VMware Horizon 7.3 Quick Start Guide
Setting Up Published
Desktops and
Applications in Horizon 7
Modified for Horizon 7 7.3.2
VMware Horizon 7 7.3
Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
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Copyright © 2017 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark information.
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Contents
Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7 5
1
Introduction to Published Desktops and Applications 6
2
Farms, RDS Hosts, and Published Desktops and Applications 6
Advantages of RDS Desktop Pools 7
Advantages of Application Pools 7
Setting Up Remote Desktop Services Hosts 9
3
Remote Desktop Services Hosts 10
Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2008 R2 11
Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2 12
Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2008 R2 13
Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, or 2016 13
Restrict Users to a Single Session 14
Install Horizon Agent on a Remote Desktop Services Host 14
Printing From a Remote Application Launched Inside a Nested Session 21
Enable Time Zone Redirection for RDS Desktop and Application Sessions 22
Enable Windows Basic Theme for Applications 22
Configure Group Policy to Start Runonce.exe 23
RDS Host Performance Options 23
Configuring 3D Graphics for RDS Hosts 24
Configure RDS Per Device Client Access License Storage 26
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Creating Farms 28
4
Farms 28
Preparing a Parent Virtual Machine for an Automated Farm 29
Worksheet for Creating a Manual Farm 33
Worksheet for Creating an Automated Linked-Clone Farm 34
Worksheet for Creating an Automated Instant-Clone Farm 40
Create a Manual Farm 44
Create an Automated Linked-Clone Farm 44
Create an Automated Instant-Clone Farm 45
Creating RDS Desktop Pools 47
5
Understanding RDS Desktop Pools 47
Create an RDS Desktop Pool 48
Desktop Pool Settings for RDS Desktop Pools 49
Troubleshooting Instant Clones in the Internal VM Debug Mode 50
3
Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
Adobe Flash Quality and Throttling 51
Configure Adobe Flash Throttling with Internet Explorer for RDS Desktop Pools 52
Creating Application Pools 53
6
Application Pools 53
Worksheet for Creating an Application Pool Manually 54
Create an Application Pool 55
Managing Application Pools, Farms, and RDS Hosts 57
7
Managing Application Pools 57
Managing Farms 58
Managing RDS Hosts 64
Manage Published Desktop and Application Sessions 68
Configuring Load Balancing for RDS Hosts 69
Configure an Anti-Affinity Rule for an Application Pool 76
Entitling Users and Groups 78
8
Add Entitlements to a Desktop or Application Pool 78
Remove Entitlements from a Desktop or Application Pool 79
Review Desktop or Application Pool Entitlements 79
Configuring Start Menu Shortcuts for Desktop and Application Pools 80
Implementing Client Restrictions for Desktop and Application Pools 83
Restricting Desktop or Application Access 83
Restricting Remote Desktop Access Outside the Network 88
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Setting Up Published Desktops
and Applications in Horizon 7 1
Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7describes how to create, and deploy pools
of desktops and applications that run on Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) hosts. It includes
information about configuring policies, entitling users and groups, and configuring remote application
features.
Intended Audience
This information is intended for anyone who wants to create and provision desktop and application pools.
The information is written for Windows system administrators who are familiar with virtual machine
technology and data center operations.
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5
Introduction to Published
Desktops and Applications 2
With Horizon 7, you can create published desktops associated with a farm, which is a group of Windows
Remote Desktop Services (RDS) hosts. You can also deliver a published application to many users by
creating application pools. The published applications in application pools run on a farm of RDS hosts.
This section includes the following topics:
n
Farms, RDS Hosts, and Published Desktops and Applications
n
Advantages of RDS Desktop Pools
n
Advantages of Application Pools
Farms, RDS Hosts, and Published Desktops and
Applications
You can use Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) to provide users with desktop sessions on RDS
hosts and deliver applications to many users.
RDS Host
RDS hosts are server computers that have Windows Remote Desktop Services and Horizon Agent
installed. These servers host applications that users can access remotely. To access RDS applications,
Horizon Client 3.0 or later is required.
Farms
Farms are collections of RDS hosts and facilitate the management of those hosts. Farms can have a
variable number of RDS hosts and provide a common set of published applications or RDS published
desktops to users. When you create an RDS application pool, you must specify a farm. The RDS hosts in
the farm provide application sessions to users. A farm can contain up to 200 RDS host servers.
