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Horizon 6.2.1
User Manual
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VMware Horizon 6.2.1 User Manual

Setting Up Horizon 6 for Linux Desktops
Horizon 6
Version 6.2.1
This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
EN-001908-02
You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at:
http://www.vmware.com/support/
The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.
If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to:
docfeedback@vmware.com
Copyright © 2015 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark information.
VMware, Inc.
3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com
2 VMware, Inc.

Contents

Setting Up Horizon 6 for Linux Desktops 5
Features and System Requirements 7
1
Features of Horizon 6 Linux Desktops and Desktop Pools 7
Overview of Configuration Steps for Horizon 6 for Linux Desktops 8
System Requirements for Horizon 6 for Linux 9
Preparing a Linux Virtual Machine for Desktop Deployment 13
2
Create a Virtual Machine and Install Linux 13
Prepare a Linux Machine for Remote Desktop Deployment 14
Setting Up Active Directory Integration for Linux Desktops 17
3
Integrating Linux with Active Directory 17
Setting Up Single Sign-on and Smart Card Redirection 18
Configuration Options for Linux Desktops 21
4
Setting Options in Configuration Files on a Linux Desktop 21
Suppress the vSphere Console Display of a Linux Desktop 23
Setting Up Graphics for Linux Desktops 25
5
Configure RHEL 6.6 and RHEL 7.1 for vGPU 25
Configure RHEL 6.6 for vDGA 30
Configure RHEL 7.1 for vSGA 34
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Installing View Agent and Managing Linux Desktops 39
6
Install View Agent on a Linux Virtual Machine 39
Enable Reversible Password Encryption 42
Create a Desktop Pool That Contains Linux Virtual Machines 42
Upgrade View Agent on a Linux Virtual Machine 43
Uninstalling and Reinstalling Horizon 6 for Linux Machines 44
How to Perform Power Operations on Linux Desktops from vSphere 46
Gather Information About Horizon 6 for Linux Software 46
Bulk Deployment of Horizon 6 for Linux Desktops 49
7
Overview of Bulk Deployment of Linux Desktops 49
Create a Virtual Machine Template for Cloning Linux Desktop Machines 51
Input File for the Sample PowerCLI Scripts to Deploy Linux Desktops 52
Sample Script to Clone Linux Virtual Machines 53
Sample Script to Join Cloned Virtual Machines to AD Domain 57
Sample Script to Join Cloned Virtual Machines to AD Domain Using SSH 59
Sample Script to Install View Agent on Linux Virtual Machines 63
3
Sample Script to Install View Agent on Linux Virtual Machines Using SSH 68
Sample Script to Upload Configuration Files to Linux Virtual Machines 73
Sample Script to Upload Configuration Files to Linux Virtual Machines Using SSH 77
Sample Script to Upgrade View Agent on Linux Desktop Machines 81
Sample Script to Upgrade View Agent on Linux Virtual Machines Using SSH 85
Sample Script to Perform Operations on Linux Virtual Machines 90
Sample Script to Delete Machines from the Connection Server LDAP Database 94
Troubleshooting Linux Desktops 97
8
Collect Diagnostic Information for a Horizon 6 for Linux Machine 97
Troubleshooting View Agent Registration Failure for a Linux Machine 97
Troubleshooting an Unreachable View Agent on a Linux Machine 98
Troubleshooting View Agent on a Linux Machine That Is Not Responding 100
Configuring the Linux Firewall to Allow Incoming TCP Connections 100
Index 101
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Setting Up Horizon 6 for Linux Desktops

The Setting Up Horizon 6 for Linux Desktops document provides information about setting up a Linux virtual machine for use as a VMware Horizon 6™ desktop, including preparing the Linux guest operating system, installing View Agent on the virtual machine, and configuring the machine in View Administrator for use in a Horizon 6 deployment.
Intended Audience
This information is intended for anyone who wants to configure and use remote desktops that run on Linux guest operating systems. The information is written for experienced Linux system administrators who are familiar with virtual machine technology and datacenter operations.
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Features and System Requirements 1

With Horizon 6, users can connect to remote desktops that run the Linux operating system.
This chapter includes the following topics:
“Features of Horizon 6 Linux Desktops and Desktop Pools,” on page 7
n
“Overview of Configuration Steps for Horizon 6 for Linux Desktops,” on page 8
n
“System Requirements for Horizon 6 for Linux,” on page 9
n

