VMware Horizon 7.0 User Manual

Page 1

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

Page 2

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

You can ﬁnd the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at:

hp://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

VMware, Inc.

3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com

2 VMware, Inc.

Page 3

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

VMware, Inc.

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

Page 4

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

4 VMware, Inc.

Page 5

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

VMware, Inc. 5

Page 6

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

6 VMware, Inc.

Page 7

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.

VMware, Inc.

Page 8

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

8 VMware, Inc.

Page 9

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.

VMware, Inc.

Page 10

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.

10 VMware, Inc.

Page 11

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.

VMware, Inc. 11

Page 12

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.

12 VMware, Inc.

Page 13

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.

VMware, Inc. 13

Page 14

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.

14 VMware, Inc.

Page 15

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

VMware, Inc.

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.

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.

Page 17

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

Page 18

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.

Page 19

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.

Page 20

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.

Page 21

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.

VMware, Inc. 21

Page 22

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.

22 VMware, Inc.

Page 23

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.

VMware, Inc. 23

Page 24

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.

Page 25

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

Page 26

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.

Page 27

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

Page 28

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.

Page 29

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

Page 30

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.

Page 31

Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning

2 Type the installation command on one line.

The following example installs Horizon Agent with the components Core, VMware Blast, PCoIP, Unity Touch, VmVideo, PSG, View Composer Agent, Virtual Printing, USB redirection, and Real-Time AudioVideo components.

VMware-viewagent-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"/qn VDM_VC_MANAGED_AGENT=1 ADDLOCAL=Core,SVIAgent,ThinPrint,USB,RTAV"

The following example installs Horizon Agent on an unmanaged computer and registers the desktop with the specied View Connection Server, cs1.companydomain.com. In addition, the installer installs the Core, VMware Blast, PCoIP, Unity Touch, VmVideo, PSG, Virtual Printing, and USB redirection components.

VMware-viewagent-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"/qn VDM_VC_MANAGED_AGENT=0 VDM_SERVER_NAME=cs1.companydomain.com VDM_SERVER_USERNAME=admin.companydomain.com VDM_SERVER_PASSWORD=secret ADDLOCAL=Core,ThinPrint,USB"

If you install Horizon Agent on a Windows Server machine, and you intend to congure the machine as a single-user View desktop rather than as an RDS host, you must include the

VDM_FORCE_DESKTOP_AGENT=1 property in the installation command. This requirement applies to

machines that are managed by vCenter Server and unmanaged machines.

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.

Microsoft Windows Installer Command-Line Options

To install View components silently, you must use Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) command-line options and properties. The View component installers are MSI programs and use standard MSI features.

For details about MSI, see the Microsoft Web site. For MSI command-line options, see the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Library Web site and search for MSI command-line options. To see MSI command-line usage, you can open a command prompt on the View component computer and type

msiexec /?.

To run a View component installer silently, you begin by silencing the bootstrap program that extracts the installer into a temporary directory and starts an interactive installation.

At the command line, you must enter command-line options that control the installer's bootstrap program.

VMware, Inc. 31

Page 32

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 3‑4. Command-Line Options for a View Component's Bootstrap Program

Option Description

/v" MSI_command_line_options"

Disables the bootstrap splash screen and extraction dialog, which prevents the display of interactive dialogs.

For example: VMware-viewconnectionserver-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s

The /s option is required to run a silent installation.

Instructs the installer to pass the double-quote-enclosed string that you enter at the command line as a set of options for MSI to interpret. You must enclose your command-line entries between double quotes. Place a double quote after the /v and at the end of the command line.

For example: VMware-viewagent-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"command_line_options"

To instruct the MSI installer to interpret a string that contains spaces, enclose the string in two sets of double quotes. For example, you might want to install the View component in an installation path name that contains spaces.

For example: VMware-viewconnectionserver-y.y.y-

xxxxxx.exe /s /v"command_line_options INSTALLDIR=""d:\abc\my folder"""

In this example, the MSI installer passes on the installation-directory path and does not aempt to interpret the string as two command-line options. Note the nal double quote that encloses the entire command line.

The /v"command_line_options" option is required to run a silent installation.

You control the remainder of a silent installation by passing command-line options and MSI property values to the MSI installer, msiexec.exe. The MSI installer includes the View component's installation code. The installer uses the values and options that you enter in the command line to interpret installation choices and setup options that are specic to the View component.

Table 3‑5. MSI Command-Line Options and MSI Properties

MSI Option or Property Description

/qn

INSTALLDIR

Instructs the MSI installer not to display the installer wizard pages.

For example, you might want to install Horizon Agent silently and use only default setup options and features:

VMware-viewagent-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"/qn"

Alternatively, you can use the /qb option to display the wizard pages in a noninteractive, automated installation. As the installation proceeds, the wizard pages are displayed, but you cannot respond to them.

The /qn or /qb option is required to run a silent installation.

Species an alternative installation path for the View component.

Use the format INSTALLDIR=path to specify an installation path. You can ignore this MSI property if you want to install the View component in the default path.

This MSI property is optional.

32 VMware, Inc.

Page 33

Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning

Table 3‑5. MSI Command-Line Options and MSI Properties (Continued)

MSI Option or Property Description

ADDLOCAL

REBOOT

/l*v log_file

Determines the component-specic options to install.

In an interactive installation, the View installer displays custom setup options that you can select or deselect. In a silent installation, you can use the ADDLOCAL property to selectively install individual setup options by specifying the options on the command line. Options that you do not explicitly specify are not installed.

In both interactive and silent installations, the View installer automatically installs certain features. You cannot use ADDLOCAL to control whether or not to install these non-optional features.

Type ADDLOCAL=ALL to install all custom setup options that can be installed during an interactive installation, including those that are installed by default and those that you must select to install, except NGVC. NGVC and SVIAgent are mutually exclusive. To install NGVC, you must specify it explicitly.

The following example installs Core, BlastProtocol, PCoIP, UnityTouch, VmVideo, PSG, and all features that are supported on the guest operating system: VMware-viewagent-y.y.y-

xxxxxx.exe /s /v"/qn ADDLOCAL=ALL"

If you do not use the ADDLOCAL property, the custom setup options that are installed by default and the automatically installed features are installed. Custom setup options that are o (unselected) by default are not installed.

The following example installs Core, BlastProtocol, PCoIP, UnityTouch, VmVideo, PSG, and the on-by-default custom setup options that are supported on the guest operating system: VMware-

viewagent-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"/qn"

To specify individual setup options, type a comma-separated list of setup option names. Do not

use spaces between names. Use the format ADDLOCAL=value,value,value....

You must include Core when you use the ADDLOCAL=value,value,value... property.

The following example installs Horizon Agent with the Core, BlastProtocol, PCoIP, UnityTouch, VmVideo, PSG, Instant Clone Agent, and Virtual Printing features:

VMware-viewagent-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"/qn ADDLOCAL=Core,NGVC,ThinPrint"

The preceding example does not install other components, even those that are installed by default interactively.

The ADDLOCAL MSI property is optional.

You can use the REBOOT=ReallySuppress option to allow system conguration tasks to complete before the system reboots.

This MSI property is optional.

Writes logging information into the specied log le with verbose output.

For example: /l*v ""%TEMP%\vmmsi.log""

This example generates a detailed log le that is similar to the log generated during an interactive installation.

You can use this option to record custom features that might apply uniquely to your installation. You can use the recorded information to specify installation features in future silent installations.

The /l*v option is optional.

Silent Installation Properties for Horizon Agent

You can include specic properties when you silently install Horizon Agent from the command line. You must use a PROPERTY=value format so that Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) can interpret the properties and values.

Table 3-6 shows the Horizon Agent silent installation properties that you can use at the command-line.

VMware, Inc. 33

Page 34

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 3‑6. MSI Properties for Silently Installing Horizon Agent

MSI Property Description Default Value

INSTALLDIR

RDP_CHOICE

UNITY_DEFAULT_APPS

URL_FILTERING_ENABLED

VDM_VC_MANAGED_AGENT

VDM_SERVER_NAME

VDM_SERVER_USERNAME

VDM_SERVER_PASSWORD

VDM_IP_PROTOCOL_USAGE

The path and folder in which the Horizon Agent software is installed.

For example: INSTALLDIR=""D:\abc\my folder""

The sets of two double quotes that enclose the path permit the MSI installer to ignore the space in the path.

This MSI property is optional.

Determines whether to enable Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) on the desktop.

A value of 1 enables RDP. A value of 0 leaves the RDP seing disabled.

This MSI property is optional.

Species a default list of default favorite applications that are displayed in the Unity Touch sidebar on a mobile device. This property was created to support the Unity Touch component. It is not a general MSI property.

For information about conguring a default list of favorite applications and about the syntax and format to use with this property, see “Congure Favorite Applications Displayed by Unity

Touch,” on page 168.

This MSI property is optional.

Species whether the URL Content Redirection feature is installed. A value of 1 installs the feature. You must then use group policy seings to congure which URLs to redirect. See “Conguring

URL Content Redirection,” on page 180.

This MSI property is optional.

Determines whether vCenter Server manages the virtual machine on which Horizon Agent is installed.

A value of 1 congures the desktop as a vCenter Server-managed virtual machine.

A value of 0 congures the desktop as unmanaged by vCenter Server.

This MSI property is required.

The host name or IP address of the View Connection Server computer on which the Horizon Agent installer registers an unmanaged desktop. This property applies to unmanaged desktops only.

For example: VDM_SERVER_NAME=10.123.01.01

This MSI property is required for unmanaged desktops.

Do not use this MSI property for virtual-machine desktops that are managed by vCenter Server.

The user name of the administrator on the View Connection Server computer. This MSI property applies to unmanaged desktops only.

For example: VDM_SERVER_USERNAME=domain\username

This MSI property is required for unmanaged desktops.

Do not use this MSI property for virtual-machine desktops that are managed by vCenter Server.

The View Connection Server administrator user password.

For example: VDM_SERVER_PASSWORD=secret

This MSI property is required for unmanaged desktops.

Do not use this MSI property for virtual-machine desktops that are managed by vCenter Server.

Species the IP version that Horizon Agent uses. The possible values are IPv4 and IPv6.

%ProgramFiles %\VMware\VMware View\Agent

None

IPv4

34 VMware, Inc.

Page 35

Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning

Table 3‑6. MSI Properties for Silently Installing Horizon Agent (Continued)

MSI Property Description Default Value

VDM_FIPS_ENABLED

VDM_FLASH_URL_REDIRECTION

Species whether to enable or disable FIPS mode. A value of 1 enables FIPS mode. A value of 0 disables FIPS mode. If this property is set to 1 and Windows is not in FIPS mode, the installer will abort.

Determines whether Horizon Agent can install the Flash URL redirection feature. Specify 1 to enable installation or 0 to disable installation.

This MSI property is optional.

In a silent installation command, you can use the MSI property, ADDLOCAL=, to specify options that the Horizon Agent installer congures.

Table 3-7 shows the Horizon Agent options you can type at the command line. These options have

corresponding setup options that you can deselect or select during an interactive installation. For details about the custom setup options, see “Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options,” on page 28.

When you do not use the ADDLOCAL property at the command line, Horizon Agent installs all options that are installed by default during an interactive installation, if they are supported on the guest operating system. When you use ADDLOCAL=ALL, Horizon Agent installs all of the following options, both on-bydefault and o-by-default, if they are supported on the guest operating system, except NGVC. NGVC and SVIAgent are mutually exclusive. To install NGVC, you must specify it explicitly. For details, see the ADDLOCAL table entry in “Microsoft Windows Installer Command-Line Options,” on page 31.

Table 3‑7. Horizon Agent Silent Installation Options and Interactive Custom Setup Options

Silent Installation Option

Core Core Yes

USB USB Redirection No

SVIAgent View Composer Agent Yes

NGVC Instant Clone Agent No

RTAV Real-Time Audio-Video Yes

ClientDriveRedirection Client Drive Redirection Yes

SerialPortRedirection Serial Port Redirection No

ScannerRedirection Scanner Redirection No

FlashURLRedirection Flash URL Redirection

ThinPrint Virtual Printing Yes

V4V vRealize Operations Desktop Agent Yes

VPA View Persona Management Yes

SmartCard PCoIP Smartcard. This feature is not installed

VmwVaudio VMware Audio (virtual audio driver) Yes

Custom Setup Option in an Interactive Installation

This feature is hidden unless you use the VDM_FLASH_URL_REDIRECTION=1 property on the command line.

by default in an interactive installation.

Installed by Default Interactively or When ADDLOCAL Is Not Used

VMware, Inc. 35

Page 36

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 3‑7. Horizon Agent Silent Installation Options and Interactive Custom Setup Options (Continued)

Silent Installation Option

TSMMR Windows Media Multimedia Redirection

RDP This feature enables RDP in the registry if

Custom Setup Option in an Interactive Installation

(MMR)

you use the RDP_CHOICE=1 property on the command line or select RDP as the default display protocol when you create or edit a desktop pool in View Administrator.

This feature is hidden during interactive installations.

If you use ADDLOCAL to specify features individually, that is, you do not specify ADDLOCAL=ALL, you must always specify Core.

Table 3‑8. Horizon Agent Silent Installation Features That Are Installed Automatically

Silent Installation Feature Description

Core The core Horizon Agent functions.

BlastProtocol VMware Blast

PCoIP PCoIP Protocol Agent

VmVideo Virtual video driver

UnityTouch Unity Touch

PSG This features sets a registry entry that tells Connection Server whether

Installed by Default Interactively or When ADDLOCAL Is Not Used

Yes

If you specify ADDLOCAL=ALL, the Core features are installed.

Horizon Agent is using IPv4 or IPv6.

You install the Flash URL Redirection feature by using the VDM_FLASH_URL_REDIRECTION=1 property in a silent installation. This feature is not installed during an interactive installation or by using ADDLOCAL=ALL in a silent installation.

For example: VMware-viewagent-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"/qn VDM_VC_MANAGED_AGENT=1

VDM_FLASH_URL_REDIRECTION=1 ADDLOCAL=Core,SVIAgent,ThinPrint,USB,FlashURLRedirection,RTAV"

Configure a Virtual Machine with Multiple NICs for Horizon Agent

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. The subnet determines which network address Horizon Agent provides to the Connection Server instance for client protocol connections.

Procedure

On the virtual machine on which Horizon Agent is installed, open a command prompt, type

regedit.exe, and create a registry entry to congure the subnet.

For example, in an IPv4 network:

HKLM\Software\VMware, Inc.\VMware VDM\IpPrefix = n.n.n.n/m (REG_SZ)

In this example, n.n.n.n is the TCP/IP subnet and m is the number of bits in the subnet mask.

N In releases earlier than Horizon 6 version 6.1, this registry path was

HKLM\Software\VMware, Inc.\VMware VDM\Node Manager\subnet = n.n.n.n/m (REG_SZ). The old

registry seing is not used with View Agent 6.1 or later. If you upgrade View Agent from an earlier release to version 6.1 or later, make sure to use the current registry seing.

36 VMware, Inc.

Page 37

Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning

Optimize Guest Operating System Performance

You can perform certain steps to optimize guest operating system performance for remote desktop deployment. All of the steps are optional.

These recommendations include turning o the screen saver and not specifying a sleep timer. Your organization might require the use of screen savers. For example, you might have a GPO-managed security policy that locks a desktop a certain time after the screen saver starts. In this case, use a blank screen saver.

Prerequisites

Prepare a guest operating system for remote desktop deployment.

Familiarize yourself with the procedure for disabling the Windows Customer Experience Improvement

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

Procedure

Disable any unused ports, such as COM1, COM2, and LPT.

Adjust display properties.

a Choose a basic theme.

b Set the background to a solid color.

c Set the screen saver to None.

d Verify that hardware acceleration is enabled.

Select a high-performance power option and do not specify a sleep timer.

Disable the Indexing Service component.

N Indexing improves searches by cataloging les. Do not disable this feature for users who search often.

Remove or minimize System Restore points.

Turn o system protection on C:\.

Disable any unnecessary services.

Set the sound scheme to No Sounds.

Set visual eects to Adjust for best performance.

Open Windows Media Player and use the default seings.

Turn o automatic computer maintenance.

Adjust performance seings for best performance.

Delete any hidden uninstall folders in C:\Windows, such $NtUninstallKB893756$.

Delete all event logs.

Run Disk Cleanup to remove temporary les, empty the Recycle Bin, and remove system les and other

items that are no longer needed.

