VMware Horizon View - 7.0 Administrator’s Guide
View Administration
VMware Horizon 7
Version 7.0
This document supports the version of each product listed and
supports all subsequent versions until the document is
replaced by a new edition. To check for more recent editions
of this document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
EN-002001-00
View Administration
You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at:
http://www.vmware.com/support/
The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.
If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to:
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Copyright © 2010–2016 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark information.
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Contents
View Administration 7
Using View Administrator 9
1
View Administrator and View Connection Server 9
Log In to View Administrator 10
Tips for Using the View Administrator Interface 10
Troubleshooting the Text Display in View Administrator 12
Configuring View Connection Server 13
2
Configuring vCenter Server and View Composer 13
Backing Up View Connection Server 25
Configuring Settings for Client Sessions 25
Disable or Enable View Connection Server 36
Edit the External URLs 37
Join or Withdraw from the Customer Experience Program 38
View LDAP Directory 38
Setting Up Smart Card Authentication 41
3
Logging In with a Smart Card 42
Configure Smart Card Authentication on View Connection Server 42
Configure Smart Card Authentication on Third-Party Solutions 47
Prepare Active Directory for Smart Card Authentication 47
Verify Your Smart Card Authentication Configuration 50
Using Smart Card Certificate Revocation Checking 51
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Setting Up Other Types of User Authentication 55
4
Using Two-Factor Authentication 55
Using SAML Authentication 59
Configure Biometric Authentication 63
Authenticating Users Without Requiring Credentials 65
5
Using the Log In as Current User Feature Available with Windows-Based Horizon Client 65
Allow Mobile Client Users to Save Credentials 66
Setting Up True SSO 67
Configuring Role-Based Delegated Administration 89
6
Understanding Roles and Privileges 89
Using Access Groups to Delegate Administration of Pools and Farms 90
Understanding Permissions 91
Manage Administrators 92
Manage and Review Permissions 93
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View Administration
Manage and Review Access Groups 95
Manage Custom Roles 97
Predefined Roles and Privileges 99
Required Privileges for Common Tasks 103
Best Practices for Administrator Users and Groups 105
Configuring Policies in View Administrator and Active Directory 107
7
Setting Policies in View Administrator 107
Using View Group Policy Administrative Template Files 109
Maintaining View Components 115
8
Backing Up and Restoring View Configuration Data 115
Monitor View Components 123
Monitor Machine Status 123
Understanding View Services 124
Change the Product License Key 126
Monitoring Product License Usage 126
Update General User Information from Active Directory 127
Migrate View Composer to Another Machine 128
Update the Certificates on a View Connection Server Instance, Security Server, or View Composer 133
Information Collected by the Customer Experience Improvement Program 134
Managing View Composer Linked-Clone Desktop Virtual Machines 151
9
Reduce Linked-Clone Size with Machine Refresh 151
Update Linked-Clone Desktops 153
Rebalance Linked-Clone Virtual Machines 157
Manage View Composer Persistent Disks 160
Managing Desktop Pools, Machines, and Sessions 165
10
Change the Image of an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool 165
Managing Desktop Pools 166
Managing Virtual Machine-Based Desktops 174
Managing Unmanaged Machines 179
Manage Remote Desktop and Application Sessions 182
Export View Information to External Files 183
Managing Application Pools, Farms, and RDS Hosts 185
11
Managing Application Pools 185
Managing Farms 186
Managing RDS Hosts 189
Configuring Load Balancing for RDS Hosts 193
Configure an Anti-Affinity Rule for an Application Pool 199
Managing ThinApp Applications in View Administrator 201
12
View Requirements for ThinApp Applications 201
Capturing and Storing Application Packages 202
Assigning ThinApp Applications to Machines and Desktop Pools 205
Maintaining ThinApp Applications in View Administrator 211
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Monitoring and Troubleshooting ThinApp Applications in View Administrator 214
ThinApp Configuration Example 217
Contents
Setting Up Clients in Kiosk Mode 219
13
Configure Clients in Kiosk Mode 219
Troubleshooting View 229
14
Monitoring System Health 229
Monitor Events in View 230
Collecting Diagnostic Information for View 231
Update Support Requests 235
Troubleshooting an Unsuccessful Security Server Pairing with View Connection Server 235
Troubleshooting View Server Certificate Revocation Checking 236
Troubleshooting Smart Card Certificate Revocation Checking 237
Further Troubleshooting Information 237
Using the vdmadmin Command 239
15
vdmadmin Command Usage 241
Configuring Logging in Horizon Agent Using the -A Option 243
Overriding IP Addresses Using the -A Option 244
Setting the Name of a View Connection Server Group Using the -C Option 245
Updating Foreign Security Principals Using the -F Option 246
Listing and Displaying Health Monitors Using the -H Option 247
Listing and Displaying Reports of View Operation Using the -I Option 248
Generating View Event Log Messages in Syslog Format Using the -I Option 249
Assigning Dedicated Machines Using the -L Option 250
Displaying Information About Machines Using the -M Option 251
Reclaiming Disk Space on Virtual Machines Using the -M Option 252
Configuring Domain Filters Using the -N Option 253
Configuring Domain Filters 255
Displaying the Machines and Policies of Unentitled Users Using the -O and -P Options 259
Configuring Clients in Kiosk Mode Using the -Q Option 260
Displaying the First User of a Machine Using the -R Option 264
Removing the Entry for a View Connection Server Instance or Security Server Using the -S Option 264
Providing Secondary Credentials for Administrators Using the -T Option 265
Displaying Information About Users Using the -U Option 267
Unlocking or Locking Virtual Machines Using the -V Option 267
Detecting and Resolving LDAP Entry Collisions Using the -X Option 268
Index 271
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View Administration
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View Administration
View Administration describes how to configure and administer VMware Horizon® 7, including how to
configure View Connection Server, create administrators, set up user authentication, configure policies, and
manage VMware ThinApp® applications in View Administrator. This document also describes how to
maintain and troubleshoot View components.
Intended Audience
This information is intended for anyone who wants to configure and administer VMware Horizon 7. The
information is written for experienced Windows or Linux system administrators who are familiar with
virtual machine technology and datacenter operations.
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View Administration
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Using View Administrator 1
View Administrator is the Web interface through which you configure View Connection Server and manage
your remote desktops and applications.
For a comparison of the operations that you can perform with View Administrator, View cmdlets, and
vdmadmin, see the View Integration document.
NOTE In Horizon 7, View Administrator is named Horizon Administrator. This document refers to Horizon
Administrator as View Administrator.