Published Desktops
Published desktops are RDS desktop pools, which provide users with desktop sessions on RDS hosts.
Multiple users can have desktop sessions on an RDS host simultaneously.
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
Published Applications
Published applications are application pools that run on a farm of RDS hosts. Published applications let
you deliver seamless applications to many users.
Advantages of RDS Desktop Pools
Horizon 7 offers the ability to create RDS desktop pools as its basis of centralized management.
You can create an RDS desktop pool from a physical system such as an RDS host. Use RDS desktop
pools to provide multiple users with desktop sessions on an RDS host.
Advantages of Application Pools
With application pools, you give users access to applications that run on servers in a data center instead
of on their personal computers or devices.
Application pools offer several important benefits:
n
Accessibility
Users can access applications from anywhere on the network. You can also configure secure network
access.
n
Device independence
With application pools, you can support a range of client devices, such as smart phones, tablets,
laptops, thin clients, and personal computers. The client devices can run various operating systems,
such as Windows, iOS, Mac OS, or Android.
n
Access control
You can easily and quickly grant or remove access to applications for one user or a group of users.
n
Accelerated deployment
With application pools, deploying applications can be accelerated because you only deploy
applications on servers in a data center and each server can support multiple users.
n
Manageability
Managing software that is deployed on client computers and devices typically requires significant
resources. Management tasks include deployment, configuration, maintenance, support, and
upgrades. With application pools, you can simplify software management in an enterprise because
the software runs on servers in a data center, which requires fewer installed copies.
n
Security and regulatory compliance
With application pools, you can improve security because applications and their associated data are
centrally located in a data center. Centralized data can address security concerns and regulatory
compliance issues.
n
Reduced cost
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
Depending on software license agreements, hosting applications in a data center can be more cost-
effective. Other factors, including accelerated deployment and improved manageability, can also
reduce the cost of software in an enterprise.
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Setting Up Remote Desktop
Services Hosts 3
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) hosts provide desktop sessions and applications that users
can access from client devices. If you plan to create RDS desktop pools or application pools, you must
first set up RDS hosts.
This section includes the following topics:
n
Remote Desktop Services Hosts
n
Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2008 R2
n
Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2
n
Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2008 R2
n
Install Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, or 2016
n
Restrict Users to a Single Session
n
Install Horizon Agent on a Remote Desktop Services Host
n
Printing From a Remote Application Launched Inside a Nested Session
n
Enable Time Zone Redirection for RDS Desktop and Application Sessions
n
Enable Windows Basic Theme for Applications
n
Configure Group Policy to Start Runonce.exe
n
RDS Host Performance Options
n
Configuring 3D Graphics for RDS Hosts
n
Configure RDS Per Device Client Access License Storage
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
Remote Desktop Services Hosts
An RDS host is a server computer that hosts applications and desktop sessions for remote access. An
RDS host can be a virtual machine or a physical server.
An RDS host has the Microsoft Remote Desktop Services role, the Microsoft Remote Desktop Session
Host service, and Horizon Agent installed. Remote Desktop Services was previously known as Terminal
Services. The Remote Desktop Session Host service allows a server to host applications and remote
desktop sessions. With Horizon Agent installed on an RDS host, users can connect to applications and
desktop sessions by using the display protocol PCoIP or Blast Extreme. Both protocols provide an
optimized user experience for the delivery of remote content, including images, audio and video.
The performance of an RDS host depends on many factors. For information on how to tune the
performance of different versions of Windows Server, see
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/windows/hardware/gg463392.aspx.
Horizon 7 supports at most one desktop session and one application session per user on an RDS host.
Horizon 7 supports both local printer redirection and native network printers.
Local printer redirection is designed for the following use cases:
n
Printers directly connected to USB or serial ports on the client device
n
Specialized printers such as bar code printers and label printers connected to the client
n
Network printers on a remote network that are not addressable from the virtual session
Network printers are managed using corporate print servers, which allows for greater management and
control of printer resources. Native printer drivers for all possible printers need to be installed on the
virtual machine or RDSH host. If you consider this challenging, there are third-party options such as
advanced versions of ThinPrint that can provide network printing without the need to install additional
printer drivers on each virtual machine or RDSH host. The Print and Document Services option included
with Microsoft Windows Server is another option for managing your network printers.