Features of Horizon 6 Linux Desktops and Desktop Pools

Horizon 6 version 6.2.1 introduces a number of new features for Linux desktops. The following list presents the key features.
Virtual Machine Clone Type
Desktop Pool Type
Audio Out
Multiple Monitors
Lossless PNG
3D Graphics
The following clone types are supported:
Linked clone
n
Full clone
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Linked-clone virtual machines (VMs) share the operating system image of a parent VM and require less storage than full-clone VMs.
The following desktop pool types are supported:
Dedicated
n
Floating
n
With a dedicated pool, once a user is assigned a desktop, the assignment is permanent. A user can log out, log back in, and see the same desktop. With a floating pool, desktop assignments are not permanent. A user might see a different desktop after logging out and logging back in.
A user can listen to the audio that the desktop produces.
Four monitors, each with a maximum resolution of 2560x1600, are supported.
Images and videos that are generated on a desktop are rendered on the client device in a pixel-exact manner.
3D graphics is supported with the following combinations of Linux versions and graphics cards:
vSGA is supported on RHEL 7.1 Workstation x64 with NVIDIA GRID
n
K1 or K2 graphics cards.
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vDGA is supported on RHEL 6.6 Workstation x64 with NVIDIA GRID
n
K1 or K2 graphics cards.
vGPU is supported on RHEL 6.6 Workstation x64 with NVIDIA
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Maxwell M60 graphics cards.
vGPU is supported on RHEL 7.1 Workstation x64 with NVIDIA
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Maxwell M60 graphics cards.
Clipboard Redirection
Single Sign-on
Smart Card Redirection
Rich text and plain text support on RHEL 6.6 Workstation x64.
n
Rich text and plain text support on CentOS 6.6 x64.
n
Single sign-on is supported on the following Linux versions:
RHEL 6.6 Workstation x64
n
CentOS 6.6 x64
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Smart card redirection is supported on RHEL 6.6 Workstation x64. Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards and Common Access Cards (CAC) are supported. Mac client is not supported.
NOTE Clipboard redirection is not officially supported on Ubuntu. However, the feature should work after installing the libexpat1 component with the command apt-get install libexpat1.
Linux desktops and desktop pools have the following limitations:
Automated provisioning and other features that are provided only with automated desktop pools are
n
not supported. For example, the refresh on logoff operation is not available.
USB redirection, virtual printing, location-based printing, and Real-Time Audio-Video are not
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supported.
HTML Access is not supported.
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NOTE When a security server is used, port 22443 must be open in the internal firewall to allow traffic between the security server and the Linux desktop.

Overview of Configuration Steps for Horizon 6 for Linux Desktops

When you install and configure Horizon 6 for Linux desktops, you must follow a different sequence of steps depending on whether you install 2D graphics or 3D graphics on the virtual machines.
2D Graphics - Overview of Configuration Steps
For 2D graphics, take the following steps:
1 Review the system requirements for setting up a Horizon 6 for Linux deployment. See “System
Requirements for Horizon 6 for Linux,” on page 9.
2 Create a virtual machine in vSphere and install the Linux operating system. See “Create a Virtual
Machine and Install Linux,” on page 13.
3 Prepare the guest operating system for deployment as a desktop in a Horizon 6 environment. See
“Prepare a Linux Machine for Remote Desktop Deployment,” on page 14.
4 Configure the Linux guest operating system to authenticate with Active Directory. This step is
implemented with 3rd-party software, based on the requirements in your environment, and is not described in this guide.
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Chapter 1 Features and System Requirements
5 Install View Agent on the Linux virtual machine. See “Install View Agent on a Linux Virtual Machine,”
on page 39.
6 Create a desktop pool that contains the configured Linux virtual machines. See “Create a Desktop Pool
That Contains Linux Virtual Machines,” on page 42.
3D Graphics - Overview of Configuration Steps
You must complete the NVIDIA GRID vGPU, vDGA, or vSGA configuration on the Linux virtual machines before you install View Agent on the machines and deploy a desktop pool in View Administrator.
1 Review the system requirements for setting up a Horizon 6 for Linux deployment. See “System
Requirements for Horizon 6 for Linux,” on page 9.
2 Create a virtual machine in vSphere and install the Linux operating system. See “Create a Virtual
Machine and Install Linux,” on page 13.
3 Prepare the guest operating system for deployment as a desktop in a Horizon 6 environment. See
“Prepare a Linux Machine for Remote Desktop Deployment,” on page 14.
4 Configure the Linux guest operating system to authenticate with Active Directory. This step is
implemented with 3rd-party software, based on the requirements in your environment, and is not described in this guide.
5 Configure 3D capabilities on your ESXi hosts and the Linux virtual machine. Follow the procedures for
the 3D feature you intend to install.
See “Configure RHEL 6.6 and RHEL 7.1 for vGPU,” on page 25.
n
See “Configure RHEL 6.6 for vDGA,” on page 30.
n
See “Configure RHEL 7.1 for vSGA,” on page 34.
n
6 Install View Agent on the Linux virtual machine. See “Install View Agent on a Linux Virtual Machine,”
on page 39.
7 Create a desktop pool that contains the configured Linux virtual machines. See “Create a Desktop Pool
That Contains Linux Virtual Machines,” on page 42.
Bulk Deployment
With View Administrator, you can only deploy Linux virtual machines in a manual desktop pool. With vSphere PowerCLI, you can develop scripts that automate the deployment of a pool of Linux desktop machines. See Chapter 7, “Bulk Deployment of Horizon 6 for Linux Desktops,” on page 49.

