IP Library Granted Patent US 11,303,521
Granted Patent B1
US 11,303,521 · App. 17/152,860 · Granted Apr 12, 2022

Support platform with bi-directional communication channel for performing remote actions on computing devices

Inventors: Sharmad S. Naik (Bangalore, IN); Kurian George (Bangalore, IN); Ravi Kumar Nagavarapu (Bangalore, IN)
Assignee: Dell Products L.P.
H04L41/0866H04L41/069H04L67/02H04L67/12H04L67/26
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,303,521
App. No.
17/152,860
Granted
Apr 12, 2022
Kind
B1
Abstract

An apparatus comprises a processing device configured to establish a bi-directional communication channel between a broker service of a support platform and a given computing device registered with the support platform, to receive at a portal interface of the support platform a request to perform a remote action on the given computing device, and to generate a first message comprising a command to execute the remote action on the given computing device. The processing device is also configured to provide the first message from the broker service to the given computing device over the bi-directional communication channel, to receive a second message comprising results of executing the remote action on the given computing device at the broker service from the given computing device over the bi-directional communication channel, and to output the results of executing the remote action on the given computing device at the portal interface.

Claims (63)

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processing device comprising a processor coupled to a memory;

the at least one processing device being configured to perform steps of:

establishing a bi-directional communication channel between a broker service of a support platform and a given computing device registered with the support platform;

receiving, at a portal interface of the support platform, a request to perform a remote action on the given computing device;

generating a first message comprising a command to execute the remote action on the given computing device;

providing, from the broker service of the support platform to the given computing device over the bi-directional communication channel, the first message;

receiving, at the broker service of the support platform from the given computing device over the bi-directional communication channel, a second message comprising results of executing the remote action on the given computing device; and

outputting, at the portal interface of the support platform, the results of executing the remote action on the given computing device;

wherein establishing the bi-directional communication channel between the broker service of the support platform and the given computing device comprises:

determining, based at least in part on the registration of the given computing device with the support platform, a given one of two or more broker instances of the broker service of the support platform associated with the given computing device; and

establishing the bi-directional communication channel between the given broker instance and the given computing device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the bi-directional communication channel comprises a Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT)-based communication channel.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the MQTT-based communication channel utilizes a Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) with Web Socket Secure (WSS) connection.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein establishing the bi-directional communication channel between the broker service of the support platform and the given computing device is initiated by the given computing device to the given broker instance.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the given broker instance is determined utilizing a connection string previously provided to the given computing device from the support platform responsive to the registration of the given computing device with the support platform.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one processing device is further configured to perform the step of registering the given computing device with the support platform.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein registering the given computing device with the support platform comprises:

receiving, at a device registration service of the support platform, a registration request from the given computing device; and

invoking a device provisioning service of the support platform to enroll the given computing device based at least in part on symmetric key attestation.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein registering the given computing device with the support platform further comprises:

generating, utilizing the device provisioning service, a call to the broker service to enroll the given computing device with the given broker instance;

registering, utilizing the broker service, the given computing device with the given broker instance; and

providing, from the broker service to the given computing device via the device provisioning service and the device registration service, a connection string comprising a hostname of the given broker instance.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein generating the first message comprising the command to execute the remote action on the given computing device comprises:

updating an audit log of the support platform with the request to execute the remote action on the given computing device; and

invoking a publish-subscribe service of the support platform to publish the command to execute the remote action on the given computing device for an identifier associated with the given computing device.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein invoking the publish-subscribe service of the support platform to publish the command to execute the remote action on the given computing device for an identifier associated with the given computing device comprises:

determining, utilizing a device registration service of the support platform, the given broker instance that is registered with the identifier associated with the given computing device; and

utilizing the publish-subscribe service of the support platform to publish the command to execute the remote action on the given computing device to the given broker instance.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the results of executing the remote action on the given computing device comprise an indication of whether the remote action was successfully executed on the given computing device.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the results of executing the remote action on the given computing device comprise telemetry data of the given computing device collected following execution of the remote action on the given computing device.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein receiving the second message comprising the results of executing the remote action on the given computing device comprises:

providing, from the broker service of the support platform to a publish-subscribe service of the support platform, the results of executing the remote action on the given computing device; and

publishing, via the publish-subscribe service of the support platform, the results of executing the remote action on the given computing device.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein publishing the results of executing the remote action on the given computing device comprises at least one of:

updating audit logs of the support platform associated with the identifier of the given computing device; and

displaying the results of executing the remote action on the given computing device via the portal interface of the support platform.

