VMware Horizon 7.0 User Manual

Setting Up Desktop and Application

Pools in View

VMware Horizon 7 Version 7.0 VMware Horizon 7 Version 7.0.1 VMware Horizon 7 Version 7.0.2

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-001999-02

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

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2 VMware, Inc.

Seing Up Desktop and Application Pools in View 7

Introduction to Desktop and Application Pools 9

Farms, RDS Hosts, and Desktop and Application Pools 9

Advantages of Desktop Pools 10

Desktop Pools for Specic Types of Workers 11

Advantages of Application Pools 14

Preparing Unmanaged Machines 15

Prepare an Unmanaged Machine for Remote Desktop Deployment 15

Install Horizon Agent on an Unmanaged Machine 16

Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning 19

Creating a Virtual Machine for Cloning 19

Install Horizon Agent on a Virtual Machine 26

Install Horizon Agent Silently 30

Congure a Virtual Machine with Multiple NICs for Horizon Agent 36

Optimize Guest Operating System Performance 37

Disable the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program 38

Optimizing Windows for Instant-Clone and View Composer Linked-Clone Virtual Machines 39

Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine 45

Creating Virtual Machine Templates 49

Creating Customization Specications 50

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Creating Automated Desktop Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines 51

Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines 51

Worksheet for Creating an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines 51

Create an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines 55

Clone an Automated Desktop Pool 56

Desktop Seings for Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines 57

Creating Linked-Clone Desktop Pools 59

Linked-Clone Desktop Pools 59

Worksheet for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool 59

Create a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool 67

Clone an Automated Desktop Pool 69

Desktop Pool Seings for Linked-Clone Desktop Pools 70

View Composer Support for Linked-Clone SIDs and Third-Party Applications 71

Keeping Linked-Clone Machines Provisioned for Use in Remote Desktop Sessions During View

Composer Operations 75

Use Existing Active Directory Computer Accounts for Linked Clones 76

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Creating Instant-Clone Desktop Pools 79

Instant-Clone Desktop Pools 79

Image Publishing and Rebalancing an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool 81

Add an Instant-Clone Domain Administrator 81

Worksheet for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool 82

Create an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool 84

ClonePrep Guest Customization 85

Instant-Clone Maintenance Utilities 86

Creating Manual Desktop Pools 89

Manual Desktop Pools 89

Worksheet for Creating a Manual Desktop Pool 89

Create a Manual Desktop Pool 91

Create a Manual Pool That Contains One Machine 92

Desktop Pool Seings for Manual Pools 93

Seing Up Remote Desktop Services Hosts 95

Remote Desktop Services Hosts 95

Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2008 R2 97

Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2 97

Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2008 R2 98

Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2 98

Restrict Users to a Single Session 99

Install Horizon Agent on a Remote Desktop Services Host 99

Printing From a Remote Application Launched Inside a Nested Session 102

Enable Time Zone Redirection for RDS Desktop and Application Sessions 102

Enable Windows Basic Theme for Applications 103

Congure Group Policy to Start Runonce.exe 103

RDS Host Performance Options 104

Conguring 3D Graphics for RDS Hosts 104

Creating Farms 107

Farms 107

Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for an Automated Farm 108

Worksheet for Creating a Manual Farm 111

Worksheet for Creating an Automated Farm 112

Create a Manual Farm 116

Create an Automated Farm 117

Creating Application Pools 119

Application Pools 119

Worksheet for Creating an Application Pool Manually 120

Create an Application Pool 120

Creating RDS Desktop Pools 123

Understanding RDS Desktop Pools 123

Create an RDS Desktop Pool 124

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Desktop Pool Seings for RDS Desktop Pools 124

Congure Adobe Flash Throling with Internet Explorer for RDS Desktop Pools 125

Contents

Provisioning Desktop Pools 127

User Assignment in Desktop Pools 127

Naming Machines Manually or Providing a Naming Paern 128

Manually Customizing Machines 133

Desktop Pool Seings for All Desktop Pool Types 135

Adobe Flash Quality and Throling 139

Seing Power Policies for Desktop Pools 140

Conguring 3D Rendering for Desktops 145

Prevent Access to View Desktops Through RDP 156

Deploying Large Desktop Pools 157

Entitling Users and Groups 159

Add Entitlements to a Desktop or Application Pool 159

Remove Entitlements from a Desktop or Application Pool 160

Review Desktop or Application Pool Entitlements 160

Restricting Remote Desktop Access 160

Restricting Remote Desktop Access Outside the Network 164

Conguring Remote Desktop Features 167

Conguring Unity Touch 167

Conguring Flash URL Redirection for Multicast or Unicast Streaming 170

Conguring Flash Redirection 174

Conguring URL Content Redirection 180

Conguring Real-Time Audio-Video 186

Conguring Scanner Redirection 199

Conguring Serial Port Redirection 204

Managing Access to Windows Media Multimedia Redirection (MMR) 211

Managing Access to Client Drive Redirection 213

Restricting Clipboard Formats for Copy and Paste Operations 215

Using USB Devices with Remote Desktops and Applications 217

Limitations Regarding USB Device Types 218

Overview of Seing Up USB Redirection 219

Network Trac and USB Redirection 220

Automatic Connections to USB Devices 220

Deploying USB Devices in a Secure View Environment 221

Using Log Files for Troubleshooting and to Determine USB Device IDs 223

Using Policies to Control USB Redirection 224

Troubleshooting USB Redirection Problems 234

Reducing and Managing Storage Requirements 237

Managing Storage with vSphere 237

Reducing Storage Requirements with Instant Clones 243

Reducing Storage Requirements with View Composer 244

Storage Sizing for Instant-Clone and View Composer Linked-Clone Desktop Pools 245

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Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Storage Overcommit for View Composer Linked-Clone Virtual Machines 249

View Composer Linked-Clone Data Disks 251

Storing View Composer Linked Clones on Local Datastores 252

Storing Replicas and Clones on Separate Datastores for Instant Clones and View Composer Linked

Clones 253

Congure View Storage Accelerator for View Composer Linked Clones 254

Reclaim Disk Space on View Composer Linked Clones 255

Using VAAI Storage for View Composer Linked Clones 257

Set Storage Accelerator and Space Reclamation Blackout Times for View Composer Linked Clones 258

Conguring Policies for Desktop and Application

Pools 259

Seing Policies in View Administrator 259

Using Smart Policies 261

Using Active Directory Group Policies 267

Using View Group Policy Administrative Template Files 268

View ADM and ADMX Template Files 268

Horizon Agent Conguration ADM Template Seings 270

PCoIP Policy Seings 276

VMware Blast Policy Seings 289

Using Remote Desktop Services Group Policies 292

Seing Up Location-Based Printing 301

Active Directory Group Policy Example 306

Conguring User Proles with View Persona Management 311

Providing User Personas in View 311

Using View Persona Management with Standalone Systems 312

Migrating User Proles with View Persona Management 313

Persona Management and Windows Roaming Proles 316

Conguring a View Persona Management Deployment 316

Best Practices for Conguring a View Persona Management Deployment 326

View Persona Management Group Policy Seings 329

Troubleshooting Machines and Desktop Pools 337

Display Problem Machines 337

Send Messages to Desktop Users 338

Problems Provisoning or Recreating a Desktop Pool 338

Troubleshooting Network Connection Problems 349

Troubleshooting USB Redirection Problems 352

Manage Machines and Policies for Unentitled Users 354

Resolving Database Inconsistencies with the ViewDbChk Command 354

Further Troubleshooting Information 357

Index 359

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Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Seing Up Desktop and Application Pools in View describes how to create and provision pools of machines and create pools of remote applications that run on Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) hosts. It includes information about preparing machines, conguring policies, entitling users and groups, conguring remote desktop features, and conguring user proles with View Persona Management.

