply the options or values entered by the user for the individual setting of each device type associated with a particular common setting/concept, for example, in response to the selection of APPLY COMMON SETTINGS button316. The computing device may store the entered value as the input for the device type setting. After completion of the configuration process, the device or system may distribute or transmit these settings to the devices of each device type.

The user may change the selected device types for configuration at any time by, for example, returning to the interface200and changing the device type selections. In response to a change in the selected device types, all or some of the steps of the method illustrated inFIG. 4may be repeated to dynamically update the common settings and options to reflect the current device type selections which provides the user with flexibility in the configuration process. The method ofFIG. 4may also be repeated for other common setting concepts.

FIG. 5depicts an illustrative Device Type1interface500with settings from the common settings interface300applied. Similar toFIG. 2, the interface500may have a navigation menu502which includes an indicator506that provides the user with information relating to progress in the overall policy configuration process. While the indicator506is shown as a highlighting of the text inFIG. 5, the indicator506may be presented in other forms such as a character, symbol, arrow, font style (e.g., bold, italics, underlining), etc. For the individual settings in Device Type1which have common settings applied, a common settings indicator508is shown for these features. The common settings indicator508may provide the user with information relating to whether a common setting value is applied. In the example shown inFIG. 5, some of the settings from the common settings interface300are also settings for Device Type1including “password required,” “minimum length,” “required characters,” “minimum number of symbols,” “lock device after,” “password expiration,” “previous passwords saved,” and “maximum failed sign on attempts.” In comparing the applied common settings inFIG. 3with the settings inFIG. 5, the entered values or selected options for the common settings of Device Type1may be the same as those inFIG. 3with the exception of “password expiration.” Because the value for password expiration is different from the applied or stored common setting value of “90” (as shown inFIG. 3), the common settings indicator508for “password expiration” is not shown. The absence of the common settings indicator508signals to the user that the entered value is different than the common settings value. If the user changes the value back to “90,” the common settings indicator508may be displayed for “password expiration.” Because Device Type1is the only selected device type that supports the device lock grace period setting/concept, “Device lock grace period” is also not provided with a common settings indicator508. Once the user is finished with the settings for the current device type, the user can select the NEXT button510to proceed to the settings configuration interface for the next device type. The user can select the BACK button512to return to a settings interface for a previous device type or to the common settings interface.

FIG. 6shows an illustrative method for configuring settings of a device type. At step600, the computing device may generate an interface and present the settings of a device type associated with a particular policy for configuration by the user via the interface, such as, interface500. For example, the computing device may refer to a memory or other storage area (e.g., data server103) for data or information of the individual settings of a device type for a particular policy.

At step602, the computing device may prepopulate the fields of common settings in the device type to be the same as those applied from the common settings interface. When the values from the common settings interface are applied, the values may be stored for each individual setting associated with the specific common settings. For example, using the example ofFIG. 3, password expiration after 90 days may be stored as the value for the password expiration setting of Device Type1. In generating the settings and fields to present in interface500, the computing device may retrieve the stored value of 90 and prepopulate the entry field corresponding to password expiration with “90.”

At step604, for those settings which have a common settings value applied, a common settings indicator is presented. For example, for those common settings values which are the same as the corresponding value provided via the common settings interface, a common settings indicator508may be shown. At step606, the computing device may receive user input for a particular setting. For example, the user may change the entered or prepopulated value of a setting or enter a new value.

At step608, the computing device may evaluate the entered or selected settings value to determine whether the common settings applied indicator should be displayed for the setting. Step608may include steps610,612, and614. At step610, the computing device may determine whether the received setting changes the value from the common settings value. For example, using the examples fromFIGS. 3 and 5, the applied common setting value for password expiration may be 90 days as illustrated inFIG. 3while inFIG. 5the value for password expiration for Device Type1has been changed to 180. The computing device may compare the entered value of 180 days with the stored common settings value of 90 days and determine that the values are different.