Run Disk Defragmenter to rearrange fragmented data.

Uninstall Tablet PC Components, unless this feature is needed.

Disable IPv6, unless it is needed.

VMware, Inc. 37

Page 38

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Use the File System Utility (fsutil) command to disable the seing that keeps track of the last time a

le was accessed.

For example: fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 1

Start the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) and change the TimeOutValue REG_DWORD in

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Disk to 0x000000be(190).

Turn o the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program and disable related tasks from the

Task Scheduler.

Restart Windows after you make the above changes.

What to do next

See “Optimizing Windows for Instant-Clone and View Composer Linked-Clone Virtual Machines,” on page 39 for information on disabling certain Windows services and tasks to reduce the growth of instant clones and View Composer linked clones. Disabling certain services and tasks can also result in performance benets for full virtual machines.

Disable the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program

Disabling the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program and the related Task Scheduler tasks that control this program can improve Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, and Windows 10 system performance in large desktop pools.

The following steps apply to Windows 7 and Windows 8. The steps might vary on dierent Windows operating systems.

Procedure

1 In the Windows 7 or Windows 8 guest operating system, start the control panel and click Action Center

> Change Action Center .

2 Click Customer Experience Improvement Program .

3 Select No, I don't want to participate in the program and click Save changes.

4 Start the control panel and click Administrative Tools > Task Scheduler.

5 In the Task Scheduler (Local) pane of the Task Scheduler dialog box, expand the Task Scheduler

Library > Microsoft > Windows nodes and open the Application Experience folder.

6 Disable the AITAgent, ProgramDataUpdater, and if available, Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser

tasks.

7 In the Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows node, open the Customer Experience

Improvement Program folder.

8 Disable the Consolidator, KernelCEIPTask, and UsbCEIP tasks.

9 In the Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows node, open the Autochk folder.

10 Disable the Proxy task.

What to do next

Perform other Windows optimization tasks. See “Optimize Guest Operating System Performance,” on page 37.

38 VMware, Inc.

Page 39

Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning

Optimizing Windows for Instant-Clone and View Composer LinkedClone Virtual Machines

By disabling certain Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, and Windows 10 services and tasks, you can reduce the growth in disk usage of instant clones and View Composer linked clones. Disabling certain services and tasks can also result in performance benets for full virtual machines.

Benefits of Disabling Windows Services and Tasks

Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, and Windows 10 schedule services and tasks that can cause instant clones and View Composer linked clones to grow, even when the machines are idle. The incremental growth of the OS disk can undo the storage savings that you achieve when you rst create the clones. You can reduce growth in disk size by disabling these Windows services.

Windows guest operating systems schedule services such as disk defragmentation to run by default. These services run in the background if you do not disable them.

Services that aect OS disk growth also generate input/output operations. Disabling these services can reduce IOPS (input/output operations per second) and improve performance for any type of desktop machines.

These best practices for optimizing Windows apply to most user environments. However, you must evaluate the eect of disabling each service on your users, applications, and desktops. You might require certain services to stay active.

For example, disabling Windows Update Service makes sense for instant clones because the OS is refreshed each time a user logs o, and for View Composer linked clones if you refresh or recompose regularly.

Windows Services and Tasks That Cause Disk Growth in Instant Clones and Linked Clones

Certain services and tasks in Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, and Windows 10 can cause the OS disk of an instant clone or a View Composer linked clone to grow incrementally, even when the machine is idle. If you disable these services and tasks, you can control the OS disk growth.

Services that aect OS disk growth also generate I/O operations. You can evaluate the benets of disabling these services for full clones as well.

Before you disable the Windows services that are shown in Table 3-9, verify that you took the optimization steps in “Optimize Guest Operating System Performance,” on page 37.

VMware, Inc. 39

Page 40

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 3‑9. Impact of Windows Services and Tasks on OS Disk Growth and IOPS

Default

Service or Task Description

Windows Hibernation

Provides a powersaving state by storing open documents and programs in a le before the computer is powered o. The le is reloaded into memory when the computer is restarted, restoring the state when the hibernation was invoked.

Windows Scheduled Disk Defragmentation

Disk defragmentation is scheduled as a background process.

Windows Update Service

Detects, downloads, and installs updates for Windows and other programs.

Windows Diagnostic Policy Service

Detects, troubleshoots, and resolves problems in Windows components. If you stop this service, diagnostics no longer function.

Prefetch/Superfetch Stores specic

information about applications that you run to help them start faster.

Occurrence or Startup

Default powerplan seings disable hibernation.

Once a week High.

Automatic startup Medium to high.

Always on, unless it is disabled.

Impact on OS Disk Impact on IOPS

High.

By default, the size of the hibernation

le,

hiberfil.sys, is the same as the installed RAM on the virtual machine. This feature aects all guest operating systems.

Repeated defragmentation operations can increase the size of the OS disk by several GB and do lile to make disk access more ecient .

Causes frequent writes to the OS disk because update checks occur often. The impact depends on the updates that are downloaded.

The service is triggered on demand. The write frequency varies, depending on demand.

Medium

Causes periodic updates to its layout and database information and individual prefetch les, which are generated on demand.

Turn Off This Service or Task?

High.

When hibernation is triggered, the system writes a hiberfil.sys le the size of the installed RAM.

Yes

Hibernation provides no benet in a virtual environment.

For instructions, see

“Disable Windows Hibernation in the Parent Virtual Machine,” on

page 47.

High Yes

Medium to high Yes, for instant

clones, and for View Composer linked clones that you refresh or recompose regularly.

Small to medium Yes, if you do not

need the diagnostic tools to function on the desktops.

Medium Yes, if application

startup times are acceptable after you disable this feature.

40 VMware, Inc.

Page 41

Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning

Table 3‑9. Impact of Windows Services and Tasks on OS Disk Growth and IOPS (Continued)

Default

Service or Task Description

Windows Registry Backup (RegIdleBackup)

System Restore Reverts the

Windows Defender Provides anti-

Microsoft Feeds Synchronization task (msfeedssync.exe)

Automatically backs up the Windows registry when the system is idle.

Windows system to a previous, healthy state.

spyware features.

Periodically updates RSS feeds in Windows Internet Explorer Web browsers. This task updates RSS feeds that have automatic RSS feeds synchronization turned on. The process appears in Windows Task Manager only when Internet Explorer is running.

Occurrence or Startup

Every 10 days at 12:00 am

When Windows starts up and once a day thereafter.

When Windows starts up. Performs a quick scan once a day. Checks for updates before each scan.

Once a day. Medium.

Impact on OS Disk Impact on IOPS

Medium.

Each time this task runs, it generates registry backup

les.

Small to medium.

Captures a system restore point whenever the system detects that it is needed.

Medium to high.

Performs denition updates, scheduled scans, and scans that are started on demand.

Aects OS-disk growth if persistent disks are not congured. If persistent disks are congured, the impact is diverted to the persistent disks.

Medium. Yes. Both instant

No major impact. Yes. Both instant

Medium to high. Yes, if other anti-

Medium Yes, if your users do

Turn Off This Service or Task?

clones and View Composer linked clones let you revert to a snapshot and achieve the goal of restoring the registry.

clones and View Composer linked clones let you revert to a healthy state.

spyware software is installed.

not require automatic RSS feed updates on their desktops.

Disable Scheduled Disk Defragmentation on a Windows Parent Virtual Machine

When you prepare a parent virtual machine for instant clones or View Composer linked clones, it is recommended that you disable scheduled defragmentation. Windows schedule weekly disk defragmentations by default. Defragmentation signicantly increase the size of a clone's virtual disk and does not make disk access more ecient for instant clones or View Composer linked clones.

The clones share the parent virtual machine's OS disk but each clone maintains changes to the le system in its own virtual disk. Any activity, including defragmentation, will increase the size of each clone's individual virtual disk and therefore increase storage consumption. As a best practice, defragment the parent virtual machine before you take a snapshot and create the pool.

The following steps apply to Windows 7 and Windows 8. The steps might vary on dierent Windows operating systems.

VMware, Inc. 41

Page 42

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Procedure

1 In vSphere Client, select the parent virtual machine and select Open Console.

2 Log in as an administrator.

3 Click Start and type defrag in the Search programs and  box.

4 In the Programs pane, click Disk Defragmenter.

5 In the Disk Defragmenter dialog box, click Defragment disk.

The Disk Defragmenter consolidates defragmented les on the virtual machine's hard disk.

6 In the Disk Defragmenter dialog box, click  schedule.

7 Deselect Run on a schedule (recommended) and click OK.

Disable Windows Update

Disabling the Windows Update feature avoids some I/O operations to the le system and can reduce the growth of an instant clone's or a View Composer linked clone's virtual disk.

Evaluate the needs of your environment before disabling Windows Update. If you disable this feature, you can manually download the updates to the parent virtual machine and then use the push-image operation for instant clones or recompose for View Composer linked clones to apply the updates to all the clones.

The following steps apply to Windows 7 and Windows 8. The steps might vary on dierent Windows operating systems.

Procedure

1 In vSphere Client, select the parent virtual machine and select Open Console.

2 Log in as an administrator.

3 Click Start > Control Panel > System and Security > Turn automatic updating on or .

4 In the Important updates menu, select Never check for updates.

5 Deselect Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates.

6 Deselect Allow all users to install updates on this computer and click OK.

Disable the Diagnostic Policy Service on Windows Virtual Machines

Disabling the Windows Diagnostic Policy Service avoids some I/O operations to the le system and can reduce the growth of an instant clone's or a View Composer linked clone's virtual disk.

Do no disable the Windows Diagnostic Policy Service if your users require the diagnostic tools on their desktops.

The following steps apply to Windows 7 and Windows 8. The steps might vary on dierent Windows operating systems.

Procedure

1 In vSphere Client, select the parent virtual machine and select Open Console.

2 Log in as an administrator.

3 Click Start > Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools.

4 Select Services and click Open.

5 Double-click Diagnostic Policy Service.

6 In the Diagnostic Policy Service Properties (Local Computer) dialog, click Stop.

42 VMware, Inc.

Page 43

Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning

7 In the Startup type menu, select Disabled.

8 Click OK.

Disable the Prefetch and Superfetch Features on Windows Virtual Machines

Disabling the prefetch and superfetch features avoids some I/O operations to the le system and can reduce the growth of an instant clone's or a View Composer linked clone's virtual disk.

To disable the prefetch and superfetch features, you must edit a Windows registry key and disable the Prefetch service on the virtual machine.

The following steps apply to Windows 7 and Windows 8. The steps might vary on dierent Windows operating systems.

Prerequisites

See the Microsoft TechNet Web site for information on how to use the Windows Registry Editor.

Procedure

1 Start the Windows Registry Editor on the local Windows virtual machine.

2 Navigate to the registry key called PrefetchParameters.

The registry key is located in the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters.

3 Set the EnablePrefetcher and EnableSuperfetch values to 0.

4 Click Start > Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools.

5 Select Services and click Open.

6 Double-click the Superfetch service.

7 In the Superfetch Properties (Local Computer) dialog, click Stop.

8 In the Startup type menu, select Disabled.

9 Click OK.

Disable Windows Registry Backup on Windows Virtual Machines

Disabling the Windows registry backup feature, RegIdleBackup, avoids some I/O operations to the le system and can reduce the growth of an instant clone's or a View Composer linked clone's virtual disk.

The following steps apply to Windows 7 and Windows 8. The steps might vary on dierent Windows operating systems.

Procedure

1 In vSphere Client, select the parent virtual machine and select Open Console.

2 Log in as an administrator.

3 Click Start > Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools.

4 Select Task Scheduler and click Open.

5 In the left pane, expand Task Scheduler Library, Microsoft, Windows.

6 Double-click Registry and select RegIdleBackup.

7 In the Actions pane, click Disable.

VMware, Inc. 43

Page 44

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Disable the System Restore on Windows Virtual Machines

Disabling the Windows System Restore feature avoids some I/O operations to the le system and can reduce the growth of an instant clone's or a View Composer linked clone's virtual disk.

With System Restore, you can revert a machine's state to a previous point in time. You can achieve the same result with the push image operation for instant clones and the recompose or refresh operation for View Composer linked clones. Furthermore, with instant clones, when a user logs o, the machine is recreated, making a system restore unnecessary

The following steps apply to Windows 7 and Windows 8. The steps might vary on dierent Windows operating systems.

Procedure

1 In vSphere Client, select the parent virtual machine and select Open Console.

2 Log in as an administrator.

3 Click Start > Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools.

4 Select Task Scheduler and click Open.

5 In the left pane, expand Task Scheduler Library, Microsoft, Windows.

6 Double-click SystemRestore and select SR.

7 In the Actions pane, click Disable.

Disable Windows Defender on Windows Virtual Machines

Disabling Windows Defender avoids some I/O operations to the le system and can reduce the growth of an instant clone's or a View Composer linked clone's virtual disk.

If Windows Defender is the only anti-spyware installed on the virtual machine, you might prefer to keep Windows Defender active on the desktops in your environment.

The following steps apply to Windows 7 and Windows 8. The steps might vary on dierent Windows operating systems.

Procedure

1 In vSphere Client, select the parent virtual machine and select Open Console.

2 Log in as an administrator.

3 Click Start and type Windows Defender in the Search programs and les box.

4 Click Tools > Options > Administrator.

5 Deselect Use this program and click Save.

Disable Microsoft Feeds Synchronization on Windows Virtual Machines

Windows Internet Explorer uses the Microsoft Feeds Synchronization task to update RSS feeds in users' Web browsers. Disabling this task avoids some I/O operations to the le system and can reduce the growth of an instant clone's or a View Composer linked clone's virtual disk.

Procedure

1 In vSphere Client, select the parent virtual machine and select Open Console.

2 Log in as an administrator.

3 Click Start > Control Panel > Network and Internet > Internet Options.

44 VMware, Inc.

Page 45

4 Click the Content tab.

5 Under Feeds and Web Slices, click .

6 Deselect Automatically check feeds and Web Slices for updates and click OK.

7 In the Internet Properties dialog, click OK.

Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine

To deploy an instant-clone or a View Composer linked-clone desktop pool, you must rst prepare a parent virtual machine.

Congure a Parent Virtual Machine on page 45

After creating a virtual machine that you plan to use as a parent, congure the Windows environment.

Activating Windows on Instant Clones and View Composer Linked Clones on page 47

To make sure that Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 10, and Windows Server clones are properly activated when the clones are created, you must use Microsoft volume activation on the parent virtual machine. The volume-activation technology requires a volume license key.

Disable Windows Hibernation in the Parent Virtual Machine on page 47

The Windows hibernation feature creates a hidden system le, Hiberfil.sys and uses this le to store information that is needed for hybrid sleep. Disabling hibernation reduces the size of an instant clone's or a View Composer linked clone's virtual disk.

Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning

Congure Local Storage for View Composer Linked Clones on page 48

For a View Composer linked-clone desktop pool, you can congure the parent virtual machine to store virtual-machine swap les on a local datastore. The linked clones' swap les will reside on local storage. This feature is not available to instant clones.

Record the Paging File Size of a View Composer Parent Virtual Machine on page 48

When you create a View Composer linked-clone desktop pool, you can redirect the clones' paging and temp les to a separate disk. You must congure this disk to be larger than the size of the paging le on the parent virtual machine.

Increase the Timeout Limit for ClonePrep and QuickPrep Customization Scripts on page 49

ClonePrep and QuickPrep post-synchronization or power-o scripts have a timeout limit of 20 seconds. You can increase this limit by changing the ExecScriptTimeout Windows registry value on the parent virtual machine.

Configure a Parent Virtual Machine

After creating a virtual machine that you plan to use as a parent, congure the Windows environment.

Prerequisites

Verify that you prepared a virtual machine to use for deploying remote desktops. See “Creating a

Virtual Machine for Cloning,” on page 19.

The parent virtual machine can either belong to the same Active Directory domain as the domain that the desktop machines will join or be a member of a workgroup.

Verify that the virtual machine was not converted from an instant clone or a View Composer linked

clone.

I You also cannot use an instant clone or a View Composer linked clones as a parent virtual machine.

VMware, Inc. 45

Page 46

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

When you install Horizon Agent on the parent virtual machine, select the VMware Horizon Instant

Clone Agent option for instant clones or the VMware Horizon View Composer Agent option. See

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

To update Horizon Agent in a large environment, you can use standard Windows update mechanisms such as Altiris, SMS, LanDesk, BMC, or other systems management software. You can also use the push image or the recompose operation to update Horizon Agent.