Intended Audience

This information is intended for anyone who wants to create and provision desktop and application pools. The information is wrien for experienced Windows system administrators who are familiar with virtual machine technology and datacenter operations.

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Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

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Introduction to Desktop and

Application Pools 1

With Horizon 7, you can create desktop pools that include thousands of virtual desktops. You can deploy desktops that run on virtual machines (VMs), physical machines, and Windows Remote Desktop Services (RDS) hosts. Create one VM as a base image, and Horizon 7 can generate a pool of virtual desktops from that image. You can also create application pools that give users remote access to applications.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“Farms, RDS Hosts, and Desktop and Application Pools,” on page 9

“Advantages of Desktop Pools,” on page 10

“Desktop Pools for Specic Types of Workers,” on page 11

“Advantages of Application Pools,” on page 14

Farms, RDS Hosts, and Desktop and Application Pools

You can create desktop and application pools to give users remote access to virtual machine-based desktops, session-based desktops, physical computers, and applications. You can also choose Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS), VMware PC-over-IP (PCoIP), or VMware Blast to provide remote access to users.

RDS Hosts

RDS hosts are server computers that have Windows Remote Desktop Services and Horizon Agent installed. These servers host applications and desktop sessions that users can access remotely. To access RDS desktop pools or applications, Horizon Client 3.0 or later is required.

Desktop Pools

There are three main types of desktop pools: automated, manual, and RDS. Automated desktop pools use a vCenter Server virtual machine template or snapshot to create a pool of identical virtual machines. Manual desktop pools are a collection of existing vCenter Server virtual machines, physical computers, or thirdparty virtual machines. In automated or manual pools, each machine is available for one user to access remotely at a time. RDS desktop pools are not a collection of machines, but instead, provide users with desktop sessions on RDS hosts. Multiple users can have desktop sessions on an RDS host simultaneously.

Application Pools

Application pools let you deliver applications to many users. The applications in application pools run on a farm of RDS hosts.

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Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Farms

Farms are collections of RDS hosts and facilitate the management of those hosts. Farms can have a variable number of RDS hosts and provide a common set of applications or RDS desktops to users. When you create an RDS desktop pool or an application pool, you must specify a farm. The RDS hosts in the farm provide desktop and application sessions to users.

Advantages of Desktop Pools

Horizon 7 oers the ability to create and provision pools of desktops as its basis of centralized management.

You create a remote desktop pool from one of the following sources:

A physical system such as a physical desktop PC or an RDS host

A virtual machine that is hosted on an ESXi host and managed by vCenter Server

A virtual machine that runs on a virtualization platform other than vCenter Server that supports

Horizon Agent.

If you use a vSphere virtual machine as a desktop source, you can automate the process of making as many identical virtual desktops as you need. You can set a minimum and maximum number of virtual desktops to be generated for the pool. Seing these parameters ensures that you always have enough remote desktops available for immediate use but not so many that you overuse available resources.

Using pools to manage desktops allows you to apply seings or deploy applications to all remote desktops in a pool. The following examples show some of the seings available:

Specify which remote display protocol to use as the default for the remote desktop and whether to let

end users override the default.

For View Composer linked-clone virtual machines or full clone virtual machines, specify whether to

power o the virtual machine when it is not in use and whether to delete it altogether. Instant clone virtual machines are always powered on.

For View Composer linked-clone virtual machines, you can specify whether to use a Microsoft Sysprep

customization specication or QuickPrep from VMware. Sysprep generates a unique SID and GUID for each virtual machine in the pool. Instant clones require a dierent customization specication, called ClonePrep, from VMware.

You can also specify how users are assigned desktops in a pool.

Dedicated-assignment pools

Each user is assigned a particular remote desktop and returns to the same desktop at each login. Dedicated assignment pools require a one-to-one desktop-to-user relationship. For example, a pool of 100 desktops are needed for a group of 100 users.

Floating-assignment pools

The remote desktop is optionally deleted and re-created after each use, oering a highly controlled environment.

Using oating-assignment pools also allows you to create a pool of desktops that can be used by shifts of users. For example, a pool of 100 desktops could be used by 300 users if they worked in shifts of 100 users at a time.

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Desktop Pools for Specific Types of Workers

View provides many features to help you conserve storage and reduce the amount of processing power required for various use cases. Many of these features are available as pool seings.

The most fundamental question to consider is whether a certain type of user needs a stateful desktop image or a stateless desktop image. Users who need a stateful desktop image have data in the operating system image itself that must be preserved, maintained, and backed up. For example, these users install some of their own applications or have data that cannot be saved outside of the virtual machine itself, such as on a le server or in an application database.

Chapter 1 Introduction to Desktop and Application Pools

Stateless desktop images

Also known as nonpersistent desktops, stateless architectures have many advantages, such as being easier to support and having lower storage costs. Other benets include a limited need to back up the virtual machines and easier, less expensive disaster recovery and business continuity options.

Stateful desktop images

Also known as persistent desktops, these images might require traditional image management techniques. Stateful images can have low storage costs in conjunction with certain storage system technologies. Backup and recovery technologies such as VMware Consolidated Backup and VMware Site Recovery Manager are important when considering strategies for backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity.

There are two ways to create stateless desktop images in View:

You can create oating assignment pools of instant clone virtual machines. Folder redirection and

roaming proles can optionally be used to store user data.

You can use View Composer to create oating assignment pools of linked clone virtual machines.

Folder redirection and roaming proles can optionally be used to store user data.

There are several ways to create stateful desktop images in View:

You can create oating assignment pools of instant clone virtual machines and use App Volumes to

aach user data and user-installed apps. Folder redirection and roaming prole can optionally be used to store user data.

You can use View Composer to create dedicated assignment pools of linked clone virtual machines. You

can congure View Composer persistent disks.