If a user launches an application and also an RDS desktop, and both are hosted on the same RDS host,
they share the same user profile. If the user launches an application from the desktop, conflicts may
result if both applications try to access or modify the same parts of the user profile, and one of the
applications may fail to run properly.
The process of setting up applications or RDS desktops for remote access involves the following tasks:
1 Set up RDS hosts.
2 Create a farm. See Chapter 4 Creating Farms.
3 Create an application pool or an RDS desktop pool. See Chapter 6 Creating Application Pools or
Chapter 5 Creating RDS Desktop Pools.
4 Entitle users and groups. See Chapter 8 Entitling Users and Groups.
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
5 (Optional) Enable time zone redirection for RDS desktop and application sessions. See Enable Time
Zone Redirection for RDS Desktop and Application Sessions.
Note If smart card authentication is enabled, make sure that the Smart Card service is disabled on RDS
hosts. Otherwise, authentication might fail. By default, this service is disabled.
Caution When a user launches an application, for example, a Web browser, it is possible for a user to
gain access to the local drives on the RDS host that is hosting the application. This can happen if the
application provides functions that cause Windows Explorer to run. To prevent this type of access to the
RDS host, follow the procedure that is described in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/179221 to prevent an
application from running Windows Explorer.
Because the procedure described in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/179221 affects both desktop and
application sessions, it is recommended that you do not create RDS desktop pools and application pools
on the same farm if you plan to follow the procedure in the Microsoft KB article, so that desktop sessions
are not affected.
Installing Applications
If you plan to create application pools, you must install the applications on the RDS hosts. If you want
Horizon 7 to automatically display the list of installed applications, you must install the applications so that
they are available to all users from the Start menu. You can install an application at any time before you
create the application pool. If you plan to manually specify an application, you can install the application
at any time, either before or after creating an application pool.
Important When you install an application, you must install it on all the RDS hosts in a farm and in the
same location on each RDS host. If you do not, a health warning will appear on the View Administrator
dashboard. In such a situation, if you create an application pool, users might encounter an error when
they try to run the application.
When you create an application pool, Horizon 7 automatically displays the applications that are available
to all users rather than individual users from the Start menu on all of the RDS hosts in a farm. You can
choose any applications from that list. In addition, you can manually specify an application that is not
available to all users from the Start menu. There is no limit on the number of applications that you can
install on an RDS host.
Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2008 R2
Remote Desktop Services (RDS) is one of the roles that a Windows Server can have. You must install
this role to set up an RDS host that runs Windows Server 2008 R2.
Prerequisites
n
Verify that the RDS host is running Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1).
n
Verify that the RDS host is part of the Active Directory domain for the Horizon 7 deployment.
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
n
Install the Microsoft hotfix rollup that is documented in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2775511.
n
Install the Microsoft update https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2973201.
Procedure
1 Log in to the RDS host as an administrator.
2 Start Server Manager.
3 Select Roles in the navigation tree.
4 Click Add Roles to start the Add Role wizard.
5 Select the role Remote Desktop Services.
6 On the Select Role Services page, select Remote Desktop Session Host.
7 On the Specify Authentication Method page, select either Require Network Level Authentication or
Do not require Network Level Authentication, whichever is appropriate.
8 On the Configure Client Experience page, select the functionality that you want to provide to users.
9 Follow the prompts and finish the installation.
What to do next
If you plan to use HTML Access or scanner redirection, install the Desktop Experience feature. The steps
for installing Desktop Experience differ on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 or 2012
R2.
Restrict users to a single desktop session. See Restrict Users to a Single Session.
Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2
Remote Desktop Services is one of the roles that a Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2 can have. You
must install this role to set up an RDS host.
Prerequisites
n
Verify that the RDS host is running Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2.
n
Verify that the RDS host is part of the Active Directory domain for the Horizon 7 deployment.