System Requirements for Horizon 6 for Linux

Horizon 6 for Linux must meet certain operating system, Horizon 6, and vSphere platform requirements.
Supported Linux Versions for View Agent
The following table lists the Linux operating systems that are supported on virtual machines in a desktop pool.
Table 1‑1. Supported Linux Operating Systems for View Agent
Linux Distribution Architecture
Ubuntu 14.04 x64
Ubuntu 12.04 x64
RHEL 7.1 x64
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Table 1‑1. Supported Linux Operating Systems for View Agent (Continued)
Linux Distribution Architecture
RHEL 6.6 x86 and x64
CentOS 6.6 x64
NeoKylin 6 Update 1 x64
NOTE On Ubuntu 14.04, disable Compiz to avoid poor performance.
Required Platform and Horizon 6 Software Versions
To install and use Horizon 6 for Linux, your deployment must meet certain vSphere platform, Horizon 6, and client requirements.
vSphere platform version
vSphere 5.5 U3, vSphere 6.0 U1, or a later release
vSphere 6.0 or a later release is required to support NeoKylin.
vSphere 6.0 U1 or a later release is required to support virtual machines with 3D graphics, including NVIDIA GRID vGPU, vDGA, and vSGA.
Horizon environment
Horizon Client software
Horizon 6 version 6.2.1 or a later release
Horizon Client 3.5.2 for Windows, 3.5.0 for Linux, or 3.5.2 for Mac OS X
Zero clients and mobile clients are not supported
Recommended Video Memory (vRAM) Settings
When you create a Linux virtual machine in vSphere Client, configure the vRAM size as shown in Table 1-2. Set the vRAM size that is recommended for the number and resolution of the monitors that you configure for the virtual machine.
These vRAM size recommendations apply only to virtual machines that are configured to use 2D or vSGA graphics, which use the VMware driver. vDGA and NVIDIA GRID vGPU use NVIDIA drivers. The vRAM size set in vSphere Client has no affect on vDGA or NVIDIA GRID vGPU machines.
These vRAM sizes are the minimum recommendations. If more resources are available on the virtual machine, set the vRAM to larger values for improved video performance.
10 MB is the minimum vRAM size recommendation for a machine that is configured with a single monitor at the lowest resolution.
If a Linux virtual machine is configured with a smaller vRAM size than is recommended, the following issues might occur:
Desktop sessions might be disconnected right after the initial connection is made.
n
Autofit might fail to work. The desktop is then displayed in a small area of the screen.
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CAUTION Horizon 6 does not automatically configure the vRAM settings on Linux virtual machines, as happens on Windows virtual machines. You must configure the vRAM settings manually in vSphere Client.
Table 1‑2. Recommended vRAM Settings for 2D or vSGA Graphics
Number of
vRAM Size
10 MB 1 1600x1200 or 1680x1050
12 MB 1 1920x1440
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Monitors Maximum Resolution
Chapter 1 Features and System Requirements
Table 1‑2. Recommended vRAM Settings for 2D or vSGA Graphics (Continued)
Number of
vRAM Size
16 MB 1 2560x1600
32 MB 2 2048x1536 or 2560x1600
48 MB 3 2048x1536
64 MB 3 2560x1600
64 MB 4 2048x1536
128 MB 4 2560x1600
Monitors Maximum Resolution
RHEL and CentOS only support this configuration on vSphere 5.5.
To support this configuration on Ubuntu, you must recompile the kernel and disable 3D. For information about how to disable 3D, see
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2114809 .
For NeoKylin, this configuration is not supported.
NOTE To connect to a RHEL 6.6 or CentOS 6.6 desktop with multiple monitors, you must set the number of displays and the amount of video memory as described in “Create a Virtual Machine and Install Linux,” on page 13. In addition, with the virtual machine (VM) powered off, you must edit the vmx file and set
svga.maxWidth and svga.maxHeight according to the number and orientation (horizontal or vertical) of the
displays. You also must set svga.autodetect to false. Then power on the VM. The general rule is that the
svga.maxWidth and svga.maxHeight values must be large enough to support all the displays. To support 4
displays at the maximum resolution of 2560x1600, add the following lines to the vmx file. You do not need to modify the parameter svga.vramSize.
svga.maxWidth="10240" svga.maxHeight="3200" svga.autodetect="false"
If you have multiple monitors, you must set these parameters. Otherwise, you might encounter one or more of the following problems:
Only one monitor displays correctly. The other monitors might be black or mirror another monitor.
n
A keystroke is displayed multiple times.
n
The desktop becomes very slow.
n
If you encounter an autofit issue with the recommended settings, you can specify a larger vRAM size. vSphere Client permits a maximum vRAM size of 128 MB. If your specified size exceeds 128 MB, you must modify the vmx file manually. The following example specifies a vRAM size of 256 MB:
svga.vramSize = "268435456"
NOTE To configure four monitors for a RHEL 7.1 machine that uses 2D rendering or 3D rendering with vSGA, set a maximum resolution of 2048x1536 for each monitor. To configure a RHEL 7.1 machine to use up to three monitors, set a maximum resolution of 2560x1600 for each monitor.
To improve performance for a RHEL 7.1 machine in a vSGA multiple-monitor environment, set the 3D Memory setting for the virtual machine to 1 GB or larger, and configure 4 vCPUs for the machine. If you configure four monitors at 2048x1536 resolution on a RHEL 7.1 machine, set Memory to 4 GB, and configure 4 vCPUs for the machine.
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Recommended vCPU and Shared Memory Settings to Support Multiple Monitors
To improve desktop performance with multiple monitors, configure at least two vCPUs for a Linux virtual machine.
Also make sure that the virtual machine has adequate shared memory to support multiple monitors. Determine the current maximum shared memory size (shmmax) with the following command:
sysctl -a | grep shm
If shared memory is small, increase the maximum size with the following command:
sysctl -w "kernel.shmmax=65536000"
Recommended vCPU Settings for Video Playback
For a Linux virtual machine that is not using vDGA graphics, video playback on high-resolution monitors might be uneven if too few vCPUs are configured. Configure additional vCPUs, such as four vCPUs, to improve the performance of video playback.
Monitor Resolution Supported by vDGA and NVIDIA GRID vGPU
A virtual machine that is configured to use vDGA or NVIDIA GRID vGPU can support up to 4 monitors with a maximum resolution of 2560x1600.
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Preparing a Linux Virtual Machine for
Desktop Deployment 2
Setting up a Linux desktop involves creating a Linux virtual machine and preparing the operating system for remote desktop deployment.
This chapter includes the following topics:
“Create a Virtual Machine and Install Linux,” on page 13
n
“Prepare a Linux Machine for Remote Desktop Deployment,” on page 14
n