You can create full clones or full virtual machines. Some storage vendors have cost-eective storage

solutions for full clones. These vendors often have their own best practices and provisioning utilities. Using one of these vendors might require that you create a manual dedicated-assignment pool.

Whether you use stateless or stateful desktops depends on the specic type of worker.

Pools for Task Workers

You can standardize on stateless desktop images for task workers so that the image is always in a wellknown, easily supportable conguration and so that workers can log in to any available desktop.

Because task workers perform repetitive tasks within a small set of applications, you can create stateless desktop images, which help conserve storage space and processing requirements. Use the following pool

seings:

Create an automated pool so that desktops can be created when the pool is created or can be generated

on demand based on pool usage.

For instant clone pools, to optimize resource utilization, use on demand provisioning to grow or shrink

the pool based on usage. Be sure to specify enough spare desktops to satisfy the login rate.

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Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Use oating assignment so that users log in to any available desktop. This seing reduces the number of

desktops required if everyone does not need to be logged in at the same time.

Create instant-clone or View Composer linked-clone desktops so that desktops share the same base

image and use less storage space in the datacenter than full virtual machines.

For View Composer desktop pools, determine what action, if any, to take when users log o. Disks

grow over time. You can conserve disk space by refreshing the desktop to its original state when users log o. You can also set a schedule for periodically refreshing desktops. For example, you can schedule desktops to refresh daily, weekly, or monthly.

For instant clone desktop pools, View automatically deletes the instant clone whenever a user logs out.

A new instant clone is created and ready for the next user to log in, thus eectively refreshing the desktop on every log out.

If applicable, and if you use View Composer linked-clone pools, consider storing desktops on local ESXi

data stores. This strategy can oer advantages such as inexpensive hardware, fast virtual-machine provisioning, high-performance power operations, and simple management. For a list of the limitations, see “Storing View Composer Linked Clones on Local Datastores,” on page 252. Instant clone pools are not supported on local data stores.

N For information about other types of storage options, see Chapter 16, “Reducing and Managing

Storage Requirements,” on page 237.

Use the Persona Management feature so that users always have their preferred desktop appearance and

application seings, as with Windows user proles. If you do not have the desktops set to be refreshed or deleted at logo, you can congure the persona to be removed at logo.

I View Persona Management facilitates implementing a oating-assignment pool for those users who want to retain seings between sessions. Previously, one of the limitations of oating-assignment desktops was that when end users logged o, they lost all their conguration seings and any data stored in the remote desktop.

Each time end users logged on, their desktop background was set to the default wallpaper, and they would have to congure each application's preferences again. With View Persona Management, an end user of a oating-assignment desktop cannot tell the dierence between their session and a session on a dedicatedassignment desktop.

Pools for Knowledge Workers and Power Users

Knowledge workers must be able to create complex documents and have them persist on the desktop. Power users must be able to install their own applications and have them persist. Depending on the nature and amount of personal data that must be retained, the desktop can be stateful or stateless.

For knowledge workers who do not need user-installed applications except for temporary use, you can create stateless desktop images and save all their personal data outside of the virtual machine, on a le server or in an application database. For other knowledge workers and for power users, you can create stateful desktop images. Use the following pool seings:

Some power users and knowledge workers, such as accountants, sales managers, marketing research

analysts, might need to log into the same desktop every time. Create dedicated assignment pools for them.

Use the Persona Management feature so that users always have their preferred desktop appearance and

application seings, as with Windows user proles.

Use vStorage thin provisioning so that at rst, each desktop uses only as much storage space as the disk

needs for its initial operation.

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Chapter 1 Introduction to Desktop and Application Pools

For power users and knowledge workers who must install their own applications, which adds data to

the operating system disk, there are two options. One option is to create full virtual machine desktops, and use Mirage to deploy and update applications without overwriting user-installed applications.

The other option is to create a pool of linked clones or instant clones, and use App Volumes to persist user-installed applications and user data across logins.

If knowledge workers do not require user-installed applications except for temporary use, you can

create View Composer linked-clone desktops or instant clone desktops. The desktop images share the same base image and use less storage space than full virtual machines.

If you use View Composer with vSphere 5.1 or later virtual desktops, enable the space reclamation

feature for vCenter Server and for the desktop pool. With the space reclamation feature, stale or deleted data within a guest operating system is automatically reclaimed with a wipe and shrink process.

If you use View Composer linked-clone desktops, implement View Persona Management, roaming

proles, or another prole management solution. You can also congure persistent disks so that you can refresh and recompose the linked-clone OS disks while keeping a copy of the user prole on the persistent disks.

If you use instant clone desktops, implement roaming proles or another prole management solution.

You do not need to congure persistent disks. You can use App Volumes to retain a copy of the user data and prole.

Pools for Kiosk Users

Kiosk users might include customers at airline check-in stations, students in classrooms or libraries, medical personnel at medical data entry workstations, or customers at self-service points. Accounts associated with client devices rather than users are entitled to use these desktop pools because users do not need to log in to use the client device or the remote desktop. Users can still be required to provide authentication credentials for some applications.

Virtual machine desktops that are set to run in kiosk mode use stateless desktop images because user data does not need to be preserved in the operating system disk. Kiosk mode desktops are used with thin client devices or locked-down PCs. You must ensure that the desktop application implements authentication mechanisms for secure transactions, that the physical network is secure against tampering and snooping, and that all devices connected to the network are trusted.

As a best practice, use dedicated View Connection Server instances to handle clients in kiosk mode, and create dedicated organizational units and groups in Active Directory for the accounts of these clients. This practice not only partitions these systems against unwarranted intrusion, but also makes it easier to congure and administer the clients.

To set up kiosk mode, you must use the vdmadmin command-line interface and perform several procedures documented in the topics about kiosk mode in the View Administration document. As part of this setup, you can use the following pool seings.

Create an automated pool so that desktops can be created when the pool is created or can be generated

on demand based on pool usage.

Use oating assignment so that users can access any available desktop in the pool.

Create instant-clone or View Composer linked-clone desktops so that desktops share the same base

image and use less storage space in the datacenter than full virtual machines.

If you are using View Composer linked-clone desktops, institute a refresh policy so that the desktop is

refreshed frequently, such as at every user logo.

If you are using instant clone desktop pools, View automatically deletes the instant clone whenever a

user logs out. A new instant clone is created and ready for the next user to log in, thus eectively refreshing the desktop on every log out.

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Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

If applicable, consider storing desktops on local ESXi datastores. This strategy can oer advantages

such as inexpensive hardware, fast virtual-machine provisioning, high-performance power operations, and simple management. For a list of the limitations, see “Storing View Composer Linked Clones on

Local Datastores,” on page 252. Instant clone pools are not supported on local data stores.

N For information about other types of storage options, see Chapter 16, “Reducing and Managing

Storage Requirements,” on page 237.