Procedure
1 Log in to the RDS host as an administrator.
2 Start Server Manager.
3 Select Add roles and features.
4 On the Select Installation Type page, select Role-based or feature-based installation.
5 On the Select Destination Server page, select a server.
6 On the Select Server Roles page, select Remote Desktop Services.
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
7 On the Select Features page, accept the defaults.
8 On the Select Role Services page, select Remote Desktop Session Host.
9 Follow the prompts and finish the installation.
What to do next
If you plan to use HTML Access or scanner redirection, install the Desktop Experience feature. The steps
for installing Desktop Experience differ on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 or 2012
R2.
Restrict users to a single desktop session. See Restrict Users to a Single Session.
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.
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
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.
Restrict Users to a Single Session
Horizon 7 supports at most one desktop session and one application session per user on an RDS host.
You must configure the RDS host to restrict users to a single session. For Windows Server 2008 R2,
Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2, you can can restrict users to a single session by
enabling the group policy setting
Restrict Remote Desktop Services users to a single Remote Desktop Services session.
This setting is located in the folder Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows
Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Connections. For
Windows Server 2008 R2, you can also use the following procedure to restrict users to a single session.
Prerequisites
n
Install the Remote Desktop Services role as described in Install Remote Desktop Services on
Windows Server 2008 R2.
Procedure
1 Click Start > Administrative Tools > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host
Configuration.
2 On the Edit Settings pane, under General, double-click Restrict each user to a single session.
3 In the Properties dialog box, on the General tab, select Restrict each user to a single session and
click OK.
What to do next
Install Horizon Agent on the RDS host. See Install Horizon Agent on a Remote Desktop Services Host.
Install Horizon Agent on a Remote Desktop Services Host
Horizon Agent communicates with Connection Server and supports the display protocols PCoIP and Blast
Extreme. You must install Horizon Agent on an RDS Host.
Prerequisites
n
Verify that you have prepared Active Directory. See the View Installation document.
n
Install the Remote Desktop Services role as described in Install Remote Desktop Services on
Windows Server 2008 R2 or Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2.
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
n
Restrict users to a single desktop session. See Restrict Users to a Single Session.
n
Familiarize yourself with the Horizon Agent custom setup options. See Horizon Agent Custom Setup
Options for an RDS Host.
n
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.
n
Download the Horizon Agent installer file from the VMware product page at
http://www.vmware.com/go/downloadview.
Procedure
1 Log in as an administrator.
2 To start the Horizon Agent installation program, double-click the installer file.
The installer filename is VMware-viewagent-x86_64-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe, where y.y.y is the version
number and xxxxxx is the build number.
3 Select the Internet Protocol (IP) version, IPv4 or IPv6.
You must install all View components with the same IP version.
4 Select your custom setup options.
Do not select the View Composer Agent option if you are installing Horizon Agent on an RDS host
that will be in a manual farm.
5 In the Server text box, type the host name or IP address of a Connection Server host.
During installation, the installer registers the RDS host with this Connection Server instance. After
registration, the specified Connection Server instance, and any additional instances in the same
Connection Server group, can communicate with the RDS host.
6 Select an authentication method to register the RDS host with the Connection Server instance.
Option Description
Authenticate as the currently logged in
user
Specify administrator credentials You must provide the username and password of a Connection Server
The Username and Password text boxes are disabled and you are logged in to
the Connection Server instance with your current username and password.
administrator in the Username and Password text boxes.
The user account must be a domain user with access to View LDAP on the View Connection Server
instance. A local user does not work.
7 Follow the prompts and finish the installation.
What to do next
Create a farm. See Chapter 4 Creating Farms.
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options for an RDS Host
When you install Horizon Agent on an RDS host, you can select custom setup options. In addition,
Horizon Agent installs certain features automatically on all guest operating systems on which they are
supported. These features are not optional.
To change custom setup options after you install the latest Horizon Agent version, you must uninstall and
reinstall Horizon Agent. For patches and upgrades, you can run the new Horizon Agent installer and
select a new set of options without uninstalling the previous version.
Table 3‑1. Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options for an RDS Host in an IPv4 Environment
Option Description
USB Redirection Gives users access to locally connected USB storage devices.
Specifically, redirection of USB flash drives and hard disks is supported in RDS desktops and
applications. Redirection of other types of USB devices, and other types of USB storage devices such
as security storage drives and USB CD-ROM, is not supported in RDS desktops and applications.
