VMware Horizon 7.3 Quick Start Guide

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Setting Up Virtual Desktops in Horizon 7

Modiﬁed for Horizon 7 7.3.2 VMware Horizon 7 7.3

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Setting Up Virtual Desktops in Horizon 7

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Setting Up Virtual Desktops in Horizon 7 7

Introduction to Virtual Desktops 8

Virtual Desktop Pools 8

Advantages of Desktop Pools 8

Desktop Pools for Specific Types of Workers 10

Creating and Preparing a Virtual Machine for Cloning 15

Creating a Virtual Machine for Cloning 16

Install Horizon Agent on a Virtual Machine 24

Install Horizon Agent Silently 28

Configure 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 46

Creating Virtual Machine Templates 52

Creating Customization Specifications 53

Creating Instant-Clone Desktop Pools 54

Instant-Clone Desktop Pools 54

Image Publishing and Rebalancing an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool 56

Add an Instant-Clone Domain Administrator 57

Worksheet for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool 57

Create an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool 62

ClonePrep Guest Customization 63

Change the Image of an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool 65

Monitor a Push-Image Operation 65

Reschedule or Cancel a Push-Image Operation 66

Perform Maintenance on Instant-Clone Hosts 66

Instant-Clone Maintenance Utilities 67

Creating Automated Desktop Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines 70

Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines 70

Worksheet for Creating an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines 70

Create an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines 75

Clone an Automated Desktop Pool 76

Rebuild a Virtual Machine in a Full-Clone Desktop Pool 77

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Desktop Settings for Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines 78

Configure Full Clones with vSphere Virtual Machine Encryption 78

Creating Linked-Clone Desktop Pools 80

Linked-Clone Desktop Pools 80

Worksheet for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool 80

Create a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool 90

Clone an Automated Desktop Pool 92

Desktop Pool Settings for Linked-Clone Desktop Pools 93

View Composer Support for Linked-Clone SIDs and Third-Party Applications 94

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

Composer Operations 99

Use Existing Active Directory Computer Accounts for Linked Clones 100

Creating Manual Desktop Pools 103

Manual Desktop Pools 103

Worksheet for Creating a Manual Desktop Pool 104

Create a Manual Desktop Pool 106

Create a Manual Pool That Contains One Machine 107

Desktop Pool Settings for Manual Pools 108

Configuring Desktop Pools 110

User Assignment in Desktop Pools 110

Naming Machines Manually or Providing a Naming Pattern 111

Manually Customizing Machines 118

Desktop Pool Settings for All Desktop Pool Types 120

Adobe Flash Quality and Throttling 124

Setting Power Policies for Desktop Pools 125

Configuring 3D Rendering for Desktops 132

Prevent Access to Horizon 7 Desktops Through RDP 145

Deploying Large Desktop Pools 146

Managing Desktop Pools and Virtual Desktops 148

Managing Desktop Pools 148

Managing Virtual Machine-Based Desktops 154

Export Horizon 7 Information to External Files 157

Managing View Composer Linked-Clone Desktop Virtual Machines 158

Reduce Linked-Clone Size with Machine Refresh 158

Update Linked-Clone Desktops 160

Rebalance Linked-Clone Virtual Machines 165

Manage View Composer Persistent Disks 168

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Setting Up Virtual Desktops in Horizon 7

Preparing Unmanaged Machines 174

Prepare an Unmanaged Machine for Remote Desktop Deployment 174

Install Horizon Agent on an Unmanaged Machine 175

Managing Unmanaged Machines 178

Entitling Users and Groups 181

Add Entitlements to a Desktop or Application Pool 181

Remove Entitlements from a Desktop or Application Pool 182

Review Desktop or Application Pool Entitlements 182

Configuring Start Menu Shortcuts for Desktop and Application Pools 183

Restricting Desktop or Application Access 185

Restricting Remote Desktop Access Outside the Network 189

Reducing and Managing Storage Requirements 190

Managing Storage with vSphere 190

Reducing Storage Requirements with Instant Clones 197

Reducing Storage Requirements with View Composer 199

Storing View Composer Linked Clones on Local Datastores 201

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

Linked Clones 202

Storage Sizing for Instant-Clone and View Composer Linked-Clone Desktop Pools 203

Storage Overcommit for View Composer Linked-Clone Virtual Machines 208

View Composer Linked-Clone Data Disks 210

Configure View Storage Accelerator for View Composer Linked Clones 212

Reclaim Disk Space on View Composer Linked Clones 214

Using VAAI Storage for View Composer Linked Clones 216

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

Clones 217

Configuring User Profiles with Horizon Persona Management 219

Providing User Personas in Horizon 7 219

Using Horizon Persona Management with Standalone Systems 220

Migrating User Profiles with Horizon Persona Management 221

Horizon Persona Management and Windows Roaming Profiles 225

Configuring a Horizon Persona Management Deployment 225

Best Practices for Configuring a Horizon Persona Management Deployment 235

Horizon Persona Management Group Policy Settings 239

Monitoring Virtual Desktops and Desktop Pools 250

Monitor Virtual-Machine Desktop Status 250

Status of vCenter Server Virtual Machines 251

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Recover Instant-Clone Desktops 253

Status of Unmanaged Machines 253

Troubleshooting Machines and Desktop Pools 255

Display Problem Machines 255

Troubleshooting Instant Clones in the Internal VM Debug Mode 256

Restart Desktops and Reset Virtual Machines 257

Send Messages to Desktop Users 258

Problems Provisoning or Recreating a Desktop Pool 259

Troubleshooting Network Connection Problems 271

Troubleshooting USB Redirection Problems 276

Manage Machines and Policies for Unentitled Users 278

Resolving Database Inconsistencies with the ViewDbChk Command 278

Further Troubleshooting Information 281

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Setting Up Virtual Desktops in

Horizon 7 1

Setting Up Virtual Desktops in Horizon 7 describes how to create and provision pools of virtual machines.

It includes information about preparing machines, provisioning desktop pools, and configuring user

profiles 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 written for experienced Windows system administrators who are familiar with virtual

machine technology and datacenter operations.

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Introduction to Virtual Desktops 2

With Horizon 7, you can create desktop pools that include thousands of virtual desktops. You can deploy

desktops that run on virtual machines (VMs) and physical machines. Create one VM as a master image,

and Horizon 7 can generate a pool of virtual desktops from that image. The master image is also known

as a base image or a golden image.

This section includes the following topics:

Virtual Desktop Pools

Advantages of Desktop Pools

Desktop Pools for Specific Types of Workers

Virtual Desktop Pools

You can create desktop pools to give users remote access to virtual machine-based desktops. You can

also choose VMware PC-over-IP (PCoIP), or VMware Blast to provide remote access to users.

There are two main types of virtual desktop pools: automated and manual. 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

third-party virtual machines. In automated or manual pools, each machine is available for one user to

access remotely at a time.

Advantages of Desktop Pools

Horizon 7 offers 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.

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.

A session-based desktop on an RDS host. For more information about creating desktop pools from

an RDS host, see the Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7 document.

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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. Setting 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 settings or deploy applications to all remote

desktops in a pool. The following examples show some of the settings 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 off 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 specification or QuickPrep from VMware. Sysprep generates a unique SID

and GUID for each virtual machine in the pool. Instant clones require a different customization

specification, 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

Using floating-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. The remote desktop is optionally deleted and re-created after

each use, offering a highly controlled environment.

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Desktop Pools for Speciﬁc Types of Workers

Horizon 7 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 settings.

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 file server or in an application database.

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 benefits 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 Horizon 7:

You can create floating assignment pools or dedicated assignment pools of instant clone virtual

machines. Folder redirection and roaming profiles can optionally be used to store user data.

You can use View Composer to create floating or dedicated assignment pools of linked clone virtual

machines. Folder redirection and roaming profiles can optionally be used to store user data or

configure persistent disks to persist user data.

There are several ways to create stateful desktop images in Horizon 7:

You can create full clones or full virtual machines. Some storage vendors have cost-effective 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.

You can create pools of instant-clone or linked-clone virtual machines and use App Volumes user

writable volumes to attach user data and user-installed apps.

Whether you use stateless or stateful desktops depends on the specific type of worker.

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Pools for Task Workers

You can standardize on stateless desktop images for task workers so that the image is always in a well-

known, easily supportable configuration 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 settings for instant-clone desktop pools:

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.

For instant clone desktop pools, Horizon 7 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 effectively

refreshing the desktop on every log out.

Use the following pool settings for View Composer linked-clone desktop pools:

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

grow over time. You can conserve disk space by refreshing the desktop to its original state when

users log off. You can also set a schedule for periodically refreshing desktops. For example, you can

schedule desktops to refresh daily, weekly, or monthly.

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

ESXi data stores. This strategy can offer 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.

Note For information about other types of storage options, see Chapter 13 Reducing and Managing

Storage Requirements.

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

and application settings, as with Windows user profiles. If you do not have the desktops set to be

refreshed or deleted at logoff, you can configure the persona to be removed at logoff.

Important Persona Management facilitates implementing a floating-assignment pool for those users

who want to retain settings between sessions. Previously, one of the limitations of floating-assignment

desktops was that when end users logged off, they lost all their configuration settings 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 configure each application's preferences again. With Persona Management, an end

user of a floating-assignment desktop cannot tell the difference between their session and a session

on a dedicated-assignment desktop.

Use the following general pool settings for all desktop pools:

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.

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Use floating assignment so that users log in to any available desktop. This setting 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.

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 file

server or in an application database. For other knowledge workers and for power users, you can create

stateful desktop images.

Use the following pool settings for instant-clone desktop pools:

If you use instant clone desktops, implement file share, roaming profile, or another profile

management solution.

Use the following pool settings for View Composer linked-clone desktop pools:

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 Persona Management, roaming profiles,

or another profile management solution. You can also configure persistent disks so that you can

refresh and recompose the linked-clone OS disks while keeping a copy of the user profile on the

persistent disks.

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

and application settings, as with Windows user profiles.

Use the following general pool settings for all desktop pools:

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 vStorage thin provisioning so that at first, each desktop uses only as much storage space as the

disk needs for its initial operation.

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.

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.

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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.

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 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

configure 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 instant-clone desktop pool settings.

