Product Information
Windows user profiles preserve information about personal desktop and application settings for the next login. The profile management functionality built into Microsoft Windows is challenged by today’s requirements including multiple desktops per users and a range of virtualization technologies.
Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition optimizes the management of user profiles for Windows desktops and applications provided through local workstations, terminal servers, Citrix Presentation Server / XenApp or Virtual Desktop Infrastructures (both 32-bit and 64-bit). This includes the application-specific handling of both registry settings and configuration files during user logon, user logoff, application launch, or application termination events. Individual configuration files for different applications and workspace settings allow modifying the behavior of the Immidio Flex Profiles logic. Immidio Flex Profiles can be used in conjunction with local profiles, roaming profiles or mandatory profiles.
How it Works
The concept of profile management with Immidio Flex Profiles is based on using standard mechanisms built into the Windows operating system and extending them by low-footprint runtime components and a smart management console. Immidio Flex Profiles supports user sessions running on local Windows, Remote Desktop Services (aka Terminal Services), Citrix XenApp or virtual desktops. The user sessions are configured to use either mandatory profiles or local profiles, referred to as a standard Windows profile.
Each user’s standard Windows profile is loaded the first time he or she logs on to the system with Immidio Flex Profiles installed and configured. After the user has been modifying settings while working in an individualized environment, he or she logs off. A logoff script calls the Immidio Flex Profiles core engine (FlexEngine) that saves all user-configurable settings in ZIP archive files in the user’s home folder. Once the settings have been saved, the logoff process continues and the user’s customized profile may be deleted on the remote desktop platform, while its settings are still preserved.
The mandatory or local profile is loaded again the next time the user logs on. Once the profile load process is finished, the Flex Profiles core engine is launched through the logon procedure. It customizes (or individualizes) the user’s session environment with the settings that were saved in his or her home folder from the previous session. These user-specific settings can be based on data stored in the registry and profile folders.
The advantage of this method is that you get the performance and stability of mandatory or local profiles while still having the ability to retain customized user settings from their sessions. Simple INI configuration files determine which registry settings, files or folders should be retained within the profile. When configured properly, Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition provides extremely fast user logons and logoffs when compared to standard roaming profiles. This method also allows the simultaneous usage of Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003/2008 Terminal Services remote desktops in one environment; user-specific settings work cross-platform if Immidio Flex Profiles is used.
Features and Benefits
Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition revolutionizes Windows user profile management. Explore the features and benefits below to learn more about how Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition can help you to increase your IT performance and productivity.
- Supported on Windows Server 2003 (R2), Windows Server 2008, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, extending the scope of Immidio Flex Profiles to the most popular server and workstation platforms.
- Native 32-bit and 64-bit Windows support.
- Low-footprint client components and no extra backend components required – uses standard file servers and directory servers.
- Flexible and granular selection of user profile settings that need to be saved and restored through individual configuration files – inclusion and exclusion lists are both supported.
- Flex Profiles Management Console, for user-friendly and intuitive creation and maintenance of configuration files.
- Automated generation of configuration files through Flex Profiles Assistant and Flex Profiles Management Console.
- Built-in profile archive compression and streaming algorithms, creating ZIP container files optimized for networks with limited bandwidth.
- Online and offline scenarios supported.
- Cross-platform settings for Internet Explorer 6 and later, wallpaper, certificates, keyboard, mouse, regional settings, explorer view, and others.
- Flex Profiles Group Policy Template, making Immidio Flex Profiles configurable through Active Directory Group Policies.
- Compatible with Windows User Account Control (UAC).
- On-demand access to profile settings that require elevated user privileges (for certificate and password management).
- Collections of configuration files can be applied in one run, providing unprecedented performance. (Recursive reading of INI folders and subfolders files with one call)
- Workspace refresh functionality integrated into Immidio FlexEngine, immediately refreshing common settings of the graphical user interface.
- Windows version-specific configuration option on a per application basis.
Editions
Immidio Flex Profiles is only available as Advanced Edition. The previous Express Edition has been retired and is no longer available.
In case you would like to migrate to the Advanced Edition, please contact us to discuss the possibilities.