This setup option is not selected by default. You must select the option to install it. This option is
available on RDS hosts that run Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2 but not Windows Server 2008 R2.
For information about using USB redirection securely, see the View Security document. For example,
you can use group policy settings to disable USB redirection for specific users.
HTML Access Enables users to connect to RDS desktops and applications by using HTML Access. The
HTML Access Agent is installed when this setup option is selected. This agent must be installed on
RDS hosts to enable users to make connections with HTML Access
3D RDSH Provides 3D graphics support to applications that run on this RDS host.
View Composer Agent Select this option if this machine is a parent virtual machine for the creation of an automated farm. Do
not select this option if this machine is an RDS host in a manual farm.
Client Drive Redirection Enables Horizon Client users to share local drives with their RDS desktops and applications.
After this setup option is installed, no further configuration is required on the RDS host.
Client drive redirection is also supported on remote desktops that run on single-user virtual machines
and on unmanaged machines.
Virtual Printing Enables users to print to any printer available on their client computers. Users do not need to install
additional drivers on their desktops.
Virtual printing is supported on the following remote desktops and applications:
n
Desktops that are deployed on single-user machines, including Windows desktop and Windows
Server machines.
n
Desktops that are deployed on RDS hosts, where the RDS hosts are virtual machines.
n
Remote applications.
n
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. If you install it with
VMware Tools, it is not supported.
vRealize Operations
Desktop Agent
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Enables vRealize Operations Manager to work with vRealize Operations Manager for Horizon.
Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
Table 3‑1. Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options for an RDS Host in an IPv4 Environment
(Continued)
Option Description
Scanner Redirection Redirects scanning devices that are connected to the client system so that they can be used on the
RDS desktop or application.
You must install the Desktop Experience feature in the Windows Server operating system on the RDS
hosts to make this option available in the Horizon Agent installer.
This setup option is not installed by default on Windows Server guest operating systems. You must
select the option to install it.
HTML5 Multimedia
Redirection
VMware Client IP
Transparency
Instant Clone Enables the creation of instant-clone virtual machines on a farm of RDS hosts.
Redirects HTML5 multimedia content in a Chrome browser to the client for performance optimization.
This setup option is not installed by default. You must select the option to install it.
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.
This setup option is not installed by default on Windows Server guest operating systems. You must
select the option to install it.
In an IPv6 environment, the setup options are similar to IPv6.
Table 3‑2. Horizon Agent Features That Are Installed Automatically on an RDS Host
Option Description
PCoIP Agent Enables users to use the PCoIP display protocol to connect to applications and RDS desktops.
Windows Media Multimedia
Redirection (MMR)
Unity Touch Enables tablet and smart phone users to interact with Windows applications that run on the remote
Provides multimedia redirection for RDS desktops. This feature delivers a multimedia stream directly
to the client computer, which enables the multimedia stream to be processed on the client hardware
instead of on the remote ESXi host.
desktop. Users can browse, search, and open Windows applications and files, choose favorite
applications and files, and switch between running applications without using the Start menu or
Taskbar.
PSG Agent Installs the PCoIP Secure Gateway on RDS hosts to implement the PCoIP display protocol for
desktop and application sessions that run on RDS hosts.
VMwareRDS Provides the VMware implementation of Remote Desktop Services functionality.
In an IPv6 environment, the automatically installed features are PCoIP Agent, PSG Agent, and
VMwareRDS.
For additional features that are supported on RDS hosts, see "Feature Support Matrix for Horizon Agent"
in the View Architecture Planning document.
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 3‑3 shows the Horizon Agent silent installation properties that you can use at the command-line.
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
Table 3‑3. 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
1
None
0
VDM_SKIP_BROKER_REGISTRATION
VDM_VC_MANAGED_AGENT
VDM_SERVER_NAME
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.
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.
None
None
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
Table 3‑3. MSI Properties for Silently Installing Horizon Agent (Continued)
MSI Property Description Default Value
VDM_SERVER_USERNAME
VDM_SERVER_PASSWORD
VDM_IP_PROTOCOL_USAGE
VDM_FIPS_ENABLED
VDM_FLASH_URL_REDIRECTION
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.
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.