15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored therein program code of one or more software programs, wherein the program code when executed by at least one processing device causes the at least one processing device to perform steps of:

establishing a bi-directional communication channel between a broker service of a support platform and a given computing device registered with the support platform;

receiving, at a portal interface of the support platform, a request to perform a remote action on the given computing device;

generating a first message comprising a command to execute the remote action on the given computing device;

providing, from the broker service of the support platform to the given computing device over the bi-directional communication channel, the first message;

receiving, at the broker service of the support platform from the given computing device over the bi-directional communication channel, a second message comprising results of executing the remote action on the given computing device; and

outputting, at the portal interface of the support platform, the results of executing the remote action on the given computing device;

wherein establishing the bi-directional communication channel between the broker service of the support platform and the given computing device comprises:

determining, based at least in part on the registration of the given computing device with the support platform, a given one of two or more broker instances of the broker service of the support platform associated with the given computing device; and

establishing the bi-directional communication channel between the given broker instance and the given computing device.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the bi-directional communication channel comprises a Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT)-based communication channel that utilizes a Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) with Web Socket Secure (WSS) connection.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein establishing the bi-directional communication channel between the broker service of the support platform and the given computing device is initiated by the given computing device to the given broker instance, the given broker instance being determined utilizing a connection string previously provided to the given computing device from the support platform responsive to the registration of the given computing device with the support platform.

18. A method comprising:

establishing a bi-directional communication channel between a broker service of a support platform and a given computing device registered with the support platform;

receiving, at a portal interface of the support platform, a request to perform a remote action on the given computing device;

generating a first message comprising a command to execute the remote action on the given computing device;

providing, from the broker service of the support platform to the given computing device over the bi-directional communication channel, the first message;

receiving, at the broker service of the support platform from the given computing device over the bi-directional communication channel, a second message comprising results of executing the remote action on the given computing device; and

outputting, at the portal interface of the support platform, the results of executing the remote action on the given computing device;

wherein establishing the bi-directional communication channel between the broker service of the support platform and the given computing device comprises:

determining, based at least in part on the registration of the given computing device with the support platform, a given one of two or more broker instances of the broker service of the support platform associated with the given computing device; and

establishing the bi-directional communication channel between the given broker instance and the given computing device; and

wherein the method is performed by at least one processing device comprising a processor coupled to a memory.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the bi-directional communication channel comprises a Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT)-based communication channel that utilizes a Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) with Web Socket Secure (WSS) connection.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein establishing the bi-directional communication channel between the broker service of the support platform and the given computing device is initiated by the given computing device to the given broker instance, the given broker instance being determined utilizing a connection string previously provided to the given computing device from the support platform responsive to the registration of the given computing device with the support platform.

Assignments (9)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (055479/0342) Recorded Jun 10, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.
Reel/Frame 062021/0460 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (055479/0051) Recorded Jun 10, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.
Reel/Frame 062021/0663 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (056136/0752) Recorded Jun 10, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.
Reel/Frame 062021/0771 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST AT REEL 055408 FRAME 0697 Recorded Nov 2, 2021
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 058001/0553 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 3, 2021
From: EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 056136/0752 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 3, 2021
From: EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 055479/0051 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 3, 2021
From: EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 055479/0342 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Feb 25, 2021
From: EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
Reel/Frame 055408/0697 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 20, 2021
From: NAIK, SHARMAD S.; GEORGE, KURIAN; NAGAVARAPU, RAVI KUMAR
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.
Reel/Frame 054961/0844 →