N For View Composer linked clones, do not change the log on account for the VMware View Composer Guest Agent Server service in a parent virtual machine. By default, this is the Local System account. If you change this account, the linked clones created from the parent will not start.

To deploy Windows machines, congure a volume license key and activate the parent virtual machine's

operating system with volume activation. See “Activating Windows on Instant Clones and View

Composer Linked Clones,” on page 47.

Verify that you followed the best practices for optimizing the operating system. See “Optimizing

Windows for Instant-Clone and View Composer Linked-Clone Virtual Machines,” on page 39.

Familiarize yourself with the procedure for disabling searching Windows Update for device drivers.

See the Microsoft Technet article, "Disable Searching Windows Update for Device Drivers" at

hp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc730606(v=ws.10).aspx.

Procedure

Remove the DHCP lease on the parent virtual machine to avoid copying a leased IP address to the

linked clones in the pool.

a On the parent virtual machine, open a command prompt.

b Type the ipconfig /release command.

Verify that the system disk contains a single volume.

You cannot deploy linked clones from a parent virtual machine that contains more than one volume. Multiple virtual disks are supported.

N For View Composer linked clones, if the parent virtual machine contains multiple virtual disks, when you create a desktop pool, do not select a drive leer for the View Composer persistent disk or disposable data disk that already exists on the parent virtual machine or that conicts with a drive leer that is used for a network-mounted drive.

Verify that the virtual machine does not contain an independent disk.

An independent disk is excluded when you take a snapshot of the virtual machine. Clones are based on a snapshot and therefore will not contain the independent disk.

For View Composer linked clones, if you plan to congure disposable data disks when you create

linked-clone machines, remove default user TEMP and TMP variables from the parent virtual machine.

You can also remove the pagefile.sys le to avoid duplicating the le on all the linked clones. If you leave the pagefile.sys le on the parent virtual machine, a read-only version of the le is inherited by the linked clones, while a second version of the le is used on the disposable data disk.

Disable the hibernation option to reduce the size of each clone's virtual disk.

Before you take a snapshot of the parent virtual machine, disable searching Windows Update for device

drivers.

This Windows feature can interfere with the customization process. As each clone is customized, Windows might search for the best drivers on the Internet for that clone, resulting in delays.

In vSphere Client, disable the vApp Options seing on the parent virtual machine.

46 VMware, Inc.

Page 47

Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning

On Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2012 R2 machines, disable the

scheduled maintenance task that recovers disk space by removing unused features.

For example: Schtasks.exe /change /disable /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\AppxDeploymentClient\Pre-

staged app cleanup"

For example, in the case of View Composer linked clones, this maintenance task can, remove the Sysprep customization script after the linked clones are created, which would cause subsequent recompose operations to fail with customization operation timeout errors. For more information, see the Microsoft KB article available at hp://support.microsoft.com/kb/2928948.

What to do next

Use vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client to take a snapshot of the parent virtual machine in its powereddown state. This snapshot is provides the base image for the clones.

I Before you take a snapshot, shut down the parent virtual machine.

Activating Windows on Instant Clones and View Composer Linked Clones

To activate Windows with volume activation, you use Key Management Service (KMS), which requires a KMS license key. See your Microsoft dealer to acquire a volume license key and congure volume activation.

N Multiple Activation Key (MAK) licensing is not supported.

Before you create an instant-clone or View Composer linked-clone desktop pool, you must use volume activation to activate Windows on the parent virtual machine.

The following steps describe how activation takes place:

1 Invoke a script to remove the existing license.

2 Restart Windows.

3 Invoke a script that uses KMS licensing to activate Windows.

KMS treats each activated clone as a computer with a newly issued license.

Disable Windows Hibernation in the Parent Virtual Machine

C When you make hibernation unavailable, hybrid sleep does not work. Users can lose data if a power loss occurs.

Procedure

1 In vSphere Client, select the parent virtual machine and select Open Console.

2 Log in as an administrator.

3 Disable the hibernation option.

a Click Start and type cmd in the Start Search box.

b In the search results list, right-click Command Prompt and click Run as Administrator.

VMware, Inc. 47

Page 48

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

c At the User Account Control prompt, click Continue.

d At the command prompt, type powercfg.exe /hibernate off and press Enter.

e Type exit and press Enter.

Configure Local Storage for View Composer Linked Clones

In this procedure, you congure local storage for the virtual-machine swap les, not the paging and temp

les in the guest OS. When you create a linked-clone pool, you also can redirect guest OS paging and temp les to a separate disk. See “Worksheet for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool,” on page 59.

Procedure

1 Congure a swaple datastore on the ESXi host or cluster on which you will deploy the linked-clone

pool.

2 When you create the parent virtual machine in vCenter Server, store the virtual-machine swap les on

the swaple datastore on the local ESXi host or cluster:

a In vSphere Client, select the parent virtual machine.

b Click Edit  and click the Options tab.

c Click  location and click Store in the host's  datastore.

For detailed instructions, see the VMware vSphere documentation.

Record the Paging File Size of a View Composer Parent Virtual Machine

When a linked clone that is congured with a separate disk for the disposable les is powered o, the disk is recreated. This feature can slow the growth in the size of a linked clone. However, this feature can work only if you congure the disposable-le disk to be large enough to hold the clone's paging le.

Before you can congure the disposable-le disk, record the maximum paging-le size in the parent virtual machine. The linked clones have the same paging-le size as the parent virtual machine.

As a best practice, remove the pagefile.sys le from the parent virtual machine before you take a snapshot, to avoid duplicating the le on all the linked clones. See “Congure a Parent Virtual Machine,” on page 45.

N This feature is not that same as conguring local storage for the virtual-machine swap les. See

“Congure Local Storage for View Composer Linked Clones,” on page 48.

Procedure

1 In vSphere Client, right-click the parent virtual machine and click Open Console.

2 Select Start >  > Control Panel > System.

3 Click the Advanced tab.

4 In the Performance pane, click .

5 Click the Advanced tab.

48 VMware, Inc.

Page 49

Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning

6 In the Virtual memory pane, click Change.

The Virtual Memory page appears.

7 Set the paging le size to a larger value than the size of the memory that is assigned to the virtual

machine.

I If the Maximum size (MB) seing is smaller than the virtual-machine memory size, type a larger value and save the new value.

8 Keep a record of the Maximum size (MB) seing that is congured in the Paging le size for selected

drive pane.

What to do next

When you congure a linked-clone pool from this parent virtual machine, congure a disposable-le disk that is larger than the paging-le size.

Increase the Timeout Limit for ClonePrep and QuickPrep Customization Scripts

Instead of increasing the timeout limit you can also use your customization script to launch another script or process that performs the long-running task.

N Most QuickPrep customization scripts can nish running within the 20-second limit. Test your scripts before you increase the limit.

Procedure

1 On the parent virtual machine, start the Windows Registry Editor.

a Select Start > Command Prompt.

b At the command prompt, type regedit.

2 In the Windows registry, locate the vmware-viewcomposer-ga registry key.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\vmware-viewcomposer-ga

3 Click Edit and modify the registry value.

Value Name: ExecScriptTimeout Value Type: REG_DWORD Value unit: milliseconds

The default value is 20000 milliseconds.

Creating Virtual Machine Templates

You must create a virtual machine template before you can create an automated pool that contains full virtual machines.

A virtual machine template is a master copy of a virtual machine that can be used to create and provision new virtual machines. Typically, a template includes an installed guest operating system and a set of applications.

You create virtual machine templates in vSphere Client. You can create a virtual machine template from a previously congured virtual machine, or you can convert a previously congured virtual machine to a virtual machine template.

VMware, Inc. 49

Page 50

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

See the vSphere Basic System Administration guide for information on using vSphere Client to create virtual machine templates. See “Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines,” on page 51 for information on creating automated pools.

N A virtual machine template is not for creating an instant-clone or a View Composer linked-clone desktop pool.

Creating Customization Specifications

When you customize a clone using Sysprep, you need to provide a customization specication.

Sysprep is available for View Composer linked-clone desktop pools and automated full-clone desktop pools, but not instant-clone desktop pools. You create customization specications by using the Customization Specication wizard in vSphere. See the vSphere Virtual Machine Administration document for information on using the Customization Specication wizard.

It is recommended that you test a customization specication in vSphere before you use it to create a desktop pool. When you use a Sysprep customization specication to join a Windows desktop to a domain, you must use the fully qualied domain name (FQDN) of the Active Directory domain. You cannot use the NetBIOS name.

50 VMware, Inc.

Page 51

Creating Automated Desktop Pools

That Contain Full Virtual Machines 4

With an automated desktop pool that contains full virtual machines, you create a virtual machine template and View uses that template to create virtual machines for each desktop. You can optionally create customization specications to expedite automated pool deployments.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines,” on page 51

“Worksheet for Creating an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines,” on page 51

“Create an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines,” on page 55

“Clone an Automated Desktop Pool,” on page 56

“Desktop Seings for Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines,” on page 57

Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines

To create an automated desktop pool, View dynamically provisions machines based on seings that you apply to the pool. View uses a virtual machine template as the basis of the pool. From the template, View creates a new virtual machine in vCenter Server for each desktop.

Worksheet for Creating an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines

When you create an automated desktop pool, the View Administrator Add Desktop Pool wizard prompts you to congure certain options. Use this worksheet to prepare your conguration options before you create the pool.

You can print this worksheet and write down the values you want to specify when you run the Add Desktop Pool wizard.

VMware, Inc.

Page 52

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 4‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

User assignment Choose the type of user assignment:

Enable automatic assignment In a dedicated-assignment pool, a machine is

vCenter Server Select the vCenter Server that manages the

Desktop Pool ID The unique name that identies the pool in View

Display name The pool name that users see when they log in

Access group Select an access group in which to place the pool

Delete machine after logo If you select oating user assignment, choose

In a dedicated-assignment pool, each user is

assigned to a machine. Users receive the same machine each time they log in to the pool.

In a oating-assignment pool, users receive

dierent machines each time they log in.

For details, see “User Assignment in Desktop

Pools,” on page 127.

assigned to a user when the user rst logs in to the pool. You can also explicitly assign machines to users.

If you do not enable automatic assignment, you must explicitly assign a machine to each user.

You can assign machines manually even when automatic assignment is enabled.

virtual machines in the pool.

Administrator.

If multiple vCenter Servers are running in your environment, make sure that another vCenter Server is not using the same pool ID.

A View Connection Server conguration can be a standalone View Connection Server instance or a pod of replicated instances that share a common View LDAP conguration.

from a client device. If you do not specify a display name, the pool ID is displayed to users.

or leave the pool in the default root access group.

If you use an access group, you can delegate managing the pool to an administrator who has a specic role. For details, see the role-based delegated administration chapter in the View Administration document.

N Access groups are dierent from vCenter Server folders that store desktop virtual machines. You select a vCenter Server folder later in the wizard with other vCenter Server seings.

whether to delete machines after users log o.

N You set this option on the Desktop Pool Seings page.

52 VMware, Inc.

Page 53

Chapter 4 Creating Automated Desktop Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines

Table 4‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines (Continued)

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Desktop Pool Seings Seings that determine the desktop state, power

status when a virtual machine is not in use, display protocol, Adobe Flash quality, and so on.

For descriptions, see “Desktop Pool Seings for

All Desktop Pool Types,” on page 135.

For a list of the seings that apply to automated pools, see “Desktop Seings for Automated

Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines,” on

page 57.

For more information about power policies and automated pools, see “Seing Power Policies for

Desktop Pools,” on page 140.

Stop provisioning on error You can direct View to stop provisioning or

continue to provision virtual machines in a desktop pool after an error occurs during the provisioning of a virtual machine. If you leave this seing selected, you can prevent a provisioning error from recurring on multiple virtual machines.

Virtual Machine Naming Choose whether to provision machines by

manually specifying a list of machine names or by providing a naming paern and the total number of machines.

For details, see “Naming Machines Manually or

Providing a Naming Paern,” on page 128.

Specify names manually If you specify names manually, prepare a list of

machine names and, optionally, the associated user names.

Naming Paern If you use this naming method, provide the

paern.

The paern you specify is used as a prex in all the machine names, followed by a unique number to identify each machine.

For details, see “Using a Naming Paern for

Automated Desktop Pools,” on page 130.

Maximum number of machines If you use a naming paern, specify the total

number of machines in the pool.

You can also specify a minimum number of machines to provision when you rst create the pool.

Number of spare (powered on) machines

If you specify names manually or use a naming paern, specify a number of machines to keep available and powered on for new users. For details, see “Naming Machines Manually or

Providing a Naming Paern,” on page 128.

When you specify names manually, this option is called # Unassigned machines kept powered on.

VMware, Inc. 53

Page 54

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 4‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines (Continued)

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Minimum number of machines If you use a naming paern and provision

Use vSphere Virtual SAN Specify whether to use Virtual SAN, if available.

Template Select the virtual machine template to use for

vCenter Server folder Select the folder in vCenter Server in which the

Host or cluster Select the ESXi host or cluster on which the

Resource pool Select the vCenter Server resource pool in which

Datastores Select one or more datastores on which to store

Use View Storage Accelerator Determine whether ESXi hosts cache common

machines on demand, specify a minimum number of machines in the pool.

The minimum number of machines is created when you create the pool.

If you provision machines on demand, additional machines are created as users connect to the pool for the rst time or as you assign machines to users.

Virtual SAN is a software-dened storage tier that virtualizes the local physical storage disks available on a cluster of ESXi hosts. For more information, see “Using Virtual SAN for High-

Performance Storage and Policy-Based Management,” on page 239.

creating the pool.

desktop pool resides.

virtual machines run.

In vSphere 5.1 or later, you can select a cluster with up to 32 ESXi hosts.

the desktop pool resides.

the desktop pool.

For clusters, you can use shared or local datastores.

N If you use Virtual SAN, select only one datastore.

virtual machine disk data. View Storage Accelerator can improve performance and reduce the need for extra storage I/O bandwidth to manage boot storms and anti-virus scanning I/O storms.

This feature is supported on vSphere 5.0 and later.

This feature is enabled by default.

For details, see “Congure View Storage

Accelerator for View Composer Linked Clones,”

on page 254.

54 VMware, Inc.

Page 55

Chapter 4 Creating Automated Desktop Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines

Table 4‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines (Continued)

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Transparent Page Sharing Scope Select the level at which to allow transparent

page sharing (TPS). The choices are Virtual Machine (the default), Pool, Pod, or Global. If you turn on TPS for all the machines in the pool, pod, or globally, the ESXi host eliminates redundant copies of memory pages that result if the machines use the same guest operating system or applications.

Page sharing happens on the ESXi host. For example, if you enable TPS at the pool level but the pool is spread across multiple ESXi hosts, only virtual machines on the same host and within the same pool will share pages. At the global level, all machines managed by View on the same ESXi host can share memory pages, regardless of which pool the machines reside in.

N The default seing is not to share memory pages among machines because TPS can pose a security risk. Research indicates that TPS could possibly be abused to gain unauthorized access to data in very limited conguration scenarios.

Guest customization Select a customization specication (SYSPREP)

from the list to congure licensing, domain aachment, DHCP seings, and other properties on the machines.

Alternatively, you can customize the machines manually after they are created.

Create an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines

You can create an automated desktop pool based on a virtual machine template that you select. View dynamically deploys the desktops, creating a new virtual machine in vCenter Server for each desktop.

Prerequisites

Prepare a virtual machine template that View will use to create the machines. Horizon Agent must be

installed on the template. See Chapter 3, “Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for

Cloning,” on page 19.

If you intend to use a customization specication, make sure that the specications are accurate. In

vSphere Client, deploy and customize a virtual machine from your template using the customization specication. Fully test the resulting virtual machine, including DHCP and authentication.

Verify that you have a sucient number of ports on the ESXi virtual switch that is used for the virtual

machines that are used as remote desktops. The default value might not be sucient if you create large desktop pools. The number of virtual switch ports on the ESXI host must equal or exceed the number of virtual machines multiplied by the number of virtual NICs per virtual machine.

Gather the conguration information you must provide to create the pool. See “Worksheet for Creating

an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines,” on page 51.

Decide how to congure power seings, display protocol, Adobe Flash quality, and other seings. See

“Desktop Pool Seings for All Desktop Pool Types,” on page 135.