None
None
IPv4
0
0
INSTALL_VDISPLAY_DRIVER
Configures the Horizon WDDM display driver. A value of 1 enables
the driver installation. A value of 0 or empty disables the driver
installation
0
In a silent installation command, you can use the MSI property, ADDLOCAL=, to specify options that the
Horizon Agent installer configures.
Table 3‑4 shows the Horizon Agent options you can type at the command line. These options have
corresponding setup options that you can deselect or select during an interactive installation.
For details about the custom setup options, see Horizon Agent Custom Setup Options for an RDS Host.
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.
For details, see the ADDLOCAL table entry in Microsoft Windows Installer Command-Line Options in
Setting Up Virtual Desktops in Horizon 7
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Table 3‑4. 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
ThinPrint Virtual Printing Yes
V4V vRealize Operations Desktop Agent Yes
VPA View Persona Management Yes
Installation
This feature is hidden unless you use the
VDM_FLASH_URL_REDIRECTION=1 property on
the command line.
Installed by Default Interactively or When
ADDLOCAL Is Not Used
No
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.
No
Yes
No
If you use ADDLOCAL to specify features individually, that is, you do not specify ADDLOCAL=ALL, you must
always specify Core.
Table 3‑5. 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
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
Table 3‑5. Horizon Agent Silent Installation Features That Are Installed Automatically
(Continued)
Silent Installation Feature Description
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"
Printing From a Remote Application Launched Inside a Nested Session
When you enable the Virtual Printing option during Horizon Agent installation, users can print from remote
applications that they launch from Horizon Client inside remote desktops (nested sessions) to printers on
their local client machine.
Beginning with Horizon 7 version 7.0.2, users can print from remote applications launched inside a nested
session to printers connected to the remote desktop machine rather than to printers connected to their
local client machine. To enable this feature, change the Thinprint session-in-session mode on the remote
desktop machine by changing the value of SiSActive to 0 in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ThinPrint\TPClnRDP.
Note When SiSActive is set to 0 on the remote desktop machine, users can no longer print from
remote applications launched inside nested sessions to printers connected to their local client machine.
To reenable the default ThinPrint session-in-session mode, change the value of SiSActive to 1 in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ThinPrint\TPClnRDP on the remote desktop machine.
For information about enabling the Virtual Printing option during Horizon Agent installation, see Horizon
Agent Custom Setup Options for an RDS Host.
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
Enable Time Zone Redirection for RDS Desktop and Application Sessions
If an RDS host is in one time zone and a user is in another time zone, by default, when the user connects
to an RDS desktop, the desktop displays time that is in the time zone of the RDS host. You can enable
the Time Zone Redirection group policy setting to make the RDS desktop display time in the local time
zone. This policy setting applies to application sessions as well.
Prerequisites
n
Verify that the Group Policy Management feature is available on your Active Directory server.
The steps for opening the Group Policy Management Console differ in the Windows 2012, Windows
2008, and Windows 2003 Active Directory versions. See "Create GPOs for Horizon Group Policies" in
the Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon 7 document.
n
Verify that the Horizon 7 RDS ADMX files are added to Active Directory. See "Add the Remote
Desktop Services ADMX Files to Active Directory" in the Configuring Remote Desktop Features in
Horizon 7 document.
n
Familiarize yourself with the group policy settings. See " RDS Device and Resource Redirection
Settings" in the Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon 7 document.
Procedure
1 On the Active Directory server, open the Group Policy Management Console.
2 Expand your domain and Group Policy Objects.
3 Right-click the GPO that you created for the group policy settings and select Edit.
4 In the Group Policy Management Editor, navigate to Computer Configuration > Policies >
Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote
Desktop Session Host > Device and Resource Redirection.
5 Enable the setting Allow time zone redirection.
Enable Windows Basic Theme for Applications
If a user has never connected to a desktop on an RDS host, and the user launches an application that is
hosted on the RDS host, the Windows basic theme is not applied to the application even if a GPO setting
is configured to load the Aero-styled theme. Horizon 7 does not support the Aero-styled theme but
supports the Windows basic theme. To make the Windows basic theme apply to the application, you must
configure another GPO setting.
Prerequisites
n
Verify that the Group Policy Management feature is available on your Active Directory server.