If you are using instant clone desktop pools, Horizon 7automatically 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

effectively refreshing the desktop on every log out.

As part of this setup, you can use the following View Composer linked-clone desktop pool settings.

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 logoff.

If applicable, consider storing desktops on local ESXi datastores. This strategy can offer 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. Instant clone pools are not supported on local data stores.

Note For information about other types of storage options, see Chapter 13 Reducing and Managing

Storage Requirements.

As part of this setup, you can use the following general settings for all desktop pools.

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 floating assignment so that users can access any available desktop in the pool.

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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.

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

desktop uses the nearest printer. For a complete list and description of the settings available through

Group Policy administrative (ADMX) templates, see Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon

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.

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Creating and Preparing a 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 configure this VM, which will be the parent, or master

image of the clones.

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

the Setting Up Desktops and Application Pools in Horizon 7 guide.

For information about preparing Linux VMs for remote desktop deployment, see the Setting Up Horizon 7

for Linux Desktops guide.

Note

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 section includes the following topics:

Creating a Virtual Machine for Cloning

Install Horizon Agent on a Virtual Machine

Install Horizon Agent Silently

Configure a Virtual Machine with Multiple NICs for Horizon Agent

Optimize Guest Operating System Performance

Disable the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program

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

Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine

Creating Virtual Machine Templates

Creating Customization Specifications

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Setting Up Virtual Desktops in Horizon 7

Creating a Virtual Machine for Cloning

The first step in the process of deploying a pool of cloned desktops is to create a virtual machine in

vSphere, install and configure the operating system.

1 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.

2 Install a Guest Operating System

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

3 Prepare a Guest Operating System for Remote Desktop Deployment

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

4 Prepare Windows Server Operating Systems for Desktop Use

To use a Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 R2, or Windows Server 2016 virtual

machine as a single-session virtual desktop (rather than as an RDS host), you must perform certain

steps before you install Horizon Agent in the virtual machine. You must also configure Horizon

Administrator to treat Windows Servers as supported operating systems for Horizon 7 desktop use.

5 Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2008 R2

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, 2012 R2, or 2016

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.

7 Configure the Windows Firewall Service to Restart After Failures

Some Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 2016, 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 configure the Windows Firewall service on the parent (master image) 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 configuration parameters for virtual machines. See Virtual

Machine Custom Configuration Parameters.

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Procedure

1 Log in to vSphere Client.

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

3 Select Custom and configure custom configuration parameters.

4 Select Edit the virtual machine settings before completion and click Continue to configure

hardware settings.

a Add a CD/DVD drive, set the media type to use an ISO image file, select the ISO image file 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.

Virtual Machine Custom Conﬁguration Parameters

You can use virtual machine custom configuration parameters as baseline settings when you create a

virtual machine for remote desktop deployment.

You can change certain settings when you use Horizon 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

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 files 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 Horizon 7 features require

minimum hardware machine versions.

Guest Operating System

CPUs

Memory

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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 sufficient.

The amount of memory to allocate to the virtual machine.

In most cases, 512MB is sufficient.

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Table 3‑1. Custom Conﬁguration Parameters (Continued)

Parameter Description and Recommendations

Network

SCSI Controller

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

One NIC is usually sufficient. 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 configure the subnet that Horizon Agent uses. See Configure a Virtual Machine

with Multiple NICs for Horizon Agent for more information.

Important 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 hotfix:

For Windows 7 SP1, install the following hotfixes:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2550978

Install the hotfix before installing Horizon Agent. When installing the hotfix, if you

encounter Windows Update error 0x80070424, see https://support.microsoft.com/en-

us/kb/968002.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/kb/2578159

https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/kb/2661332

For more information on installing the hotfixes, see

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2073945.

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 better with

generic SCSI devices.

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

Select a Disk

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, profile, and documents on network shares rather than on a local disk.

Install a Guest Operating System

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

Prerequisites

Verify that an ISO image file 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 file of the guest operating

system and that the CD/DVD drive is configured to connect at power on.

Procedure

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

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

Because you configured 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 Horizon 7 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.

Configure 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.

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

are required for Horizon Agent installation, SSO, and other Horizon 7 operations. You can disable

RDP access to your Horizon 7 desktops by configuring desktop pool settings and group policy

settings. See Prevent Access to Horizon 7 Desktops Through RDP.

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.

If you intend to configure 3D graphics rendering for desktop pools, familiarize yourself with the

Enable 3D Support setting for virtual machines.

This setting 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.

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

latest version of VMware Tools.

Note 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 Ensure that the virtual machine is synchronized to a reliable time source.

In general, guests can use the VMware Tools time synchronization method in preference to other

methods of time synchronization. The VMware Tools online help provides information on configuring

time synchronization between guest and host.

A Windows guest that is a member of a Windows domain synchronizes its time with its domain

controller using the Windows Time Service. For these guests, this is the appropriate time

synchronization method and VMware Tools time synchronization must not be used.

Guests must use only one method of time synchronization. For example, a Windows guest that is not

a member of a Windows domain must have its Windows Time Service disabled.

Important Hosts that are being relied upon for time synchronization must themselves be

synchronized to a reliable time source, using the built-in NTP client. Verify that all hosts in a cluster

use the same time source.

Note Windows domain controllers can use either VMware Tools time synchronization or another

reliable time source. All domain controllers within a forest and domain controllers across forests with

inter-forest trusts must be configured to use the same time source.

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 offer a catalog that includes ThinApp applications, you

must install VMware Identity Manager for Windows.

Important 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 off the display to Never.

If you do not disable this setting, the display will appear to freeze in its last state when power savings

mode starts.

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

Control Panel > System > Advanced System Settings > Performance Settings and change the

setting for Visual Effects to Adjust for best performance.

If you instead use the setting 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 affected.

10 If a proxy server is used in your network environment, configure network proxy settings.

11 Configure network connection properties.

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

Horizon 7 does not support link-local (169.254.x.x) addresses for Horizon 7 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 or master image 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 Configure 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) Configure user customization scripts.

Prepare Windows Server Operating Systems for Desktop Use

To use a Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 R2, or Windows Server 2016 virtual machine

as a single-session virtual desktop (rather than as an RDS host), you must perform certain steps before

you install Horizon Agent in the virtual machine. You must also configure Horizon Administrator to treat

Windows Servers as supported operating systems for Horizon 7 desktop use.

Prerequisites

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

R2, Windows Server 2012 R2, or Windows Server 2016. See Install Desktop Experience on Windows

Server 2008 R2 or Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, or 2016

On Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2016 machines, familiarize yourself with the steps

to configure the Windows Firewall service to restart after failures occur. See Configure the Windows

Firewall Service to Restart After Failures.

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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

confirm 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 Horizon 7 desktop.

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

2016.

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

Horizon Agent.

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 configure 3D graphics rendering for your desktops.

The 3D Renderer setting offers a Software option that enables users to run Windows Aero on the

desktops in the pool.

5 On Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2016 machines, configure the Windows Firewall

service to restart after failures occur.

6 Configure Horizon 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

Horizon Administrator.

a In Horizon Administrator, select View Configuration > Global Settings.

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 Horizon Administrator, Horizon Administrator displays all

available Windows Server machines, including machines on which Connection Server is installed, as

potential machines for desktop use. You cannot install Horizon Agent on machines on which other

Horizon 7 software components are installed.

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Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2008 R2

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.

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 finish the installation.

Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, or 2016

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.

Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows Server 2016 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 finish the installation.

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Conﬁgure the Windows Firewall Service to Restart After Failures

Some Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 2016, 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 configure the Windows Firewall service on the parent (master image) 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 affected.

Procedure

1 On the Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10 parent (master image) 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 settings to restart the service after a failure occurs.

Setting Drop-down Menu Option

First failure: Restart the Service

Second failure: Restart the Service

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 (master image) 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, master images 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.

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.

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Prerequisites

Verify that you have prepared Active Directory. See the View Installation document.

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

System for Remote Desktop Deployment.

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.

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 file from the VMware product page at

http://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.

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

firewall. See the View Architecture Planning document for more information.

Procedure

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

The installer filename 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 configures the Windows Server machine as a single-user virtual 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.

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8 Follow the prompts in the Horizon Agent installation program and finish the installation.

Note 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 finished.

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

configure the hardware before you restart the virtual machine.

What to do next

If the virtual machine has multiple NICs, configure the subnet that Horizon Agent uses. See Configure a

Virtual Machine with Multiple NICs for Horizon Agent.

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.

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.

All custom setup options are selected by default except USB Redirection, Scanner Redirection,

Smartcard Redirection, Serial Port Redirection, Flash Redirection, Skype for Business, VMware Horizon

Instant Clone Agent, and HTML5 Multimedia Redirection.

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

Option Description

Core Installs the core functionality.

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 flash 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 settings to disable USB redirection for specific users.

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

used on the remote desktop.

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

After this option is installed, no further configuration is required on the remote desktop.

Client Drive Redirection is also supported on RDS desktops and applications and on virtual machine

desktops that run on unmanaged machines.

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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

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

Desktop Agent

VMware Horizon 7 Persona

Management

Synchronizes the user profile on the local desktop with a remote profile repository, so that users have

access to their profiles whenever they log in to a desktop.

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.

VMware Client IP

Transparency

Enables remote connections to Internet Explorer to use the Client's IP address instead of the remote

desktop machine's IP address.

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

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

This option is not selected by default.

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

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.

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, for

performance optimization.

HTML5 Multimedia

Redirects HTML5 multimedia content in a Chrome browser to the client, for performance optimization.

Redirection

URL Content Redirection Redirects URL content in an Internet Explorer 9, 10, or 11 browser from client-to-client, for

performance optimization.

VMware Horizon View

Composer Agent

VMware Horizon Instant

Clone Agent

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.

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

Option Description

Local Printer Redirection Local printer redirection is designed for the following use cases:

Printers directly connected to USB or serial ports on the client device

Specialized printers such as bar code printers and label printers connected to the client

Network printers on a remote network that are not addressable from the virtual session.

VMware Virtualization Pack

for Skype for Business

Makes optimized audio and video calls with Skype for Business inside a virtual desktop. This option is

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

In an IPv6 environment, Core, VMware Horizon View Composer Agent, Virtual Printing, and VMware

Audio options are selected and installed by default.