This chapter includes the following topics:
“View Administrator and View Connection Server,” on page 9
n
“Log In to View Administrator,” on page 10
n
“Tips for Using the View Administrator Interface,” on page 10
n
“Troubleshooting the Text Display in View Administrator,” on page 12
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View Administrator and View Connection Server
View Administrator provides a management interface for View.
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Depending on your View deployment, you use one or more View Administrator interfaces.
Use one View Administrator interface to manage the View components that are associated with a
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single, standalone View Connection Server instance or a group of replicated View Connection Server
instances.
You can use the host name or IP address of any replicated instance to log in to View Administrator.
You must use a separate View Administrator interface to manage the View components for each single,
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standalone View Connection Server instance and each group of replicated View Connection Server
instances.
You also use View Administrator to manage security servers associated with View Connection Server. Each
security server is associated with one View Connection Server instance.
NOTE If you use Access Point appliances rather than security servers, you must use the Access Point REST
API to manage the Access Point appliances. For more information, see Deploying and Configuring Access
Point.
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View Administration
Log In to View Administrator
To perform initial configuration tasks, you must log in to View Administrator. You access View
Administrator by using a secure (SSL) connection.
Prerequisites
Verify that View Connection Server is installed on a dedicated computer.
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Verify that you are using a Web browser supported by View Administrator. For View Administrator
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requirements, see the View Installation document.
Procedure
1 Open your Web browser and enter the following URL, where server is the host name of the View
Connection Server instance.
https://server/admin
NOTE You can use the IP address if you have to access a View Connection Server instance when the
host name is not resolvable. However, the host that you contact will not match the SSL certificate that is
configured for the View Connection Server instance, resulting in blocked access or access with reduced
security.
Your access to View Administrator depends on the type of certificate that is configured on the View
Connection Server computer.
If you open your Web browser on the View Connection Server host, use https://127.0.0.1 to connect,
not https://localhost. This method improves security by avoiding potential DNS attacks on the
localhost resolution.
Option Description
You configured a certificate signed
by a CA for View Connection
Server.
The default, self-signed certificate
supplied with View Connection
Server is configured.
When you first connect, your Web browser displays View Administrator.
When you first connect, your Web browser might display a page warning
that the security certificate associated with the address is not issued by a
trusted certificate authority.
Click Ignore to continue using the current SSL certificate.
2 Log in as a user with credentials to access the View Administrators account.
You specify the View Administrators account when you install a standalone View Connection Server
instance or the first View Connection Server instance in a replicated group. The View Administrators
account can be the local Administrators group (BUILTIN\Administrators) on the View Connection
Server computer or a domain user or group account.
After you log in to View Administrator, you can use View Configuration > Administrators to change the
list of users and groups that have the View Administrators role.
Tips for Using the View Administrator Interface
You can use View Administrator user-interface features to navigate View Pages and to find, filter, and sort
View objects.
View Administrator includes many common user interface features. For example, the navigation pane on
the left side of each page directs you to other View Administrator pages. The search filters let you select
filtering criteria that are related to the objects you are searching for.
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Chapter 1 Using View Administrator
Table 1-1 describes a few additional features that can help you to use View Administrator.
Table 1‑1. View Administrator Navigation and Display Features
View Administrator Feature Description
Navigating backward and forward in
View Administrator pages
Bookmarking View Administrator
pages
Multicolumn sorting You can sort View objects in a variety of ways by using multicolumn sorting.
Customizing table columns You can customize the display of View Administrator table columns by hiding
Click your browser's Back button to go to the previously displayed View
Administrator page. Click the Forward button to return to the current page.
If you click the browser's Back button while you are using a View
Administrator wizard or dialog box, you return to the main View
Administrator page. The information you entered in the wizard or dialog is
lost.
In View versions that preceded the View 5.1 release, you could not use your
browser's Back and Forward buttons to navigate within View Administrator.
Separate Back and Forward buttons in the View Administrator window were
provided for navigation. These buttons are removed in the View 5.1 release.
You can bookmark View Administrator pages in your browser.
Click a heading in the top row of a View Administrator table to sort the View
objects in alphabetical order based on that heading.
For example, in the Resources > Machines page, you can click Desktop Pool
to sort desktops by the pools that contain them.
The number 1 appears next to the heading to indicate that it is the primary
sorting column. You can click the heading again to reverse the sorting order,
indicated by an up or down arrow.
To sort the View objects by a secondary item, Ctrl+click another heading.
For example, in the Machines table, you can click Users to perform a
secondary sort by users to whom the desktops are dedicated. A number 2
appears next to the secondary heading. In this example, desktops are sorted
by pool and by users within each pool.
You can continue to Ctrl+click to sort all the columns in a table in descending
order of importance.
Press Ctrl+Shift and click to deselect a sort item.
For example, you might want to display the desktops in a pool that are in a
particular state and are stored on a particular datastore. You can select
Resources > Machines, click the Datastore heading, and Ctrl+click the Status
heading.
selected columns and locking the first column. This feature lets you control
the display of large tables such as Catalog > Desktop Pools that contain many
columns.
Right-click any column header to display a context menu that lets you take the
following actions:
Hide the selected column.
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Customize columns. A dialog displays all columns in the table. You can
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select the columns to display or hide.
Lock the first column. This option forces the left-hand column to remain
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displayed as you scroll horizontally across a table with many columns.
For example, on the Catalog > Desktop Pools page, the desktop ID
remains displayed as you scroll horizontally to see other desktop
characteristics.
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View Administration
Table 1‑1. View Administrator Navigation and Display Features (Continued)
View Administrator Feature Description
Selecting View objects and displaying
View object details
Expanding dialog boxes to view details You can expand View Administrator dialog boxes to view details such as
Displaying context menus for View
objects
In View Administrator tables that list View objects, you can select an object or
display object details.
To select an object, click anywhere in the object's row in the table. At the
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top of the page, menus and commands that manage the object become
active.
To display object details, double-click the left cell in the object's row. A
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new page displays the object's details.
For example, on the Catalog > Desktop Pools page, click anywhere in an
individual pool's row to activate commands that affect the pool.
Double-click the ID cell in the left column to display a new page that contains
details about the pool.
desktop names and user names in table columns.
To expand a dialog box, place your mouse over the dots in the lower right
corner of the dialog box and drag the corner.
You can right-click View objects in View Administrator tables to display
context menus. A context menu gives you access to the commands that
operate on the selected View object.