VMware, Inc. 55

Page 56

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

If you intend to provide access to your desktops and applications through VMware Identity Manager,

verify that you create the desktop and application pools as a user who has the Administrators role on the root access group in View Administrator. If you give the user the Administrators role on an access group other than the root access group, VMware Identity Manager will not recognize the SAML authenticator you congure in View, and you cannot congure the pool in VMware Identity Manager.

Procedure

1 In View Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools.

2 Click Add.

3 Select Automated Desktop Pool.

4 On the vCenter Server page, choose Full virtual machines.

5 Follow the prompts in the wizard to create the pool.

Use the conguration information that you gathered in the worksheet. You can go directly back to any wizard page that you completed by clicking the page name in the navigation panel.

In View Administrator, you can view the machines as they are added to the pool by selecting Catalog > Desktop Pools.

What to do next

Entitle users to access the pool. See “Add Entitlements to a Desktop or Application Pool,” on page 159.

Clone an Automated Desktop Pool

You can clone an automated desktop pool from an existing pool. When you clone a pool, the existing desktop pool's seings are copied into the Add Desktop Pool wizard, allowing you to create a new pool without having to ll in each seing manually.

With this feature, you can streamline pool creation because you do not have to type every option in the Add Desktop Pool wizard. You can ensure that desktop pool aributes are standardized by using the pre-lled values in the wizard.

You can clone automated desktop pools that contain full virtual machines or View Composer linked clones. You cannot clone automated desktop pools of instant clones, manual desktop pools, or RDS desktop pools.

When you clone a desktop pool, you cannot change certain seings:

Desktop pool type

Clone type, either linked clone or full virtual machine

User assignment, either dedicated or oating

vCenter Server instance

Prerequisites

Verify that the prerequisites for creating the original desktop pool are still valid.

For example, for a pool that contains full virtual machines, verify that a virtual machine template was prepared.

For a linked-clone pool, verify that a parent virtual machine was prepared and a snapshot was taken after the virtual machine was powered o.

When you clone a pool, you can use the same virtual machine template or parent virtual machine, or you can select another one.

56 VMware, Inc.

Page 57

Chapter 4 Creating Automated Desktop Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines

For prerequisites for cloning an automated, full-clone pool, see “Create an Automated Pool That

Contains Full Virtual Machines,” on page 55.

For prerequisites for cloning a linked-cone pool, see “Create a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool,” on

page 67.

Procedure

1 In View Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools.

2 Select the desktop pool that you want to clone and click Clone.

The Add Desktop Pool wizard appears.

3 On the Add Desktop Pool page, type a unique pool ID.

4 On the Provisioning Seings page, provide unique names for the virtual machines.

Option Description

Use a naming pattern

Specify names manually

Type a virtual machine naming paern.

Provide a list of unique names for the virtual machines.

5 Follow the other prompts in the wizard to create the pool.

Change desktop pool seings and values as needed.

In View Administrator, you can view the machines as they are added to the pool by selecting Catalog > Desktop Pools.

What to do next

Entitle users to access the pool. See “Add Entitlements to a Desktop or Application Pool,” on page 159.

Desktop Settings for Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines

You must specify desktop pool seings when you congure automated pools that contain full virtual machines. Dierent seings apply to pools with dedicated user assignments and oating user assignments.

Table 4-2 lists the seings that apply to automated pools with dedicated assignments and oating

assignments.

For descriptions of each desktop pool seing, see “Desktop Pool Seings for All Desktop Pool Types,” on page 135.

Table 4‑2. Settings for Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines

Automated Pool, Dedicated

Setting

State Yes Yes

Connection Server restrictions Yes Yes

Remote machine power policy Yes Yes

Automatic logo after disconnect Yes Yes

Allow users to reset their machines Yes Yes

Allow user to initiate separate sessions from dierent client devices

Delete machine after logo Yes

Default display protocol Yes Yes

Assignment

Automated Pool, Floating Assignment

Yes

VMware, Inc. 57

Page 58

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 4‑2. Settings for Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines (Continued)

Setting

Allow users to choose protocol Yes Yes

3D Renderer Yes Yes

Max number of monitors Yes Yes

Max resolution of any one monitor Yes Yes

Adobe Flash quality Yes Yes

Adobe Flash throling Yes Yes

Override global Mirage seings Yes Yes

Mirage Server conguration Yes Yes

Automated Pool, Dedicated Assignment

Automated Pool, Floating Assignment

58 VMware, Inc.

Page 59

Creating Linked-Clone Desktop Pools 5

With a linked-clone desktop pool, View creates a desktop pool based on a parent virtual machine that you select. The View Composer service dynamically creates a new linked-clone virtual machine in vCenter Server for each desktop.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“Linked-Clone Desktop Pools,” on page 59

“Worksheet for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool,” on page 59

“Create a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool,” on page 67

“Clone an Automated Desktop Pool,” on page 69

“Desktop Pool Seings for Linked-Clone Desktop Pools,” on page 70

“View Composer Support for Linked-Clone SIDs and Third-Party Applications,” on page 71

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

Composer Operations,” on page 75

“Use Existing Active Directory Computer Accounts for Linked Clones,” on page 76

Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

To create a linked-clone desktop pool, View Composer generates linked-clone virtual machines from a snapshot of a parent virtual machine. View dynamically provisions the linked-clone desktops based on seings that you apply to the pool.

Because linked-clone desktops share a base system-disk image, they use less storage than full virtual machines.

Worksheet for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool

When you create a linked-clone desktop pool, the View Administrator Add Desktop Pool wizard prompts you to congure certain options. Use this worksheet to prepare your conguration options before you create the pool.

You can print this worksheet and write down the values you want to specify when you run the Add Desktop Pool wizard.

Before you create a linked-clone pool, you must use vCenter Server to take a snapshot of the parent virtual machine that you prepare for the pool. You must shut down the parent virtual machine before you take the snapshot. View Composer uses the snapshot as the base image from which the clones are created.

N You cannot create a linked-clone pool from a virtual machine template.

VMware, Inc.

Page 60

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 5‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

User assignment Choose the type of user assignment:

Enable automatic assignment In a dedicated-assignment pool, a machine is assigned

vCenter Server Select the vCenter Server that manages the virtual

Desktop Pool ID The unique name that identies the pool in View

Display name The pool name that users see when they log in from a

Access group Select an access group in which to place the pool or

Delete or refresh machine on

logo

Desktop Pool Seings Seings that determine the machine state, power status

In a dedicated-assignment pool, each user is

assigned to a machine. Users receive the same machine each time they log in.

In a oating-assignment pool, users receive

dierent machines each time they log in.

For details, see “User Assignment in Desktop Pools,” on page 127.

to a user when the user rst logs in to the pool. You can also explicitly assign machines to users.

If you do not enable automatic assignment, you must explicitly assign a machine to each user.

machines in the pool.

Administrator.

If multiple View Connection Server congurations are running in your environment, make sure that another View Connection Server conguration is not using the same pool ID.

A View Connection Server conguration can be a standalone View Connection Server instance or a pod of replicated instances that share a common View LDAP conguration.

client device. If you do not specify a display name, the pool ID is displayed to users.

leave the pool in the default root access group.

N Access groups are dierent from vCenter Server folders that store virtual machines that are used as desktops. You select a vCenter Server folder later in the wizard with other vCenter Server seings.

If you select oating user assignment, choose whether to refresh machines, delete machines, or do nothing after users log o.

N You set this option on the Desktop Pool Seings page.

when a virtual machine is not in use, display protocol, Adobe Flash quality, and so on.

For descriptions, see “Desktop Pool Seings for All

Desktop Pool Types,” on page 135.

For a list of the seings that apply to linked-clone pools, see “Desktop Pool Seings for Linked-Clone

Desktop Pools,” on page 70.

For more information about power policies and automated pools, see “Seing Power Policies for

Desktop Pools,” on page 140.

60 VMware, Inc.

Page 61

Chapter 5 Creating Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

Table 5‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool (Continued)

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Stop provisioning on error You can direct View to stop provisioning or continue to

provision virtual machines in a desktop pool after an error occurs during the provisioning of a virtual machine. If you leave this seing selected, you can prevent a provisioning error from recurring on multiple virtual machines.

Virtual machine naming Choose whether to provision machines by manually

specifying a list of machine names or by providing a naming paern and the total number of machines.

For details, see “Naming Machines Manually or

Providing a Naming Paern,” on page 128.

Specify names manually If you specify names manually, prepare a list of

machine names and, optionally, the associated user names.

Naming paern If you use this naming method, provide the paern.

The paern you specify is used as a prex in all the machine names, followed by a unique number to identify each machine.

For details, see “Using a Naming Paern for

Automated Desktop Pools,” on page 130.

Max number of machines If you use a naming paern, specify the total number

of machines in the pool.

You can also specify a minimum number of machines to provision when you rst create the pool.

Number of spare (powered on) machines

Minimum number of ready (provisioned) machines during View Composer maintenance operations

If you specify names manually or use a naming paern, specify a number of machines to keep available and powered on for new users. For details, see “Naming Machines Manually or Providing a

Naming Paern,” on page 128.

When you specify names manually, this option is called # Unassigned machines kept powered on.

If you specify names manually or use a naming paern, specify a minimum number of machines that are provisioned for use in remote desktop sessions while View Composer maintenance operations take place.

This seing allows users to maintain existing connections or make new connection requests while View Composer refreshes, recomposes, or rebalances the machines in the pool. The seing does not distinguish between spare machines that are ready to accept new connections and machines that are already connected in existing desktop sessions.

This value must be smaller than the Max number of machines, which you specify if you provision machines on demand.

See “Keeping Linked-Clone Machines Provisioned for

Use in Remote Desktop Sessions During View Composer Operations,” on page 75.

VMware, Inc. 61

Page 62

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 5‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool (Continued)

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Provision machines on demand

Provision all machines up front

Min number of machines If you use a naming paern and provision desktops on

Redirect Windows prole to a persistent disk

Disk size and drive leer for persistent disk

Disposable File Redirection Choose whether to redirect the guest OS's paging and

If you use a naming paern, choose whether to provision all machines when the pool is created or provision machines as they are needed.

Provision all machines up front. When the pool is

created, the system provisions the number of machines you specify in Max number of

machines.

Provision machines on demand. When the pool is

created, the system creates the number of machines that you specify in Min number of machines. Additional machines are created as users connect to the pool for the rst time or as you assign machines to users.

demand, specify a minimum number of machines in the pool.

The system creates the minimum number of machines when you create the pool. This number is maintained even when other seings such as Delete or refresh machine on  cause machines to be deleted.

If you select dedicated user assignments, choose whether to store Windows user-prole data on a separate View Composer persistent disk or the same disk as the OS data.

Separate persistent disks let you preserve user data and seings. View Composer refresh, recompose, and rebalance operations do not aect persistent disks. You can detach a persistent disk from a linked clone and recreate the linked-clone virtual machine from the detached disk. For example, when a machine or pool is deleted, you can detach the persistent disk and recreate the desktop, preserving the original user data and

seings.

If you store the Windows prole in the OS disk, user data and seings are removed during refresh, recompose, and rebalance operations.

If you store user prole data on a separate View Composer persistent disk, provide the disk size in megabytes and the drive leer.

N Do not select a drive leer that already exists on the parent virtual machine or that conicts with a drive leer that is used for a network-mounted drive.

temp les to a separate, nonpersistent disk. If you do, provide the disk size in megabytes.

With this conguration, when a linked clone is powered o, the disposable-le disk is replaced with a copy of the original disk that was created with the linked-clone pool. Linked clones can increase in size as users interact with their desktops. Disposable le redirection can save storage space by slowing the growth of linked clones.

62 VMware, Inc.

Page 63

Chapter 5 Creating Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

Table 5‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool (Continued)

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Disk size and drive leer for disposable le disk

Use vSphere Virtual SAN Specify whether to use VMware Virtual SAN, if

Select separate datastores for persistent and OS disks

Select separate datastores for replica and OS disks

Parent VM Select the parent virtual machine for the pool.

Snapshot (default image) Select the snapshot of the parent virtual machine to use

VM folder location Select the folder in vCenter Server in which the

If you redirect disposable les to a nonpersistent disk, provide the disk size in megabytes and the drive leer.

The disk size should be larger than page-le size of the guest OS. To determine the page-le size, see “Record

the Paging File Size of a View Composer Parent Virtual Machine,” on page 48.

When you congure the disposable le disk size, consider that the actual size of a formaed disk partition is slightly smaller than the value you provide in View Administrator.

You can select a drive leer for the disposable le disk. The default value, Auto, directs View to assign the drive leer.

N Do not select a drive leer that already exists on the parent virtual machine or that conicts with a drive leer that is used for a network-mounted drive.

available. Virtual SAN is a software-dened storage tier that virtualizes the local physical storage disks available on a cluster of ESXi hosts. For more information, see “Using Virtual SAN for High-

Performance Storage and Policy-Based Management,”

on page 239.

(Available only if you do not use Virtual SAN) If you redirect user proles to separate persistent disks, you can store the persistent disks and OS disks on dierent datastores.

(Available only if you do not use Virtual SAN or Virtual Volumes) You can store the replica (master) virtual machine disk on a high performance datastore and the linked clones on separate datastores.

For details, see “Storing Replicas and Clones on

Separate Datastores for Instant Clones and View Composer Linked Clones,” on page 253.

If you store replicas and OS disks on separate datastores, native NFS snapshots cannot be used. Native cloning on a NAS device can only take place if the replica and OS disks are stored on the same datastores.

as the base image for the pool.

Do not delete the snapshot and parent virtual machine from vCenter Server, unless no linked clones in the pool use the default image, and no more linked clones will be created from this default image. The system requires the parent virtual machine and snapshot to provision new linked clones in the pool, according to pool policies. The parent virtual machine and snapshot are also required for View Composer maintenance operations.

desktop pool resides.

VMware, Inc. 63

Page 64

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 5‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool (Continued)

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Host or cluster Select the ESXi host or cluster on which the desktop

Resource pool Select the vCenter Server resource pool in which the

Datastores Select one or more datastores on which to store the

virtual machines run.

With Virtual SAN datastores (a vSphere 5.5 Update 1 feature), you can select a cluster with up to 20 ESXi hosts. With Virtual Volumes datastores (a vSphere 6.0 feature), you can select a cluster with up to 32 ESXi hosts.

In vSphere 5.1 or later, you can select a cluster with up to 32 ESXi hosts if the replicas are stored on VMFS5 or later datastores or NFS datastores. If you store replicas on a VMFS version earlier than VMFS5, a cluster can have at most eight hosts.

In vSphere 5.0, you can select a cluster with more than eight ESXi hosts if the replicas are stored on NFS datastores. If you store replicas on VMFS datastores, a cluster can have at most eight hosts. See “Conguring

Desktop Pools on Clusters With More Than Eight Hosts,” on page 157.

desktop pool resides.

desktop pool.

A table on the Select Linked Clone Datastores page of the Add Desktop Pool wizard provides high-level guidelines for estimating the pool's storage requirements. These guidelines can help you determine which datastores are large enough to store the linked-clone disks. For details, see “Storage Sizing

for Instant-Clone and View Composer Linked-Clone Desktop Pools,” on page 245.

You can use shared or local datastores for an individual ESXi host or for ESXi clusters. If you use local datastores in an ESXi cluster, you must consider the vSphere infrastructure constraints that are imposed on your desktop deployment. See “Storing View

Composer Linked Clones on Local Datastores,” on

page 252.

In vSphere 5.1 or later, a cluster can have more than eight ESXi hosts if the replicas are stored on datastores that are VMFS5 or later or NFS. In vSphere 5.0, a cluster can have more than eight ESXi hosts only if the replicas are stored on NFS datastores. See

“Conguring Desktop Pools on Clusters With More Than Eight Hosts,” on page 157.

For more information about the disks that are created for linked clones, see “View Composer Linked-Clone

Data Disks,” on page 251.

N If you use Virtual SAN, select only one datastore.

64 VMware, Inc.

Page 65

Chapter 5 Creating Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

Table 5‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool (Continued)

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Storage Overcommit Determine the storage-overcommit level at which

linked-clones are created on each datastore.

As the level increases, more linked clones t on the datastore and less space is reserved to let individual clones grow. A high storage-overcommit level lets you create linked clones that have a total logical size larger than the physical storage limit of the datastore. For details, see “Set the Storage Overcommit Level for

Linked-Clone Virtual Machines,” on page 250.