Create a Virtual Machine and Install Linux

You create a new virtual machine in vCenter Server for each remote desktop that is deployed in Horizon 6. You must install your Linux distribution on the virtual machine.
Prerequisites
Verify that your deployment meets the requirements for supporting Linux desktops. See “System
n
Requirements for Horizon 6 for Linux,” on page 9.
Familiarize yourself with the steps for creating virtual machines in vCenter Server and installing guest
n
operating systems. See "Creating and Preparing Virtual Machines" in the Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View document.
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Familiarize yourself with the recommended video memory (vRAM) values for the monitors you will
n
use with the virtual machine. See “System Requirements for Horizon 6 for Linux,” on page 9.
Procedure
1 In vSphere Web Client or vSphere Client, create a new virtual machine.
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2 Configure custom configuration options.
a Right-click the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
b Specify the number of vCPUs and the vMemory size.
For recommended values, follow the guidelines in the installation guide for your Linux distribution.
For example, Ubuntu 12.04 recommends configuring 2048 MB for vMemory and 2 vCPUs.
c Select Video card and specify the number of displays and the total video memory (vRAM).
Set the vRAM size in vSphere Web Client for virtual machines that use 2D or vSGA, which use the VMware driver. The vRAM size has no affect on vDGA or NVIDIA GRID vGPU machines, which use NVIDIA drivers.
For recommended values, follow the guidelines in System Requirements for Horizon 6 for Linux. Do not use the Video Memory Calculator.
3 Power on the virtual machine and install the Linux distribution.
4 Configure the virtual machine as a gnome desktop environment.
KDE has not been certified to support View Agent, although basic connections and the use of audio and video work well on some distributions such as Kubuntu.
5 Ensure that the system hostname is resolvable to 127.0.0.1.

Prepare a Linux Machine for Remote Desktop Deployment

You must perform certain tasks to prepare a Linux machine for use as a desktop in a Horizon 6 deployment.
Before a Linux machine can be managed by Horizon 6, the machine must be able to communicate with Connection Server. You must configure networking on the Linux machine so that the Linux machine can ping the Connection Server instance using its FQDN (fully qualified domain name).
Open VMware Tools (OVT) are pre-installed on RHEL 7 machines. If you are preparing a RHEL 7 machine for use as a remote desktop, you can skip steps 1 through 5 in the following procedure, which describe how to install VMware Tools by manually running the installer.
Prerequisites
Verify that a new virtual machine (VM) was created in vCenter Server and your Linux distribution was
n
installed on the machine
Familiarize yourself with the steps for mounting and installing VMware Tools on a Linux VM. See
n
"Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a Linux Virtual Machine" in the vSphere Virtual Machine Administration document.
Familiarize yourself with the steps for configuring your Linux machine to be resolvable through DNS.
n
These steps vary for the different Linux distributions and releases. For instructions, consult the documentation for your Linux distribution and release.
Procedure
1 In vSphere Web Client or vSphere Client, mount the VMware Tools virtual disk on the VM.
2 Right-click the VMware Tools installer file, VMwareTools.x.x.x-xxxx.tar.gz, click Extract to, and select
the desktop for your Linux distribution.
The vmware-tools-distrib folder is extracted to the desktop.
3 On the VM, log in as root and open a terminal window.
14 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Preparing a Linux Virtual Machine for Desktop Deployment
4 Uncompress the VMware Tools tar installer file.
For example:
tar zxpf /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-x.x.x-yyyy.tar.gz
5 Run the installer and configure VMware Tools.
The command might vary slightly in different Linux distributions. For example:
cd vmware-tools-distrib sudo ./vmware-install.pl -d
Usually, the vmware-config-tools.pl configuration file runs after the installer file finishes running.
6 For RHEL and CentOS, map the machine's host name to 127.0.0.1 in /etc/hosts.
This step is not necessary for Ubuntu because the mapping is there by default. This step is also not necessary when you bulk deploy desktops because the cloning process adds this mapping.
7 Ensure that the View Connection Server instances in the pod can be resolved through DNS.
8 On Ubuntu 14.04 machines, disable user switching to ensure that end users cannot switch user sessions
from within the Linux desktop.
a To successfully disable user switching, download and install the latest version of the indicator-
session package, available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/wily/amd64/indicator-
session/12.10.5+15.04.20150327-0ubuntu1.
b Restart the machine.
9 For RHEL 7.1, downgrade the latest graphic drivers that are installed.
yum update yum downgrade mesa-libxatracker mesa-dri-drivers yum downgrade mesa-libxatracker.x86_64 xorg-x11-drv-vmware mesa-private-llvm mesa-dri-drivers
10 Configure the Linux machine so that the default runlevel is 5.
The runlevel must be 5 for the Linux desktop to work.
11 Make sure that an HD audio device is not present in the virtual hardware settings for the VM.
If HD audio is configured on the machine, audio out might not work properly when users connect to the Linux desktop.
12 On an Ubuntu machine that was configured to authenticate with an OpenLDAP server, set the fully
qualified domain name on the machine.
This step ensures that the information can be displayed correctly in the User field on the Sessions page in View Administrator. Edit the /etc/hosts file as follows:
a # nano /etc/hosts
b Add the fully qualified domain name. For example: 127.0.0.1 hostname.domainname hostname.
c Exit and save the file.
13 For RHEL and CentOS, edit /etc/cron.daily/tmpwatch and add the parameter -X '/tmp/view*' to the
command tmpwatch.
For example,
/usr/sbin/tmpwatch "$flags" -x /tmp/.X11-unix -x /tmp/.XIM-unix \
-x /tmp/.font-unix -x /tmp/.ICE-unix -x /tmp/.Test-unix \
-X '/tmp/hsperfdata_*' -X '/tmp/view*' 10d /tmp
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14 Edit /etc/nsswitch.conf and modify the hosts entry as follows:
hosts: cache db files dns
The default setting is hosts: files dns and might cause the Linux desktop to fail to recover from a temporary network outage. The desktop might lose communication with View Connection Server permanently and require a reboot to resolve the issue.
After installing VMware Tools, if you upgrade the Linux kernel, VMware Tools might stop running. To resolve the problem, see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2050592.
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Setting Up Active Directory
Integration for Linux Desktops 3
View uses the existing Microsoft Active Directory (AD) infrastructure for user authentication and management. You can integrate the Linux desktops with Active Directory so that users can log in to a Linux desktop using their Active Directory user account.
This chapter includes the following topics:
“Integrating Linux with Active Directory,” on page 17
n
“Setting Up Single Sign-on and Smart Card Redirection,” on page 18
n