For example, in the Catalog > Desktop Pools page, you can right-click a
desktop pool to display commands such as Add, Edit, Delete, Disable (or
Enable) Provisioning, and so on.
Troubleshooting the Text Display in View Administrator
If your Web browser runs on a non-Windows operating system such as Linux, UNIX, or Mac OS, the text in
View Administrator does not display properly.
Problem
The text in the View Administrator interface is garbled. For example, spaces occur in the middle of words.
Cause
View Administrator requires Microsoft-specific fonts.
Solution
Install Microsoft-specific fonts on your computer.
Currently, the Microsoft Web site does not distribute Microsoft fonts, but you can download them from
independent Web sites.
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Configuring View Connection Server 2
After you install and perform initial configuration of View Connection Server, you can add vCenter Server
instances and View Composer services to your View deployment, set up roles to delegate administrator
responsibilities, and schedule backups of your configuration data.
This chapter includes the following topics:
“Configuring vCenter Server and View Composer,” on page 13
n
“Backing Up View Connection Server,” on page 25
n
“Configuring Settings for Client Sessions,” on page 25
n
“Disable or Enable View Connection Server,” on page 36
n
“Edit the External URLs,” on page 37
n
“Join or Withdraw from the Customer Experience Program,” on page 38
n
“View LDAP Directory,” on page 38
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Configuring vCenter Server and View Composer
To use virtual machines as remote desktops, you must configure View to communicate with vCenter Server.
To create and manage linked-clone desktop pools, you must configure View Composer settings in View
Administrator.
You can also configure storage settings for View. You can allow ESXi hosts to reclaim disk space on linkedclone virtual machines. To allow ESXi hosts to cache virtual machine data, you must enable View Storage
Accelerator for vCenter Server.
Create a User Account for View Composer AD Operations
If you use View Composer, you must create a user account in Active Directory that allows View Composer
to perform certain operations in Active Directory. View Composer requires this account to join linked-clone
virtual machines to your Active Directory domain.
To ensure security, you should create a separate user account to use with View Composer. By creating a
separate account, you can guarantee that it does not have additional privileges that are defined for another
purpose. You can give the account the minimum privileges that it needs to create and remove computer
objects in a specified Active Directory container. For example, the View Composer account does not require
domain administrator privileges.
Procedure
1 In Active Directory, create a user account in the same domain as your View Connection Server host or
in a trusted domain.
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13
View Administration
2 Add the Create Computer Objects, Delete Computer Objects, and Write All Properties permissions to
the account in the Active Directory container in which the linked-clone computer accounts are created
or to which the linked-clone computer accounts are moved.
The following list shows all the required permissions for the user account, including permissions that
are assigned by default:
List Contents
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Read All Properties
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Write All Properties
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Read Permissions
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Reset Password
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Create Computer Objects
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Delete Computer Objects
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NOTE Fewer permissions are required if you select the Allow reuse of pre-existing computer accounts
setting for a desktop pool. Make sure that the following permissions are assigned to the user account:
List Contents
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Read All Properties
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Read Permissions
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Reset Password
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3 Make sure that the user account's permissions apply to the Active Directory container and to all child
objects of the container.
What to do next
Specify the account in View Administrator when you configure View Composer domains in the Add
vCenter Server wizard and when you configure and deploy linked-clone desktop pools.
Add vCenter Server Instances to View
You must configure View to connect to the vCenter Server instances in your View deployment. vCenter
Server creates and manages the virtual machines that View uses in desktop pools.
If you run vCenter Server instances in a Linked Mode group, you must add each vCenter Server instance to
View separately.
View connects to the vCenter Server instance using a secure channel (SSL).
Prerequisites
Install the View Connection Server product license key.
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Prepare a vCenter Server user with permission to perform the operations in vCenter Server that are
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necessary to support View. To use View Composer, you must give the user additional privileges.
For details about configuring a vCenter Server user for View, see the View Installation document.
Verify that a TLS/SSL server certificate is installed on the vCenter Server host. In a production
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environment, install a valid certificate that is signed by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA).
In a testing environment, you can use the default certificate that is installed with vCenter Server, but
you must accept the certificate thumbprint when you add vCenter Server to View.
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Chapter 2 Configuring View Connection Server
Verify that all View Connection Server instances in the replicated group trust the root CA certificate for
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the server certificate that is installed on the vCenter Server host. Check if the root CA certificate is in the
Trusted Root Certification Authorities > Certificates folder in the Windows local computer certificate
stores on the View Connection Server hosts. If it is not, import the root CA certificate into the Windows
local computer certificate stores.
See "Import a Root Certificate and Intermediate Certificates into a Windows Certificate Store," in the
View Installation document.
Verify that the vCenter Server instance contains ESXi hosts. If no hosts are configured in the vCenter
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Server instance, you cannot add the instance to View.
If you upgrade to vSphere 5.5 or a later release, verify that the domain administrator account that you
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use as the vCenter Server user was explicitly assigned permissions to log in to vCenter Server by a
vCenter Server local user.
If you plan to use View in FIPS mode, verify that you have vCenter Server 6.0 or later and ESXi 6.0 or
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later hosts.
For more information, see "Installing View in FIPS Mode," in the View Installation document.
Familiarize yourself with the settings that determine the maximum operations limits for vCenter Server
n
and View Composer. See “Concurrent Operations Limits for vCenter Server and View Composer,” on
page 20 and “Setting a Concurrent Power Operations Rate to Support Remote Desktop Logon
Storms,” on page 21.
Procedure
1 In View Administrator, select View Configuration > Servers.
2 On the vCenter Servers tab, click Add.
3 In the vCenter Server Settings Server address text box, type the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of
the vCenter Server instance.
The FQDN includes the host name and domain name. For example, in the FQDN
myserverhost.companydomain.com, myserverhost is the host name and companydomain.com is the domain.
NOTE If you enter a server by using a DNS name or URL, View does not perform a DNS lookup to
verify whether an administrator previously added this server to View by using its IP address. A conflict
arises if you add a vCenter Server with both its DNS name and its IP address.
4 Type the name of the vCenter Server user.
For example: domain\user or user@domain.com
5 Type the vCenter Server user password.
6 (Optional) Type a description for this vCenter Server instance.
7 Type the TCP port number.
The default port is 443.
8 Under Advanced Settings, set the concurrent operations limits for vCenter Server and View Composer
operations.
9 Click Next to display the View Composer Settings page.
What to do next
Configure View Composer settings.