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

Windows applications that run on the remote desktop. Users can

browse, search, and open Windows applications and files,

choose favorite applications and files, and switch between

running applications, all without using the Start menu or Taskbar.

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

VMware Blast Installs the VMware Blast display protocol on remote desktops.

Core Installs the core functionality.

PSG Agent Installs the PCoIP Secure Gateway on remote desktops to

implement the PCoIP display protocol.

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 efficiently deploy View components in a large enterprise.

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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

Verify that you have prepared Active Directory. See the View Installation document.

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

for Remote Desktop Deployment.

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.

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 file from the VMware product page at

http://www.vmware.com/go/downloadview.

The installer filename 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.

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

Command-Line Options.

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

Installation Properties for Horizon Agent.

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

firewall. 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.

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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

Audio-Video 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 specified 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 configure 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, configure the subnet that Horizon Agent uses. See Configure a

Virtual Machine with Multiple NICs for Horizon Agent.

Microsoft Windows Installer Command-Line Options

To install Horizon 7 components silently, you must use Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) command-line

options and properties. The Horizon 7 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 Horizon 7 component computer and type

msiexec /?.

To run a Horizon 7 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.

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Table 3‑4. Command-Line Options for a Horizon 7 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 Horizon 7 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

attempt to interpret the string as two command-line options. Note the final 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 Horizon 7 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 specific to the Horizon 7 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 a basic progress dialog box in a noninteractive,

automated installation.

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

For information about additional /q parameters, see the Microsoft Dev Center website.

Specifies an alternative installation path for the Horizon 7 component.

Use the format INSTALLDIR=path to specify an installation path. You can ignore this MSI property if you

want to install the Horizon 7 component in the default path.

This MSI property is optional.

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

MSI Option or

Property Description

ADDLOCAL

Determines the component-specific options to install.

In an interactive installation, the Horizon 7 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 Horizon 7 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.

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 off (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.

REBOOT

/l*v log_file

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You can use the REBOOT=ReallySuppress option to allow system configuration tasks to complete before

the system reboots.

This MSI property is optional.

Writes logging information into the specified log file with verbose output.

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

This example generates a detailed log file 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.

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Silent Installation Properties for Horizon Agent

You can include specific 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.

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

MSI Property Description Default Value

INSTALLDIR

RDP_CHOICE

SUPPRESS_RUNONCE_CHECK

URL_FILTERING_ENABLED

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 setting

disabled.

This MSI property is optional.

Ignores pending Windows Update tasks scheduled at the next OS

reboot in

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

and RunOnceEx keys. Using this flag allows concurrent installation

but does not guarantee the installation outcome when the system

updates affect the Horizon Agent run-time dependencies.

This MSI property is optional.

Specifies whether the URL Content Redirection feature is installed.

A value of 1 installs the feature. You must then use group policy

settings to configure which URLs to redirect. See "Configuring URL

Content Redirection in the Configuring Remote Desktop Features

in Horizon 7 document.

This MSI property is optional.

%ProgramFiles

%\VMware\VMware

View\Agent

None

VDM_SKIP_BROKER_REGISTRATION

VDM_VC_MANAGED_AGENT

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A value of 1 skips unmanaged desktops. None

Determines whether vCenter Server manages the virtual machine

on which Horizon Agent is installed.

A value of 1 configures the desktop as a vCenter Server-managed

virtual machine.

A value of 0 configures the desktop as unmanaged by vCenter

Server.

This MSI property is required.

None

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

MSI Property Description Default Value

VDM_SERVER_NAME

VDM_SERVER_USERNAME

VDM_SERVER_PASSWORD

VDM_IP_PROTOCOL_USAGE

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.

Specifies the IP version that Horizon Agent uses. The possible

values are IPv4 and IPv6.

None

IPv4

VDM_FIPS_ENABLED

VDM_FLASH_URL_REDIRECTION

INSTALL_VDISPLAY_DRIVER

Specifies 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.

Configures the Horizon WDDM display driver. A value of 1 enables

the driver installation. A value of 0 or empty disables the driver

installation

In a silent installation command, you can use the MSI property, ADDLOCAL=, to specify options that the

Horizon Agent installer configures.

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, seeHorizon Agent Custom Setup Options.

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-by-

default and off-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.

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For details, see the ADDLOCAL table entry in Microsoft Windows Installer Command-Line Options.

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

Custom Setup Option in an Interactive

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

FLASHMMR

ThinPrint Virtual Printing Yes

V4V vRealize Operations Desktop Agent Yes

Installation

This feature is hidden unless you use the

VDM_FLASH_URL_REDIRECTION=1 property on

the command line.

Specifies whether to enable the Flash

Redirection feature.

Installed by Default Interactively or When

ADDLOCAL Is Not Used

VPA View Persona Management Yes

SmartCard PCoIP Smartcard. This feature is not installed by

default in an interactive installation.

VmwVaudio VMware Audio (virtual audio driver) Yes

TSMMR Windows Media Multimedia Redirection (MMR) Yes

RDP This feature enables RDP in the registry if 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.

VMWMediaProviderProxy VMware Virtualization Pack for Skype for

Business feature.

Yes

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

always specify Core.

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

Silent Installation Feature Description

Core The core Horizon Agent functions.

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

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

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 configure 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 configure 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.

Note 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 setting 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 setting.

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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 off 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.

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.

Note Indexing improves searches by cataloging files. Do not disable this feature for users who

search often.

Remove or minimize System Restore points.

Turn off system protection on C:\.

Disable any unnecessary services.

Set the sound scheme to No Sounds.

Set visual effects to Adjust for best performance.

Open Windows Media Player and use the default settings.

Turn off automatic computer maintenance.

Adjust performance settings for best performance.

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

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Delete all event logs.

Run Disk Cleanup to remove temporary files, empty the Recycle Bin, and remove system files 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.

Use the File System Utility (fsutil) command to disable the setting that keeps track of the last time

a file 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 off 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 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

benefits 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 different 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 settings.

2 Click Customer Experience Improvement Program settings.

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.

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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.

Optimizing Windows for Instant-Clone and View Composer Linked-Clone 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 benefits 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 first 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 affect 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 effect 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 off, and for View Composer linked clones if you refresh or recompose

regularly.

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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 affect OS disk growth also generate I/O operations. You can evaluate the benefits 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.

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

Default

Service or Task Description

Occurrence or

Startup

Impact on OS

Disk Impact on IOPS

Turn Off This

Service or Task?

Windows

Hibernation

Windows Scheduled

Disk

Defragmentation

Provides a power-

saving state by

storing open

documents and

programs in a file

before the

computer is

powered off. The

file is reloaded into

memory when the

computer is

restarted, restoring

the state when the

hibernation was

invoked.

Disk

defragmentation is

scheduled as a

background

process.

Default power-plan

settings disable

hibernation.

Once a week High.

High.

By default, the size

of the hibernation

file,

hiberfil.sys, is

the same as the

installed RAM on

the virtual

machine. This

feature affects all

guest operating

systems.

Repeated

defragmentation

operations can

increase the size

of the OS disk by

several GB and do

little to make disk

access more

efficient .

High.

When hibernation

is triggered, the

system writes a

hiberfil.sys file

the size of the

installed RAM.

High Yes

Yes

Hibernation

provides no benefit

in a virtual

environment.

For instructions, see

Disable Windows

Hibernation in the

Parent Virtual

Machine.

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

Default

Service or Task Description

Occurrence or

Startup

Impact on OS

Disk Impact on IOPS

Turn Off This

Service or Task?

Windows Update

Service

Windows Diagnostic

Policy Service

Prefetch/Superfetch Stores specific

Detects,

downloads, and

installs updates for

Windows and

other programs.

Detects,

troubleshoots, and

resolves problems

in Windows

components. If you

stop this service,

diagnostics no

longer function.

information about

applications that

you run to help

them start faster.

Automatic startup Medium to high.

Causes frequent

writes to the OS

disk because

update checks

occur often. The

impact depends on

the updates that

are downloaded.

Automatic startup Medium to high.

The service is

triggered on

demand. The write

frequency varies,

depending on

demand.

Always on, unless

it is disabled.

Medium

Causes periodic

updates to its

layout and

database

information and

individual prefetch

files, which are

generated on

demand.

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.

Windows Registry

Backup

(RegIdleBackup)

System Restore Reverts the

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Automatically

backs up the

Windows registry

when the system

is idle.

Windows system

to a previous,

healthy state.

Every 10 days at

12:00 am

When Windows

starts up and once

a day thereafter.

Medium.

Each time this task

runs, it generates

registry backup

files.

Small to medium.

Captures a system

restore point

whenever the

system detects

that it is needed.

Medium. Yes. Both instant

clones and View

Composer linked

clones let you revert

to a snapshot and

achieve the goal of

restoring the

registry.

No major impact. Yes. Both instant

clones and View

Composer linked

clones let you revert

to a healthy state.

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

Default

Service or Task Description

Occurrence or

Startup

Impact on OS

Disk Impact on IOPS

Turn Off This

Service or Task?

Windows Defender Provides anti-

spyware features.

Microsoft Feeds

Synchronization

task

(msfeedssync.exe)

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.

When Windows

starts up. Performs

a quick scan once

a day. Checks for

updates before

each scan.

Once a day. Medium.

Medium to high.

Performs definition

updates,

scheduled scans,

and scans that are

started on

demand.

Affects OS-disk

growth if persistent

disks are not

configured. If

persistent disks

are configured, the

impact is diverted

to the persistent

disks.

Medium to high. Yes, if other anti-

spyware software is

installed.

Medium Yes, if your users do

not require

automatic RSS feed

updates on their

desktops.

Disable Scheduled Disk Defragmentation on a Windows Parent Virtual Machine

When you prepare a parent or master image 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 significantly increase the size of a clone's virtual disk and

does not make disk access more efficient for instant clones or View Composer linked clones.

The clones share the parent or master image virtual machine's OS disk but each clone maintains

changes to the file 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 or master image 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 different Windows

operating systems.

Procedure

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

2 Log in as an administrator.

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3 Click Start and type defrag in the Search programs and files box.