Use an Active Directory GPO (group policy object) to congure location-based printing, so that the

desktop uses the nearest printer. For a complete list and description of the seings available through Group Policy administrative (ADM) templates, see Chapter 17, “Conguring Policies for Desktop and

Application Pools,” on page 259.

Use a GPO or Smart Policies to control whether local USB devices are connected to the desktop when

the desktop is launched or when USB devices are plugged in to the client computer.

Advantages of Application Pools

With application pools, you give users access to applications that run on servers in a data center instead of on their personal computers or devices.

Application pools oer several important benets:

Accessibility

Users can access applications from anywhere on the network. You can also congure secure network access.

Device independence

With application pools, you can support a range of client devices, such as smart phones, tablets, laptops, thin clients, and personal computers. The client devices can run various operating systems, such as Windows, iOS, Mac OS, or Android.

Access control

You can easily and quickly grant or remove access to applications for one user or a group of users.

Accelerated deployment

With application pools, deploying applications can be accelerated because you only deploy applications on servers in a data center and each server can support multiple users.

Manageability

Managing software that is deployed on client computers and devices typically requires signicant resources. Management tasks include deployment, conguration, maintenance, support, and upgrades. With application pools, you can simplify software management in an enterprise because the software runs on servers in a data center, which requires fewer installed copies.

Security and regulatory compliance

With application pools, you can improve security because applications and their associated data are centrally located in a data center. Centralized data can address security concerns and regulatory compliance issues.

Reduced cost

Depending on software license agreements, hosting applications in a data center can be more costeective. Other factors, including accelerated deployment and improved manageability, can also reduce

the cost of software in an enterprise.

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Preparing Unmanaged Machines 2

Users can access remote desktops delivered by machines that are not managed by vCenter Server. These unmanaged machines can include physical computers and virtual machines running on virtualization platforms other than vCenter Server. You must prepare an unmanaged machine to deliver remote desktop access.

For information about preparing machines that are used as Remote Desktop Services (RDS) hosts, see

Chapter 8, “Seing Up Remote Desktop Services Hosts,” on page 95.

For information about preparing Linux virtual machines for remote desktop deployment, see the Seing Up Horizon 7 for Linux Desktops guide.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“Prepare an Unmanaged Machine for Remote Desktop Deployment,” on page 15

“Install Horizon Agent on an Unmanaged Machine,” on page 16

Prepare an Unmanaged Machine for Remote Desktop Deployment

You must perform certain tasks to prepare an unmanaged machine for remote desktop deployment.

Prerequisites

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Verify that you have administrative rights on the unmanaged machine.

To make sure that remote desktop users are added to the local Remote Desktop Users group of the

unmanaged machine, create a restricted Remote Desktop Users group in Active Directory. See the View Installation document for more information.

Procedure

1 Power on the unmanaged machine and verify that it is accessible to the View Connection Server

instance.

2 Join the unmanaged machine to the Active Directory domain for your remote desktops.

3 Congure the Windows rewall to allow Remote Desktop connections to the unmanaged machine.

What to do next

Install Horizon Agent on the unmanaged machine. See “Install Horizon Agent on an Unmanaged Machine,” on page 16.

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Install Horizon Agent on an Unmanaged Machine

You must install Horizon Agent on an all unmanaged machines. View cannot manage an unmanaged machine unless Horizon Agent is installed.

To install Horizon Agent on multiple Windows physical computers without having to respond to wizard prompts, you can install Horizon Agent silently. See “Install Horizon Agent Silently,” on page 30.

Prerequisites

Verify that you have administrative rights on the unmanaged machine.

To use an unmanaged Windows Server machine as a remote desktop rather than as an RDS host,

perform the steps described in “Prepare Windows Server Operating Systems for Desktop Use,” on page 24.

Familiarize yourself with the Horizon Agent custom setup options for unmanaged machines. See

“Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options for Unmanaged Machines,” on page 17.

Familiarize yourself with the TCP ports that the Horizon Agent installation program opens on the

rewall. See the View Architecture Planning document for more information.

If the machine has the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package installed, verify that the version of

the package is 2005 SP1 or later. If the package version is 2005 or earlier, you can either upgrade or uninstall the package.

Download the Horizon Agent installer le from the VMware product page at

hp://www.vmware.com/go/downloadview.

Procedure

1 To start the Horizon Agent installation program, double-click the installer le.

The installer lename is VMware-viewagent-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe or VMware-viewagent-x86_64-y.y.y-

xxxxxx.exe, where y.y.y is the version number and xxxxxx is the build number.

2 Accept the VMware license terms.

3 Select the Internet Protocol (IP) version, IPv4 or IPv6.

You must install all View components with the same IP version.

4 Select whether to enable or disable FIPS mode.

This option is available only if FIPS mode is enabled in Windows.

5 Select your custom setup options.

6 Accept or change the destination folder.

7 In the Server text box, type the host name or IP address of a View Connection Server host.

During installation, the installer registers the unmanaged machine with this View Connection Server instance. After registration, the specied View Connection Server instance, and any additional instances in the same View Connection Server group, can communicate with the unmanaged machine.

16 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 2 Preparing Unmanaged Machines

8 Select an authentication method to register the unmanaged machine with the View Connection Server

instance.

Option Action

Authenticate as the currently logged in user

Specify administrator credentials

The Username and Password text boxes are disabled and you are logged in to the View Connection Server instance with your current username and password.

You must provide the username and password of a View Connection Server administrator in the Username and Password text boxes.

Provide the username in the following format: Domain\User.

The user account must be a domain user with access to View LDAP on the View Connection Server instance. A local user does not work.

9 Follow the prompts in the Horizon Agent installation program and nish the installation.

10 If you selected the USB redirection option, restart the unmanaged machine to enable USB support.

In addition, the Found New Hardware wizard might start. Follow the prompts in the wizard to congure the hardware before you restart the unmanaged machine.

The VMware Horizon Horizon Agent service is started on the unmanaged machine.

What to do next

Use the unmanaged machine to create a remote desktop. See “Manual Desktop Pools,” on page 89.

Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options for Unmanaged Machines

When you install Horizon Agent on an unmanaged machine, you can select or deselect certain custom setup options. In addition, Horizon Agent installs certain features automatically on all guest operating systems on which they are supported. These features are not optional.

To change custom setup options after you install the latest Horizon Agent version, you must uninstall and reinstall Horizon Agent. For patches and upgrades, you can run the new Horizon Agent installer and select a new set of options without uninstalling the previous version.

Table 2‑1. Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options for Unmanaged Machines in an IPv4 Environment (Optional)

Option Description

USB Redirection Gives users access to locally connected USB devices on

their desktops.

USB redirection is supported on remote desktops that are deployed on single-user machines. In addition, redirection of USB ash drives and hard disks is supported on RDS desktops and applications.