If the vCenter Server instance is configured with a signed SSL certificate, and View Connection Server
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trusts the root certificate, the Add vCenter Server wizard displays the View Composer Settings page.
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View Administration
If the vCenter Server instance is configured with a default certificate, you must first determine whether
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to accept the thumbprint of the existing certificate. See “Accept the Thumbprint of a Default SSL
Certificate,” on page 22.
If View uses multiple vCenter Server instances, repeat this procedure to add the other vCenter Server
instances.
Configure View Composer Settings
To use View Composer, you must configure settings that allow View to connect to the VMware Horizon
View Composer service. View Composer can be installed on its own separate host or on the same host as
vCenter Server.
There must be a one-to-one mapping between each VMware Horizon View Composer service and vCenter
Server instance. A View Composer service can operate with only one vCenter Server instance. A vCenter
Server instance can be associated with only one VMware Horizon View Composer service.
After the initial View deployment, you can migrate the VMware Horizon View Composer service to a new
host to support a growing or changing View deployment. You can edit the initial View Composer settings in
View Administrator, but you must perform additional steps to ensure that the migration succeeds. See
“Migrate View Composer to Another Machine,” on page 128.
Prerequisites
Verify that you created a user in Active Directory with permission to add and remove virtual machines
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from the Active Directory domain that contains your linked clones. See “Create a User Account for
View Composer AD Operations,” on page 13.
Verify that you configured View to connect to vCenter Server. To do so, you must complete the vCenter
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Server Information page in the Add vCenter Server wizard. See “Add vCenter Server Instances to
View,” on page 14.
Verify that this VMware Horizon View Composer service is not already configured to connect to a
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different vCenter Server instance.
Procedure
1 In View Administrator, complete the vCenter Server Information page in the Add vCenter Server
wizard.
a Select View Configuration > Servers.
b On the vCenter Servers tab, click Add and provide the vCenter Server settings.
2 On the View Composer Settings page, if you are not using View Composer, select Do not use View
Composer.
If you select Do not use View Composer, the other View Composer settings become inactive. When
you click Next, the Add vCenter Server wizard displays the Storage Settings page. The View Composer
Domains page is not displayed.
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Chapter 2 Configuring View Connection Server
3 If you are using View Composer, select the location of the View Composer host.
Option Description
View Composer is installed on the
same host as vCenter Server.
View Composer is installed on its
own separate host.
a Select View Composer co-installed with the vCenter Server.
b Make sure that the port number is the same as the port that you
specified when you installed the VMware Horizon View Composer
service on vCenter Server. The default port number is 18443.
a Select Standalone View Composer Server.
b In the View Composer server address text box, type the fully qualified
domain name (FQDN) of the View Composer host.
c Type the name of the View Composer user.
For example: domain.com\user or user@domain.com
d Type the password of the View Composer user.
e Make sure that the port number is the same as the port that you
specified when you installed the VMware Horizon View Composer
service. The default port number is 18443.
4 Click Next to display the View Composer Domains page.
What to do next
Configure View Composer domains.
If the View Composer instance is configured with a signed SSL certificate, and View Connection Server
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trusts the root certificate, the Add vCenter Server wizard displays the View Composer Domains page.
If the View Composer instance is configured with a default certificate, you must first determine
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whether to accept the thumbprint of the existing certificate. See “Accept the Thumbprint of a Default
SSL Certificate,” on page 22.
Configure View Composer Domains
You must configure an Active Directory domain in which View Composer deploys linked-clone desktops.
You can configure multiple domains for View Composer. After you first add vCenter Server and View
Composer settings to View, you can add more View Composer domains by editing the vCenter Server
instance in View Administrator.
Prerequisites
Your Active Directory administrator must create a View Composer user for AD operations. This
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domain user must have permission to add and remove virtual machines from the Active Directory
domain that contains your linked clones. For information about the required permissions for this user,
see “Create a User Account for View Composer AD Operations,” on page 13.
In View Administrator, verify that you completed the vCenter Server Information and View Composer
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Settings pages in the Add vCenter Server wizard.
Procedure
1 On the View Composer Domains page, click Add to add the View Composer user for AD operations
account information.
2 Type the domain name of the Active Directory domain.
For example: domain.com
3 Type the domain user name, including the domain name, of the View Composer user.
For example: domain.com\admin
4 Type the account password.
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View Administration
5 Click OK.
6 To add domain user accounts with privileges in other Active Directory domains in which you deploy
linked-clone pools, repeat the preceding steps.
7 Click Next to display the Storage Settings page.
What to do next
Enable virtual machine disk space reclamation and configure View Storage Accelerator for View.
Allow vSphere to Reclaim Disk Space in Linked-Clone Virtual Machines
In vSphere 5.1 and later, you can enable the disk space reclamation feature for View. Starting in vSphere 5.1,
View creates linked-clone virtual machines in an efficient disk format that allows ESXi hosts to reclaim
unused disk space in the linked clones, reducing the total storage space required for linked clones.
As users interact with linked-clone desktops, the clones' OS disks grow and can eventually use almost as
much disk space as full-clone desktops. Disk space reclamation reduces the size of the OS disks without
requiring you to refresh or recompose the linked clones. Space can be reclaimed while the virtual machines
are powered on and users are interacting with their remote desktops.
Disk space reclamation is especially useful for deployments that cannot take advantage of storage-saving
strategies such as refresh on logoff. For example, knowledge workers who install user applications on
dedicated remote desktops might lose their personal applications if the remote desktops were refreshed or
recomposed. With disk space reclamation, View can maintain linked clones at close to the reduced size they
start out with when they are first provisioned.
This feature has two components: space-efficient disk format and space reclamation operations.
In a vSphere 5.1 or later environment, when a parent virtual machine is virtual hardware version 9 or later,
View creates linked clones with space-efficient OS disks, whether or not space reclamation operations are
enabled.
To enable space reclamation operations, you must use View Administrator to enable space reclamation for
vCenter Server and reclaim VM disk space for individual desktop pools. The space reclamation setting for
vCenter Server gives you the option to disable this feature on all desktop pools that are managed by the
vCenter Server instance. Disabling the feature for vCenter Server overrides the setting at the desktop pool
level.
The following guidelines apply to the space reclamation feature:
It operates only on space-efficient OS disks in linked clones.
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It does not affect View Composer persistent disks.
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It works only with vSphere 5.1 or later and only on virtual machines that are virtual hardware version 9
n
or later.
It does not operate on full-clone desktops.
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It operates on virtual machines with SCSI controllers. IDE controllers are not supported.