4 In the Programs pane, click Disk Defragmenter.

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

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

6 In the Disk Defragmenter dialog box, click Configure 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 file 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 or master image 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 different 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 off.

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 file 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 different Windows

operating systems.

Procedure

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

2 Log in as an administrator.

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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.

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 file 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 different 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.

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Disable Windows Registry Backup on Windows Virtual Machines

Disabling the Windows registry backup feature, RegIdleBackup, avoids some I/O operations to the file

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 different 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.

Disable the System Restore on Windows Virtual Machines

Disabling the Windows System Restore feature avoids some I/O operations to the file 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 off, the machine is

recreated, making a system restore unnecessary

The following steps apply to Windows 7 and Windows 8. The steps might vary on different 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.

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Disable Windows Defender on Windows Virtual Machines

Disabling Windows Defender avoids some I/O operations to the file 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 different 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 files 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 file 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.

4 Click the Content tab.

5 Under Feeds and Web Slices, click Settings.

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 first prepare a parent

virtual machine in vCenter Server. This virtual machine is also known as the master image.

Configure a Parent Virtual Machine

After creating a virtual machine that you plan to use as a parent, configure the Windows

environment. This virtual machine is also known as a master image.

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Activating Windows on Instant Clones and View Composer Linked Clones

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

The Windows hibernation feature creates a hidden system file, Hiberfil.sys and uses this file 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.

Configure Local Storage for View Composer Linked Clones

For a View Composer linked-clone desktop pool, you can configure the parent virtual machine to

store virtual-machine swap files on a local datastore. The linked clones' swap files will reside on

local storage.

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

When you create a View Composer linked-clone desktop pool, you can redirect the clones' paging

and temp files to a separate disk. You must configure this disk to be larger than the size of the

paging file on the parent virtual machine.

Increase the Timeout Limit for ClonePrep and QuickPrep Customization Scripts

ClonePrep and QuickPrep post-synchronization or power-off 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, configure the Windows environment.

This virtual machine is also known as a master image.

Prerequisites

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

Virtual Machine for Cloning.

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.

Important You also cannot use an instant clone or a View Composer linked clones as a parent

virtual machine.

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.

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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.

Note 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, configure 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.

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.

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

http://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.

Note 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 letter for the View Composer persistent disk or

disposable data disk that already exists on the parent virtual machine or that conflicts with a drive

letter 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 configure 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 file to avoid duplicating the file on all the linked clones. If you

leave the pagefile.sys file on the parent virtual machine, a read-only version of the file is inherited

by the linked clones, while a second version of the file is used on the disposable data disk.

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

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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 setting on the parent virtual machine.

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 http://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

powered-down state. This snapshot is provides the base image for the clones.

Important Before you take a snapshot, shut down the parent virtual machine.

Activating Windows on Instant Clones and View Composer Linked Clones

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.

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 configure volume

activation.

Note 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.

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

Note If you set up a new KMS server and use QuickPrep to create linked-clone desktop pools, the KMS

client count might not increment and the linked-clones might not be able to activate Windows. For more

information, see the VMware Knowledge Base (KB) article http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2048742.

Disable Windows Hibernation in the Parent Virtual Machine

The Windows hibernation feature creates a hidden system file, Hiberfil.sys and uses this file 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.

Caution 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.

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

For a View Composer linked-clone desktop pool, you can configure the parent virtual machine to store

virtual-machine swap files on a local datastore. The linked clones' swap files will reside on local storage.

In this procedure, you configure local storage for the virtual-machine swap files, not the paging and temp

files in the guest OS. When you create a linked-clone pool, you also can redirect guest OS paging and

temp files to a separate disk. See Worksheet for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool.

Procedure

1 Configure a swapfile datastore on the ESXi host or cluster on which you will deploy the linked-clone

pool.

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

the swapfile datastore on the local ESXi host or cluster:

a In vSphere Client, select the parent virtual machine.

b Click Edit Settings and click the Options tab.

c Click Swapfile location and click Store in the host's swapfile datastore.

For detailed instructions, see the VMware vSphere documentation.

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

When you create a View Composer linked-clone desktop pool, you can redirect the clones' paging and

temp files to a separate disk. You must configure this disk to be larger than the size of the paging file on

the parent virtual machine.

When a linked clone that is configured with a separate disk for the disposable files is powered off, 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 configure the disposable-file disk to be large enough to hold the clone's paging file.

Before you can configure the disposable-file disk, record the maximum paging-file size in the parent

virtual machine. The linked clones have the same paging-file size as the parent virtual machine.

As a best practice, remove the pagefile.sys file from the parent virtual machine before you take a

snapshot, to avoid duplicating the file on all the linked clones. See Configure a Parent Virtual Machine.

Note This feature is not that same as configuring local storage for the virtual-machine swap files. See

Configure Local Storage for View Composer Linked Clones.

Procedure

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

2 Select Start > Settings > Control Panel > System.

3 Click the Advanced tab.

4 In the Performance pane, click Settings.

5 Click the Advanced tab.

6 In the Virtual memory pane, click Change.

The Virtual Memory page appears.

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

machine.

Important If the Maximum size (MB) setting is smaller than the virtual-machine memory size, type

a larger value and save the new value.

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8 Keep a record of the Maximum size (MB) setting that is configured in the Paging file size for selected

drive pane.

What to do next

When you configure a linked-clone pool from this parent virtual machine, configure a disposable-file disk

that is larger than the paging-file size.

Increase the Timeout Limit for ClonePrep and QuickPrep Customization Scripts

ClonePrep and QuickPrep post-synchronization or power-off 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.

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.

Note Most QuickPrep customization scripts can finish 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.

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You create virtual machine templates in vSphere Client. You can create a virtual machine template from a

previously configured virtual machine, or you can convert a previously configured virtual machine to a

virtual machine template.

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 for information on

creating automated pools.

Note 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 specification.

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 specifications by using the

Customization Specification wizard in vSphere. See the vSphere Virtual Machine Administration

document for information on using the Customization Specification wizard.

It is recommended that you test a customization specification in vSphere before you use it to create a

desktop pool. When you use a Sysprep customization specification to join a Windows desktop to a

domain, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the Active Directory domain. You cannot

use the NetBIOS name.

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Pools 4

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

This section includes the following topics:

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

Change the Image of an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool

Monitor a Push-Image Operation

Reschedule or Cancel a Push-Image Operation

Perform Maintenance on Instant-Clone Hosts

Instant-Clone Maintenance Utilities

Instant-Clone Desktop Pools

An instant-clone desktop pool is an automated desktop pool. vCenter Server creates the desktop VMs

based on the settings that you specify when you create the pool.

Similar to View Composer linked clones, an instant-clone desktop pool is based on a parent VM in

vCenter Server, known as the master image. For instant-clone desktops, a parent VM is an internal VM

that Horizon 7 creates and maintains, which is based on the master image. You cannot modify this

internal parent VM. However, you can make changes to the master image.

Instant clones share a virtual disk of the master image and therefore consume less storage than full VMs.

In addition, instant clones share the memory of the master image. Instant clones are created using the

vmFork technology. An instant-clone desktop pool has the following key characteristics:

The provisioning of instant clones is significantly faster than View Composer linked clones.

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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

workflow.

For dedicated instant-clone desktop pools, users are assigned a particular remote desktop and return

to the same desktop at each login. When a user logs out, a resync operation on the master image

retains the VM name and the Mac IP address of the VM after logoff.

For floating instant-clone desktop pools, users are assigned random desktops from the pool. 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 master image.

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

When clones are created, Horizon 7 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.

Instant Clones require static port binding with fixed port allocation. Do not change the port binding to

ephemeral. If you get an error message with static port binding, see the VMware Knowledge Base

(KB) article http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2150925.

Instant clones and Storage vMotion are compatible. When you create an instant-clone desktop pool

on a Storage DRS datastore, the Storage DRS cluster does not appear in the list in the desktop pool

creation wizard. However, you can select individual Storage DRS datastores.

Because Horizon 7 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, configure distributed virtual switches in the vSphere environment. It is mandatory to

configure distributed virtual switches in the vSphere environment for dedicated instant clones.

In Horizon 7, instant clones have the following restrictions:

Instant-clone desktops cannot have persistent disks. Users can use network share or VMware App

Volumes to store persistent user data. For more information about App Volumes, see

https://www.vmware.com/products/appvolumes.

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

supported.

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Sysprep and Quickprep are not available for desktop customization. Use ClonePrep, which is

specifically designed for instant clones.

Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 are not supported.

IPv6 is not supported.

Persona Management 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 refreshed when users log out. For instant clones, reclaiming unused disk

space in a VM does not have a significant impact on storage consumption.

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 in vCenter Server. Publishing an image is a process by which

internal VMs needed for instant cloning are created. This process only happens once per image and may

take some time. Creating an instant-clone desktop pool involves the following operations:

1 Horizon 7 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 Horizon 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.

Note 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. If there are no internal VMs in all four folders, these folders are

unprotected and you can delete these folders.

2 The clones are created. This process is fast. During this process, the Current Image pane in Horizon

Administrator shows the name and state of the image.

After the pool is created, you can change the image through the push-image operation. As with the

creation of a pool, the new image is first 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.

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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

Horizon 7.

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 Horizon Administrator, select View Configuration > Instant Clone Domain Admins.

2 Click Add.

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

Worksheet for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool

When you create an instant-clone desktop pool, the Add Desktop Pool wizard prompts you to configure

certain options. You can use this worksheet to record your configuration options before you create the

pool.

Before creating an instant-clone desktop pool, take a snapshot of the parent VM in vCenter Server. You

must shut down the parent VM in vCenter Server before taking the snapshot. The snapshot is the master

image for the clones in vCenter Server.

Note You cannot create an instant-clone desktop pool from a VM template.

Table 4‑1. Worksheet: Conﬁguration Options for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool

Fill In Your Value

Option Description

User assignment Select Floating or Dedicated.

In a floating user assignment, users are assigned random desktops from the

pool.

In a dedicated user assignment, each user is assigned a particular remote

desktop and returns to the same desktop at each login. Between each login and

logout, the computer name and MAC address is retained for the same desktop.

Any other changes that the user makes to the desktop are not preserved.

Here

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

clone VMs.