N This seing has no eect if you use Virtual SAN.

Use View Storage Accelerator Determine whether to use View Storage Accelerator,

which allows ESXi hosts to cache common virtual machine disk data. View Storage Accelerator can improve performance and reduce the need for extra storage I/O bandwidth to manage boot storms and anti-virus scanning I/O storms.

This feature is supported on vSphere 5.0 and later.

This feature is enabled by default.

For details, see “Congure View Storage Accelerator

for View Composer Linked Clones,” on page 254.

Use native NFS snapshots (VAAI)

Reclaim VM disk space (Available only if you do not use Virtual SAN or

(Available only if you do not use Virtual SAN) If your deployment includes NAS devices that support the vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI), you can use native snapshot technology to clone virtual machines.

You can use this feature only if you select datastores that reside on NAS devices that support native cloning operations through VAAI.

You cannot use this feature if you store replicas and OS disks on separate datastores. You cannot use this feature on virtual machines with space-ecient disks.

This feature is supported on vSphere 5.0 and later.

For details, see “Using VAAI Storage for View

Composer Linked Clones,” on page 257.

Virtual Volumes) Determine whether to allow ESXi hosts to reclaim unused disk space on linked clones that are created in space-ecient disk format. The space reclamation feature reduces the total storage space required for linked-clone desktops.

This feature is supported on vSphere 5.1 and later. The linked-clone virtual machines must be virtual hardware version 9 or later.

For details, see “Reclaim Disk Space on View

Composer Linked Clones,” on page 255.

VMware, Inc. 65

Page 66

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 5‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool (Continued)

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Initiate reclamation when unused space on VM exceeds:

Blackout Times Congure days and times during which View Storage

Transparent Page Sharing Scope

Domain Select the Active Directory domain and user name.

(Available only if you do not use Virtual SAN or Virtual Volumes) Type the minimum amount of unused disk space, in gigabytes, that must accumulate on a linked-clone OS disk to trigger space reclamation. When the unused disk space exceeds this threshold, View initiates the operation that directs the ESXi host to reclaim space on the OS disk.

This value is measured per virtual machine. The unused disk space must exceed the specied threshold on an individual virtual machine before View starts the space reclamation process on that machine.

For example: 2 GB.

The default value is 1 GB.

Accelerator regeneration and the reclamation of virtual machine disk space do not take place.

To ensure that ESXi resources are dedicated to foreground tasks when necessary, you can prevent the ESXi hosts from performing these operations during specied periods of time on specied days.

For details, see “Set Storage Accelerator and Space

Reclamation Blackout Times for View Composer Linked Clones,” on page 258.

Select the level at which to allow transparent page sharing (TPS). The choices are Virtual Machine (the default), Pool, Pod, or Global. If you turn on TPS for all the machines in the pool, pod, or globally, the ESXi host eliminates redundant copies of memory pages that result if the machines use the same guest operating system or applications.

View Composer requires certain user privileges to create a linked-clone pool. The domain and user account are used by QuickPrep or Sysprep to customize the linked-clone machines.

You specify this user when you congure View Composer seings for vCenter Server. You can specify multiple domains and users when you congure View Composer seings. When you use the Add Desktop Pool wizard to create a pool, you must select one domain and user from the list.

For information about conguring View Composer, see the View Administration document.

66 VMware, Inc.

Page 67

Chapter 5 Creating Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

Table 5‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool (Continued)

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

AD container Provide the Active Directory container relative

distinguished name.

For example: CN=Computers

When you run the Add Desktop Pool wizard, you can browse your Active Directory tree for the container.

Allow reuse of pre-existing computer accounts

Use QuickPrep or a customization specication (Sysprep)

Power-o script QuickPrep can run a customization script on linked-

Post-synchronization script QuickPrep can run a customization script on linked-

Select this option to use existing computer accounts in Active Directory for linked clones that are provisioned by View Composer. This option lets you control the computer accounts that are created in Active Directory.

When a linked clone is provisioned, if an existing AD computer account name matches the linked clone machine name, View Composer uses the existing computer account. Otherwise, a new computer account is created.

The existing computer accounts must be located in the Active Directory container that you specify with the Active Directory container seing.

When this option is disabled, a new AD computer account is created when View Composer provisions a linked clone. This option is disabled by default.

For details, see “Use Existing Active Directory

Computer Accounts for Linked Clones,” on page 76.

Choose whether to use QuickPrep or select a customization specication (Sysprep) to congure licensing, domain aachment, DHCP seings, and other properties on the machines.

Sysprep is supported for linked clones only on vSphere

4.1 or later software.

After you use QuickPrep or Sysprep when you create a pool, you cannot switch to the other customization method later on, when you create or recompose machines in the pool.

For details, see “Choosing QuickPrep or Sysprep to

Customize Linked-Clone Machines,” on page 72.

clone machines before they are powered o.

Provide the path to the script on the parent virtual machine and the script parameters.

clone machines after they are created, recomposed, and refreshed.

Provide the path to the script on the parent virtual machine and the script parameters.

Create a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool

You can create an automated, linked-clone desktop pool based on a parent virtual machine that you select. The View Composer service dynamically creates a new linked-clone virtual machine in vCenter Server for each desktop.

To create an automated pool that contains full virtual machines, see “Automated Pools That Contain Full

Virtual Machines,” on page 51.

VMware, Inc. 67

Page 68

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Prerequisites

Verify that the View Composer service is installed, either on the same host as vCenter Server or on a

separate host, and that a View Composer database is congured. See the View Installation document.

Verify that View Composer seings for vCenter Server are congured in View Administrator. See the

View Administration document.

Verify that you have a sucient number of ports on the ESXi virtual switch that is used for the virtual

Verify that you prepared a parent virtual machine. Horizon Agent must be installed on the parent

virtual machine. See Chapter 3, “Creating and Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning,” on page 19.

Take a snapshot of the parent virtual machine in vCenter Server. You must shut down the parent virtual

machine before you take the snapshot. View Composer uses the snapshot as the base image from which the clones are created.

N You cannot create a linked-clone pool from a virtual machine template.

Gather the conguration information you must provide to create the pool. See “Worksheet for Creating

a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool,” on page 59.

Decide how to congure power seings, display protocol, Adobe Flash quality, and other seings. See

“Desktop Pool Seings for All Desktop Pool Types,” on page 135.

If you intend to provide access to your desktops and applications through VMware Identity Manager,

I While a linked-clone pool is created, do not modify the parent virtual machine in vCenter Server. For example, do not convert the parent virtual machine to a template. The View Composer service requires that the parent virtual machine remain in a static, unaltered state during pool creation.

Procedure

1 In View Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools.

2 Click Add.

3 Select Automated Desktop Pool.

4 On the vCenter Server page, choose View Composer linked clones.

5 Follow the prompts in the wizard to create the pool.

Use the conguration information you gathered in the worksheet. You can go directly back to any wizard page you completed by clicking the page name in the navigation panel.

On the vCenter  page, you must click Browse and select the vCenter Server seings in sequence. You cannot skip a vCenter Server seing:

a Parent VM

b Snapshot

c VM folder location

d Host or cluster

68 VMware, Inc.

Page 69

Chapter 5 Creating Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

e Resource pool

f Datastores

In View Administrator, you can view the machines as they are added to the pool by selecting Catalog > Desktop Pools.

The linked clones might restart one or more times while they are provisioned. If a linked clone is in an error state, the View automatic recovery mechanism aempts to power on, or shut down and restart, the linked clone. If repeated recovery aempts fail, the linked clone is deleted.

View Composer also creates a replica virtual machine that serves as the master image for provisioning the linked clones. To reduce space consumption, the replica is created as a thin disk. If all the virtual machines are recomposed or deleted, and no clones are linked to the replica, the replica virtual machine is deleted from vCenter Server.

If you do not store the replica on a separate datastore, View Composer creates a replica on each datastore on which linked clones are created.

If you store the replica on a separate datastore, one replica is created for the entire pool, even when linked clones are created on multiple datastores.

What to do next

Entitle users to access the pool. See “Add Entitlements to a Desktop or Application Pool,” on page 159.

Clone an Automated Desktop Pool

When you clone a desktop pool, you cannot change certain seings:

Desktop pool type

Clone type, either linked clone or full virtual machine

User assignment, either dedicated or oating

vCenter Server instance

Prerequisites

Verify that the prerequisites for creating the original desktop pool are still valid.

For example, for a pool that contains full virtual machines, verify that a virtual machine template was prepared.

For a linked-clone pool, verify that a parent virtual machine was prepared and a snapshot was taken after the virtual machine was powered o.

When you clone a pool, you can use the same virtual machine template or parent virtual machine, or you can select another one.

For prerequisites for cloning an automated, full-clone pool, see “Create an Automated Pool That

Contains Full Virtual Machines,” on page 55.

VMware, Inc. 69

Page 70

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

For prerequisites for cloning a linked-cone pool, see “Create a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool,” on page 67.

Procedure

1 In View Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools.

2 Select the desktop pool that you want to clone and click Clone.

The Add Desktop Pool wizard appears.

3 On the Add Desktop Pool page, type a unique pool ID.

4 On the Provisioning Seings page, provide unique names for the virtual machines.

Option Description

Use a naming pattern

Specify names manually

5 Follow the other prompts in the wizard to create the pool.

Change desktop pool seings and values as needed.

In View Administrator, you can view the machines as they are added to the pool by selecting Catalog > Desktop Pools.

Type a virtual machine naming paern.

Provide a list of unique names for the virtual machines.

What to do next

Entitle users to access the pool. See “Add Entitlements to a Desktop or Application Pool,” on page 159.

Desktop Pool Settings for Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

You must specify machine and desktop pool seings when you congure automated pools that contain linked clones created by View Composer. Dierent seings apply to pools with dedicated user assignments and oating user assignments.

Table 5-2 lists the seings that apply to linked-clone pools with dedicated assignments and oating

assignments.

For descriptions of each seing, see “Desktop Pool Seings for All Desktop Pool Types,” on page 135.

Table 5‑2. Settings for Automated, Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

Linked-Clone Pool, Dedicated

Setting

State Yes Yes

Connection Server restrictions Yes Yes

Remote machine power policy Yes Yes

Automatically logo after disconnect Yes Yes

Allow users to reset their machines Yes Yes

Allow user to initiate separate sessions from dierent client devices

Delete or refresh machine on logo Yes

Refresh OS disk after logo Yes

Default display protocol Yes Yes

Allow users to choose protocol Yes Yes

3D Renderer Yes Yes

Assignment

Linked-Clone Pool, Floating Assignment

Yes

70 VMware, Inc.

Page 71

Chapter 5 Creating Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

Table 5‑2. Settings for Automated, Linked-Clone Desktop Pools (Continued)

Linked-Clone Pool, Dedicated

Setting

Max number of monitors Yes Yes

Max resolution of any one monitor Yes Yes

Adobe Flash quality Yes Yes

Adobe Flash throling Yes Yes

Override global Mirage seings Yes Yes

Mirage Server conguration Yes Yes

Assignment

Linked-Clone Pool, Floating Assignment

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

View Composer can generate and preserve local computer security identiers (SIDs) for linked-clone virtual machines in some situations. View Composer can preserve globally unique identiers (GUIDs) of thirdparty applications, depending on the way that the applications generate GUIDs.

To understand how View Composer operations aect SIDs and application GUIDs, you should understand how linked-clone machines are created and provisioned:

1 View Composer creates a linked clone by taking these actions:

a Creates the replica by cloning the parent virtual-machine snapshot.

b Creates the linked clone to refer to the replica as its parent disk.

2 View Composer and View customize the linked clone with QuickPrep or a Sysprep customization

specication, depending on which customization tool you select when you create the pool.

If you use Sysprep, a unique SID is generated for each clone.

If you use QuickPrep, no new SID is generated. The parent virtual machine's SID is replicated on

all provisioned linked-clone machines in the pool.

Some applications generate a GUID during customization.

3 View creates a snapshot of the linked clone.

The snapshot contains the unique SID generated with Sysprep or common SID generated with QuickPrep.

4 View powers on the machine according to the seings you select when you create the pool.

Some applications generate a GUID the rst time the machine is powered on.

For a comparison of QuickPrep and Sysprep customization, see “Choosing QuickPrep or Sysprep to

Customize Linked-Clone Machines,” on page 72.

When you refresh the linked clone, View Composer uses the snapshot to restore the clone to its initial state. Its SID is preserved.

If you use QuickPrep, when you recompose the linked clone, the parent virtual machine's SID is preserved on the linked clone as long as you select the same parent virtual machine for the recompose operation. If you select a dierent parent virtual machine for the recomposition, the new parent's SID is replicated on the clone.

If you use Sysprep, a new SID is always generated on the clone. For details, see “Recomposing Linked

Clones Customized with Sysprep,” on page 75.

Table 5-3 shows the eect of View Composer operations on linked-clone SIDs and third-party application

GUIDs.

VMware, Inc. 71

Page 72

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 5‑3. View Composer Operations, Linked-Clone SIDs, and Application GUIDs

Support for SIDs or GUIDs Clone Creation Refresh Recompose

Sysprep: Unique SIDs for linked clones

QuickPrep: Common SIDs for linked clones

Third-party application GUIDs

With Sysprep customization, unique SIDs are generated for linked clones.

With QuickPrep customization, a common SID is generated for all clones in a pool.

Each application behaves

dierently.

N Sysprep and QuickPrep have the same eect on GUID preservation.

Unique SIDs are preserved. Unique SIDS are not

preserved.

Common SID is preserved. Common SID is preserved.

The GUID is preserved if an application generates the GUID before the initial snapshot is taken.

The GUID is not preserved if an application generates the GUID after the initial snapshot is taken.

Recompose operations do not preserve an application GUID unless the application writes the GUID on the drive specied as a View Composer persistent disk.

Choosing QuickPrep or Sysprep to Customize Linked-Clone Machines

QuickPrep and Microsoft Sysprep provide dierent approaches to customizing linked-clone machines. QuickPrep is designed to work eciently with View Composer. Microsoft Sysprep oers standard customization tools.

When you create linked-clone machines, you must modify each virtual machine so that it can function as a unique computer on the network. View and View Composer provide two methods for personalizing linkedclone machines.

Table 5-4 compares QuickPrep with customization specications that are created with Microsoft Sysprep.

Table 5‑4. Comparing QuickPrep and Microsoft Sysprep

QuickPrep Customization Specification (Sysprep)

Designed to work with View Composer.

For details, see “Customizing Linked-Clone Machines with

QuickPrep,” on page 73.

Uses the same local computer security identier (SID) for all linked clones in the pool.

Can run additional customization scripts before linked clones are powered o and after linked clones are created, refreshed, or recomposed.

Joins the linked clone computer to the Active Directory domain.

For each linked clone, adds a unique ID to the Active Directory domain account.

Does not generate a new SID after linked clones are refreshed. The common SID is preserved.

Can be created with the standard Microsoft Sysprep tools.

Generates a unique local computer SID for each linked clone in the pool.

Can run an additional script when the user rst logs in.

Joins the linked-clone computer to the Active Directory domain.

The domain and administrator information in the Sysprep customization specication is not used. The virtual machine is joined to the domain using the guest customization information that you enter in View Administrator when you create the pool.

For each linked clone, adds a unique ID to the Active Directory domain account.

Generates a new SID when each linked clone is customized. Preserves the unique SIDs during a refresh operation, but not during a recompose or rebalance operation.

72 VMware, Inc.

Page 73

Chapter 5 Creating Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

Table 5‑4. Comparing QuickPrep and Microsoft Sysprep (Continued)

QuickPrep Customization Specification (Sysprep)

Does not generate a new SID after linked clones are recomposed. The common SID is preserved.

Runs faster than Sysprep. Can take longer than QuickPrep.

Runs again after linked clones are recomposed, generating new SIDs for the virtual machines.

For details, see “Recomposing Linked Clones Customized

with Sysprep,” on page 75.

After you customize a linked-clone pool with QuickPrep or Sysprep, you cannot switch to the other customization method when you create or recompose machines in the pool.

Customizing Linked-Clone Machines with QuickPrep

You can personalize the linked-clone machines that are created from a parent virtual machine by using the QuickPrep system tool. View Composer executes QuickPrep when a linked-clone machine is created or recomposed.