This setup option is not selected by default. You must select the option to install it.

For guidance on using USB redirection securely, see the View Security guide. For example, you can use group policy seings to disable USB redirection for specic users.

Client Drive Redirection Allows Horizon Client users to share local drives with their

remote desktops.

After this setup option is installed, no further conguration is required on the remote desktop.

Client Drive Redirection is also supported on VDI desktops that run on managed, single-user virtual machines and on RDS desktops and applications.

VMware, Inc. 17

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 2‑1. Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options for Unmanaged Machines in an IPv4 Environment (Optional) (Continued)

Option Description

View Persona Management Synchronizes the user prole on the local desktop with a

Smartcard Redirection Lets users authenticate with smart cards when they use the

Virtual audio driver Provides a virtual audio driver on the remote desktop.

In an IPv6 environment, the only optional feature is Smartcard Redirection.

Table 2‑2. Horizon Agent Features That Are Installed Automatically on Unmanaged Machines in an IPv4 Environment (Not Optional)

Feature Description

PCoIP Agent Lets users connect to the remote desktop with the PCoIP

Lync Provides support for Microsoft Lync 2013 Client on remote

Unity Touch Allows tablet and smart phone users to interact easily with

remote prole repository, so that users have access to their proles whenever they log in to a desktop.

PCoIP or Blast Extreme display protocol.

Smartcard Redirection is supported on remote desktops that are deployed on single-user machines but is not supported on RDS host-based remote desktops.

display protocol.

The PCoIP Agent feature is supported on physical machines that are congured with a Teradici TERA host card.

desktops.

Windows applications that run on the remote desktop. Users can browse, search, and open Windows applications and les, choose favorite applications and les, and switch between running applications, all without using the Start menu or Taskbar.

In an IPv6 environment, the only automatically installed feature is PCoIP Agent.

18 VMware, Inc.

Creating and Preparing a Parent

Virtual Machine for Cloning 3

You can create a pool of desktop machines by cloning a vCenter Server virtual machine (VM). Before you create the desktop pool, you need to prepare and congure this VM, which will be the parent of the clones.

For information about preparing machines that are used as Remote Desktop Services (RDS) hosts, see

Chapter 8, “Seing Up Remote Desktop Services Hosts,” on page 95.

For information about preparing Linux VMs for remote desktop deployment, see the Seing Up Horizon 7 for Linux Desktops guide.

N

Starting with version 7.0, View Agent is renamed Horizon Agent and View Administrator is renamed

Horizon Administrator.

VMware Blast, the display protocol that is available starting with Horizon 7.0, is also known as VMware

Blast Extreme.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“Creating a Virtual Machine for Cloning,” on page 19

“Install Horizon Agent on a Virtual Machine,” on page 26

“Install Horizon Agent Silently,” on page 30

“Congure a Virtual Machine with Multiple NICs for Horizon Agent,” on page 36

“Optimize Guest Operating System Performance,” on page 37

“Disable the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program,” on page 38

“Optimizing Windows for Instant-Clone and View Composer Linked-Clone Virtual Machines,” on

page 39

“Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine,” on page 45

“Creating Virtual Machine Templates,” on page 49

“Creating Customization Specications,” on page 50

Creating a Virtual Machine for Cloning

The rst step in the process of deploying a pool of cloned desktops is to create a virtual machine in vSphere, install and congure the operating system.

1 Create a Virtual Machine in vSphere on page 20

You can create a virtual machine in vSphere from scratch or by cloning an existing VM. This procedure describes creating a VM from scratch.

VMware, Inc.

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

2 Install a Guest Operating System on page 22

After you create a virtual machine, you must install a guest operating system.

3 Prepare a Guest Operating System for Remote Desktop Deployment on page 22

You must perform certain tasks to prepare a guest operating system for remote desktop deployment.

4 Prepare Windows Server Operating Systems for Desktop Use on page 24

To use a Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012 R2 virtual machine as a single-session View desktop (rather than as an RDS host), you must perform certain steps before you install Horizon Agent in the virtual machine. You must also congure View Administrator to treat Windows Servers as supported operating systems for View desktop use.

5 Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2008 R2 on page 25

For RDS desktops and applications, and for VDI desktops that are deployed on single-user virtual machines that run Windows Server, scanner redirection requires that you install the Desktop Experience feature on the RDS hosts and the single-user virtual machines.

6 Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2 on page 25

7 Congure the Windows Firewall Service to Restart After Failures on page 26

Some Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 machines that are deployed as singlesession desktops do not become available immediately after they are provisioned. This issue occurs when the Windows Firewall service does not restart after its timeout period expires. You can congure the Windows Firewall service on the parent or template virtual machine to ensure that all machines in a desktop pool become available.

Create a Virtual Machine in vSphere

You can create a virtual machine in vSphere from scratch or by cloning an existing VM. This procedure describes creating a VM from scratch.

Prerequisites

Familiarize yourself with the custom conguration parameters for virtual machines. See “Virtual

Machine Custom Conguration Parameters,” on page 21.

Procedure

1 Log in to vSphere Client.

2 Select File > New > Virtual Machine to start the New Virtual Machine wizard.

3 Select Custom and congure custom conguration parameters.

4 Select Edit the virtual machine  before completion and click Continue to congure hardware

seings.

a Add a CD/DVD drive, set the media type to use an ISO image le, select the ISO image le of an

appropriate operating system, and select Connect at power on.

b Set Power-on Boot Delay to 10,000 milliseconds.

5 Click Finish to create the virtual machine.

What to do next

Install the operating system.

20 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning

Virtual Machine Custom Configuration Parameters

You can use virtual machine custom conguration parameters as baseline seings when you create a virtual machine for remote desktop deployment.

You can change certain seings when you use View Administrator to deploy desktop pools from the virtual machine.

Table 3‑1. Custom Configuration Parameters

Parameter Description and Recommendations

Name and Location

Host/Cluster

Resource Pool

Datastore

Hardware Machine Version

Guest Operating System

CPUs

Memory

Network

The name and location of the virtual machine.

If you plan to use the virtual machine as a template, assign a generic name. The location can be any folder within your datacenter inventory.

The ESXi server or cluster of server resources that will run the virtual machine.

If you plan to use the virtual machine as a template, the location of the initial virtual machine does not necessarily specify where future virtual machines created from template will reside.

If the physical ESXi server resources are divided into resource pools, you can assign them to the virtual machine.

The location of les associated with the virtual machine.

The hardware machine version that is available depends on the ESXi version you are running. As a best practice, select the latest available hardware machine version, which provides the greatest virtual machine functionality. Certain View features require minimum hardware machine versions.

The type of operating system that you will install in the virtual machine.

The number of virtual processors in the virtual machine.

For most guest operating systems, a single processor is sucient.

The amount of memory to allocate to the virtual machine.

