Live switching of collaborative virtual desktop sessions

1. A method, comprising:

establishing a first collaborative virtual desktop session for a plurality of client devices on a first virtual desktop executing on a server by, for each client device in the plurality of client devices:

connecting via a connection server a virtual desktop client executing on the client device to a first virtual desktop agent of the first virtual desktop and establishing a first remote desktop protocol session between the virtual desktop client and the first virtual desktop, wherein the graphical user interface (GUI) of the first virtual desktop is streamed to the virtual desktop client via the first remote desktop protocol session, and wherein user inputs into the first virtual desktop produced on the virtual desktop client are conveyed by the virtual desktop client to the first virtual desktop agent via the first remote desktop protocol session;

receiving a request at the connection server to switch the collaborative session from the first virtual desktop to a second virtual desktop, the second virtual desktop belonging to a user of a particular client device in the plurality of client devices;

in response to the request, establishing a second collaborative virtual desktop session on the second virtual desktop and switching the plurality of client devices from the first collaborative virtual desktop session to the second collaborative virtual desktop session by:

logging the user into the second virtual desktop; and

for each client device in the plurality of client devices, connecting via the connection server the virtual desktop client executing on the client device to a second virtual desktop agent of the second virtual desktop and establishing a second remote desktop protocol session between the virtual desktop client and the second virtual desktop, wherein the graphical user interface (GUI) of the second virtual desktop is streamed to the virtual desktop client via the second remote desktop protocol session, and wherein user inputs into the second virtual desktop produced on the virtual desktop client are conveyed by the virtual desktop client to the second virtual desktop agent via the second remote desktop protocol session.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a request at the first virtual desktop agent from the particular client device to switch the collaborative session to the second virtual desktop; and

conveying, by the first virtual desktop agent to the connection server, the request to switch the collaborative session to the second virtual desktop.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

requesting from the connection server a list of virtual desktops to which the user of the particular client device is entitled; and

receiving, from the particular client device, an election of the second virtual desktop from the list of entitled virtual desktops.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

mouse and keyboard inputs into the first virtual desktop are permitted from a virtual desktop client selectably designated by an owner of the first virtual desktop as a controlling virtual desktop client and not from other virtual desktop clients; and

a request to switch the first virtual desktop to another desktop is only permitted from a controlling virtual desktop client.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the connection server stores a mapping of the first collaborative session on the first virtual desktop, the mapping comprising usernames of users of the virtual desktop clients on the plurality of client devices.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the connecting via the connection server the virtual desktop client executing on the client device to the second virtual desktop agent of the second virtual desktop for each client device in the plurality of client devices is performed by the connection server based on the mapping.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein user authentication is required to connect each of the plurality of client devices to the first virtual desktop, and user authentication is not required to connect each of the plurality of client devices to the second virtual desktop.

8. A computing device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

memory including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to perform the steps of:

establishing a first collaborative virtual desktop session for a plurality of client devices on a first virtual desktop executing on a server by, for each client device in the plurality of client devices:

connecting via a connection server a virtual desktop client executing on the client device to a first virtual desktop agent of the first virtual desktop and establishing a first remote desktop protocol session between the virtual desktop client and the first virtual desktop, wherein the graphical user interface (GUI) of the first virtual desktop is streamed to the virtual desktop client via the first remote desktop protocol session, and wherein user inputs into the first virtual desktop produced on the virtual desktop client are conveyed by the virtual desktop client to the first virtual desktop agent via the first remote desktop protocol session;

receiving a request at the connection server to switch the collaborative session from the first virtual desktop to a second virtual desktop, the second virtual desktop belonging to a user of a particular client device in the plurality of client devices;

in response to the request, establishing a second collaborative virtual desktop session on the second virtual desktop and switching the plurality of client devices from the first collaborative virtual desktop session to the second collaborative virtual desktop session by:

logging the user into the second virtual desktop; and

for each client device in the plurality of client devices, connecting via the connection server the virtual desktop client executing on the client device to a second virtual desktop agent of the second virtual desktop and establishing a second remote desktop protocol session between the virtual desktop client and the second virtual desktop, wherein the graphical user interface (GUI) of the second virtual desktop is streamed to the virtual desktop client via the second remote desktop protocol session, and wherein user inputs into the second virtual desktop produced on the virtual desktop client are conveyed by the virtual desktop client to the second virtual desktop agent via the second remote desktop protocol session.

9. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the memory further includes instructions that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to perform the steps of:

receiving a request at the first virtual desktop agent from the particular client device to switch the collaborative session to the second virtual desktop; and

conveying, by the first virtual desktop agent to the connection server, the request to switch the collaborative session to the second virtual desktop.

10. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the memory further includes instructions that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to perform the steps of:

requesting from the connection server a list of virtual desktops to which the user of the particular client device is entitled; and

receiving, from the particular client device, an election of the second virtual desktop from the list of entitled virtual desktops.

11. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein:

mouse and keyboard inputs into the first virtual desktop are permitted from a virtual desktop client selectably designated by an owner of the first virtual desktop as a controlling virtual desktop client not from other virtual desktop clients; and

a request to switch the first virtual desktop to another desktop is only permitted from a controlling virtual desktop client.

12. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the connection server stores a mapping of the first collaborative session on the first virtual desktop, the mapping comprising usernames of users of the virtual desktop clients on the plurality of client devices.

13. The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the connecting via the connection server the virtual desktop client executing on the client device to the second virtual desktop agent of the second virtual desktop for each client device in the plurality of client devices is performed by the connection server based on the mapping.

14. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein user authentication is required to connect each of the plurality of client devices to the first virtual desktop, and user authentication is not required to connect each of the plurality of client devices to the second virtual desktop.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising one or more sequences of instructions, the instructions when executed by one or more processors causing the one or more processors to execute the operations of:

establishing a first collaborative virtual desktop session for a plurality of client devices on a first virtual desktop executing on a server by, for each client device in the plurality of client devices:

connecting via a connection server a virtual desktop client executing on the client device to a first virtual desktop agent of the first virtual desktop and establishing a first remote desktop protocol session between the virtual desktop client and the first virtual desktop, wherein the graphical user interface (GUI) of the first virtual desktop is streamed to the virtual desktop client via the first remote desktop protocol session, and wherein user inputs into the first virtual desktop produced on the virtual desktop client are conveyed by the virtual desktop client to the first virtual desktop agent via the first remote desktop protocol session;

receiving a request at the connection server to switch the collaborative session from the first virtual desktop to a second virtual desktop, the second virtual desktop belonging to a user of a particular client device in the plurality of client devices;

in response to the request, establishing a second collaborative virtual desktop session on the second virtual desktop and switching the plurality of client devices from the first collaborative virtual desktop session to the second collaborative virtual desktop session by:

logging the user into the second virtual desktop; and

for each client device in the plurality of client devices, connecting via the connection server the virtual desktop client executing on the client device to a second virtual desktop agent of the second virtual desktop and establishing a second remote desktop protocol session between the virtual desktop client and the second virtual desktop, wherein the graphical user interface (GUI) of the second virtual desktop is streamed to the virtual desktop client via the second remote desktop protocol session, and wherein user inputs into the second virtual desktop produced on the virtual desktop client are conveyed by the virtual desktop client to the second virtual desktop agent via the second remote desktop protocol session.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to execute the operations of:

receiving a request at the first virtual desktop agent from the particular client device to switch the collaborative session to the second virtual desktop; and

conveying, by the first virtual desktop agent to the connection server, the request to switch the collaborative session to the second virtual desktop.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to execute the operations of:

requesting from the connection server a list of virtual desktops to which the user of the particular client device is entitled; and

receiving, from the particular client device, an election of the second virtual desktop from the list of entitled virtual desktops.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein:

mouse and keyboard inputs into the first virtual desktop are permitted from a virtual desktop client selectably designated by an owner of the first virtual desktop as a controlling virtual desktop client and not from other virtual desktop clients; and

a request to switch the first virtual desktop to another desktop is only permitted from a controlling virtual desktop client.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the connection server stores a mapping of the first collaborative session on the first virtual desktop, the mapping comprising usernames of users of the virtual desktop clients on the plurality of client devices.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the connecting via the connection server the virtual desktop client executing on the client device to the second virtual desktop agent of the second virtual desktop for each client device in the plurality of client devices is performed by the connection server based on the mapping.