Integrating Linux with Active Directory

Multiple solutions exist to integrate Linux with Active Directory (AD).
The following solutions are known to work in a View environment:
OpenLDAP Pass-Through Authentication
n
Winbind
n
At a high level, the OpenLDAP pass-through authentication solution involves the following steps:
Configure the OpenLDAP server to delegate password verification to a separate process such as
n
saslauthd, which can perform password verification against Active Directory.
Configure the Linux desktops to authenticate users with OpenLDAP.
n
If you plan to bulk deploy Linux desktops, you can set up the template virtual machine (VM) to run the final AD integration task. Be aware of the following considerations:
The OpenLDAP solution works for cloned VMs without any additional steps.
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With the Winbind solution, the step to join the domain will fail because each cloned VM has a different
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host name. Each cloned VM needs to run the following command to rejoin the domain:
sudo /usr/bin/net ads join -U <domain user>%<domain password>
VMware recommends the OpenLDAP or a similar solution because it does not require an additional step on cloned VMs.
For more information about bulk deploying Linux desktops, see Chapter 7, “Bulk Deployment of Horizon 6
for Linux Desktops,” on page 49.
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Setting Up Single Sign-on and Smart Card Redirection

To set up single sign-on (SSO) and smart card redirection, you must perform some configuration steps.
Single Sign-on
The View single sign-on module talks to PAM (pluggable authentication modules) in Linux and does not depend on the method that you use to integrate Linux with Active Directory (AD). View SSO is known to work with the OpenLDAP and Winbind solutions that integrate Linux with AD.
By default, SSO assumes that AD's sAMAccountName attribute is the login ID. To ensure that the correct login ID is used for SSO, you need to perform the following configuration steps if you use the OpenLDAP or Winbind solution:
For OpenLDAP, set sAMAccountName to uid.
n
For Winbind, add the following statement to the configuration file /etc/samba/smb.conf.
n
winbind use default domain = true
If users must specify the domain name to log in, you must set the SSOUserFormat option on the Linux desktop. For more information, see “Setting Options in Configuration Files on a Linux Desktop,” on page 21. Be aware that SSO always uses the short domain name in upper case. For example, if the domain is mydomain.com, SSO will use MYDOMAIN as the domain name. Therefore, you must specify MYDOMAIN when setting the SSOUserFormat option. Regarding short and long domain names, the following rules apply:
For OpenLDAP, you must use short domain names in upper case.
n
Winbind supports both long and short domain names.
n
AD supports special characters in login names but Linux does not. Therefore, do not use special characters in login names when setting up SSO.
In AD, if a user's UserPrincipalName (UPN) attribute and sAMAccount attribute do not match and the user logs in with the UPN, SSO will fail. The workaround is for the user to log in using the name that is stored in
sAMAccount.
View does not require the user name to be case-sensitive. You must ensure that the Linux operating system can handle case-insensitive user names.
For Winbind, the user name is case-insensitive by default.
n
For OpenLDAP, Ubuntu uses NSCD to authenticate users and is case-insensitive by default. RHEL and
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CentOS use SSSD to authenticate users and the default is case-sensitive. To change the setting, edit the file /etc/sssd/sssd.conf and add the following line in the [domain/default] section:
case_sensitive = false
Smart Card Redirection
To set up smart card redirection, first follow the instructions from the Linux distributor and from the smart card vendor. Then update the pcsc-lite package to 1.7.4. For example, run the following commands:
#yum groupinstall "Development tools" #yum install libudev-devel #service pcscd stop #wget https://alioth.debian.org/frs/download.php/file/3598/pcsc-lite-1.7.4.tar.bz2 #tar -xjvf pcsc-lite-1.7.4.tar.bz2 #cd ./pcsc-lite-1.7.4
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Chapter 3 Setting Up Active Directory Integration for Linux Desktops
#./configure --prefix=/usr/ --libdir=/usr/lib64/ --enable-usbdropdir=/usr/lib64/pcsc/drivers
--enable-confdir=/etc --enable-ipcdir=/var/run --disable-libusb --disable-serial --disable-usb
--disable-libudev #service pcscd start
When you install the View Agent, you must first disable SELinux or enable permissive mode for SELinux. You must also specifically select the smart card redirection component because the component is not selected by default. For more information, see “install_viewagent.sh Command Line Options,” on page 41.
With smart card redirection enabled, SSO is not implemented if the user logs in with the smart card. That is, after logging in to the Connection Server instance with the smart card, the user needs to type the smart card PIN to log in to the Linux desktop.. In addition, if the smart card redirection feature is installed in a virtual machine, vSphere Client's USB redirection does not work with the smart card.
Smart card redirection supports only one smart card reader. This feature does not work if two or more readers are connected to the client device.
Smart card redirection supports only one certificate on the card. If more than one certificate are on the card, the one in the first slot is used and the others are ignored. This is a Linux limitation.
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Configuration Options for Linux
Desktops 4
You can configure various options to customize the user experience using configuration files.
This chapter includes the following topics:
“Setting Options in Configuration Files on a Linux Desktop,” on page 21
n
“Suppress the vSphere Console Display of a Linux Desktop,” on page 23
n