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Native NFS snapshot technology (VAAI) is not supported in pools that contain virtual machines with spaceefficient disks.
Prerequisites
Verify that your vCenter Server and ESXi hosts, including all ESXi hosts in a cluster, are version 5.1
n
with ESXi 5.1 download patch ESXi510-201212001 or later.
18 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Configuring View Connection Server
Procedure
1 In View Administrator, complete the Add vCenter Server wizard pages that precede the Storage
Settings page.
a Select View Configuration > Servers.
b On the vCenter Servers tab, click Add.
c Complete the vCenter Server Information, View Composer Settings, and View Composer Domains
pages.
2 On the Storage Settings page, make sure that Enable space reclamation is selected.
Space reclamation is selected by default if you are performing a fresh installation of View 5.2 or later.
You must select Enable space reclamation if you are upgrading to View 5.2 or later from View 5.1 or an
earlier release.
What to do next
On the Storage Settings page, configure View Storage Accelerator.
To finish configuring disk space reclamation in View, set up space reclamation for desktop pools.
Configure View Storage Accelerator for vCenter Server
In vSphere 5.0 and later, you can configure ESXi hosts to cache virtual machine disk data. This feature,
called View Storage Accelerator, uses the Content Based Read Cache (CBRC) feature in ESXi hosts. View
Storage Accelerator improves View performance during I/O storms, which can take place when many
virtual machines start up or run anti-virus scans at once. The feature is also beneficial when administrators
or users load applications or data frequently. Instead of reading the entire OS or application from the
storage system over and over, a host can read common data blocks from cache.
By reducing the number of IOPS during boot storms, View Storage Accelerator lowers the demand on the
storage array, which lets you use less storage I/O bandwidth to support your View deployment.
You enable caching on your ESXi hosts by selecting the View Storage Accelerator setting in the vCenter
Server wizard in View Administrator, as described in this procedure.
Make sure that View Storage Accelerator is also configured for individual desktop pools. To operate on a
desktop pool, View Storage Accelerator must be enabled for vCenter Server and for the individual desktop
pool.
View Storage Accelerator is enabled for desktop pools by default. The feature can be disabled or enabled
when you create or edit a pool. The best approach is to enable this feature when you first create a desktop
pool. If you enable the feature by editing an existing pool, you must ensure that a new replica and its digest
disks are created before linked clones are provisioned. You can create a new replica by recomposing the
pool to a new snapshot or rebalancing the pool to a new datastore. Digest files can only be configured for
the virtual machines in a desktop pool when they are powered off.
You can enable View Storage Accelerator on desktop pools that contain linked clones and pools that contain
full virtual machines.
View Storage Accelerator is now qualified to work in configurations that use View replica tiering, in which
replicas are stored on a separate datastore than linked clones. Although the performance benefits of using
View Storage Accelerator with View replica tiering are not materially significant, certain capacity-related
benefits might be realized by storing the replicas on a separate datastore. Hence, this combination is tested
and supported.
IMPORTANT If you plan to use this feature and you are using multiple View pods that share some ESXi hosts,
you must enable the View Storage Accelerator feature for all pools that are on the shared ESXi hosts. Having
inconsistent settings in multiple pods can cause instability of the virtual machines on the shared ESXi hosts.
VMware, Inc. 19
View Administration
Prerequisites
n
n
Procedure
1 In View Administrator, complete the Add vCenter Server wizard pages that precede the Storage
2 On the Storage Settings page, make sure that the Enable View Storage Accelerator check box is
Verify that your vCenter Server and ESXi hosts are version 5.0 or later.
In an ESXi cluster, verify that all the hosts are version 5.0 or later.
Verify that the vCenter Server user was assigned the Host > Configuration > Advanced settings
privilege in vCenter Server.
See the topics in the View Installation document that describe View and View Composer privileges
required for the vCenter Server user.
Settings page.
a Select View Configuration > Servers.
b On the vCenter Servers tab, click Add.
c Complete the vCenter Server Information, View Composer Settings, and View Composer Domains
pages.
selected.
This check box is selected by default.
3 Specify a default host cache size.
The default cache size applies to all ESXi hosts that are managed by this vCenter Server instance.
The default value is 1,024MB. The cache size must be between 100MB and 2,048MB.
4 To specify a different cache size for an individual ESXi host, select an ESXi host and click Edit cache
size.
a In the Host cache dialog box, check Override default host cache size.
b Type a Host cache size value between 100MB and 2,048MB and click OK.
5 On the Storage Settings page, click Next.
6 Click Finish to add vCenter Server, View Composer, and Storage Settings to View.
What to do next
Configure settings for client sessions and connections. See “Configuring Settings for Client Sessions,” on
page 25.
To complete View Storage Accelerator settings in View, configure View Storage Accelerator for desktop
pools. See "Configure View Storage Accelerator for Desktop Pools" in the Setting Up Desktop and Application
Pools in View document.
Concurrent Operations Limits for vCenter Server and View Composer
When you add vCenter Server to View or edit the vCenter Server settings, you can configure several options
that set the maximum number of concurrent operations that are performed by vCenter Server and View
Composer.
You configure these options in the Advanced Settings panel on the vCenter Server Information page.
20 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Configuring View Connection Server
Table 2‑1. Concurrent Operations Limits for vCenter Server and View Composer
Setting Description
Max concurrent vCenter
provisioning operations
Max concurrent power
operations
Max concurrent View
Composer maintenance
operations
Max concurrent View
Composer provisioning
operations
Determines the maximum number of concurrent requests that View Connection
Server can make to provision and delete full virtual machines in this vCenter Server
instance.
The default value is 20.
This setting applies to full virtual machines only.
Determines the maximum number of concurrent power operations (startup,
shutdown, suspend, and so on) that can take place on virtual machines managed by
View Connection Server in this vCenter Server instance.
The default value is 50.
For guidelines for calculating a value for this setting, see “Setting a Concurrent Power
Operations Rate to Support Remote Desktop Logon Storms,” on page 21.
This setting applies to full virtual machines and linked clones.
Determines the maximum number of concurrent View Composer refresh, recompose,
and rebalance operations that can take place on linked clones managed by this View
Composer instance.
The default value is 12.
Remote desktops that have active sessions must be logged off before a maintenance
operation can begin. If you force users to log off as soon as a maintenance operation
begins, the maximum number of concurrent operations on remote desktops that
require logoffs is half the configured value. For example, if you configure this setting
as 24 and force users to log off, the maximum number of concurrent operations on
remote desktops that require logoffs is 12.