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
The steps for opening the Group Policy Management Console differ in the Windows 2012, Windows
2008, and Windows 2003 Active Directory versions. See "Create GPOs for Horizon 7 Group Policies"
in the Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon 7 document.
Procedure
1 On the Active Directory server, open the Group Policy Management Console.
2 Expand your domain and Group Policy Objects.
3 Right-click the GPO that you created for the group policy settings and select Edit.
4 In the Group Policy Management Editor, navigate to User Configuration > Policies >
Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization.
5 Enable the setting Force a specific visual style file or force Windows classic and set the Path to
Visual Style as %windir%\resources\Themes\Aero\aero.msstyles.
Configure Group Policy to Start Runonce.exe
By default, some applications that rely on the Explorer.exe file may not run in an application session. To
avoid this issue, you must configure a GPO setting to start runonce.exe.
Prerequisites
n
Verify that the Group Policy Management feature is available on your Active Directory server.
The steps for opening the Group Policy Management Console differ in the Windows 2012, Windows
2008, and Windows 2003 Active Directory versions. See "Create GPOs for Horizon 7 Group Policies"
in the Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon 7 document.
Procedure
1 On the Active Directory server, open the Group Policy Management Console.
2 Expand your domain and Group Policy Objects.
3 Right-click the GPO that you created for the group policy settings and select Edit.
4 In the Group Policy Management Editor, navigate to User Configuration > Policies > Windows
Settings > Scripts (Logon/Logoff).
5 Double-click Logon and click Add.
6 In the Script Name box, type runonce.exe.
7 In the Script Parameters box, type /AlternateShellStartup.
RDS Host Performance Options
You can optimize Windows for either foreground programs or background services by setting
performance options. By default, Horizon 7 disables certain performance options for RDS hosts for all
supported versions of Windows Server.
The following table shows the performance options that are disabled by Horizon 7.
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
Table 3‑6. Performance Options Disabled by Horizon 7
Performance Options Disabled by Horizon 7
Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing
Show shadows under mouse pointer
Show shadows under windows
Use drop shadow for icon labels on the desktop
Show windows contents while dragging
The five performance options that are disabled by Horizon 7 correspond to four Horizon 7 settings in the
registry. The following table shows the Horizon 7 settings and their default registry values. The registry
values are all located in the registry subkey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\VMware, Inc.\VMware
VDM\Agent\Configuration. You can re-enable the performance options by setting one or more of the
Horizon 7 registry values to false.
Table 3‑7. Horizon 7 Settings Related to Windows Performance Options
Horizon 7 Setting Registry Value
Disable cursor shadow DisableMouseShadows
Disable full window drag DisableFullWindowDrag
Disable ListView shadow DisableListViewShadow
Disable Window Animation DisableWindowAnimation
Configuring 3D Graphics for RDS Hosts
With 3D graphics configured for RDS hosts, both applications in application pools and applications
running on RDS desktops can display 3D graphics.
The following 3D graphics options are available:
NVIDIA GRID vGPU
(shared GPU hardware
acceleration)
AMD Multiuser GPU
using vDGA
Virtual Dedicated
Graphics Acceleration
(vDGA)
A physical GPU on an ESXi host is shared among multiple virtual
machines. Requires ESXi 6.0 or later.
A physical GPU on an ESXi host is shared among multiple virtual
machines. Requires ESXi 6.0 or later.
A physical GPU on an ESXi host is dedicated to a single virtual machine.
Requires ESXi 5.5 or later.
Note Some Intel vDGA cards require a certain vSphere 6 version. See the
VMware Hardware Compatibility List at
http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php. Also, for Intel
vDGA, the Intel integrated GPU is used rather than discrete GPUs, as is
the case with other vendors.
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
With vDGA, you allocate an entire GPU to a single machine for maximum performance. The RDS host
must be in a manual farm.
With AMD Multiuser GPU using vDGA, you can share an AMD GPU between multiple RDS hosts by
making it appear as multiple PCI passthrough devices. The RDS host must be in a manual farm.
With NVIDIA GRID vGPU, each graphics card can support multiple RDS hosts and the RDS hosts must
be in a manual farm. If an ESXi host has multiple physical GPUs, you can also configure the way the
ESXi host assigns virtual machines to the GPUs. By default, the ESXi host assigns virtual machines to
the physical GPU with the fewest virtual machines already assigned. This is called performance mode.