In most cases, 512MB is sucient.

The number of virtual network adapters (NICs) in the virtual machine.

One NIC is usually sucient. The network name should be consistent across virtual infrastructures. An incorrect network name in a template can cause failures during the instance customization phases.

When you install Horizon Agent on a virtual machine that has more than one NIC, you must congure the subnet that Horizon Agent uses. See “Congure a

Virtual Machine with Multiple NICs for Horizon Agent,” on page 36 for more

information.

I For Windows 7, Windows 8.*, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2012 R2 operating systems, you must select the VMXNET 3 network adapter. Using the default E1000 adapter can cause customization timeout errors on virtual machines. To use the VMXNET 3 adapter, you must install a Microsoft hotx:

For Windows 7 SP1: hp://support.microsoft.com/kb/2550978

Install the hotx before installing Horizon Agent. When installing the hotx, if you encounter Windows Update error 0x80070424, see

hps://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/968002.

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Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 3‑1. Custom Configuration Parameters (Continued)

Parameter Description and Recommendations

SCSI Controller

Select a Disk

Install a Guest Operating System

After you create a virtual machine, you must install a guest operating system.

Prerequisites

The type of SCSI adapter to use with the virtual machine.

For Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 7 guest operating systems, you should specify the LSI Logic adapter. The LSI Logic adapter has improved performance and works beer with generic SCSI devices.

LSI Logic SAS is available only for virtual machines with hardware version 7 and later.

The disk to use with the virtual machine.

Create a new virtual disk based on the amount of local storage that you decide to allocate to each user. Allow enough storage space for the OS installation, patches, and locally installed applications.

To reduce the need for disk space and management of local data, you should store the user's information, prole, and documents on network shares rather than on a local disk.

Verify that an ISO image le of the guest operating system is on a datastore on your ESXi server.

Verify that the CD/DVD drive in the virtual machine points to the ISO image le of the guest operating

system and that the CD/DVD drive is congured to connect at power on.

Procedure

1 In vSphere Client, log in to the vCenter Server system where the virtual machine resides.

2 Right-click the virtual machine, select Power, and select Power On to start the virtual machine.

Because you congured the CD/DVD drive to point to the ISO image of the guest operating system and to connect at power on, the guest operating system installation process begins automatically.

3 Click the Console tab and follow the installation instructions provided by the operating system vendor.

4 Activate Windows.

What to do next

Prepare the guest operating system for View desktop deployment.

Prepare a Guest Operating System for Remote Desktop Deployment

You must perform certain tasks to prepare a guest operating system for remote desktop deployment.

Prerequisites

Create a virtual machine and install a guest operating system.

Congure an Active Directory domain controller for your remote desktops. See the View Installation

document for more information.

To make sure that desktop users are added to the local Remote Desktop Users group of the virtual

machine, create a restricted Remote Desktop Users group in Active Directory. See the View Installation document for more information.

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Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning

Verify that Remote Desktop Services are started on the virtual machine. Remote Desktop Services are

required for Horizon Agent installation, SSO, and other View operations. You can disable RDP access to your View desktops by conguring desktop pool seings and group policy seings. See “Prevent

Access to View Desktops Through RDP,” on page 156.

Verify that you have administrative rights on the guest operating system.

On Windows Server operating systems, prepare the operating system for desktop use. See “Prepare

Windows Server Operating Systems for Desktop Use,” on page 24.

If you intend to congure 3D graphics rendering for desktop pools, familiarize yourself with the Enable

3D Support seing for virtual machines.

This seing is active on Windows 7 and later operating systems. On ESXi 5.1 and later hosts, you can also select options that determine how the 3D renderer is managed on the ESXi host. For details, see the vSphere Virtual Machine Administration document.

Procedure

1 In vSphere Client, log in to the vCenter Server system where the virtual machine resides.

2 Right-click the virtual machine, select Power, and select Power On to start the virtual machine.

3 Right-click the virtual machine, select Guest, and select Install/Upgrade VMware Tools to install the

latest version of VMware Tools.

N The virtual printing feature is supported only when you install it from Horizon Agent. Virtual printing is not supported if you install it with VMware Tools.

4 Use the VMware Tools time synchronization function to ensure that the virtual machine is synchronized

to ESXi.

ESXi must synchronize to an external NTP source, for example, the same time source as Active Directory.

Disable other time synchronization mechanisms such as Windows Time Service.

The VMware Tools online help provides information on conguring time synchronization between guest and host.

5 Install service packs and updates.

6 Install antivirus software.

7 Install other applications and software, such as smart card drivers if you are using smart card

authentication.

If you plan to use VMware Identity Manager to oer a catalog that includes ThinApp applications, you must install VMware Identity Manager for Windows.

I If you are installing Microsoft .NET Framework, you must install it after you install Horizon Agent.

8 If Horizon Client devices will connect to the virtual machine with the PCoIP display protocol, set the

power option Turn  the display to Never.

If you do not disable this seing, the display will appear to freeze in its last state when power savings mode starts.

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Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

9 If Horizon Client devices will connect to the virtual machine with the PCoIP display protocol, go to

Control Panel > System > Advanced System  > Performance  and change the seing for Visual  to Adjust for best performance.

If you instead use the seing called Adjust for best appearance or Let Windows choose what's best for my computer and Windows chooses appearance instead of performance, performance is negatively

aected.

10 If a proxy server is used in your network environment, congure network proxy seings.

11 Congure network connection properties.

a Assign a static IP address or specify that an IP address is assigned by a DHCP server.

View does not support link-local (169.254.x.x) addresses for View desktops.

b Set the preferred and alternate DNS server addresses to your Active Directory server address.

12 (Optional) Join the virtual machine to the Active Directory domain for your remote desktops.

A parent virtual machine for creating instant clones or View Composer linked clones must either belong to the same Active Directory domain as the domain that the desktop machines will join or be a member of a workgroup.

13 Congure Windows Firewall to allow Remote Desktop connections to the virtual machine.

14 (Optional) Disable Hot Plug PCI devices.

This step prevents users from accidentally disconnecting the virtual network device (vNIC) from the virtual machine.

15 (Optional) Congure user customization scripts.

Prepare Windows Server Operating Systems for Desktop Use

Prerequisites

Familiarize yourself with the steps to install the Desktop Experience feature on Windows Server 2008

R2 or Windows Server 2012 R2. See “Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2008 R2,” on page 25 or “Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2,” on page 25

On Windows Server 2012 R2 machines, familiarize yourself with the steps to congure the Windows

Firewall service to restart after failures occur. See “Congure the Windows Firewall Service to Restart

After Failures,” on page 26.