If the computing device determines that the values are different, the device may proceed to step612. In step612, if a common settings applied indicator is shown for a setting for which the entered value does not match the applied common settings value, the common settings applied indicator may be removed if the indicator is being displayed. For example, in response to receiving an entry of 180 days via interface500, the interface might not show the common settings indicator508for password expiration. If the computing device determines that the values are the same, the device may proceed to step614and present the common settings applied indicator if the indicator is not already presented. For example, in response to receiving an entry of 90 days via interface500, the interface may show the common settings indicator508for password expiration. Step608may be repeated for each entered settings value.

At step616, the computing device may apply the entered values for the settings in response to an input from the user such as a selection of NEXT button510. The computing device may apply the entered values by storing the entered values in association with the corresponding settings for the device type in a database.

FIG. 7illustrates another aspect of applying the same settings to more than one device type via an interface.FIG. 7shows another common settings interface700where a user can provide settings for a particular device type and copy common or shared settings entered for the device type to other device types. The interface700may include a navigation menu702and a device type configuration area704. Similar to other interfaces described herein, a progress indicator718may be shown and used in the navigation menu702to show the user the current stage of the process. Also similar to previously described interfaces, the text of the selected device types may be differentiated from unselected device types. For example, the text of the selected device types may be bolded, and the text of the unselected device types may be grayed out or unbolded as shown inFIG. 7. Selection of a device type may be indicated with a selected or unselected checkbox720. Interface200may be used to select the device types for configuration.

The user can enter or select values for individual device type settings. After entering or selecting values for individual device type settings, the user can select the PREVIEW COMMON SETTINGS button712to have the interface show which individual settings supported by the particular device type are common to other selected device types. A preview settings indicator716may be used to show which individual settings are common settings. Alternatively, those fields that refer to concepts common to the selected device types might be automatically shaded or otherwise highlighted or marked in some fashion to indicate they are common among the selected device types.

By selecting the button714, the user instructs the device to send a command to copy or apply the currently entered settings values for the common concepts to the other selected device types. For example, the computing device may store in its memory or in data server103the currently entered values as the value for each common setting. The computing device may determine which individual device type is associated with each common setting and copy the common settings value to be the value of the associated individual device type value.

After copying the common settings to selected device types, a copied common settings indicator may be used to indicate the currently displayed or entered values for a common setting is the same for the selected device types. For example, a first level of shading, highlighting, or coloration may be used to indicate settings which could be applied (but are not yet applied) to all the selected device types because the selected device types all share those concepts. A second level of shading, highlighting, or coloration may be used to indicate settings which are currently common among the selected device types. In the example shown inFIG. 7, Device Type1is the only device type among the selected device types which supports the feature of a “device lock grace period,” soFIG. 7does not show a preview settings indicator716for the “device lock grace period” setting.

FIG. 8illustrates a settings configuration interface800for Device Type2. The setting configuration interface800for Device Type2is similar to the interface700for Device Type1. Configuration interface800may include the navigation menu802listing the configuration stages and indicating with an indicator806the current configuration stage. The configuration area804may include individual settings of Device Type2for the password policy and corresponding entry fields. If Device Type2includes common settings and common settings values were previously copied across the selected device types, the entry fields may be prepopulated with the copied common settings values and a copied common settings indicator808may be shown to indicate which settings have values equal to the copied common settings values. Similar to interface800, the user can select the PREVIEW COMMON SETTINGS button810to preview which settings of Device Type2are common to more than one device type. In response to the selection of button810, the interface800can show the preview settings indicator716as shown with respect toFIG. 7. Similar toFIG. 7, if the user changes a settings value so that it is different from the copied common settings value, the indicator716or808may not be shown for the changed setting. Selecting button812may copy the entered or selected values for the common settings to all of the device types which have common settings. The indicators716,808may be in the form of highlighting of text and corresponding fields of each setting. Indicator716may be differentiated from indicator808, for example, by color or a pattern.