You can also choose consolidation mode, where the ESXi host assign virtual machines to the same
physical GPU until the maximum number of virtual machines is reached before placing virtual machines
on the next physical GPU. To configure consolidation mode, edit the /etc/vmware/config file on the
ESXi host and add the following entry:
vGPU.consolidation = "true"
3D graphics is only supported when you use the PCoIP or VMware Blast protocol. Therefore, the farm
must use PCoIP or VMware Blast as the default protocol and users must not be allowed to choose the
protocol.
Overview of Steps for Configuring 3D Graphics
This overview describes tasks that you must perform in vSphere and Horizon 7 to configure 3D graphics.
For more information about setting up NVIDIA GRID vGPU, see the document NVIDIA GRID vGPU
Deployment Guide for VMware Horizon 6.1. For more information about setting up vDGA, see the
document Graphics Acceleration in View Virtual Desktops. For more information about setting up AMD
Multiuser GPU using vDGA, see the Setting Up Virtual Machine Desktops in Horizon 7 guide.
1 Set up an RDS host virtual machine. For more information, see Chapter 3 Setting Up Remote
Desktop Services Hosts.
2 Add the graphics PCI device to the virtual machine. See "Other Virtual Machine Device Configuration"
in the chapter "Configuring Virtual machine Hardware" in the vSphere Virtual Machine Administration
document. Be sure to click Reserve all memory when adding the device.
3 On the virtual machine, install the device driver for the graphics card.
4 Add the RDS host to a manual farm, create an RDS desktop pool, connect to the desktop using
PCoIP, and activate the display adapter.
You do not need to configure 3D graphics for RDS hosts in View Administrator. Selecting the option 3D
RDSH when you install Horizon Agent is sufficient. By default, this option is not selected and 3D graphics
is disabled.
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Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7
Configure RDS Per Device Client Access License Storage
When a client device connects to a published desktop or application on an RDS host, it receives an RDS
Per Device Client Access License (CAL), if the Per Device licensing mode is configured. You can store
the CAL on client devices and the Connection Server host, or only on the Connection Server host, by
configuring a global setting in Horizon Administrator.
Storing the CAL makes CAL usage efficient in RDS deployments and prevents the following problems.
n
If you deploy multiple license servers, and users run multiple sessions from a client device that
connects to different RDS hosts that use different license servers, each license server can potentially
issue a separate RDS Per Device CAL to the same client device. If a license server services both
Windows Server 2008 R2 RDS hosts and Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2 RDS
hosts (issuing both Windows Server 2008 R2 CALs and Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2 CALs), a
single client device can use up as many as two CALs for each license server in your deployment.
n
If you have Windows 2012 or 2012 R2 CALs installed on a Windows Server 2012 license server, a
client device that makes a PCoIP or VMware Blast connection to a Windows Server 2008 R2 RDS
host is always issued a temporary license, even after multiple connections are made. A permanent
license is never issued for the client.
Storage of Per-Device CALs is supported only on Windows clients. Windows Zero clients and non-
Windows clients do not support this feature. For clients that do not support this feature, you can store
CALs only on the Connection Server host.
Prerequisites
Verify that the Per Device licensing mode is configured for the RDS host. You set the licensing mode by
configuring the Set the Remote Desktop licensing mode group policy setting. For more information, see
"RDS Licensing Settings" in the Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon 7 document.
Procedure
1 In Horizon Administrator, select View Configuration > Global Settings.
2 In the General pane, click Edit.
3 From the RDS Per Device CAL Storage Options drop-down menu, select a CAL storage option.
Option Description
Save only on Broker Store the CAL only on the Connection Server host.
This option sets the View LDAP entries cs-enablerdslicensing=true and
sendRdsLicense=false.
Save on both Clients and Broker Store the CAL on client devices and on the Connection Server host.
This option sets the View LDAP entries cs-enablerdslicensing=true and
sendRdsLicense=true.
Don't save the Per Device CAL Do not store the CAL.
This option sets the View LDAP entries cs-enablerdslicensing=false and
sendRdsLicense=false.
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4 Click OK to save your changes.
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