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Table 4‑1. Worksheet: Conﬁguration Options for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool (Continued)

Fill In Your Value

Option Description

Desktop Pool ID The unique name that identifies the pool in Horizon Administrator.

If you have multiple Connection Server configurations, make sure that another

Connection Server configuration does not use the same pool ID. A Connection

Server configuration 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.

If you use an access group, you can delegate managing the pool to an

administrator who has a specific role. For details, see the role-based delegated

administration chapter in the View Administration document.

Note Access groups are different from vCenter Server folders that store

desktop VMs. You select a vCenter Server folder later in the wizard.

Here

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

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 configure 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.

Category Folder Specifies the name of the category folder that contains a Start menu shortcut for

the desktop pool entitlement on Windows client devices. For more information,

see Configuring Start Menu Shortcuts for Desktop and Application Pools.

Automatically logoff after

disconnect

Immediately. Users are logged off when they disconnect.

Never. Users are never logged off.

After. The time after which users are logged off when they disconnect. Type

the duration in minutes.

The logoff time applies to future disconnections. If a desktop session is

already disconnected when you set a logoff time, the logoff duration for that

user starts when you set the logoff 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, Horizon 7 will log off that session 5

minutes after you set the value.

Allow user to initiate

separate sessions from

different client devices

With this option selected, a user connecting to the same desktop pool from

different client devices gets different desktop sessions. The user can only

reconnect to an existing session from the same client device. When this setting

is not selected, users are always reconnected to their existing session no matter

which client device is used.

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

VMware Blast.

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Table 4‑1. Worksheet: Conﬁguration Options for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool (Continued)

Fill In Your Value

Option Description

Here

Allow users to choose

protocol

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

Do not allow users to choose a display protocol.

3D Renderer Select 3D graphics rendering for desktops.

3D rendering is supported on Windows 7 or later guests running on VMs with

virtual hardware version 8 or later. The hardware-based renderer is supported (at

minimum) on virtual hardware version 9 in a vSphere 5.1 environment. The

software renderer is supported (at minimum) on virtual hardware version 8 in a

vSphere 5.0 environment.

On ESXi 5.0 hosts, the renderer allows a maximum VRAM size of 128MB. On

ESXi 5.1 and later hosts, the maximum VRAM size is 512MB. On hardware

version 11 (HWv11) virtual machines in vSphere 6.0, the VRAM value (video

memory) has changed. Select the Manage Using vSphere Client option and

configure video memory for these machines in vSphere Web Client. For details,

see "Configuring 3D Graphics" in the vSphere Virtual Machine Administration

guide.

3D rendering is disabled if you select Microsoft RDP as the default display

protocol and do not allow users to choose a display protocol.

NVIDIA GRID vGPU. 3D rendering is enabled for NVIDIA GRID vGPU. The

ESXi host reserves GPU hardware resources on a first-come, first-served

basis as virtual machines are powered on. See Preparing for NVIDIA GRID

vGPU Capabilities. You cannot use vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler

(DRS) when you select this option.

To use NVIDIA GRID vGPU for an instant-clone desktop pool, the

recommendation is to select VMware Blast as a protocol and not allow the

user to choose their own display protocols.

Disabled. 3D rendering is inactive. Default is disabled.

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

https://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

configured for use with Connection Server.

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

Do not control. The Web page settings determine the quality.

Low. This setting consumes the least amount of bandwidth. If no quality

level is specified, this is the default level.

Medium. This setting consumes a moderate amount of bandwidth.

High. This setting consumes the most amount of bandwidth.

For more information, see Adobe Flash Quality and Throttling.

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Table 4‑1. Worksheet: Conﬁguration Options for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool (Continued)

Fill In Your Value

Option Description

Adobe Flash throttling Select the frame rate of Adobe Flash movies. If you enable this setting, you can

reduce or increase the number of frames displayed per second by selecting the

throttling level.

Disabled. No throttling is performed.

Conservative. Timer interval is 100 milliseconds. This setting results in the

lowest number of dropped frames.

Moderate. Timer interval is 500 milliseconds.

Aggressive. Timer interval is 2500 milliseconds. This setting results in the

highest number of dropped frames.

For more information, see Adobe Flash Quality and Throttling.

Stop provisioning on error Specify whether Horizon 7 stops provisioning desktop VMs if an error occurs and

prevents the error from affecting multiple VMs.

Naming pattern Specify a pattern that Horizon 7 uses as a prefix in all the desktop VM names,

followed by a unique number.

For more information, see Using a Naming Pattern for Automated Desktop

Pools.

Here

Max number of machines Specify the total number of desktop VMs in the pool.

Number of spare

(powered on) machines

Provision machines on

demand

Min number of machines

Provision all machines up

front

Specify the number of desktop VMs to keep available to users. For details, see

Naming Machines Manually or Providing a Naming Pattern.

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, Horizon 7

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

Provision machines on demand. When the pool is created, Horizon 7

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.

Select separate

datastores for replica and

OS disks

Specify whether to store the replica and OS disks on a datastore that is different

from the datastores that the instant clones are on.

If you select this option, you can select the options to select one or more instant-

clone datastores or replica disk datastores.

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

for Instant Clones and View Composer Linked Clones.

Parent VM in vCenter Select the parent VM in vCenter Server for the pool.

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Table 4‑1. Worksheet: Conﬁguration Options for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool (Continued)

Fill In Your Value

Option Description

Snapshot (default image) You can specify the number of monitors and resolution for your instant-clone

desktop pool by setting those parameters in the parent VM and taking a

snapshot. The required vRAM size is calculated based on your specifications.

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

The instant-clone desktop pool that is created is based on the snapshot and

inherits those memory settings. For more information about configuring video

memory settings in vSphere Client, see the vSphere Single Host Management

guide in the vSphere documentation.

The snapshot lists the following details:

Number of monitors

VRAM size

Resolution

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

Cluster Select the vCenter Server cluster for the desktop VMs.

Here

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

Datastores Select one or more datastores for the desktop VMs.

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 configurable.

Note Instant clones and Storage vMotion are compatible. When you create an

instant-clone desktop pool on a Storage DRS datastore, the Storage DRS cluster

does not appear in the list of datastores. However, you can select individual

Storage DRS datastores.

Replica disk datastores Select one or more replica disk datastores on which to store the instant-clones.

This option appears if you select separate datastores for replica and OS disks.

A table on the Select Replica Disk Datastores page of the Add Farm wizard

provides high-level guidelines for estimate the farm's storage requirements.

These guidelines can help you determine which replica disk datastores are

enough to store the instant-clones.

Networks Select the networks to use for the instant-clone desktop pool. You can select

multiple vLAN networks to create a larger instant-clone desktop pool. The default

setting uses the network from the current master image.

A table on the Select Networks wizard provides the networks, ports, and port

bindings that are available to use. To use multiple networks, you must unselect

Use network from current parent VM and then select the networks to use with

the instant-clone farm.

vGPU Profile The vGPU profile for the pool is the vGPU profile of the snapshot you selected.

The pool inherits this profile. This profile cannot be edited during the pool

creation process.

Mixed vGPU profiles on a single ESXi cluster are not supported.

After a pool is provisioned, you cannot edit the vGPU profile. To change the

vGPU profile, you must delete the pool and create a new pool with the desired

vGPU profile.

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Table 4‑1. Worksheet: Conﬁguration Options for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool (Continued)

Fill In Your Value

Option Description

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

you specify when you configure instant-clone domain administrators. See Add an

Instant-Clone Domain Administrator

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

For example: CN=Computers

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

the container. You can also copy, paste, or enter the path for the AD tree for the

container.

Here

Allow reuse of pre-existing

computer accounts

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

Post-synchronization

script

Select this option to use existing computer accounts in Active Directory when the

virtual machine names of new instant clones match the existing computer

account names.

When an instant clone is created, if an existing AD computer account name

matches the instant-clone virtual machine name, Horizon 7 uses the existing

computer account after resetting the password. Otherwise, a new computer

account is created. When the instant clone is deleted, Horizon 7 does not delete

the corresponding computer accounts.

The existing computer accounts must be located in the Active Directory container

that you specify with the AD container setting.

When this option is disabled, a new AD computer account is created when

Horizon 7 creates an instant clone. If an existing computer account is found,

Horizon 7 uses the existing computer account after resetting the password.

When the instant clone is deleted, Horizon 7 deletes the corresponding computer

account. This option is disabled by default.

parameters before the VMs are powered off.

Specify the path name of a script to run on the desktop VMs and the script

parameters after the VMs are created.

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 the master image ready. For more information, see Chapter 3 Creating and

Preparing a Virtual Machine for Cloning.

Gather the configuration information for the pool. See Worksheet for Creating an Instant-Clone

Desktop Pool.

Verify that you added an instant-clone domain administrator in Horizon Administrator. See Add an

Instant-Clone Domain Administrator.

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Procedure

1 In Horizon Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools.

2 Click Add.

3 Select Automated Desktop Pool.

4 On the vCenter Server page, select Instant clones.

5 Follow the prompts to create the pool.

Use the configuration 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 Horizon 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 master image or remove it from the vCenter Server inventory

as long as the pool exists. If you remove the master image 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.

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 identifiers (SIDs) as the master image. ClonePrep also preserves the globally unique

identifiers (GUIDs) of applications, although some applications might generate a new GUID during

customization.

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 off.

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-file processes

work with the API.

Specifically, ClonePrep passes the path of the script as the second parameter to the CreateProcess API

and sets the first 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

master image. You cannot use a UNC path to a network share.

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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.

Important 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.

Alternatively, you can specify a script that runs another script or process that takes a long time to run.

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

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ClonePrep Script Logs

ClonePrep writes messages to a log file. The log file is C:\Windows\Temp\vmware-viewcomposer-ga-

new.log.

Change the Image of an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool

You can change the image of an instant-clone desktop pool to push out changes or to revert to a previous

image. You can select any snapshot from any virtual machine to be the new image.

Once a pool is provisioned, you cannot edit the vGPU profile by editing the pool or changing the image of

the pool. When you push a new image to an instant clone pool, you must verify that the new image has

the same vGPU profile as the previous image, or your push image operation might fail. To change the

vGPU profile of an instant clone pool, you must delete the pool and create a new pool with the desired

vGPU profile.