Procedure

1 Verify that the Remote Desktop Services role is not installed.

When the Remote Desktop Services role is not present, the Horizon Agent installer prompts you to conrm that you want to install Horizon Agent in desktop mode. If the Remote Desktop Services role is present, the Horizon Agent installer does not display this prompt and it treats the Windows Server machine as an RDS host instead of a single-session View desktop.

2 Install Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Windows Server 2012 R2.

If you do not install SP1 with Windows Server 2008 R2, an error occurs when you install Horizon Agent.

24 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning

3 (Optional) Install the Desktop Experience feature if you plan to use the following features.

HTML Access

Scanner redirection

Windows Aero

4 (Optional) To use Windows Aero on a Windows Server desktop, start the Themes service.

When you create or edit a desktop pool, you can congure 3D graphics rendering for your desktops. The 3D Renderer seing oers a Software option that enables users to run Windows Aero on the desktops in the pool.

5 On Windows Server 2012 R2 machines, congure the Windows Firewall service to restart after failures

occur.

6 Congure View Administrator to treat Windows Servers as supported desktop operating systems.

If you do not perform this step, you cannot select Windows Server machines for desktop use in View Administrator.

a In View Administrator, select View  > Global .

b In the General pane, click Edit.

c Select the Enable Windows Server desktops check box and click OK.

When you enable Windows Server desktops in View Administrator, View Administrator displays all available Windows Server machines, including machines on which View Connection Server is installed, as potential machines for desktop use. You cannot install Horizon Agent on machines on which other View software components are installed.

Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2008 R2

Procedure

1 Log in as an administrator.

2 Start Server Manager.

3 Click Features.

4 Click Add Features.

5 On the Select Features page, select the Desktop Experience checkbox.

6 Review the information about other features that are required by the Desktop Experience feature, and

click Add Required Features.

7 Follow the prompts and nish the installation.

Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2

Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 are supported on machines that are used as RDS hosts. Windows Server 2012 R2 is supported on single-user virtual machines.

VMware, Inc. 25

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Procedure

1 Log in as an administrator.

2 Start Server Manager.

3 Select Add roles and features.

4 On the Select Installation Type page, select Role-based or feature-based installation.

5 On the Select Destination Server page, select a server.

6 On the Select Server Roles page, accept the default selection and click Next.

7 On the Select Features page, under User Interfaces and Infrastructure, select Desktop Experience.

8 Follow the prompts and nish the installation.

Configure the Windows Firewall Service to Restart After Failures

Some Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 machines that are deployed as single-session desktops do not become available immediately after they are provisioned. This issue occurs when the Windows Firewall service does not restart after its timeout period expires. You can congure the Windows Firewall service on the parent or template virtual machine to ensure that all machines in a desktop pool become available.

If you encounter this issue during provisioning, the Windows event logs display the following error: The

Windows Firewall service terminated with the following service-specific error: This operation returned because the timeout period expired.

This issue occurs on Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 machines. Other guest operating systems are not aected.

Procedure

1 On the Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10 parent or template virtual machine from

which you will deploy a desktop pool, select Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.

2 In the Services dialog box, right-click the Windows Firewall service and select Properties.

3 In the Windows Firewall Properties dialog box, click the Recovery tab.

4 Select the recovery seings to restart the service after a failure occurs.

Setting Drop-down Menu Option

First failure:

Second failure:

Subsequent failures:

Restart the Service

5 Select the Enable actions for stops with errors check box and click OK.

6 Deploy or redeploy the desktop pool from the parent or template virtual machine.

Install Horizon Agent on a Virtual Machine

You must install Horizon Agent on virtual machines that are managed by vCenter Server so that Connection Server can communicate with them. Install Horizon Agent on all virtual machines that you use as templates for full-clone desktop pools, parents for linked-clone desktop pools, parents for instant-clone desktop pools, and machines in manual desktop pools.

To install Horizon Agent on multiple Windows virtual machines without having to respond to wizard prompts, you can install Horizon Agent silently. See “Install Horizon Agent Silently,” on page 30.

26 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning

The Horizon Agent software cannot coexist on the same virtual or physical machine with other Horizon software components, including security server, Connection Server, and View Composer. It can coexist with Horizon Client.

Prerequisites

Prepare the guest operating system for remote desktop deployment. See “Prepare a Guest Operating

System for Remote Desktop Deployment,” on page 22.

To use a Windows Server virtual machine as a remote desktop (rather than as an RDS host), perform the

steps described in “Prepare Windows Server Operating Systems for Desktop Use,” on page 24.

If the machine has the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package installed, verify that the version of

the package is 2005 SP1 or later. If the package version is 2005 or earlier, you can either upgrade or uninstall the package.

Download the Horizon Agent installer le from the VMware product page at

hp://www.vmware.com/go/downloadview.

Verify that you have administrative rights on the virtual machine.

Familiarize yourself with the Horizon Agent custom setup options. See “Horizon Agent Custom Setup

Options,” on page 28.

Familiarize yourself with the TCP ports that the Horizon Agent installation program opens on the

rewall. See the View Architecture Planning document for more information.

Procedure

1 To start the Horizon Agent installation program, double-click the installer le.

The installer lename is VMware-viewagent-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe or VMware-viewagent-x86_64-y.y.y-

xxxxxx.exe, where y.y.y is the version number and xxxxxx is the build number.

2 Accept the VMware license terms.

3 If you install Horizon Agent on a Windows Server machine on which the Remote Desktop Services

(RDS) role is not installed, select Install VMware Horizon Agent in 'desktop mode'.

Selecting this option congures the Windows Server machine as a single-user View desktop rather than as an RDS host. If you intend the machine to function as an RDS host, cancel the Horizon Agent installation, install the RDS role on the machine, and restart the Horizon Agent installation.

4 Select the Internet Protocol (IP) version, IPv4 or IPv6.

You must install all View components with the same IP version.

5 Select whether to enable or disable FIPS mode.

This option is available only if FIPS mode is enabled in Windows.

6 Select your custom setup options.

To deploy View Composer linked-clone desktops, select the VMware Horizon View Composer Agent option. To deploy instant-clone desktops, select the VMware Horizon Instant Clone Agent option. You cannot select both of these options.

7 Accept or change the destination folder.

8 Follow the prompts in the Horizon Agent installation program and nish the installation.

N If you did not enable Remote Desktop support during guest operating system preparation, the Horizon Agent installation program prompts you to enable it. If you do not enable Remote Desktop support during Horizon Agent installation, you must enable it manually after the installation is

nished.

VMware, Inc. 27

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

9 If you selected the USB redirection option, restart the virtual machine to enable USB support.

In addition, the Found New Hardware wizard might start. Follow the prompts in the wizard to congure the hardware before you restart the virtual machine.

What to do next

If the virtual machine has multiple NICs, congure the subnet that Horizon Agent uses. See “Congure a

Virtual Machine with Multiple NICs for Horizon Agent,” on page 36.

Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options

When you install Horizon Agent on a virtual machine, you can select or deselect custom setup options. In addition, Horizon Agent installs certain features automatically on all guest operating systems on which they are supported. These features are not optional.

To learn which features are supported on which guest operating systems, see "Feature Support Matrix for Horizon Agent" in the View Architecture Planning document.

All custom setup options are selected by default except Serial Port Redirection, Scanner Redirection, USB Redirection, Flash Redirection, Smartcard Redirection, and VMware Horizon Instant Clone Agent.

Table 3‑2. Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options in an IPv4 Environment

Option Description

Core Installs the core functionality.

Serial Port Redirection Redirects serial COM ports that are connected to the client system so that they can be used on

the remote desktop.

This option is not selected by default. You must select the option to install it.

Serial port redirection is supported on remote desktops that are deployed on single-user machines.

Serial port redirection is available in Horizon 6 version 6.1.1 and later releases.

Scanner Redirection Redirects scanning and imaging devices that are connected to the client system so that they

can be used on the remote desktop or application.

This option is not selected by default. You must select the option to install it.

Scanner redirection is available in Horizon 6.0.2 and later releases.

USB Redirection Gives users access to locally connected USB devices on their desktops.

USB redirection is supported on remote desktops that are deployed on single-user machines. In addition, redirection of USB ash drives and hard disks is supported on RDS desktops and applications.

This option is not selected by default. You must select the option to install it.

For guidance on using USB redirection securely, see the View Security guide. For example, you can use group policy seings to disable USB redirection for specic users.

VMware Horizon View Composer Agent

VMware Horizon Instant Clone Agent

Real-Time Audio-Video Redirects webcam and audio devices that are connected to the client system so that they can

Client Drive Redirection Allows Horizon Client users to share local drives with their remote desktops.

Lets this virtual machine be the parent VM of a View Composer linked-clone desktop pool. If you select this option, you cannot select the VMware Horizon Instant Clone Agent option.

Lets this virtual machine be the parent VM of an instant-clone desktop pool. This option is not selected by default. If you select this option, you cannot select the VMware Horizon View Composer Agent option.

be used on the remote desktop.

After this option is installed, no further conguration is required on the remote desktop.

Client Drive Redirection is also supported on RDS desktops and applications and on VDI desktops that run on unmanaged machines.

28 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning

Table 3‑2. Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options in an IPv4 Environment (Continued)

Option Description

Virtual Printing Lets users print to any printer available on their client computers. Users do not have to install

additional drivers on their desktops.

Virtual printing is supported on the following remote desktops and applications:

Desktops that are deployed on single-user machines, including Windows desktop and

Windows Server machines.

Desktops that are deployed on RDS hosts, where the RDS hosts are virtual machines.

Remote applications.

Remote applications that are launched from Horizon Client inside remote desktops

(nested sessions).

The virtual printing feature is supported only when you install it from Horizon Agent. It is not supported if you install it with VMware Tools.

vRealize Operations Desktop Agent

View Persona Management

Smartcard Redirection Lets users authenticate with smart cards when they use the PCoIP or Blast Extreme display

VMware Audio Provides a virtual audio driver on the remote desktop.

Flash Redirection Redirects Flash multimedia content in an Internet Explorer 9, 10, or 11 browser to the client,

Provides information that allows vRealize Operations for View to monitor View desktops.

Synchronizes the user prole on the local desktop with a remote prole repository, so that users have access to their proles whenever they log in to a desktop.

protocol. This option is not selected by default.

Smartcard Redirection is supported on remote desktops that are deployed on single-user machines.

for performance optimization. In Horizon 7.0, this is a Tech Preview feature. In Horizon 7.0.1, this feature is fully supported.

In an IPv6 environment, the only optional features are VMware Horizon View Composer Agent, VMware Horizon Instant Clone Agent, and VMware Audio.

Table 3‑3. Horizon Agent Features That Are Installed Automatically (Not Optional)

Feature Description

PCoIP Agent Lets users connect to the View desktop using the PCoIP

display protocol.

Installing the PCoIP Agent feature disables sleep mode on Windows desktops. When a user navigates to the Power Options or Shut Down menu, sleep mode or standby mode is inactive. Desktops do not go into sleep or standby mode after a default period of inactivity. Desktops remain in active mode.

Windows Media Multimedia Redirection (MMR) Extends multimedia redirection to Windows 7 and later

desktops and clients. This feature delivers a multimedia stream directly to the client computer, allowing the multimedia stream to be processed on the client hardware instead of the remote ESXi host.

Unity Touch Allows tablet and smart phone users to interact easily with

Virtual video driver Provides a virtual video driver on the remote desktop.

In an IPv6 environment, the only automatically installed feature is PCoIP Agent.

VMware, Inc. 29

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Install Horizon Agent Silently

You can use the silent installation feature of the Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) to install Horizon Agent on several Windows virtual machines or physical computers. In a silent installation, you use the command line and do not have to respond to wizard prompts.

With silent installation, you can eciently deploy View components in a large enterprise.

If you do not want to install all features that are installed automatically or by default, you can use the

ADDLOCAL MSI property to selectively install individual setup options and features. For details about the ADDLOCAL property, see Table 3-5.

Prerequisites

Prepare the guest operating system for desktop deployment. See “Prepare a Guest Operating System

for Remote Desktop Deployment,” on page 22.

To use Windows Server as a single-session remote desktop (rather than as an RDS host), perform the

steps described in “Prepare Windows Server Operating Systems for Desktop Use,” on page 24.

If the machine has the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package installed, verify that the version of

the package is 2005 SP1 or later. If the package version is 2005 or earlier, you can either upgrade or uninstall the package.

Download the Horizon Agent installer le from the VMware product page at

hp://www.vmware.com/go/downloadview.

The installer lename is VMware-viewagent-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe or VMware-viewagent-x86_64-y.y.y-

xxxxxx.exe, where y.y.y is the version number and xxxxxx is the build number.

Verify that you have administrative rights on the virtual machine or physical PC.

Familiarize yourself with the Horizon Agent custom setup options. See “Horizon Agent Custom Setup

Options,” on page 28.

Familiarize yourself with the MSI installer command-line options. See “Microsoft Windows Installer

Command-Line Options,” on page 31.

Familiarize yourself with the silent installation properties available with Horizon Agent. See “Silent

Installation Properties for Horizon Agent,” on page 33.

Familiarize yourself with the TCP ports that the Horizon Agent installation program opens on the

rewall. See the View Architecture Planning document for more information.

Verify that the latest Windows Update patches are installed on the guest operating systems on which

you plan to install Horizon Agent silently. In certain cases, an interactive installation by an administrator might be required to execute pending Windows Update patches. Verify that all OS operations and subsequent reboots are completed.

Procedure

1 Open a Windows command prompt on the virtual machine or physical PC.

30 VMware, Inc.

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