This setting applies to linked clones only.
Determines the maximum number of concurrent creation and deletion operations that
can take place on linked clones managed by this View Composer instance.
The default value is 8.
This setting applies to linked clones only.
Setting a Concurrent Power Operations Rate to Support Remote Desktop Logon Storms
The Max concurrent power operations setting governs the maximum number of concurrent power
operations that can occur on remote desktop virtual machines in a vCenter Server instance. This limit is set
to 50 by default. You can change this value to support peak power-on rates when many users log on to their
desktops at the same time.
As a best practice, you can conduct a pilot phase to determine the correct value for this setting. For planning
guidelines, see "Architecture Design Elements and Planning Guidelines" in the View Architecture Planning
document.
The required number of concurrent power operations is based on the peak rate at which desktops are
powered on and the amount of time it takes for the desktop to power on, boot, and become available for
connection. In general, the recommended power operations limit is the total time it takes for the desktop to
start multiplied by the peak power-on rate.
For example, the average desktop takes two to three minutes to start. Therefore, the concurrent power
operations limit should be 3 times the peak power-on rate. The default setting of 50 is expected to support a
peak power-on rate of 16 desktops per minute.
The system waits a maximum of five minutes for a desktop to start. If the start time takes longer, other
errors are likely to occur. To be conservative, you can set a concurrent power operations limit of 5 times the
peak power-on rate. With a conservative approach, the default setting of 50 supports a peak power-on rate
of 10 desktops per minute.
VMware, Inc. 21
View Administration
Logons, and therefore desktop power on operations, typically occur in a normally distributed manner over a
certain time window. You can approximate the peak power-on rate by assuming that it occurs in the middle
of the time window, during which about 40% of the power-on operations occur in 1/6th of the time window.
For example, if users log on between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM, the time window is one hour, and 40% of the
logons occur in the 10 minutes between 8:25 AM and 8:35 AM. If there are 2,000 users, 20% of whom have
their desktops powered off, then 40% of the 400 desktop power-on operations occur in those 10 minutes. The
peak power-on rate is 16 desktops per minute.
Accept the Thumbprint of a Default SSL Certificate
When you add vCenter Server and View Composer instances to View, you must ensure that the SSL
certificates that are used for the vCenter Server and View Composer instances are valid and trusted by View
Connection Server. If the default certificates that are installed with vCenter Server and View Composer are
still in place, you must determine whether to accept these certificates' thumbprints.
If a vCenter Server or View Composer instance is configured with a certificate that is signed by a CA, and
the root certificate is trusted by View Connection Server, you do not have to accept the certificate
thumbprint. No action is required.
If you replace a default certificate with a certificate that is signed by a CA, but View Connection Server does
not trust the root certificate, you must determine whether to accept the certificate thumbprint. A thumbprint
is a cryptographic hash of a certificate. The thumbprint is used to quickly determine if a presented certificate
is the same as another certificate, such as the certificate that was accepted previously.
NOTE If you install vCenter Server and View Composer on the same Windows Server host, they can use the
same SSL certificate, but you must configure the certificate separately for each component.
For details about configuring SSL certificates, see "Configuring SSL Certificates for View Servers" in the View
Installation document.
You first add vCenter Server and View Composer in View Administrator by using the Add vCenter Server
wizard. If a certificate is untrusted and you do not accept the thumbprint, you cannot add vCenter Server
and View Composer.
After these servers are added, you can reconfigure them in the Edit vCenter Server dialog box.
NOTE You also must accept a certificate thumbprint when you upgrade from an earlier release and a
vCenter Server or View Composer certificate is untrusted, or if you replace a trusted certificate with an
untrusted certificate.
On the View Administrator dashboard, the vCenter Server or View Composer icon turns red and an Invalid
Certificate Detected dialog box appears. You must click Verify and follow the procedure shown here.
Similarly, in View Administrator you can configure a SAML authenticator for use by a View Connection
Server instance. If the SAML server certificate is not trusted by View Connection Server, you must
determine whether to accept the certificate thumbprint. If you do not accept the thumbprint, you cannot
configure the SAML authenticator in View. After a SAML authenticator is configured, you can reconfigure it
in the Edit View Connection Server dialog box.
Procedure
1 When View Administrator displays an Invalid Certificate Detected dialog box, click View Certificate.
2 Examine the certificate thumbprint in the Certificate Information window.
22 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Configuring View Connection Server
3 Examine the certificate thumbprint that was configured for the vCenter Server or View Composer
instance.
a On the vCenter Server or View Composer host, start the MMC snap-in and open the Windows
Certificate Store.
b Navigate to the vCenter Server or View Composer certificate.
c Click the Certificate Details tab to display the certificate thumbprint.
Similarly, examine the certificate thumbprint for a SAML authenticator. If appropriate, take the
preceding steps on the SAML authenticator host.
4 Verify that the thumbprint in the Certificate Information window matches the thumbprint for the
vCenter Server or View Composer instance.
Similarly, verify that the thumbprints match for a SAML authenticator.
5 Determine whether to accept the certificate thumbprint.
Option Description
The thumbprints match.
The thumbprints do not match.
Click Accept to use the default certificate.
Click Reject.
Troubleshoot the mismatched certificates. For example, you might have
provided an incorrect IP address for vCenter Server or View Composer.
Remove a vCenter Server Instance from View
You can remove the connection between View and a vCenter Server instance. When you do so, View no
longer manages the virtual machines created in that vCenter Server instance.
Prerequisites
Delete all the virtual machines that are associated with the vCenter Server instance. See “Delete a Desktop
Pool,” on page 172.
Procedure
1 Click View Configuration > Servers.
2 On the vCenter Servers tab, select the vCenter Server instance.
3 Click Remove.
A dialog warns you that View will no longer have access to the virtual machines that are managed by
this vCenter Server instance.
4 Click OK.
View can no longer access the virtual machines created in the vCenter Server instance.
Remove View Composer from View
You can remove the connection between View and the VMware Horizon View Composer service that is
associated with a vCenter Server instance.
Before you disable the connection to View Composer, you must remove from View all the linked-clone
virtual machines that were created by View Composer. View prevents you from removing View Composer
if any associated linked clones still exist. After the connection to View Composer is disabled, View cannot
provision or manage new linked clones.