Procedure

1 In Horizon Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools

2 Double-click the pool ID.

3 Select Push Image > Schedule.

The Schedule Push Image window opens.

4 Follow the prompts.

You can schedule the task to start immediately or sometime in the future. For clones with user

sessions, you can specify whether to force the users to log out or to wait. When the users log out,

Horizon 7 recreates the clones.

5 On the Ready to Complete page, click Show Details to see the list of desktops in the pool.

After you initiate this operation, publishing of the new image starts immediately. Recreating the clones

starts at the time that you specify in the Schedule Push Image wizard.

Monitor a Push-Image Operation

You can monitor the progress of a push-image operation on an instant-clone desktop pool in Horizon

Administrator.

Procedure

1 In Horizon Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools.

2 Double-click the pool ID.

The Summary tab shows the current image and pending image information.

3 Click the Tasks tab.

The list of tasks that are associated with the push-image operation appears.

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Reschedule or Cancel a Push-Image Operation

You can reschedule or cancel a push-image operation on an instant-clone desktop pool in Horizon

Administrator.

Procedure

1 In Horizon Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools.

2 Double-click the pool ID.

The Summary tab shows the current image and pending image information.

3 Select Push Image > Reschedule or Push Image > Cancel.

4 Follow the prompts.

If you cancel the push-image operation while clone creation is in progress, the clones that have the new

image remain in the pool and the pool has a mix of clones, some with the new image and the others with

the old image. To ensure that all the clones have the same image, you can remove all the clones.

Horizon 7 recreates the clones with the same image.

Perform Maintenance on Instant-Clone Hosts

You can performance maintenance on hosts where instant clones reside by putting the ESXi hosts into

maintenance mode. You can use vSphere Web Client to put the ESXi host into maintenance mode. By

default, the instant clones on these hosts will be vMotioned to another host in the cluster. However, the

master image, which is the parent VM in vCenter Server must be deleted before the host can enter

maintenance mode.

Starting with Horizon 7 version 7.1, when you put the ESXi host into maintenance mode, Horizon 7 will

automatically delete the master image so that the host can go into maintenance mode without any

manual intervention.

In releases earlier than Horizon 7 version 7.1, you have to manually delete the master image on the host.

To do this, you can use the instant-clone maintenance utilities. If you are using VMware Update Manager

(VUM), you must use the instant-clone maintenance utilities to delete the master image before you can

patch the ESXi hosts, regardless of the Horizon 7 version.

To use the instant-clone utilities, see Instant-Clone Maintenance Utilities.

Note After the ESXi host is put into maintenance, you must wait approximately five minutes before

performing any actions on instant clones after the ESXi host performs entering or exiting operations.

Procedure

1 Log in to vSphere Web Client.

2 Select the ESXi host that you want to put into maintenance and clickMaintenance Mode > Enter

Maintenance Mode.

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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 master images, which are the parent VMs in vCenter Server from the ESXi

host so that the host can be put into maintenance mode. The host is not automatically put into

maintenance mode. To perform maintenance on the host, the vCenter server administrator must manually

put the host into maintenance mode.

Syntax:

IcMaint.cmd -vc hostname_or_IP_address -uid user_ID -password password -hostName ESXi_hostname -

maintenance ON|OFF

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 specifies whether the host is available for hosting the master image VM.

After the command is run on the host, the InstantClone.Maintenance annotation value is set to 1 and

the master image VMs are deleted. After the master image VMs are deleted, the

InstantClone.Maintenance annotation value is set to 2 and no more master image VMs are created

on the host. When you run this command again with -maintenanceOFF, the

InstantClone.Maintenance annotation value is cleared for the host to become available for hosting

master image VMs.

All the parameters are required.

IcUnprotect.cmd

After ClonePrep creates folders and VMs, you can use this utility to unprotect folders and VMs, delete

VMs, and detect VMs whose master image or snapshot is deleted. ClonePrep is the mechanism that

customizes instant clones during the creation process.

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Syntax:

IcUnprotect.cmd -vc hostname_or_IP_address -uid user_ID -password password[-includeFolders][-

skipCertVeri]

Parameters:

-action

You can use the following options for this parameter:

unprotect. Unprotect internal VMs.

delete. Delete internal VMs.

detect. Detect and list internal VMs whose master image or snapshot is deleted.

If you don't specify the -action parameter, the internal VMs are unprotected by default.

-vc host name or IP address of vCenter Server

-uid vCenter Server user ID

-password vCenter Server user password

-clientId instant-clone client ID (Optional)

If clientId is not specified, protection is removed from all ClonePrep VMs in all data centers.

-domain domain name (Optional)

You can use multiple domain names separated by comma and no space.

-host host name (Optional)

You can use multiple host names separated by comma and no space.

-datastore datastore name (Optional)

You can use multiple datastore names separated by comma and no space.

-vmName VM name (Optional)

You can use multiple VM names separated by comma and no space.

-vmType internal VM type (Optional)

You can use multiple VM types separated by comma and no space. You can use template, replica,

parent as options for this parameter.

-includeFolders include folders

This parameter unprotects the folders in addition to the VMs.

-skipCertVeri skip certification verification

IcUnprotect.cmd enforces host name verification. You must enter the correct host name of the

vCenter Server instead of its IP address when you specify the command parameters. To disable host

name verification and use the IP address of vCenter Server instead, use -skipCertVeri.

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Specify the following parameters to delete all parent VMs in vCenter Server:

IcUnprotect -action delete -vc <IP address of vCenter Server> -uid <vCenter Server user ID> -password

<vCenter Server password> -clientId <instant clone client ID> -host <hostname 1>,<hostname 2> -vmType

parent

Specify the following parameters to delete specific parent VMs in vCenter Server:

IcUnprotect -action delete -vc <IP address of vCenter Server> -uid <vCenter Server user ID> -password

<vCenter Server password> -clientId <instant clone client ID> -host <hostname 1>,<hostname 2> (-vmType

parent) -vmName <parent VM name 1,parent VM name 2)

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Creating Automated Desktop Pools That Contain Full Virtual

Machines 5

With an automated desktop pool that contains full virtual machines, you create a virtual machine template

and Horizon 7 uses that template to create virtual machines for each desktop. You can optionally create

customization specifications to expedite automated pool deployments.

This section includes the following topics:

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

Rebuild a Virtual Machine in a Full-Clone Desktop Pool

Desktop Settings for Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines

Configure Full Clones with vSphere Virtual Machine Encryption

Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines

To create an automated desktop pool, Horizon 7 dynamically provisions machines based on settings that

you apply to the pool. Horizon 7 uses a virtual machine template as the basis of the pool. From the

template, Horizon 7 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 Horizon Administrator Add Desktop Pool wizard

prompts you to configure certain options. Use this worksheet to prepare your configuration 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.

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Table 5‑1. 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:

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 floating-assignment pool, users receive

different machines each time they log in.

For details, see User Assignment in Desktop Pools.

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

assigned to a user when the user first 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.

vCenter Server Select the vCenter Server that manages the virtual

machines in the pool.

Desktop Pool ID The unique name that identifies the pool in Horizon

Administrator.

If multiple vCenter Servers are running in your

environment, make sure that another vCenter Server

is not using the same pool ID.

A Connection Server configuration can be a

standalone Connection Server instance or a pod of

replicated instances that share a common View

LDAP configuration.

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

a client device. If you do not specify a display name,

the pool ID is displayed to users.

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

specific role. For details, see the role-based

delegated administration chapter in the View

Administration document.

Note Access groups are different from vCenter

Server folders that store desktop virtual machines.

You select a vCenter Server folder later in the wizard

with other vCenter Server settings.

Delete machine after logoff If you select floating user assignment, choose

whether to delete machines after users log off.

Note You set this option on the Desktop Pool

Settings page.

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Table 5‑1. Worksheet: Conﬁguration Options for Creating an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines (Continued)

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Desktop Pool Settings Settings 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 Settings for All

Desktop Pool Types.

For a list of the settings that apply to automated

pools, see Desktop Settings for Automated Pools

That Contain Full Virtual Machines.

For more information about power policies and

automated pools, see Setting Power Policies for

Desktop Pools.

Stop provisioning on error You can direct Horizon 7 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 setting 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 pattern and the total number of machines.

For details, see Naming Machines Manually or

Providing a Naming Pattern.

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

machine names and, optionally, the associated user

names.

Naming Pattern If you use this naming method, provide the pattern.

The pattern you specify is used as a prefix in all the

machine names, followed by a unique number to

identify each machine.

For details, see Using a Naming Pattern for

Automated Desktop Pools.

Maximum number of machines If you use a naming pattern, specify the total number

of machines in the pool.

You can also specify a minimum number of machines

to provision when you first create the pool.

Number of spare (powered on)

machines

If you specify names manually or use a naming

pattern, specify a number of machines to keep

available and powered on for new users. For details,

see Naming Machines Manually or Providing a

Naming Pattern.

When you specify names manually, this option is

called # Unassigned machines kept powered on.

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Table 5‑1. 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 pattern and provision 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 first time or as you assign machines to users.

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

Virtual SAN is a software-defined 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.

Template Select the virtual machine template to use for

creating the pool.

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

desktop pool resides.

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

machines run.

In vSphere 5.1 or later, you can select a cluster with

up to 32 ESXi hosts.

Resource pool Select the vCenter Server resource pool in which the

desktop pool resides.

Datastores Choose the type of datastore:

Individual datastore. Select individual

datastores on which to store the desktop pool.

Storage DRS. Select the Storage Distributed

Resource Scheduler (DRS) cluster that contains

shared or local datastores. Storage DRS is a load

balancing utility that assigns and moves storage

workloads to available datastores.

If your desktop pool was upgraded from

Horizon 7 version 7.1 to Horizon 7 version 7.2,

and you want to modify the pool to use the

Storage DRS cluster, you must deselect the

existing datastores and select Storage DRS.

Note If you use Virtual SAN, select only one

datastore.

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Table 5‑1. Worksheet: Conﬁguration Options for Creating an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines (Continued)

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Use View Storage Accelerator Determine whether ESXi hosts 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 Configure View Storage Accelerator

for View Composer Linked Clones.