Setting Options in Configuration Files on a Linux Desktop

You can configure certain options by adding entries to the files /etc/vmware/config or /etc/vmware/viewagent-custom.conf.
During the installation of View Agent, the installer copies two configuration template files, template_config and template_viewagent-custom.conf, to /etc/vmware. In addition, if the files /etc/vmware/config and /etc/vmware/viewagent-custom.conf do not exist, the installer copies template-config to config and
template_viewagent-custom.conf to viewagent-custom.conf. In the template files, all the configuration
options are listed and documented. To set an option, simply remove the comment and change the value as appropriate.
For example, the following line in /etc/vmware/config enables the lossless PNG mode.
RemoteDisplay.alwaysLossless=TRUE
After you make configuration changes, reboot Linux for the changes to take effect.
Configuration Options in /etc/vmware/config
VMwareBlastServer and its related plug-ins use the configuration file /etc/vmware/config.
Table 4‑1. Configuration Options in /etc/vmware/config
Option Value Default Description
RemoteDisplay.alwaysLossless TRUE or
FALSE
mksVNCServer.useUInputButt onMapping
RemoteDisplay.allowAudio TRUE or
TRUE or FALSE
FALSE
FALSE Graphic applications, especially graphic design applications,
require pixel-exact rendering of images in the client display of a Linux desktop. You can configure a lossless PNG mode for images and video playback that are generated on a Linux desktop and rendered on the client device. This feature uses additional bandwidth between the client and the ESXi host.
FALSE Set this option to enable the support of a left-handed mouse on
Ubuntu or RHEL 7. CentOS and RHEL 6.6 support a left­handed mouse and you do not need to set this option.
TRUE Set this option to disable audio out
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Table 4‑1. Configuration Options in /etc/vmware/config (Continued)
Option Value Default Description
VVC.ScRedir.Enable TRUE or
TRUE Set this option to disable smart card redirection.
FALSE
Clipboard.Direction 0, 1, 2, or32 This option determines the clipboard redirectopn policy.
Configuration Options in /etc/vmware/viewagent-custom.conf
Java Standalone Agent uses the configuration file /etc/vmware/viewagent-custom.conf.
Table 4‑2. Configuration Options in /etc/vmware/viewagent-custom.conf
Option Value Default Description
SSOEnable TRUE or
FALSE
SSOUserFormat A text
string
StartBlastServerT
An integer 20 This option determines the amount of time, in seconds, that the
imeout
SSLCiphers A text
string
SSLProtocols A text
string
SSLCipherServer Preference
TRUE or FALSE
TRUE Set this option to disable single sign-on (SSO).
[username] Use this option to specify the format of the login name for single
!aNULL:kECDH +AES:ECDH +AES:RSA +AES:@STRENGTH
TLSv1_1:TLSv1_2 Use this option to specify the security protocols. The supported
TRUE Use this option to enable or disable the option
0 - Disable clipboard redirection.
n
1 - Enable clipboard redirection in both directions.
n
2 - Enable clipboard redirection from client to remote
n
desktop only.
3 - Enable clipboard redirection from remote desktop to
n
client only.
sign-on. The default is the user name only. Set this option if the domain name is also required. Typically the login name is the domain name plus a special character followed by the user name. If the special character is the backslash, you must escape it with another backslash. Examples of login name formats:
SSOUserFormat=[domain]\\[username]
n
SSOUserFormat=[domain]+[username]
n
SSOUserFormat=[username]@[domain]
n
VMwareBlastServer process has for initialization. If the process is not ready within this timeout value, the user's login will fail.
Use this option to specify the list of ciphers. You must use the format that is defined in
https://www.openssl.org/docs/manmaster/apps/ciphers.html.
protocols are TLSv1.0, TLSv1.1, and TLSv1.2.
SSL_OP_CIPHER_SERVER_PREFERENCE. For more information, see
https://www.openssl.org/docs/manmaster/ssl/SSL_CTX_set_opti ons.html.
NOTE The three security options, SSLCiphers, SSLProtocols, and SSLCipherServerPreference are for the VMwareBlastServer process. When starting the VMwareBlastServer process, the Java Standalone Agent passes these options as parameters. When Blast Secure Gateway (BSG) is enabled, these options affect the connection between BSG and the Linux desktop. When BSG is disabled, these options affect the connection between the client and the Linux desktop.
22 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 4 Configuration Options for Linux Desktops

Suppress the vSphere Console Display of a Linux Desktop

When a user connects to a Linux desktop, the desktop can also be displayed in the vSphere console for the Linux virtual machine. You can configure Linux virtual machines to ensure that the vSphere console is blank when users connect to their desktops.
Procedure
On the ESXi host, add the following line to the Linux virtual machine's vmx file.
u
RemoteDisplay.maxConnections = "0"
The vSphere console display remains blank even when you connect to the virtual machine when the user is logged out of the desktop.
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24 VMware, Inc.
Setting Up Graphics for Linux
Desktops 5
This chapter includes the following topics:
“Configure RHEL 6.6 and RHEL 7.1 for vGPU,” on page 25
n
“Configure RHEL 6.6 for vDGA,” on page 30
n
“Configure RHEL 7.1 for vSGA,” on page 34
n

Configure RHEL 6.6 and RHEL 7.1 for vGPU

You can set up an RHEL 6.6 and RHEL 7.1 to take advantage of NVIDIA vGPU (shared GPU hardware acceleration) capabilities on the ESXi host.
IMPORTANT NVIDIA vGPU is supported on NVIDIA Maxwell M60 graphics cards. This feature does not work on other NVIDIA graphics cards such as GRID K1 or K2.
CAUTION Before you begin, verify that View Agent is not installed on the Linux virtual machine. If you install View Agent before you configure the machine to use NVIDIA vGPU, required configuration parameters in the xorg.conf file are overwritten, and NVIDIA vGPU does not work. You must install View Agent after the NVIDIA vGPU configuration is completed.