QuickPrep customizes a linked-clone machine in several ways:

Gives the computer a name that you specify when you create the linked-clone pool.

Creates a computer account in Active Directory, joining the computer to the appropriate domain.

Mounts the View Composer persistent disk. The Windows user prole is redirected to this disk.

Redirects temp and paging les to a separate disk.

These steps might require the linked clones to restart one or more times.

QuickPrep uses KMS volume license keys to activate Windows linked-clone machines. For details, see the View Administration document.

You can create your own scripts to further customize the linked clones. QuickPrep can run two types of scripts at predened times:

After linked clones are created or recomposed

Immediately before linked clones are powered o

For guidelines and rules for using QuickPrep customization scripts, see “Running QuickPrep Customization

Scripts,” on page 73.

N View Composer requires domain user credentials to join linked-clone machines to an Active Directory domain. For details, see the View Administration document.

Running QuickPrep Customization Scripts

With the QuickPrep tool, you can create scripts to customize the linked-clone machines in a pool. You can congure QuickPrep to run customization scripts at two predened times.

When QuickPrep Scripts Run

The post-synchronization script runs after linked clones are created, recomposed, or rebalanced, and the clones' status is Ready. The power-o script runs before linked clones are powered o. The scripts run in the guest operating systems of the linked clones.

How QuickPrep Executes Scripts

The QuickPrep process uses the Windows CreateProcess API call to execute scripts. Your script can invoke any process that can be created with the CreateProcess API. For example, cmd, vbscript, exe, and batch-le processes work with the API.

VMware, Inc. 73

Page 74

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

In particular, QuickPrep passes the path that is specied for the script as the second parameter to the

CreateProcess API and sets the rst parameter to NULL.

For example, if the script path is c:\myscript.cmd, the path appears as the second parameter in the function in the View Composer log le: CreateProcess(NULL,c:\myscript.cmd,...).

Providing Paths to QuickPrep Scripts

You provide paths to the QuickPrep customization scripts when you create a linked-clone machine pool or when you edit a pool's guest customization seings. The scripts must reside on the parent virtual machine. You cannot use a UNC path to a network share.

If you use a scripting language that needs an interpreter to execute the script, the script path must start with the interpreter binary.

For example, if you specify the path C:\script\myvb.vbs as a QuickPrep customization script, View Composer Agent cannot execute the script. You must specify a path that starts with the interpreter binary path:

C:\windows\system32\cscript.exe c:\script\myvb.vbs

I Protect QuickPrep customization scripts from access by ordinary users. Place the scripts in a secure folder.

QuickPrep Script Timeout Limit

View Composer terminates a post-synchronization or power-o script that takes longer than 20 seconds. If your script takes longer than 20 seconds, you can increase the timeout limit. For details, see “Increase the

Timeout Limit for ClonePrep and QuickPrep Customization Scripts,” on page 49.

Alternatively, you can use your script to launch another script or process that performs the long-running task.

QuickPrep Script Account

QuickPrep runs the scripts under the account under which the VMware View Composer Guest Agent Server service is congured to run. By default, this account is Local System.

Do not change this log on account. If you do, the linked clones do not start.

QuickPrep Process Privileges

For security reasons, certain Windows operating system privileges are removed from the View Composer Guest Agent process that invokes QuickPrep customization scripts.

A QuickPrep customization script cannot perform any action that requires a privilege that is removed from the View Composer Guest Agent process.

The following privileges are removed from the process that invokes QuickPrep scripts:

SeCreateTokenPrivilege SeTakeOwnershipPrivilege SeSecurityPrivilege SeSystemEnvironmentPrivilege SeLoadDriverPrivilege SeSystemtimePrivilege SeUndockPrivilege SeManageVolumePrivilege SeLockMemoryPrivilege

74 VMware, Inc.

Page 75

Chapter 5 Creating Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

SeIncreaseBasePriorityPrivilege SeCreatePermanentPrivilege SeDebugPrivilege SeAuditPrivilege

QuickPrep Script Logs

View Composer logs contain information about QuickPrep script execution. The log records the start and end of execution and logs output or error messages. The log is located in the Windows temp directory:

C:\Windows\Temp\vmware-viewcomposer-ga-new.log

Recomposing Linked Clones Customized with Sysprep

If you recompose a linked-clone machine that was customized with Sysprep, View runs the Sysprep customization specication again after the OS disk is recomposed. This operation generates a new SID for the linked-clone virtual machine.

If a new SID is generated, the recomposed linked clone functions as a new computer on the network. Some software programs such as system-management tools depend on the SID to identify the computers under their management. These programs might not be able to identify or locate the linked-clone virtual machine.

Also, if third-party software is installed on the system disk, the customization specication might regenerate the GUIDs for that software after the recomposition.

A recomposition restores the linked clone to its original state, before the customization specication was run the rst time. In this state, the linked clone does not have a local computer SID or the GUID of any thirdparty software installed in the system drive. View must run the Sysprep customization specication after the linked clone is recomposed.

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

If your users must be able to access remote desktops at all times, you must maintain a certain number of machines that are provisioned for use in remote desktop sessions even when View Composer maintenance operations take place. You can set a minimum number of machines that are not placed in maintenance mode while View Composer refreshes, recomposes, or rebalances the linked-clone virtual machines in a pool.

When you set a Minimum number of ready (provisioned) machines during View Composer maintenance operations, View ensures that the specied number of machines stay provisioned, and are not placed in maintenance mode, while View Composer proceeds through the maintenance operation.

This seing lets users maintain existing connections or make new connection requests during the View Composer maintenance operation. The seing does not distinguish between spare machines that are ready to accept new connections and machines that are already connected in existing desktop sessions.

You can specify this seing when you create or edit a linked-clone pool.

The following guidelines apply to this seing:

To allow a number of users to maintain their existing desktop connections and keep a minimum

number of spare (powered on) machines that can accept new connection requests, set the Minimum number of ready (provisioned) machines during View Composer maintenance operations to a large

enough value to include both sets of machines.

If you use a naming paern to provision machines and provision machines on demand, set the number

of provisioned machines during View Composer operations to a smaller value than the specied Max number of machines. If the maximum number were smaller, your pool could end up with fewer total

machines than the minimum number you want to keep provisioned during View Composer operations. In this case, View Composer maintenance operations could not take place.

VMware, Inc. 75

Page 76

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

If you provision machines by manually specifying a list of machine names, do not reduce the total pool

size (by removing machine names) to a lower number than the minimum number of provisioned machines. In this case, View Composer maintenance operations could not take place.

If you set a large minimum number of provisioned machines in relation to the pool size, View

Composer maintenance operations might take longer to complete. While View maintains the minimum number of provisioned machines during a maintenance operation, the operation might not reach the concurrency limit that is specied in the Max concurrent View Composer maintenance operations

seing.

For example, if a pool contains 20 machines and the minimum number of provisioned machines is 15, View Composer can operate on at most ve machines at a time. If the concurrency limit for View Composer maintenance operations is 12, the concurrency limit is never reached.

In this seing name, the term "ready" applies to the state of the linked-clone virtual machine, not the

machine status that is displayed in View Administrator. A virtual machine is ready when it is provisioned and ready to be powered on. The machine status reects the View-managed condition of the machine. For example, a machine can have a status of Connected, Disconnected, Agent Unreachable,

Deleting, and so on, and still be considered "ready".

Use Existing Active Directory Computer Accounts for Linked Clones

When you create or edit a desktop pool or an automated farm, you can congure View Composer to use existing computer accounts in Active Directory for newly provisioned linked clones.

By default, View Composer generates a new Active Directory computer account for each linked clone that it provisions. The Allow reuse of pre-existing computer accounts option lets you control the computer accounts that are created in Active Directory by ensuring that View Composer uses existing AD computer accounts.

With this option enabled, when a linked clone is provisioned, View Composer checks if an existing AD computer account name matches the linked clone machine name. If a match exists, View Composer uses the existing AD computer account. If View Composer does not nd a matching AD computer account name, View Composer generates a new AD computer account for the linked clone.

You can set the Allow reuse of pre-existing computer accounts option when you create or edit a desktop pool or an automated farm. If you edit a pool or a farm and set this option, the seing aects linked-clone machines that are provisioned in the future. Linked clones that are already provisioned are not aected.

When you set the Allow reuse of pre-existing computer accounts option, you can limit the Active Directory permissions assigned to the View Composer user account that generates the desktop pool or farm. Only the following Active Directory permissions are required:

List Contents

Read All Properties

Read Permissions

Reset Password

You can only limit the Active Directory permissions if you are sure that all machines you intend to provision have existing computer accounts allocated in Active Directory. View Composer generates a new AD computer account if no matching name is found. Additional permissions such as Create Computer Objects are required to create new computer accounts. For a complete list of permissions required for the View Composer user account, see the View Administration document.

This option cannot be disabled if View Composer is currently using at least one existing AD computer account.

The following procedure applies to linked-clone desktop pools. The steps are similar for automated farms.

76 VMware, Inc.

Page 77

Chapter 5 Creating Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

Prerequisites

Verify that the existing computer accounts are located in the Active Directory container that you specify with the Active Directory container seing. If the existing accounts are located in a dierent container, provisioning fails for linked clones with those account names, and an error message states that the existing computer accounts already exist in Active Directory.

For example, if you select the Allow reuse of pre-existing computer accounts option and specify that the Active Directory container is the default value, CN=Computers, and the existing computer accounts are located in OU=mydesktops, provisioning fails for those accounts.

Procedure

1 In Active Directory, create the computer accounts to use for the linked-clone machines.

For example: machine1, machine2, machine3

The computer account names must use consecutive integers so that they match the names that are generated during machine provisioning in View.

2 In View Administrator, create a pool by using the Add Desktop Pool wizard or edit the pool in the Edit

dialog box.

3 On the Provisioning Seings page or tab, select Use a naming .

4 In the Naming  text box, type a machine name that matches the Active Directory computer

account name.

For example: machine

View appends unique numbers to the paern to provide a unique name for each machine.

For example: machine1, machine2, machine3

5 On the Guest Customization page or tab, select the Allow reuse of pre-existing computer accounts

option.

VMware, Inc. 77

Page 78

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

78 VMware, Inc.

Page 79

Creating Instant-Clone Desktop Pools 6

To provide users access to instant-clone desktops, you must create an instant-clone desktop pool.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“Instant-Clone Desktop Pools,” on page 79

“Image Publishing and Rebalancing an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool,” on page 81

“Add an Instant-Clone Domain Administrator,” on page 81

“Worksheet for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool,” on page 82

“Create an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool,” on page 84

“ClonePrep Guest Customization,” on page 85

“Instant-Clone Maintenance Utilities,” on page 86

Instant-Clone Desktop Pools

An instant-clone desktop pool is an automated desktop pool. vCenter Server creates the desktop VMs based on the seings that you specify when you create the pool.

Similar to View Composer linked clones, instant clones share a virtual disk of a parent VM and therefore consume less storage than full VMs. In addition, instant clones share the memory of a parent VM. Instant clones are created using the vmFork technology. An instant-clone desktop pool has the following key characteristics:

VMware, Inc.

The provisioning of instant clones is signicantly faster than View Composer linked clones.

Instant clones are always created in a powered-on state, ready for users to connect to. Guest

customization and joining the Active Directory domain are completed as part of the initial power-on

workow.

When a user logs out, the desktop VM is deleted. New clones are created according to the provisioning

policy, which can be on-demand or up-front.

With the push-image operation, you can re-create the pool from any snapshot of any parent VM. You

can use a push image to roll out operating system and application patches.

When clones are created, View selects a datastore to achieve the best distribution of the clones across

the datastores. No manual rebalancing is necessary.

View storage accelerator is automatically enabled.

Transparent page sharing is automatically enabled.

Page 80

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Because View can create instant clones quickly, you do not need to provision desktops up front or have many ready desktops. Compared with View Composer linked clones, instant clones can make the task of managing large desktop pools easier and also reduce the amount of hardware resources that is required.

Instant clones have the following compatibility requirements:

vSphere 6.0 Update 1 or later.

Virtual machine hardware version 11 or later.

As a best practice, congure distributed virtual switches in the vSphere environment.

In Horizon 7.0, instant clones have the following restrictions:

Only single-user desktops are supported. RDS hosts are not supported.

Only oating user assignment is supported. Users are assigned random desktops from the pool.

Instant-clone desktops cannot have persistent disks. Users can use VMware App Volumes to store

persistent data. For more information about App Volumes, see

hps://www.vmware.com/products/appvolumes.

Virtual Volumes and VAAI (vStorage APIs for Array Integration) native NFS snapshots are not

supported.

Sysprep is not available for desktop customization.

Windows 7 and Windows 10 are supported but not Windows 8 or Windows 8.1.

PowerCLI is not supported.

Local datastores are not supported.

IPv6 is not supported.

Instant clones cannot reuse existing computer accounts in Active Directory.

Persona Management is not available.

3D rendering is not available.

You cannot specify a minimum number of ready (provisioned) machines during instant-clone

maintenance operations. This feature is not needed because the high speed of creating instant clones means that some desktops are always available even during maintenance operations.

The disk space reclamation feature that is available to View Composer linked clones is not needed because instant clones are recreated when users log out. For instant clones, reclaiming unused disk space in a VM does not have a signicant impact on storage consumption.

80 VMware, Inc.

Page 81

Chapter 6 Creating Instant-Clone Desktop Pools

Image Publishing and Rebalancing an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool

The clones in an instant-clone desktop pool are based on the same image. When an instant clone is created, the desktop pool are rebalanced across datastores automatically.

An image is a snapshot of a parent VM. Creating an instant-clone desktop pool involves the following operations:

1 View publishes the image that you select. In vCenter Server, four folders

(ClonePrepInternalTemplateFolder, ClonePrepParentVmFolder, ClonePrepReplicaVmFolder, and

ClonePrepResyncVmFolder) are created if they do not exist, and some internal VMs that are required for

cloning are created. In View Administrator, you can see the progress of this operation on the Summary tab of the desktop pool. During publishing, the Pending Image pane shows the name and state of the image.

N Do not tamper with the four folders or the internal VMs that they contain. Otherwise, errors might occur. The internal VMs are removed when they are no longer needed. Normally the VMs are removed within 5 minutes of pool deletion or a push-image operation. However, sometimes the removal can take up to 30 minutes.

2 The clones are created. This process is fast. Typically, a clone can be created in less than 2 seconds.

During this process, the Current Image pane in View Administrator shows the name and state of the image.

After the pool is created, you can change the image through the push-image operation. See "Change the Image of an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool" in the View Administration document. As with the creation of a pool, the new image is rst published. Then the clones are recreated.

If you edit a pool to add or remove datastores, rebalancing of the VMs happens automatically when a new clone is created. If you want rebalancing to happen faster, take the following actions:

If you remove a datastore, manually remove the desktops on that datastore so that the new desktops are

created on the remaining datastores.

If you add a datastore, manually remove some desktops from the original datastores so that the new

desktops are created on the new datastore. You can also remove all desktops or simply do a push image with the same image so that when the clones are recreated, they are evenly distributed across the datastores.

Add an Instant-Clone Domain Administrator

Before you create an instant-clone desktop pool, you must add an instant-clone domain administrator to View.

The instant-clone domain administrator must have certain Active Directory domain privileges. For more information, see "Create a User Account for Instant-Clone Operations" in the View Installation document.

Procedure

1 In View Administrator, select View  > Instant Clone Domain Admins.

2 Click Add.

3 Enter the login name and password for of the instant-clone domain administrator.

VMware, Inc. 81

Page 82

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Worksheet for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool

When you create an instant-clone desktop pool, the Add Desktop Pool wizard prompts you to congure certain options. You can use this worksheet to record your conguration options before you create the pool.

Before creating an instant-clone desktop pool, take a snapshot of the parent VM. You must shut down the parent VM before taking the snapshot. The snapshot is the base image for the clones.

N You cannot create an instant-clone desktop pool from a VM template.

Table 6‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool

Option Description

User assignment Select Floating. Users are assigned random desktops from the pool.

vCenter Server Select Instant clones and select the vCenter Server that manages the

instant-clone VMs.

Desktop Pool ID The unique name that identies the pool in View Administrator.

If you have multiple Connection Server congurations, make sure that another Connection Server conguration does not use the same pool ID. A Connection Server conguration can consist of a single Connection Server or multiple Connection Servers

Display name The pool name that users see when they log in from a client. If you do not

specify a name, the pool ID is used.

