Systems and methods for generating and validating configuration files for computing devices

An article of manufacture for provisioning a computing device by a provisioning server, the article comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having one or more programs embodied therewith, wherein the one or more programs, when executed by a computer, perform steps of:

• receiving a user request to configure a computing device to access an on-line service;
• generating a device configuration file having configuration settings for configuring the computing device to enable access to the on-line service;
• validating the device configuration file before deploying the device configuration file to the computing device by testing the configuration settings of the device configuration file against the actual on-line service for which the device configuration file is generated to enable access to,
• wherein the provisioning server tests the configuration settings of the device configuration file by (i) automatically accessing an application server that provides the actual on-line service for which the device configuration file is generated to enable access to, using the computing device when configured with the configuration settings, (ii) utilizing credentials of the user to log into the application server and (iii) using the configuration settings of the device configuration file to attempt access to the actual on-line service on behalf of the user;
• and
• deploying the device configuration file to the computing device when the device configuration file is deemed valid,
• wherein validating further comprises determining if a configuration error occurs during testing of the device configuration file, and automatically performing an error correction process to attempt to correct the configuration error,
• wherein the steps further comprise automatically terminating the error correction process if the configuration error cannot be corrected, and notifying the user of the configuration error without deploying the device configuration file to the computing device.

An apparatus for provisioning a computing device by a provisioning server, the apparatus comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a hardware processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute code stored in the memory for:
• receiving a user request to configure a computing device to access an on-line service;
• generating a device configuration file having configuration settings for configuring the computing device to enable access to the on-line service;
• validating the device configuration file before deploying the device configuration file to the computing device by testing the configuration settings of the device configuration file against the actual on-line service for which the device configuration file is generated to enable access to,
• wherein the provisioning server tests the configuration settings of the device configuration file by (i) automatically accessing an application server that provides the actual on-line service for which the device configuration file is generated to enable access to, using the computing device when configured with the configuration settings, (ii) utilizing credentials of the user to log into the application server and (iii) using the configuration settings of the device configuration file to attempt access to the actual on-line service on behalf of the user;
• and
• deploying the device configuration file to the computing device when the device configuration file is deemed valid,
• wherein validating further comprises determining if a configuration error occurs during testing of the device configuration file, and automatically performing an error correction process to attempt to correct the configuration error,
• wherein the hardware processor is further configured to execute code stored in the memory for automatically terminating the error correction process if the configuration error cannot be corrected, and notifying the user of the configuration error without deploying the device configuration file to the computing device.