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 Horizon 7 on the same ESXi host can

share memory pages, regardless of which pool the

machines reside in.

Note The default setting 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 configuration scenarios.

Guest customization Select a customization specification (SYSPREP) from

the list to configure licensing, domain attachment,

DHCP settings, and other properties on the

machines.

Alternatively, you can customize the machines

manually after they are created.

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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.

Horizon 7 dynamically deploys the desktops, creating a new virtual machine in vCenter Server for each

desktop.

Prerequisites

Prepare a virtual machine template that Horizon 7 will use to create the machines. Horizon 7 must be

installed on the template. See Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing a Virtual Machine for Cloning.

If you intend to use a customization specification, make sure that the specifications are accurate. In

vSphere Client, deploy and customize a virtual machine from your template using the customization

specification. Fully test the resulting virtual machine, including DHCP and authentication.

Verify that you have a sufficient 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 sufficient 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 configuration information you must provide to create the pool. See Worksheet for Creating

an Automated Pool That Contains Full Virtual Machines.

Decide how to configure power settings, display protocol, Adobe Flash quality, and other settings.

See Desktop Pool Settings for All Desktop Pool Types.

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 Horizon 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 configure in Horizon 7, and you cannot configure the pool in

VMware Identity Manager.

Procedure

1 In Horizon 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 configuration 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 Horizon Administrator, you can view the machines as they are added to the pool by selecting Catalog

> Desktop Pools.

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What to do next

Entitle users to access the pool. See Add Entitlements to a Desktop or Application Pool.

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 settings are copied into the Add Desktop Pool wizard, allowing you to create a new pool

without having to fill in each setting 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 attributes are standardized by using the

pre-filled 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 settings:

Desktop pool type

Clone type, either linked clone or full virtual machine

User assignment, either dedicated or floating

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 off.

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.

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

Procedure

1 In Horizon 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.

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4 On the Provisioning Settings page, provide unique names for the virtual machines.

Option Description

Use a naming pattern Type a virtual machine naming pattern.

Specify names manually 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 settings and values as needed.

In Horizon 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.

Rebuild a Virtual Machine in a Full-Clone Desktop Pool

Rebuild a virtual machine in a full-clone desktop pool if you want to replace the virtual machine with a new

virtual machine and want to reuse the machine name. You can rebuild a virtual machine that is in an error

state to replace the virtual machine with an error free virtual machine of the same name. When you

rebuild a virtual machine, the virtual machine is deleted and then cloned with the same virtual machine

name and the AD computer accounts are reused. All user data or settings from the previous virtual

machine are lost and the new virtual machine is created using the desktop pool template.

Prerequisites

Create an automated full-clone desktop pool. See Create an Automated Pool That Contains Full

Virtual Machines.

Procedure

1 In Horizon Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools.

2 Select the desktop pool that contains the virtual machine you want to rebuild and click the Inventory

tab.

3 Select the virtual machine that you want to rebuild and click Rebuild.

In vCenter Client, you can view the virtual machine as it is deleted and cloned again with the same

name. In Horizon Administrator, the status of the rebuilt virtual machine goes through the following

states: Deleting > Provisioning > Customizing > Available.

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Desktop Settings for Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines

You must specify desktop pool settings when you configure automated pools that contain full virtual

machines. Different settings apply to pools with dedicated user assignments and floating user

assignments.

Table 5‑2 lists the settings that apply to automated pools with dedicated assignments and floating

assignments.

For descriptions of each desktop pool setting, see Desktop Pool Settings for All Desktop Pool Types.

Table 5‑2. 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

Assignment Automated Pool, Floating Assignment

Automatic logoff after disconnect Yes Yes

Allow users to reset/restart their machines Yes Yes

Allow user to initiate separate sessions

from different client devices

Delete machine after logoff Yes

Default display protocol Yes Yes

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 throttling Yes Yes

Override global Mirage settings Yes Yes

Mirage Server configuration Yes Yes

Yes

Conﬁgure Full Clones with vSphere Virtual Machine Encryption

You can configure full clones to use the vSphere Virtual Machine Encryption feature. You can create full-

clone desktops that have the same encryption keys or, full-clone desktops with different keys.

Prerequisites

vSphere 6.5 or later.

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Create the Key Management Server (KMS) cluster with key management servers.

To create a trust between KMS and vCenter Server, accept the self signed CA certificate or create a

CA signed certificate.

In vSphere Web Client, create the VMcrypt/VMEncryption storage profile.

Horizon 7

Note For details about the Virtual Machine Encryption feature in vSphere, see the vSphere Security

document in the vSphere documentation.

Procedure

1 To configure full clones that use the same encryption keys, create a parent template for all desktops

to have the same encryption keys.

The clone inherits the parent encryption state including keys.

a In vSphere Web Client, create a parent VM with the vmencrypt storage policy or create a parent

VM and then apply the vmencrypt storage policy.

b Convert the parent VM to a virtual machine template.

c Create full-clone desktops that point to the parent template so that all desktops have the same

encryption keys.

Note Do not select the Content Based Read Cache (CBRC) feature when you create the full-clone

desktop pool. The CBRC and Virtual Machine Encryption features are not compatible.

2 To configure full clones that use different encryption keys, you must change the storage policy for

each full-clone desktop.

a In vSphere Web Client, create the full-clone desktop pool and then edit the full-clone desktops.

You can also edit existing full-clone desktops.

b Navigate to each full-clone desktop and edit the storage policy and change the storage policy to

vmencrypt.

Each full-clone desktop gets a different encryption key.

Note Full-clone desktops with CBRC digestive disks that exist cannot get the vmencrypt storage

policy. The vmencrypt storage policy applies only when the parent VM does not have any snapshots.

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Creating Linked-Clone Desktop

Pools 6

With a linked-clone desktop pool, Horizon 7 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 section includes the following topics:

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

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

Composer Operations

Use Existing Active Directory Computer Accounts for Linked Clones

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

settings 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 configure certain options. Use this worksheet to prepare your configuration 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.

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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.

Note You cannot create a linked-clone pool from a virtual machine template.

Table 6‑1. 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:

In a dedicated-assignment pool, each user is assigned

to a machine. Users receive the same machine each

time they log in.

In a floating-assignment pool, users receive different

machines each time they log in.

For details, see User Assignment in Desktop Pools.

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

user when the user first 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.

vCenter Server Select the vCenter Server that manages the virtual

machines in the pool.

Desktop Pool ID The unique name that identifies the pool in View

Administrator.

If multiple View Connection Server configurations are

running in your environment, make sure that another View

Connection Server configuration is not using the same pool

ID.

A View Connection Server configuration can be a

standalone View Connection Server instance or a pod of

replicated instances that share a common View LDAP

configuration.

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

device. If you do not specify a display name, the pool ID is

displayed to users.

Access group Select an access group in which to place the pool 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 specific role. For details,

see the role-based delegated administration chapter in the

View Administration document.

Note Access groups are different 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 settings.

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

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Delete or refresh machine on

logoff

Desktop Pool Settings Settings that determine the machine state, power status

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

Virtual machine naming Choose whether to provision machines by manually

If you select floating user assignment, choose whether to

refresh machines, delete machines, or do nothing after

users log off.

Note You set this option on the Desktop Pool Settings

page.

when a virtual machine is not in use, display protocol,

Adobe Flash quality, and so on.

For descriptions, see Desktop Pool Settings for All Desktop

Pool Types.

For a list of the settings that apply to linked-clone pools, see

Desktop Pool Settings for Linked-Clone Desktop Pools.

For more information about power policies and automated

pools, see Setting Power Policies for Desktop Pools.

provision virtual machines in a desktop pool after an error

occurs during the provisioning of a virtual machine. If you

leave this setting selected, you can prevent a provisioning

error from recurring on multiple virtual machines.

specifying a list of machine names or by providing a naming

pattern and the total number of machines.

For details, see Naming Machines Manually or Providing a

Naming Pattern.

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

names and, optionally, the associated user names.

Naming pattern If you use this naming method, provide the pattern.

The pattern you specify is used as a prefix in all the

machine names, followed by a unique number to identify

each machine.

For details, see Using a Naming Pattern for Automated

Desktop Pools.

Max number of machines If you use a naming pattern, specify the total number of

machines in the pool.

You can also specify a minimum number of machines to

provision when you first create the pool.

Number of spare (powered on)

machines

If you specify names manually or use a naming pattern,

specify a number of machines to keep available and

powered on for new users. For details, see Naming

Machines Manually or Providing a Naming Pattern.

When you specify names manually, this option is called #

Unassigned machines kept powered on.

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

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Minimum number of ready

(provisioned) machines during

View Composer maintenance

operations

Provision machines on demand

Provision all machines up front

If you specify names manually or use a naming pattern,

specify a minimum number of machines that are

provisioned for use in remote desktop sessions while View

Composer maintenance operations take place.

This setting allows users to maintain existing connections or

make new connection requests while View Composer

refreshes, recomposes, or rebalances the machines in the

pool. The setting 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.

If you use a naming pattern, 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 first time or as you assign machines to

users.

Min number of machines If you use a naming pattern and provision desktops on

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 settings such as Delete or refresh machine on

logoff cause machines to be deleted.

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

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Redirect Windows profile to a

persistent disk

Disk size and drive letter for

persistent disk

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

If you select dedicated user assignments, choose whether

to store Windows user-profile 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

settings. View Composer refresh, recompose, and

rebalance operations do not affect 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 settings.

If you store the Windows profile in the OS disk, user data

and settings are removed during refresh, recompose, and

rebalance operations.

If you store user profile data on a separate View Composer

persistent disk, provide the disk size in megabytes and the

drive letter.

Note Do not select a drive letter that already exists on the

parent virtual machine or that conflicts with a drive letter that

is used for a network-mounted drive.

files to a separate, nonpersistent disk. If you do, provide the

disk size in megabytes.

With this configuration, when a linked clone is powered off,

the disposable-file 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 file redirection can save storage

space by slowing the growth of linked clones.

Disk size and drive letter for

disposable file disk

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If you redirect disposable files to a nonpersistent disk,

provide the disk size in megabytes and the drive letter.

