Predictive login of virtual machines

1. A method of operating a virtual computing service that dynamically configures virtual machines with storage volumes as required for virtual sessions, the method comprising:

capturing a login history indicative of when a plurality of users login to a plurality of virtual machines using the virtual computing service;

identifying an anticipated login time for a subset of the plurality of users based on the login history;

for the subset of the plurality of users, identifying a configuration time that is earlier than the anticipated login time; and

configuring a virtual machine at the configuration time for each user in the subset of the plurality of users by attaching at least one storage volume associated with the user to the virtual machine.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein attaching the at least one storage volume associated with the user to the virtual machine comprises attaching at least one application storage volume associated with the user to the virtual machine.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein attaching the at least one application storage volume associated with the user to the virtual machine comprises mounting the at least one application storage volume to the virtual machine, and modifying registry keys on the virtual machine to make at least one application on the application storage volume executable on the virtual machine.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the at least one application storage volume comprises executable files for the at least one application.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising overlaying pointers for the executable files in an application directory on the virtual machine.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein attaching the at least one storage volume comprises mounting at least one user storage volume to the virtual machine.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one storage volume comprises at least one virtual machine disk or at least one virtual hard disk.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the configuration time that is earlier than the anticipated login time comprises identifying a time capable of completing the configured virtual machines for the subset of the plurality of users prior to the anticipated login time.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a login from a first user in the subset of the plurality of users, and assigning the first user to a virtual machine configured for the first user.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising identifying a first user in the subset of the plurality of users that fails to login within a login period following the anticipated login time, and detaching at least one storage volume associated with the first user from a virtual machine configured for the first user.

11. An apparatus comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media;

program instructions stored on the one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media to operate a virtual computing service that, when read and executed by a processing system, direct the processing system to at least:

capture a login history indicative of when a plurality of users login to a plurality of virtual machines using the virtual computing service;

identify an anticipated login time for a subset of the plurality of users based on the login history;

for the subset of the plurality of users, identify a configuration time that is earlier than the anticipated login time; and

configure a virtual machine at the configuration time for each user in the subset of the plurality of users by attaching at least one storage volume associated with the user to the virtual machine.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the program instructions to attach the at least one storage volume associated with the user to the virtual machine direct the processing system to attach at least one application storage volume associated with the user to the virtual machine.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the program instructions to attach the at least one application storage volume associated with the user to the virtual machine direct the processing system to mount the at least one application storage volume to the virtual machine and modify registry keys on the virtual machine to make at least one application on the storage volume executable on the virtual machine.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the at least one application storage volume comprises executable files for the at least one application.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the program instructions further direct the processing system to overlay pointers for the executable files in an application directory on the virtual machine.

16. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the program instructions to attach the at least one storage volume direct the processing system to mount at least one user storage volume to the virtual machine.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the at least one storage volume comprises at least one virtual machine disk or at least one virtual hard disk.

18. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the program instructions to identify the configuration time that is earlier than the anticipated login time direct the processing system to identify a time capable of completing the configured virtual machines for the subset of the plurality of users prior to the anticipated login time.

19. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the program instructions further direct the processing system to identify a first user in the subset of the plurality of users that fails to login within a login period following the anticipated login time, and detach at least one storage volume associated with the first user from a virtual machine configured for the first user.

20. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising the processing system operatively coupled with the one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media.