Access group Select an access group for the pool, or leave the pool in the default root

access group.

N Access groups are dierent from vCenter Server folders that store desktop VMs. You select a vCenter Server folder later in the wizard.

State If set to Enabled, the pool is ready for use after provisioning. If set to

Disabled, the pool is not available to users. During provisioning, if you disable the pool, provisioning stops.

Connection Server restrictions

Automatically logo after disconnect

Allow user to initiate separate sessions from dierent client devices

You can restrict access to the pool to certain Connection Servers by clicking Browse and selecting one or more Connection Servers.

If you intend to provide access to desktops through VMware Identity Manager, and you congure Connection Server restrictions, the VMware Identity Manager app might display desktops to users when those desktops are actually restricted. VMware Identity Manager users will be unable to launch these desktops.

Immediately. Users are logged o when they disconnect.

Never. Users are never logged o.

After. The time after which users are logged o when they disconnect.

Type the duration in minutes.

The logo time applies to future disconnections. If a desktop session is already disconnected when you set a logo time, the logo duration for that user starts when you set the logo time, not when the session was originally disconnected. For example, if you set this value to 5 minutes, and a session was disconnected 10 minutes earlier, View will log o that session 5 minutes after you set the value.

With this option selected, a user connecting to the same desktop pool from dierent client devices gets dierent desktop sessions. The user can only reconnect to an existing session from the same client device. When this seing is not selected, users are always reconnected to their existing session no maer which client device is used.

Fill In Your Value Here

82 VMware, Inc.

Page 83

Chapter 6 Creating Instant-Clone Desktop Pools

Table 6‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool (Continued)

Fill In Your

Option Description

Default display protocol Select the default display protocol. The choices are Microsoft RDP, PCoIP,

and VMware Blast.

Allow users to choose

Specify whether users can choose display protocols other than the default.

protocol

HTML Access Select Enabled to allow users to connect to remote desktops from a Web

browser. For more information about this feature, see Using HTML Access, available from

hps://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html

To use HTML Access with VMware Identity Manager, you must pair Connection Server with a SAML authentication server, as described in the View Administration document. VMware Identity Manager must be installed and congured for use with Connection Server.

Adobe Flash quality Select the quality of Adobe Flash content on Web pages.

Do not control. The Web page seings determine the quality.

Low. This seing consumes the least amount of bandwidth. If no

quality level is specied, this is the default level.

Medium. This seing consumes a moderate amount of bandwidth.

High. This seing consumes the most amount of bandwidth.

For more information, see “Adobe Flash Quality and Throling,” on page 139.

Adobe Flash throling Select the frame rate of Adobe Flash movies. If you enable this seing, you

can reduce or increase the number of frames displayed per second by selecting the throling level.

Disabled. No throling is performed.

Conservative. Timer interval is 100 milliseconds. This seing results

in the lowest number of dropped frames.

Moderate. Timer interval is 500 milliseconds.

Aggressive. Timer interval is 2500 milliseconds. This seing results in

the highest number of dropped frames.

For more information, see “Adobe Flash Quality and Throling,” on page 139.

Stop provisioning on error

Specify whether View stops provisioning desktop VMs if an error occurs and prevents the error from aecting multiple VMs.

Naming paern Specify a paern that View uses as a prex in all the desktop VM names,

followed by a unique number.

For more information, see “Using a Naming Paern for Automated

Desktop Pools,” on page 130.

Max number of

Specify the total number of desktop VMs in the pool.

machines

Number of spare (powered on) machines

Specify the number of desktop VMs to keep available to users. For details, see “Naming Machines Manually or Providing a Naming Paern,” on page 128.

Provision machines on demand

Min number of machines

Provision all machines up front

Specify whether to provision all desktop VMs when the pool is created or to provision the VMs when they are needed.

Provision all machines up front. When the pool is created, View

provisions the number of VMs you specify in Max number of machines.

Provision machines on demand. When the pool is created, View

creates the number of VMs based on the Min number of machines value or the Number of spare (powered on) machines value, whichever is higher. Additional VMs are created to maintain this minimum number of available VMs as users connect to desktops.

Value Here

VMware, Inc. 83

Page 84

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 6‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool (Continued)

Option Description

Select separate datastores for replica and OS disks

Parent VM Select the parent VM for the pool.

Snapshot (default image)

VM folder location Select the folder in vCenter Server for the desktop VMs.

Cluster Select the vCenter Server cluster for the desktop VMs.

Resource pool Select the vCenter Server resource pool for the desktop VMs.

Datastores Select one or more datastores for the desktop VMs.

Domain Select an Active Directory domain. The drop-down list shows the domains

AD container Specify the Active Directory container's relative distinguished name.

Power-o script Specify the path name of a script to run on the desktop VMs and the script

Post-synchronization script

Specify whether to store the replica and OS disks on a datastore that is dierent from the datastores that the instant clones are on.

For more information, see “Storing Replicas and Clones on Separate

Datastores for Instant Clones and View Composer Linked Clones,” on

page 253.

Select the snapshot of the parent VM to use as the base image for the pool.

The Select Instant Clone Datastores window provides high-level guidelines for estimating the pool's storage requirements. These guidelines help you determine which datastores are large enough to store the clones. The Storage Overcommit value is always set to Unbounded and is not congurable.

that you specify when you congure instant-clone domain administrators. See “Add an Instant-Clone Domain Administrator,” on page 81

For example: CN=Computers

In the Add Desktop Pool window, you can browse the Active Directory tree for the container.

parameters before the VMs are powered o.

Specify the path name of a script to run on the desktop VMs and the script parameters after the VMs are created.

Fill In Your Value Here

Create an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool

The Add Desktop Pool wizards guides you through the steps of creating an instant-clone desktop pool.

Prerequisites

Verify that the virtual switch that the instant-clone VMs connect to has enough ports to support the

expected number of VMs. Each network card on a VM requires one port.

Verify that you have a parent VM ready. For more information, see Chapter 3, “Creating and Preparing

a Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning,” on page 19.

Gather the conguration information for the pool. See “Worksheet for Creating an Instant-Clone

Desktop Pool,” on page 82.

Verify that you added an instant-clone domain administrator in View Administrator. See “Add an

Instant-Clone Domain Administrator,” on page 81.

Procedure

1 In View Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools.

2 Click Add.

84 VMware, Inc.

Page 85

3 Select Automated Desktop Pool.

4 On the vCenter Server page, select Instant clones.

5 Follow the prompts to create the pool.

Use the conguration information you gathered in the worksheet. You can go directly back to any wizard page by clicking the page name in the navigation pane.

In View Administrator, you can view the desktop VMs as they are added to the pool by selecting Catalog > Desktop Pools.

After you create the pool, do not delete the parent VM or remove it from the vCenter Server inventory as long as the pool exists. If you remove the VM from the vCenter Server inventory by mistake, you must add it back and then do a push image using the current image.

What to do next

Entitle users to access the pool. See “Add Entitlements to a Desktop or Application Pool,” on page 159.

ClonePrep Guest Customization

ClonePrep customizes instant clones during the creation process.

ClonePrep ensures that all instant clones join an Active Directory domain. The clones have the same computer security identiers (SIDs) as the parent VM. ClonePrep also preserves the globally unique identiers (GUIDs) of applications, although some applications might generate a new GUID during customization.

Chapter 6 Creating Instant-Clone Desktop Pools

When you add an instant-clone desktop pool, you can specify a script to run immediately after a clone is created and another script to run before the clone is powered o.

How ClonePrep Runs Scripts

ClonePrep uses the Windows CreateProcess API to run scripts. Your script can invoke any process that can be created with the CreateProcess API. For example, cmd, vbscript, exe, and batch-le processes work with the API.

Specically, ClonePrep passes the path of the script as the second parameter to the CreateProcess API and sets the rst parameter to NULL. For example, if the script path is c:\myscript.cmd, the call to CreateProcess is CreateProcess(NULL,c:\myscript.cmd,...).

Providing Paths to ClonePrep Scripts

You can specify the scripts when you create or edit the desktop pool. The scripts must reside on the parent VM. You cannot use a UNC path to a network share.

If you use a scripting language that needs an interpreter to run the script, the script path must start with the interpreter executable. For example, instead of specifying C:\script\myvb.vbs, you must specify

C:\windows\system32\cscript.exe c:\script\myvb.vbs.

I Put the ClonePrep customization scripts in a secure folder to prevent unauthorized access.

ClonePrep Script Timeout Limit

By default, ClonePrep terminates a script if the execution takes longer than 20 seconds. You can increase this timeout limit. For details, see “Increase the Timeout Limit for ClonePrep and QuickPrep Customization

Scripts,” on page 49.

Alternatively, you can specify a script that runs another script or process that takes a long time to run.

VMware, Inc. 85

Page 86

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

ClonePrep Script Account

ClonePrep runs the scripts using the same account that the VMware Horizon Instant Clone Agent service uses. By default, this account is Local System. Do not change this login account. If you do, the clones will fail to start.

ClonePrep Process Privileges

For security reasons, certain Windows operating system privileges are removed from the VMware Horizon Instant Clone Agent process that runs ClonePrep customization scripts. The scripts cannot perform actions that require those privileges.

The process that runs ClonePrep scripts do not have the following privileges:

SeCreateTokenPrivilege

SeTakeOwnershipPrivilege

SeSecurityPrivilege

SeSystemEnvironmentPrivilege

SeLoadDriverPrivilege

SeSystemtimePrivilege

SeUndockPrivilege

SeManageVolumePrivilege

SeLockMemoryPrivilege

SeIncreaseBasePriorityPrivilege

SeCreatePermanentPrivilege

SeDebugPrivilege

SeAuditPrivilege

ClonePrep Script Logs

ClonePrep writes messages to a log le. The log le is C:\Windows\Temp\vmware-viewcomposer-ga-new.log.

Instant-Clone Maintenance Utilities

On the Connection Server are two utilities that you can use for the maintenance of instant-clone VMs in vCenter Server and the clusters that the VMs are in.

The utilities are IcMaint.cmd and IcUnprotect.cmd and are located in C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware

View\Server\tools\bin.

IcMaint.cmd

This command deletes the parent VMs and optionally puts a host in maintenance mode. After performing maintenance, you can run this command to take a host out of maintenance mode.

Syntax:

IcMaint.cmd -vc hostname_or_IP_address -uid user_ID -password password -hostName ESXi_hostname maintenance ON|OFF

86 VMware, Inc.

Page 87

Chapter 6 Creating Instant-Clone Desktop Pools

Parameters:

-vc host name or IP address of vCenter Server

-uid vCenter Server user ID

-password vCenter Server user password

-hostname ESXi host name

-maintenance ON|OFF

This parameter species whether to enter maintenance mode after the parent VMs are deleted. If the host is already in maintenance mode, -maintenance OFF takes the host out of maintenance mode.

All the parameters are required.

IcUnprotect.cmd

This utility unprotects the folders and VMs that ClonePrep creates. ClonePrep is the mechanism that customizes instant clones during the creation process.

Syntax:

IcUnprotect.cmd -vc hostname_or_IP_address -uid user_ID -password password [-clusterId cluster_ID] [-includeFolders]

Parameters:

-vc host name or IP address of vCenter Server

-uid vCenter Server user ID

-password vCenter Server user password

-clusterId cluster ID

-includeFolders

This parameter unprotects the folders in addition to the VMs.

All the parameters are required except clusterId and includeFolders. If clusterId is not specied, protection is removed from all ClonePrep VMs in all data centers.

VMware, Inc. 87

Page 88

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

88 VMware, Inc.

Page 89

Creating Manual Desktop Pools 7

In a manual desktop pool, each remote desktop that is accessed by an end user is a separate machine. When you create a manual desktop pool, you select existing machines. You can create a pool that contains a single desktop by creating a manual desktop pool and selecting a single machine.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“Manual Desktop Pools,” on page 89

“Worksheet for Creating a Manual Desktop Pool,” on page 89

“Create a Manual Desktop Pool,” on page 91

“Create a Manual Pool That Contains One Machine,” on page 92

“Desktop Pool Seings for Manual Pools,” on page 93

Manual Desktop Pools

To create a manual desktop pool, View provisions desktops from existing machines. You select a separate machine for each desktop in the pool.

View can use several types of machines in manual pools:

Virtual machines that are managed by vCenter Server

Virtual machines that run on a virtualization platform other than vCenter Server

Physical computers

For information about creating a manual desktop pool that uses Linux virtual machines, see the Seing Up Horizon 7 for Linux Desktops guide.

Worksheet for Creating a Manual Desktop Pool

When you create a manual desktop pool, the View Administrator Add Desktop Pool wizard prompts you to congure certain options. Use this worksheet to prepare your conguration options before you create the pool.

You can print this worksheet and write down the values you want to specify when you run the Add Desktop Pool wizard.

N In a manual pool, you must prepare each machine to deliver remote desktop access. Horizon Agent must be installed and running on each machine.

VMware, Inc.

Page 90

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 7‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating a Manual Desktop Pool

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

User assignment Choose the type of user assignment:

vCenter Server The vCenter Server that manages the machines.

Machine Source The virtual machines or physical computers that

Desktop Pool ID The pool name that users see when they log in

In a dedicated-assignment pool, each user is

assigned to a machine. Users receive the same machine each time they log in.

In a oating-assignment pool, users receive

dierent machines each time they log in.

For details, see “User Assignment in Desktop

Pools,” on page 127.

This option appears only if the machines are virtual machines that are managed by vCenter Server.

you want to include in the desktop pool.

1 Decide which type of machine you want to

use. You can use either virtual machines that are managed by vCenter Server or unmanaged virtual machines and physical computers.

2 Prepare a list of the vCenter Server virtual

machines or unmanaged virtual machines and physical computers that you want to include in the desktop pool.

3 Install Horizon Agent on each machine that

you want to include in the desktop pool.

To use PCoIP with machines that are unmanaged virtual machines or physical computers, you must use Teradici hardware.

N When you enable Windows Server desktops in View Administrator, View Administrator displays all available Windows Server machines, including machines on which View Connection Server and other View servers are installed, as potential machine sources.

You cannot select machines for the desktop pool if View server software is installed on the machines. Horizon Agent cannot coexist on the same virtual or physical machine with any other View software component, including View Connection Server, security server, View Composer, or Horizon Client.

and that identies the pool in View Administrator.

If multiple vCenter Servers are running in your environment, make sure that another vCenter Server is not using the same pool ID.

90 VMware, Inc.

Page 91

Chapter 7 Creating Manual Desktop Pools

Table 7‑1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating a Manual Desktop Pool (Continued)

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Desktop Pool Seings Seings that determine the machine state, power

status when a virtual machine is not in use, display protocol, Adobe Flash quality, and so on.

For details, see “Desktop Pool Seings for All

Desktop Pool Types,” on page 135.

For a list of the seings that apply to manual pools, see “Desktop Pool Seings for Manual

Pools,” on page 93.

Transparent Page Sharing Scope Select the level at which to allow transparent

Create a Manual Desktop Pool

You can create a manual desktop pool that provisions desktops from existing virtual machines or physical computers. You must select the machines that will be included in the desktop pool.

For manual pools with virtual machines that are managed by vCenter Server, View ensures that a spare machine is powered on so that users can connect to it. The spare machine is powered on no maer which power policy is in eect.

Prerequisites

Prepare the machines to deliver remote desktop access. In a manual pool, you must prepare each

machine individually. Horizon Agent must be installed and running on each machine.

To prepare virtual machines managed by vCenter Server, see Chapter 3, “Creating and Preparing a

Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning,” on page 19.

To prepare unmanaged virtual machines and physical computers, see Chapter 2, “Preparing

Unmanaged Machines,” on page 15.

Gather the conguration information that you must provide to create the pool. See “Worksheet for

Creating a Manual Desktop Pool,” on page 89.

Decide how to congure power seings, display protocol, Adobe Flash quality, and other seings. See

“Desktop Pool Seings for All Desktop Pool Types,” on page 135.

VMware, Inc. 91

Page 92

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Procedure

1 In View Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools.

2 Click Add.

3 Select Manual Desktop Pool.

4 Follow the prompts in the wizard to create the pool.

Use the conguration information that you gathered in the worksheet. You can go directly back to any wizard page that you completed by clicking the page name in the navigation panel.

In View Administrator, you can view the machines as they are added to the pool by selecting Catalog > Desktop Pools.