Install the VIB for the NVIDIA Graphics Card on the ESXi Host

You must download and install the VIB for your NVIDIA GRID graphics card on the ESXi 6.0 U1 or later host.
For an NVIDIA GRID vGPU configuration, NVIDIA provides a vGPU software package that includes a vGPU Manager, which you install on the ESXi host in this procedure, and a Linux Display Driver, which you will install on the Linux virtual machine in a later procedure.
For an vSGA configuration, NVIDIA provides a VMware vSphere ESXi Driver for vSGA. For vSGA, an NVIDIA display driver is not installed on the Linux virtual machine.
Prerequisites
Verify that vSphere 6.0 U1 or a later release is installed in your environment.
n
For an NVIDIA GRID vGPU configuration, verify that the NVIDIA Maxwell M60 GPUs are installed on
n
the ESXi host.
For a vSGA configuration, verify that the NVIDIA GRID K1 or K2 GPUs are installed on the ESXi host.
n
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Procedure
1 Download the VIB for your NVIDIA GRID graphics card from the NVIDIA Driver Downloads site.
Select the appropriate VIB version from the drop-down menus.
Option Description
Product Type
Product Series
Product
Operating System
2 For an NVIDIA GRID vGPU configuration, take these steps:
a Uncompress the vGPU software package .zip file.
b Upload the vGPU Manager folder to the ESXi 6.0 U1 host.
NOTE You will install the Linux Display Driver on the Linux virtual machine in a later procedure.
3 For a vSGA configuration, upload the VMware vSphere ESXi Driver for vSGA to the ESXi 6.0 U1 host.
4 Power off or suspend all virtual machines on the ESXi host.
GRID
For vGPU, select NVIDIA GRID vGPU.
For vSGA, select GRID Series.
Select the version (such as GRID K2) that is installed on the ESXi host.
Select the VMware vSphere ESXi version.
5 Connect to the ESXi host using SSH.
6 Stop the xorg service.
# /etc/init.d/xorg stop
7 Install the NVIDIA VIB.
For example:
# esxcli system maintenanceMode set --enable true # esxcli software acceptance set --level=CommunitySupported # esxcli software vib install --no-sig-check -v /path-to-vib/NVIDIA-VIB-name.vib # esxcli system maintenanceMode set --enable false
26 VMware, Inc.
8 Reboot or update the ESXi host.
3D Type Description
NVIDIA GRID vGPU
vSGA
For an installed ESXi host, reboot the host.
For a stateless ESXI host, take the following steps to update the host. (These steps also work on an installed host.)
Update vmkdevmgr: # kill -HUP $(cat /var/run/vmware/vmkdevmgr.pid)
Wait for the update to complete: # localcli --plugin-dir /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli/int deviceInternal bind
This is a new requirement with the NVIDIA 352.* host driver: # /etc/init.d/nvidia-vgpu start
Restart xorg, which is used for GPU assignment: # /etc/init.d/xorg start
a
Restart xorg, which is used for GPU assignment:
# /etc/init.d/xorg start
b Reboot the ESXi host.
9 Verify that the xorg service is running after the host is restarted.
Chapter 5 Setting Up Graphics for Linux Desktops

Configure a Shared PCI Device for vGPU on the Linux Virtual Machine

To use NVIDIA vGPU, you must configure a shared PCI device for the Linux virtual machine.
Prerequisites
Verify that the Linux virtual machine is prepared for use as a desktop. See “Create a Virtual Machine
n
and Install Linux,” on page 13 and “Prepare a Linux Machine for Remote Desktop Deployment,” on
page 14.
Verify that View Agent is not installed on the Linux virtual machine.
n
Verify that the NVIDIA VIB is installed on the ESXi host. See “Install the VIB for the NVIDIA Graphics
n
Card on the ESXi Host,” on page 25.
Familiarize yourself with the virtual GPU types that are available with NVIDIA vGPU, which you
n
select with the GPU Profile setting. The virtual GPU types provide varying capabilities on the physical GPUs installed on the ESXi host. See “NVIDIA Virtual GPU Types,” on page 28.
Procedure
1 Power off the virtual machine.
2 In vSphere Web Client, select the virtual machine and, under the VM Hardware tab, click Edit Settings.
3 In the New device menu, select Shared PCI Device.
4 Click Add and select NVIDIA GRID vGPU from the drop-down menu.
5 For the GPU Profile setting, select a virtual GPU type from the drop-down menu.
6 Click Reserve all memory and click OK.
You must reserve all virtual machine memory to enable the GPU to support NVIDIA GRID vGPU.
7 Power on the virtual machine.
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NVIDIA Virtual GPU Types
With the GPU Profiles setting on the Virtual Hardware page in vSphere Web Client, you can select a virtual GPU type that provides specific capabilities on the physical NVIDIA GPU on the ESXi host.
On Linux virtual machines, NVIDIA GRID vGPU is supported on NVIDIA Maxwell M60 GPUs.
Table 5‑1. Virtual GPU Types Available for NVIDIA GRID vGPU on Linux Virtual Machines
Virtual GPU Type
GRID M60-0q
GRID M60-1q
GRID M60-2q
GRID M60-4q
GRID M60-8q
Physical Board
GRID M60 two 512M 2 2560x1600 16 32
GRID M60 two 1G 2 2560x1600 8 16
GRID M60 two 2G 4 2560x1600 4 8
GRID M60 two 4G 4 3840x2160 2 4
GRID M60 two 8G 4 3840x2160 1 2
Physical GPUs
FB Per Virtual GPU
Display Heads
Maximum Resolution
Maximum Virtual GPUs Per Physical GPU
Maximum Virtual GPUs Per Physical Board