The disk size should be larger than page-file size of the

guest OS. To determine the page-file size, see Record the

Paging File Size of a View Composer Parent Virtual

Machine.

When you configure the disposable file disk size, consider

that the actual size of a formatted disk partition is slightly

smaller than the value you provide in View Administrator.

You can select a drive letter for the disposable file disk. The

default value, Auto, directs View to assign the drive letter.

Note Do not select a drive letter that already exists on the

parent virtual machine or that conflicts with a drive letter that

is used for a network-mounted drive.

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

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

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

Virtual SAN is a software-defined 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.

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 as

(Available only if you do not use Virtual SAN) If you redirect

user profiles to separate persistent disks, you can store the

persistent disks and OS disks on different 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.

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.

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.

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

pool resides.

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Table 6‑1. 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 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 Configuring

Desktop Pools on Clusters With More Than Eight Hosts.

Resource pool Select the vCenter Server resource pool in which the

desktop pool resides.

Datastores Select one or more datastores on which to store the

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.

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.

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, 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 Configuring Desktop Pools on

Clusters With More Than Eight Hosts.

For more information about the disks that are created for

linked clones, see View Composer Linked-Clone Data

Disks.

Note If you use Virtual SAN, select only one datastore.

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Table 6‑1. 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 fit 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.

Note This setting has no effect 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 Configure View Storage Accelerator for

View Composer Linked Clones.

Use native NFS snapshots

(VAAI)

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

(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-efficient disks.

This feature is supported on vSphere 5.0 and later.

For details, see Using VAAI Storage for View Composer

Linked Clones.

Volumes) Determine whether to allow ESXi hosts to reclaim

unused disk space on linked clones that are created in

space-efficient 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.

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Table 6‑1. 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 Configure days and times during which View Storage

Transparent Page Sharing

Scope

(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 specified 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 specified periods of time

on specified days.

For details, see Set Storage Accelerator and Space

Reclamation Blackout Times for View Composer Linked

Clones.

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 Horizon 7 on the

same ESXi host can share memory pages, regardless of

which pool the machines reside in.

Note The default setting 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

configuration scenarios.

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

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Domain Select the Active Directory domain and user name.

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 configure View Composer

settings for vCenter Server. You can specify multiple

domains and users when you configure View Composer

settings. 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 configuring View Composer, see the

View Administration document.

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 specification

(Sysprep)

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 setting.

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.

Choose whether to use QuickPrep or select a customization

specification (Sysprep) to configure licensing, domain

attachment, DHCP settings, 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.

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

Option Description Fill In Your Value Here

Power-off script QuickPrep can run a customization script on linked-clone

machines before they are powered off.

Provide the path to the script on the parent virtual machine

and the script parameters.

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

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 configured. See the View Installation

document.

Verify that View Composer settings for vCenter Server are configured in View Administrator. See the

View Administration document.

Verify that you have a sufficient 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 sufficient 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.

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 Virtual Machine for Cloning.

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.

Note You cannot create a linked-clone pool from a virtual machine template.

Gather the configuration information you must provide to create the pool. See Worksheet for Creating

a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool.

Decide how to configure power settings, display protocol, Adobe Flash quality, and other settings.

See Desktop Pool Settings for All Desktop Pool Types.

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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 Horizon 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 configure in Horizon 7, and you cannot configure the pool in

VMware Identity Manager.

Important 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 configuration 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 Settings page, you must click Browse and select the vCenter Server settings in

sequence. You cannot skip a vCenter Server setting:

a Parent VM

b Snapshot

c VM folder location

d Host or cluster

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 attempts to power on, or shut down and restart, the

linked clone. If repeated recovery attempts 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.

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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.

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 settings are copied into the Add Desktop Pool wizard, allowing you to create a new pool

without having to fill in each setting 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 attributes are standardized by using the

pre-filled 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 settings:

Desktop pool type

Clone type, either linked clone or full virtual machine

User assignment, either dedicated or floating

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 off.

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.

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

Procedure

1 In Horizon Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools.

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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 Settings page, provide unique names for the virtual machines.

Option Description

Use a naming pattern Type a virtual machine naming pattern.

Specify names manually 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 settings and values as needed.

In Horizon 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.

Desktop Pool Settings for Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

You must specify machine and desktop pool settings when you configure automated pools that contain

linked clones created by View Composer. Different settings apply to pools with dedicated user

assignments and floating user assignments.

Table 6‑2 lists the settings that apply to linked-clone pools with dedicated assignments and floating

assignments.

For descriptions of each setting, see Desktop Pool Settings for All Desktop Pool Types.

Table 6‑2. Settings for Automated, Linked-Clone Desktop Pools

Linked-Clone Pool, Dedicated

Setting

State Yes Yes

Connection Server restrictions Yes Yes

Category Folder Yes Yes

Remote machine power policy Yes Yes

Automatically logoff after disconnect Yes Yes

Assignment

Linked-Clone Pool, Floating

Assignment

Allow users to reset/restart their machines Yes Yes

Allow user to initiate separate sessions

from different client devices

Delete or refresh machine on logoff Yes

Refresh OS disk after logoff Yes

Default display protocol Yes Yes

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Table 6‑2. Settings for Automated, Linked-Clone Desktop Pools (Continued)

Linked-Clone Pool, Dedicated

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 throttling Yes Yes

Override global Mirage settings Yes Yes

Mirage Server configuration Yes Yes

Assignment

Linked-Clone Pool, Floating

Assignment

View Composer Support for Linked-Clone SIDs and ThirdParty Applications

View Composer can generate and preserve local computer security identifiers (SIDs) for linked-clone

virtual machines in some situations. View Composer can preserve globally unique identifiers (GUIDs) of

third-party applications, depending on the way that the applications generate GUIDs.

To understand how View Composer operations affect 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

specification, 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 settings you select when you create the pool.

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

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

Customize Linked-Clone Machines.

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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 different 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.

Table 6‑3 shows the effect of View Composer operations on linked-clone SIDs and third-party application

GUIDs.

Table 6‑3. 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 Each application behaves

With Sysprep customization,

unique SIDs are generated

for linked clones.

With QuickPrep

customization, a common SID

is generated for all clones in a

pool.

differently.

Note Sysprep and

QuickPrep have the same

effect 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 specified

as a View Composer persistent

disk.

Choosing QuickPrep or Sysprep to Customize Linked-Clone Machines

QuickPrep and Microsoft Sysprep provide different approaches to customizing linked-clone machines.

QuickPrep is designed to work efficiently with View Composer. Microsoft Sysprep offers 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

linked-clone machines.

Table 6‑4 compares QuickPrep with customization specifications that are created with Microsoft Sysprep.

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Table 6‑4. Comparing QuickPrep and Microsoft Sysprep

QuickPrep Customization Specification (Sysprep)

Designed to work with View Composer.

For details, see Customizing Linked-Clone Machines with

QuickPrep.

Uses the same local computer security identifier (SID) for all

linked clones in the pool.

Can run additional customization scripts before linked clones are

powered off and after linked clones are created, refreshed, or

recomposed.

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

Does not generate a new SID after linked clones are

recomposed. 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 first logs in.

The domain and administrator information in the Sysprep

customization specification 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.

Runs again after linked clones are recomposed, generating new

SIDs for the virtual machines.

For details, see Recomposing Linked Clones Customized with

Sysprep.

Runs faster than Sysprep. Can take longer than QuickPrep.

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 profile is redirected to this disk.

Redirects temp and paging files 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.

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You can create your own scripts to further customize the linked clones. QuickPrep can run two types of

scripts at predefined times:

After linked clones are created or recomposed

Immediately before linked clones are powered off

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

Customization Scripts.

Note 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

configure QuickPrep to run customization scripts at two predefined 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-off script runs before linked clones are powered off. 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-file processes work with the API.

In particular, QuickPrep passes the path that is specified for the script as the second parameter to the

CreateProcess API and sets the first 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 file: 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 settings. 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:

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

Important 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-off 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.

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 configured 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

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

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Recomposing Linked Clones Customized with Sysprep

If you recompose a linked-clone machine that was customized with Sysprep, View runs the Sysprep

customization specification 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 specification might

regenerate the GUIDs for that software after the recomposition.

A recomposition restores the linked clone to its original state, before the customization specification was

run the first time. In this state, the linked clone does not have a local computer SID or the GUID of any

third-party software installed in the system drive. View must run the Sysprep customization specification

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 specified number of machines stay provisioned, and are

not placed in maintenance mode, while View Composer proceeds through the maintenance operation.

This setting lets users maintain existing connections or make new connection requests during the View

Composer maintenance operation. The setting 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 setting when you create or edit a linked-clone pool.

The following guidelines apply to this setting:

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.

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If you use a naming pattern to provision machines and provision machines on demand, set the

number of provisioned machines during View Composer operations to a smaller value than the

specified 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.

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 specified in the Max concurrent View Composer maintenance

operations setting.

For example, if a pool contains 20 machines and the minimum number of provisioned machines is 15,

View Composer can operate on at most five machines at a time. If the concurrency limit for View

Composer maintenance operations is 12, the concurrency limit is never reached.

In this setting 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 reflects 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 configure 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 find 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 setting affects

linked-clone machines that are provisioned in the future. Linked clones that are already provisioned are

not affected.

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VMware Horizon 7.3 Quick Start Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Setting Up Virtual Desktops in Horizon 7 describes how to create and provision pools of virtual machines.

Introduction to Virtual Desktops 2

Virtual Desktop Pools

Advantages of Desktop Pools

Pools for Task Workers

Pools for Knowledge Workers and Power Users

Pools for Kiosk Users

Creating a Virtual Machine for Cloning

Create a Virtual Machine in vSphere

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, 2012 R2, or 2016

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

Optimize Guest Operating System Performance

Disable the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program

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

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

Activating Windows on Instant Clones and View Composer Linked Clones

Disable Windows Hibernation in the Parent Virtual Machine

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

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

Change the Image of an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool

Monitor a Push-Image Operation

Reschedule or Cancel a Push-Image Operation

Perform Maintenance on Instant-Clone Hosts

Instant-Clone Maintenance Utilities

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

Rebuild a Virtual Machine in a Full-Clone Desktop Pool

Desktop Settings for Automated Pools That Contain Full Virtual Machines

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

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