What to do next

Entitle users to access the pool. See “Add Entitlements to a Desktop or Application Pool,” on page 159.

Create a Manual Pool That Contains One Machine

You can create a pool that contains a single machine when a user requires a unique, dedicated desktop, or when, at dierent times, multiple users must access a costly application with a single-host license.

You can provision an individual machine in its own pool by creating a manual desktop pool and selecting a single machine.

To mimic a physical computer that can be shared by multiple users, specify a oating assignment for the users entitled to access the pool.

Whether you congure the single-machine pool with dedicated or oating assignment, power operations are initiated by session management. The virtual machine is powered on when a user requests the desktop and powered o or suspended when the user logs o.

If you congure the Ensure machines are always powered on policy, the virtual machine remains powered on. If the user shuts down the virtual machine, it immediately restarts.

Prerequisites

Prepare the machine to deliver remote desktop access. Horizon Agent must be installed and running on

the machine.

To prepare a virtual machine managed by vCenter Server, see Chapter 3, “Creating and Preparing a

Parent Virtual Machine for Cloning,” on page 19.

To prepare an unmanaged virtual machine or physical computer, see Chapter 2, “Preparing

Unmanaged Machines,” on page 15.

Gather the conguration information you must provide to create the manual pool. See “Worksheet for

Creating a Manual Desktop Pool,” on page 89.

Decide how to congure power seings, display protocol, Adobe Flash quality, and other seings. See

“Desktop Pool Seings for All Desktop Pool Types,” on page 135.

Procedure

1 In View Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools.

2 Click Add.

3 Select Manual Desktop Pool.

92 VMware, Inc.

Page 93

Chapter 7 Creating Manual Desktop Pools

4 Select the type of user assignment.

Option Description

Dedicated

Floating

The machine is assigned to one user. Only that user can log in to the desktop.

The machine is shared by all users who are entitled to the pool. Any entitled user can log in to the desktop as long as another user is not logged in.

5 On the Machine Source page, select the machine to be included in the desktop pool.

6 Follow the prompts in the wizard to create the pool.

Use the conguration information you gathered in the worksheet. You can go directly back to any wizard page you completed by clicking the page name in the navigation panel.

In View Administrator, you can view the machine being added to the pool by selecting Catalog > Desktop Pools.

What to do next

Entitle users to access the pool. See “Add Entitlements to a Desktop or Application Pool,” on page 159.

Desktop Pool Settings for Manual Pools

You must specify machine and pool seings when you congure manual desktop pools. Not all seings apply to all types of manual pools.

Table 7-2 lists the seings that apply to manual desktop pools that are congured with these properties:

Dedicated user assignments

Floating user assignments

Managed machines (vCenter Server virtual machines)

Unmanaged machines

These seings also apply to a manual pool that contains a single machine.

For descriptions of each desktop pool seing, see “Desktop Pool Seings for All Desktop Pool Types,” on page 135.

Table 7‑2. Settings for Manual Desktop Pools

Manual Managed Pool, Dedicated

Setting

State Yes Yes Yes Yes

Connection Server restrictions

Remote machine power policy

Automatically logo after disconnect

Allow users to reset their machines

Assignment

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes

Manual Managed Pool, Floating Assignment

Manual Unmanaged Pool, Dedicated Assignment

Manual Unmanaged Pool, Floating Assignment

VMware, Inc. 93

Page 94

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 7‑2. Settings for Manual Desktop Pools (Continued)

Manual Managed Pool, Dedicated

Setting

Allow user to initiate separate sessions from dierent client devices

Default display protocol

Allow users to choose protocol

3D Renderer Yes Yes

Max number of monitors

Max resolution of any one monitor

Adobe Flash quality

Adobe Flash

throling

Override global Mirage seings

Mirage Server

conguration

Assignment

Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Manual Managed Pool, Floating Assignment

Manual Unmanaged Pool, Dedicated Assignment

Manual Unmanaged Pool, Floating Assignment

Yes Yes

Yes

To use PCoIP with a machine that is not managed by vCenter Server, you must install Teradici hardware on the machine.

94 VMware, Inc.

Page 95

Setting Up Remote Desktop Services

Hosts 8

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) hosts provide desktop sessions and applications that users can access from client devices. If you plan to create RDS desktop pools or application pools, you must rst set up RDS hosts.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“Remote Desktop Services Hosts,” on page 95

“Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2008 R2,” on page 97

“Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2,” on page 97

“Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2008 R2,” on page 98

“Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2,” on page 98

“Restrict Users to a Single Session,” on page 99

“Install Horizon Agent on a Remote Desktop Services Host,” on page 99

“Printing From a Remote Application Launched Inside a Nested Session,” on page 102

“Enable Time Zone Redirection for RDS Desktop and Application Sessions,” on page 102

“Enable Windows Basic Theme for Applications,” on page 103

“Congure Group Policy to Start Runonce.exe,” on page 103

“RDS Host Performance Options,” on page 104

“Conguring 3D Graphics for RDS Hosts,” on page 104

Remote Desktop Services Hosts

An RDS host is a server computer that hosts applications and desktop sessions for remote access. An RDS host can be a virtual machine or a physical server.

An RDS host has the Microsoft Remote Desktop Services role, the Microsoft Remote Desktop Session Host service, and Horizon Agent installed. Remote Desktop Services was previously known as Terminal Services. The Remote Desktop Session Host service allows a server to host applications and remote desktop sessions. With Horizon Agent installed on an RDS host, users can connect to applications and desktop sessions by using the display protocol PCoIP or Blast Extreme. Both protocols provide an optimized user experience for the delivery of remote content, including images, audio and video.

The performance of an RDS host depends on many factors. For information on how to tune the performance of dierent versions of Windows Server, see

hp://msdn.microsoft.com/library/windows/hardware/gg463392.aspx.

Horizon 7 supports at most one desktop session and one application session per user on an RDS host.

VMware, Inc.

Page 96

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

When users submit print jobs concurrently from RDS desktops or applications that are hosted on the same RDS host, the ThinPrint server on the RDS host processes the print requests serially rather than in parallel. This can cause a delay for some users. Note that the print server does not wait for a print job to complete before processing the next one. Print jobs that are sent to dierent printers will print in parallel.

If a user launches an application and also an RDS desktop, and both are hosted on the same RDS host, they share the same user prole. If the user launches an application from the desktop, conicts may result if both applications try to access or modify the same parts of the user prole, and one of the applications may fail to run properly.

The process of seing up applications or RDS desktops for remote access involves the following tasks:

1 Set up RDS hosts.

2 Create a farm. See Chapter 9, “Creating Farms,” on page 107.

3 Create an application pool or an RDS desktop pool. See Chapter 10, “Creating Application Pools,” on

page 119 or Chapter 11, “Creating RDS Desktop Pools,” on page 123.

4 Entitle users and groups. See Chapter 13, “Entitling Users and Groups,” on page 159.

5 (Optional) Enable time zone redirection for RDS desktop and application sessions. See “Enable Time

Zone Redirection for RDS Desktop and Application Sessions,” on page 102.

N If smart card authentication is enabled, make sure that the Smart Card service is disabled on RDS hosts. Otherwise, authentication might fail. By default, this service is disabled.

C When a user launches an application, for example, a Web browser, it is possible for a user to gain access to the local drives on the RDS host that is hosting the application. This can happen if the application provides functions that cause Windows Explorer to run. To prevent this type of access to the RDS host, follow the procedure that is described in hp://support.microsoft.com/kb/179221 to prevent an application from running Windows Explorer.

Because the procedure described in hp://support.microsoft.com/kb/179221 aects both desktop and application sessions, it is recommended that you do not create RDS desktop pools and application pools on the same farm if you plan to follow the procedure in the Microsoft KB article, so that desktop sessions are not aected.

Installing Applications

If you plan to create application pools, you must install the applications on the RDS hosts. If you want Horizon 7 to automatically display the list of installed applications, you must install the applications so that they are available to all users from the Start menu. You can install an application at any time before you create the application pool. If you plan to manually specify an application, you can install the application at any time, either before or after creating an application pool.

I When you install an application, you must install it on all the RDS hosts in a farm and in the same location on each RDS host. If you do not, a health warning will appear on the View Administrator dashboard. In such a situation, if you create an application pool, users might encounter an error when they try to run the application.

When you create an application pool, Horizon 7 automatically displays the applications that are available to all users rather than individual users from the Start menu on all of the RDS hosts in a farm. You can choose any applications from that list. In addition, you can manually specify an application that is not available to all users from the Start menu. There is no limit on the number of applications that you can install on an RDS host.

96 VMware, Inc.

Page 97

Chapter 8 Setting Up Remote Desktop Services Hosts

Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2008 R2

Remote Desktop Services (RDS) is one of the roles that a Windows Server can have. You must install this role to set up an RDS host that runs Windows Server 2008 R2.

Prerequisites

Verify that the RDS host is running Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

Verify that the RDS host is part of the Active Directory domain for the Horizon 7 deployment.

Install the Microsoft hotx rollup that is documented in hp://support.microsoft.com/kb/2775511.

Install the Microsoft update hps://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2973201.

Procedure

1 Log in to the RDS host as an administrator.

2 Start Server Manager.

3 Select Roles in the navigation tree.

4 Click Add Roles to start the Add Role wizard.

5 Select the role Remote Desktop Services.

6 On the Select Role Services page, select Remote Desktop Session Host.

7 On the Specify Authentication Method page, select either Require Network Level Authentication or

Do not require Network Level Authentication, whichever is appropriate.

8 On the Congure Client Experience page, select the functionality that you want to provide to users.

9 Follow the prompts and nish the installation.

What to do next

If you plan to use HTML Access or scanner redirection, install the Desktop Experience feature. The steps for installing Desktop Experience dier on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2.

Restrict users to a single desktop session. See “Restrict Users to a Single Session,” on page 99.

Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2

Remote Desktop Services is one of the roles that a Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2 can have. You must install this role to set up an RDS host.

Prerequisites

Verify that the RDS host is running Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2.

Verify that the RDS host is part of the Active Directory domain for the Horizon 7 deployment.

Procedure

1 Log in to the RDS host 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, select Remote Desktop Services.

VMware, Inc. 97

Page 98

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

7 On the Select Features page, accept the defaults.

8 On the Select Role Services page, select Remote Desktop Session Host.

9 Follow the prompts and nish the installation.

What to do next

Restrict users to a single desktop session. See “Restrict Users to a Single Session,” on page 99.

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.

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.

98 VMware, Inc.

Page 99

Restrict Users to a Single Session

Horizon 7 supports at most one desktop session and one application session per user on an RDS host. You must congure the RDS host to restrict users to a single session. For Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2, you can can restrict users to a single session by enabling the group policy seing Restrict Remote Desktop Services users to a single Remote Desktop Services session. This seing is located in the folder Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows

Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Connections. For Windows Server

2008 R2, you can also use the following procedure to restrict users to a single session.

Prerequisites

Install the Remote Desktop Services role as described in “Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows

Server 2008 R2,” on page 97.

Procedure

1 Click Start > Administrative Tools > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host

.

2 On the Edit Seings pane, under General, double-click Restrict each user to a single session.

Chapter 8 Setting Up Remote Desktop Services Hosts

3 In the Properties dialog box, on the General tab, select Restrict each user to a single session and click

OK.

What to do next

Install Horizon Agent on the RDS host. See “Install Horizon Agent on a Remote Desktop Services Host,” on page 99.

Install Horizon Agent on a Remote Desktop Services Host

Horizon Agent communicates with Connection Server and supports the display protocols PCoIP and Blast Extreme. You must install Horizon Agent on an RDS Host.

Prerequisites

Install the Remote Desktop Services role as described in “Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows

Server 2008 R2,” on page 97 or “Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2,”

on page 97.

Restrict users to a single desktop session. See “Restrict Users to a Single Session,” on page 99.

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

Options for an RDS Host,” on page 100.

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 Log in as an administrator.

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

The installer lename is VMware-viewagent-x86_64-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe, where y.y.y is the version number and xxxxxx is the build number.

VMware, Inc. 99

Page 100

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

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

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

4 Select your custom setup options.

Do not select the View Composer Agent option if you are installing Horizon Agent on an RDS host that will be in a manual farm.

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

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

6 Select an authentication method to register the RDS host with the Connection Server instance.

Option Description

Authenticate as the currently logged in user

Specify administrator credentials

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.

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

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

7 Follow the prompts and nish the installation.

What to do next

Create a farm. See Chapter 9, “Creating Farms,” on page 107.

Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options for an RDS Host

When you install Horizon Agent on an RDS host, you can select 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.

Table 8‑1. Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options for an RDS Host in an IPv4 Environment

Option Description

USB Redirection Gives users access to locally connected USB storage devices.

Specically, redirection of USB ash drives and hard disks is supported in RDS desktops and applications. Redirection of other types of USB devices, and other types of USB storage devices such as security storage drives and USB CD-ROM, is not supported in RDS desktops and applications.

This setup option is not selected by default. You must select the option to install it. This option is available on RDS hosts that run Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2 but not Windows Server 2008 R2.

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.

HTML Access Allows users to connect to RDS desktops and applications by using HTML Access. The

HTML Access Agent is installed when this setup option is selected. This agent must be installed on RDS hosts to allow users to make connections with HTML Access

3D RDSH Provides 3D graphics support to applications that run on this RDS host.

100 VMware, Inc.

VMware Horizon 7.0 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Farms, RDS Hosts, and Desktop and Application Pools

Advantages of Desktop Pools

Desktop Pools for Specific Types of Workers

Pools for Task Workers

Pools for Knowledge Workers and Power Users

Pools for Kiosk Users

Advantages of Application Pools

Preparing Unmanaged Machines 2

Prepare an Unmanaged Machine for Remote Desktop Deployment

Install Horizon Agent on an Unmanaged Machine

Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options for Unmanaged Machines

Creating a Virtual Machine for Cloning

Create a Virtual Machine in vSphere

Virtual Machine Custom Configuration Parameters

Install a Guest Operating System

Prepare a Guest Operating System for Remote Desktop Deployment

Prepare Windows Server Operating Systems for Desktop Use

Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2008 R2

Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2

Configure the Windows Firewall Service to Restart After Failures

Install Horizon Agent on a Virtual Machine

Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options

Install Horizon Agent Silently

Microsoft Windows Installer Command-Line Options

Silent Installation Properties for Horizon Agent

Configure a Virtual Machine with Multiple NICs for Horizon Agent

Optimize Guest Operating System Performance

Disable the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program

Benefits of Disabling Windows Services and Tasks

Windows Services and Tasks That Cause Disk Growth in Instant Clones and Linked Clones

Disable Scheduled Disk Defragmentation on a Windows Parent Virtual Machine

Disable Windows Update

Disable the Diagnostic Policy Service on Windows Virtual Machines

Disable the Prefetch and Superfetch Features on Windows Virtual Machines

Disable Windows Registry Backup on Windows Virtual Machines

Disable the System Restore on Windows Virtual Machines

Disable Windows Defender on Windows Virtual Machines

Disable Microsoft Feeds Synchronization on Windows Virtual Machines

Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine

Configure a Parent Virtual Machine

Activating Windows on Instant Clones and View Composer Linked Clones

Disable Windows Hibernation in the Parent Virtual Machine

Configure Local Storage for View Composer Linked Clones

Record the Paging File Size of a View Composer Parent Virtual Machine

Increase the Timeout Limit for ClonePrep and QuickPrep Customization Scripts

Creating Virtual Machine Templates

Creating Customization Specifications

Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines

Worksheet for Creating an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines

Create an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines

Clone an Automated Desktop Pool

Desktop Settings for Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines

Creating Linked-Clone Desktop Pools 5

Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

Worksheet for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool

Create a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool

Clone an Automated Desktop Pool

Desktop Pool Settings for Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

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

Choosing QuickPrep or Sysprep to Customize Linked-Clone Machines

Customizing Linked-Clone Machines with QuickPrep

Running QuickPrep Customization Scripts

Recomposing Linked Clones Customized with Sysprep

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

Use Existing Active Directory Computer Accounts for Linked Clones

Creating Instant-Clone Desktop Pools 6

Instant-Clone Desktop Pools

Image Publishing and Rebalancing an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool

Add an Instant-Clone Domain Administrator

Worksheet for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool

Create an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool

ClonePrep Guest Customization

Instant-Clone Maintenance Utilities

Creating Manual Desktop Pools 7