VMware, Inc. 23
View Administration
Procedure
1 Remove the linked-clone desktop pools that were created by View Composer.
2 Select View Configuration > Servers.
3 On the vCenter Servers tab, select the vCenter Server instance with which View Composer is
4 Click Edit.
5 Under View Composer Server Settings, click Edit, select Do not use View Composer, and click OK.
a In View Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools.
b Select a linked-clone desktop pool and click Delete.
A dialog box warns that you will permanently delete the linked-clone desktop pool from View. If
the linked-clone virtual machines are configured with persistent disks, you can detach or delete the
persistent disks.
c Click OK.
The virtual machines are deleted from vCenter Server. In addition, the associated View Composer
database entries and the replicas that were created by View Composer are removed.
d Repeat these steps for each linked-clone desktop pool that was created by View Composer.
associated.
You can no longer create linked-clone desktop pools in this vCenter Server instance, but you can continue to
create and manage full virtual-machine desktop pools in the vCenter Server instance.
What to do next
If you intend to install View Composer on another host and reconfigure View to connect to the new
VMware Horizon View Composer service, you must perform certain additional steps. See “Migrate View
Composer Without Linked-Clone Virtual Machines,” on page 131.
Conflicting vCenter Server Unique IDs
If you have multiple vCenter Server instances configured in your environment, an attempt to add a new
instance might fail because of conflicting unique IDs.
Problem
You try to add a vCenter Server instance to View, but the unique ID of the new vCenter Server instance
conflicts with an existing instance.
Cause
Two vCenter Server instances cannot use the same unique ID. By default, a vCenter Server unique ID is
randomly generated, but you can edit it.
Solution
1 In vSphere Client, click Administration > vCenter Server Settings > Runtime Settings.
2 Type a new unique ID and click OK.
For details about editing vCenter Server unique ID values, see the vSphere documentation.
24 VMware, Inc.
Backing Up View Connection Server
After you complete the initial configuration of View Connection Server, you should schedule regular
backups of your View and View Composer configuration data.
For information about backing up and restoring your View configuration, see “Backing Up and Restoring
View Configuration Data,” on page 115.
Configuring Settings for Client Sessions
You can configure global settings that affect the client sessions and connections that are managed by a View
Connection Server instance or replicated group. You can set the session timeout length, display prelogin and
warning messages, and set security-related client connection options.
Set Options for Client Sessions and Connections
You configure global settings to determine the way client sessions and connections work.
The global settings are not specific to a single View Connection Server instance. They affect all client
sessions that are managed by a standalone View Connection Server instance or a group of replicated
instances.
Chapter 2 Configuring View Connection Server
You can also configure View Connection Server instances to use direct, nontunneled connections between
Horizon clients and remote desktops. See “Configure the Secure Tunnel and PCoIP Secure Gateway,” on
page 32 for information about configuring direct connections.
Prerequisites
Familiarize yourself with the global settings. See “Global Settings for Client Sessions,” on page 26 and
“Global Security Settings for Client Sessions and Connections,” on page 28.
Procedure
1 In View Administrator, select View Configuration > Global Settings.
2 Choose whether to configure general settings or security settings.
Option Description
General global settings
Global security settings
3 Configure the global settings.
4 Click OK.
What to do next
You can change the data recovery password that was provided during installation. See “Change the Data
Recovery Password,” on page 25.
In the General pane, click Edit.
In the Security pane, click Edit.
Change the Data Recovery Password
You provide a data recovery password when you install View Connection Server version 5.1 or later. After
installation, you can change this password in View Administrator. The password is required when you
restore the View LDAP configuration from a backup.
When you back up View Connection Server, the View LDAP configuration is exported as encrypted LDIF
data. To restore the encrypted backup View configuration, you must provide the data recovery password.
VMware, Inc. 25
View Administration
The password must contain between 1 and 128 characters. Follow your organization's best practices for
generating secure passwords.
Procedure
1 In View Administrator, select View Configuration > Global Settings.
2 In the Security pane, click Change data recovery password.
3 Type and retype the new password.
4 (Optional) Type a password reminder.
NOTE You can also change the data recovery password when you schedule your View configuration data to
be backed up. See “Schedule View Configuration Backups,” on page 116.
What to do next
When you use the vdmimport utility to restore a backup View configuration, provide the new password.
Global Settings for Client Sessions
General global settings determine session timeout lengths, SSO enablement and timeout limits, status
updates in View Administrator, whether prelogin and warning messages are displayed, and whether View
Administrator treats Windows Server as a supported operating system for remote desktops.
Changes to any of the settings in the table below take effect immediately. You do not need to restart View
Connection Server or Horizon Client.
Table 2‑2. General Global Settings for Client Sessions
Setting Description
View Administrator session
timeout
Forcibly disconnect users Disconnects all desktops and applications after the specified number of minutes
Determines how long an idle View Administrator session continues before the
session times out.
IMPORTANT Setting the View Administrator session timeout to a high number of
minutes increases the risk of unauthorized use of View Administrator. Use
caution when you allow an idle session to persist a long time.
By default, the View Administrator session timeout is 30 minutes. You can set a
session timeout from 1 to 4320 minutes (72 hours).
has passed since the user logged in to View. All desktops and applications will be
disconnected at the same time regardless of when the user opened them.
For clients that do not support application remoting, a maximum timeout value
of 1200 minutes applies if the value of this setting is Never or greater than 1200
minutes.
The default is After 600 minutes.
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Chapter 2 Configuring View Connection Server
Table 2‑2. General Global Settings for Client Sessions (Continued)
Setting Description
Single sign-on (SSO) If SSO is enabled, View caches a user's credentials so that the user can launch
For clients that support
applications.
If the user stops using the keyboard
and mouse, disconnect their
applications and discard SSO
credentials:
Other clients.
Discard SSO credentials:
Enable automatic status updates Determines if status updates appear in the global status pane in the upper-left
Display a pre-login message Displays a disclaimer or another message to Horizon Client users when they log
remote desktops or applications without having to provide credentials to log in
to the remote Windows session. The default is Enabled.
If you plan to use the True SSO feature, introduced in Horizon 7 or later, SSO
must be enabled. With True SSO, if a user logs in using some other form of
authentication than Active Directory credentials, the True SSO feature generates
short-term certificates to use, rather than cached credentials, after users log in to
VMware Identity Manager.
NOTE If a desktop is launched from Horizon Client, and the desktop is locked,
either by the user or by Windows based on a security policy, and if the desktop is
running View Agent 6.0 or later or Horizon Agent 7.0 or later, View Connection
Server discards the user's SSO credentials. The user must provide login
credentials to launch a new desktop or a new application, or reconnect to any
disconnected desktop or application. To enable SSO again, the user must
disconnect from View Connection Server or exit Horizon Client, and reconnect to
View Connection Server. However, if the desktop is launched from
Workspace Portal or VMware Identity Manager and the desktop is locked, SSO
credentials are not discarded.