FIG. 9shows an illustrative method for configuring common settings and individual settings for selected device types according to some aspects. At step900, settings for a particular device type may be determined and presented, for example, via interface700or800. The computing device may refer to a database or other storage device containing information about device settings of a device type associated with the policy being configured.

At step902, the fields for each setting may be prepopulated with a default value or a copied common settings value. The computing device may reference values stored for common settings and prepopulate the fields with the stored values. When generating the interface800, the computing device may retrieve the values stored for individual settings as a result of copying common settings and prepopulate the corresponding input fields with these values. For example, if the value of “4” for the minimum length is stored as a common setting to other device types using the interface700, the value “4” is stored for the setting minimum length of Device Type2which corresponds to the minimum length setting of Device Type1. When generating the interface800for configuring Device Type2, the dropdown menu for minimum length may be preset at “4.”

At step904, a user may enter a value into a field or a select a value from a dropdown menu for the field of different settings of the current device type. At step906, the computing device may receive a user input request or a command to preview common settings, for example, through the selection of the PREVIEW COMMON SETTINGS button712,810. The device may determine which settings of the current device type are settings also present in other selected device types. The computing device may present a preview settings indicator, for example, indicator716for each common setting at step908. At step910, the computing device may receive a request to copy common settings to all selected device types. The request may be, for example, provided through the user selection of the button714,812. At step912, the computing device may copy the entered common settings values to be the same for corresponding common settings of other device types and save or apply the entered values for the current device type. At step914, the copied common settings indicator may be shown for common settings whose values have been copied to other device types or are the same as the common settings values for other device types.

In another aspect, a dedicated common settings interface may be provided to the user which may be accessed at any stage of the configuration process. For example, a link to a dedicated common settings interface may be provided on each device type configuration interface. As another example, a common settings stage may be added to the navigation menu, and the user may select the common settings stage to go to the common settings interface. The dedicated common settings interface may be similar toFIG. 3.

While the examples described herein refer to a password policy, other policies may also be configured using aspects described herein. Other policies may include a virtual private network (VPN) policy, wi-fi policy, network connection policy, hardware control policies, application control policies, location services policy, and information synchronization policies (e.g., synchronization of e-mail, calendar items, and task items with a remote server).

Examples of VPN policy settings may include connection name, server name or IP address, backup VPN server, connection type, username, password, user group name, authentication type, pre-shared key, and certificate security information.

Examples of wi-fi policy settings may include network type, network name (e.g., service set identification (SSID)), encryption type, password, automatic joining of the wireless network, hidden network name, proxy server port, username, and password.

The above settings are just nonlimiting examples. The techniques described herein may be used to conveniently adjust any setting that corresponds to a concept shared by at least two device types.

FIG. 10depicts example mappings and valid options of settings of each device type relating to a password policy. The data on mappings and valid options may be stored in a data storage device, for example, data server103. Column1001aprovides a list of example settings/concepts supported by any of the device types. The information in each subsequent column1001b-1001dmay indicate whether each device type supports a particular setting, whether the setting is a required setting, and what the valid values or selections are for each setting. If a setting/concept in column1001ais supported by more than one device, then the setting/concept may be identified as a common setting/concept. The system may analyze the device type information in the corresponding row to determine valid common values or entries for the common setting/concept. The setting information for each device type may include the name of the setting according to the particular device type, and the system can map the corresponding device type specific name to a common setting/concept. For example, the common setting/concept of a minimum length for a password may be identified as “Minimum length codes” on Device Type1and as “Minimum password length” on Device Type2. The common/setting concept may identify these different names as correlating or mapping to the common setting/concept of “minimum length.” If Device Type1and Device Type2are selected for configuration, a computing device may obtain from the stored data information indicating the that Device Type1supports 1-14 characters for the minimum password length and Device Type2supports 4-16 characters for the minimum password length.

While illustrative method steps have been described as being performed by a computing device, it is to be understood that the steps may be performed in a different order than described and may be performed by more than one computing device.