Install the NVIDIA Display Driver

To install the NVIDIA display driver, you must disable the default NVIDIA driver, download the NVIDIA display drivers, and configure the PCI device on the virtual machine.
Prerequisites
For an NVIDIA GRID vGPU configuration, verify that you downloaded the vGPU software package
n
from the NVIDIA download site, uncompressed the package, and have the Linux Display Driver (a package component) ready. See “Install the VIB for the NVIDIA Graphics Card on the ESXi Host,” on page 25.
Also verify that a shared PCI device was added to the virtual machine. See “Configure a Shared PCI
Device for vGPU on the Linux Virtual Machine,” on page 27
For a vDGA configuration, verify that the PCI device was added to the RHEL 6.6 virtual machine. See
n
“Add a vDGA Pass-Through Device to a RHEL 6.6 Virtual Machine,” on page 31.
Procedure
1 Disable and blacklist the default NVIDIA Nouveau driver.
a Edit the grub.conf file.
For RHEL 6.6, the file is /boot/grub/grub.conf. For RHEL 7.1, the file is /etc/default/grub.conf.
RHEL Version Command
6.6
7.1
b Add the rdblacklist=nouveau line at the end of the kernel options.
sudo vi /boot/grub/grub.conf
sudo vi /etc/default/grub.conf
28 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 5 Setting Up Graphics for Linux Desktops
c Edit the blacklist.conf file.
sudo vi /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
d Add the following line anywhere in the blacklist.conf file.
blacklist nouveau
2 Restart the virtual machine.
The display has a changed look and feel.
3 (Optional) Verify that the Nouveau driver is disabled.
/sbin/lsmod | grep nouveau
If the grep search does not return any results, the Nouveau driver is disabled.
4 Copy or download the NVIDIA display driver to the virtual machine.
a For an NVIDIA GRID vGPU configuration, copy the NVIDIA Linux Display Driver to the virtual
machine.
b For a vDGA configuration, download the NVIDIA driver from the NVIDIA Driver Downloads site.
Select the appropriate driver version from the NVIDIA drop-down menus:
Option Description
Product Type
Product Series
Product
Operating System
GRID
GRID Series
Select the version (such as GRID K2) that is installed on the ESXi host.
Linux 64-bit or Linux 32-bit
5 Open a remote terminal to the virtual machine, or switch to a text console by typing Ctrl-Alt-F2, log in
as root, and run the init 3 command to disable X Windows.
6 Install additional components that are required for the NVIDIA driver.
sudo yum install gcc-c++ sudo yum install kernel-devel-$(uname -r) sudo yum install kernel-headers-$(uname -r)
7 Add an executable flag to the NVIDIA driver package.
The following example uses a driver package for NVIDIA GRID vGPU:
chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-version-grid.run
The following example uses a driver package for vDGA:
chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-version.run
8 Start the NVIDIA installer.
For NVIDIA GRID vGPU:
sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-version-grid.run
For vDGA:
sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-version.run
9 Accept the NVIDIA software license agreement and select Yes to automatically update the X
configuration settings.
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What to do next
Install View Agent on the Linux virtual machine. See “Install View Agent on a Linux Virtual Machine,” on page 39.
Create a desktop pool that contains the configured Linux virtual machines. See “Create a Desktop Pool That
Contains Linux Virtual Machines,” on page 42.

Verify That the NVIDIA Display Driver Is Installed

You can verify that the NVIDIA display driver is installed on a RHEL 6.6. virtual machine by displaying the NVIDIA driver output in a View desktop session.
Prerequisites
Check that you installed the NVIDIA display driver.
n
Verify that View Agent is installed on the Linux virtual machine. See “Install View Agent on a Linux
n
Virtual Machine,” on page 39.
Verify that the Linux virtual machine is deployed in a desktop pool. See “Create a Desktop Pool That
n
Contains Linux Virtual Machines,” on page 42.
Procedure
1 Restart the Linux virtual machine.
The View Agent startup script initializes the X server and display topology.
You can no longer view the virtual machine display in the vSphere console.
2 From Horizon Client, connect to the Linux desktop.
3 In the Linux desktop session, verify that the NVIDIA display driver is installed.
Open a terminal window and run the glxinfo | grep NVIDIA command.
The NVIDIA driver output is displayed. For example:
[root]# glxinfo | grep NVIDIA server glx vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation client glx vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation OpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation OpenGL version string: 4.5.0 NVIDIA 346.47 OpenGL shading language version string: 4.50 NVIDIA
The user can access the NVIDIA graphics capabilities on the remote desktop.
After installing the NVIDIA driver, if you upgrade the Linux kernel, View Agent might not be able to communicate with View Connection Server. To resolve the problem, reinstall the NVIDIA driver.

Configure RHEL 6.6 for vDGA

You can set up an RHEL 6.6 guest operating system so that a Horizon 6 for Linux desktop can take advantage of vDGA capabilities on the ESXi host.
CAUTION Before you begin, verify that View Agent is not installed on the Linux virtual machine. If you install View Agent before you configure the machine to use vDGA, required configuration parameters in the
xorg.conf file are overwritten, and vDGA does not work. You must install View Agent after the vDGA
configuration is completed.
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