Protects application sessions when there is no keyboard or mouse activity on the
client device. If set to After ... minutes, View disconnects all applications and
discards SSO credentials after the specified number of minutes without user
activity. Desktop sessions are not disconnected. Users must log in again to
reconnect to the applications that were disconnected or launch a new desktop or
application.
This setting also applies to the True SSO feature. After SSO credentials are
discarded, users are prompted for Active Directory credentials. If users logged in
to VMware Identity Manager without using AD credentials and do not know
what AD credentials to enter, users can log out and log in to VMware Identity
Manager again to access their remote desktops and applications.
IMPORTANT Users must be aware that when they have both applications and
desktops open, and their applications are disconnected because of this timeout,
their desktops remain connected. Users must not rely on this timeout to protect
their desktops.
If set to Never, View never disconnects applications or discards SSO credentials
due to user inactivity.
The default is Never.
Discards SSO credentials after the specified number of minutes. This setting is for
clients that do not support application remoting. If set to After ... minutes, users
must log in again to connect to a desktop after the specified number of minutes
has passed since the user logged in to View, regardless of any user activity on the
client device.
If set to Never, View stores SSO credentials until the user closes Horizon Client,
or the Forcibly disconnect users timeout is reached, whichever comes first.
The default is After 15 minutes.
corner of View Administrator every few minutes. The dashboard page of View
Administrator is also updated every few minutes.
By default, this setting is not enabled.
in.
Type your information or instructions in the text box in the Global Settings dialog
box.
To display no message, leave the check box unselected.
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Table 2‑2. General Global Settings for Client Sessions (Continued)
Setting Description
Display warning before forced
logoff
Enable Windows Server desktops Determines whether you can select available Windows Server 2008 R2 and
Mirage Server configuration Allows you to specify the URL of a Mirage server, using the format
Displays a warning message when users are forced to log off because a scheduled
or immediate update such as a desktop-refresh operation is about to start. This
setting also determines how long to wait after the warning is shown before the
user is logged off.
Check the box to display a warning message.
Type the number of minutes to wait after the warning is displayed and before
logging off the user. The default is 5 minutes.
Type your warning message. You can use the default message:
Your desktop is scheduled for an important update and
will be shut down in 5 minutes. Please
save any unsaved work now.
Windows Server 2012 R2 machines for use as desktops. When this setting is
enabled, View Administrator displays all available Windows Server machines,
including machines on which View server components are installed.
NOTE The Horizon Agent software cannot coexist on the same virtual or physical
machine with any other View server software component, including a security
server, View Connection Server, or View Composer.
mirage://server-name:port or mirages://server-name:port. Here server-
name is the fully qualified domain name. If you do not specify the port number,
the default port number 8000 is used.
NOTE You can override this global setting by specifying a Mirage server in the
desktop pool settings.
Specifying the Mirage server in View Administrator is an alternative to
specifying the Mirage server when installing the Mirage client. To find out which
versions of Mirage support having the server specified in View Administrator,
see the Mirage documentation, at
https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/mirage_pubs.html.
Global Security Settings for Client Sessions and Connections
Global security settings determine whether clients are reauthenticated after interruptions, message security
mode is enabled, and IPSec is used for security server connections.
SSL is required for all Horizon Client connections and View Administrator connections to View. If your
View deployment uses load balancers or other client-facing, intermediate servers, you can off-load SSL to
them and then configure non-SSL connections on individual View Connection Server instances and security
servers. See “Off-load SSL Connections to Intermediate Servers,” on page 34.
28 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Configuring View Connection Server
Table 2‑3. Global Security Settings for Client Sessions and Connections
Setting Description
Reauthenticate secure tunnel
connections after network
interruption
Message security mode Determines the security mechanism used for sending JMS messages between
Enhanced Security Status (Read-
only)
Use IPSec for Security Server
connections
Determines if user credentials must be reauthenticated after a network
interruption when Horizon clients use secure tunnel connections to remote
desktops.
When you select this setting, if a secure tunnel connection is interrupted,
Horizon Client requires the user to reauthenticate before reconnecting.
This setting offers increased security. For example, if a laptop is stolen and moved
to a different network, the user cannot automatically gain access to the remote
desktop without entering credentials.
When this setting is not selected, the client reconnects to the remote desktop
without requiring the user to reauthenticate.
This setting has no effect when the secure tunnel is not used.
components
When the mode is set to Enabled, signing and verification of the JMS messages
n
passed between View components takes place.
When the mode is set to Enhanced, security is provided by mutually
n
authenticated SSL JMS connections and access control on JMS topics.
For details, see “Message Security Mode for View Components,” on page 30.
For new installations, by default, message security mode is set to Enhanced. If you
upgrade from a previous version, the setting used in the previous version is
retained.
Read-only field that appears when Message security mode is changed from
Enabled to Enhanced. Because the change is made in phases, this field shows the
progress through the phases:
Waiting for Message Bus restart is the first phase. This state is displayed until
n
you manually restart either all View Connection Server instances in the pod or
the VMware Horizon View Message Bus Component service on all View
Connection Server hosts in the pod.
Pending Enhanced is the next state. After all View Message Bus Component
n
services have been restarted, the system begins changing the message security
mode to Enhanced for all desktops and security servers.
Enhanced is the final state, indicating that all components are now using
n
Enhanced message security mode.
You can also use the vdmutil command-line utility to monitor progress. See
“Using the vdmutil Utility to Configure the JMS Message Security Mode,” on
page 31.
Determines whether to use Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) for connections
between security servers and View Connection Server instances.
By default, secure connections (using IPSec) for security server connections is
enabled.
NOTE If you upgrade to View 5.1 or later from an earlier View release, the global setting Require SSL for
client connections is displayed in View Administrator, but only if the setting was disabled in your View
configuration before you upgraded. Because SSL is required for all Horizon Client connections and View
Administrator connections to View, this setting is not displayed in fresh installations of View 5.1 or later
versions and is not displayed after an upgrade if the setting was already enabled in the previous View
configuration.
After an upgrade, if you do not enable the Require SSL for client connections setting, HTTPS connections
from Horizon clients will fail, unless they connect to an intermediate device that is configured to make
onward connections using HTTP. See “Off-load SSL Connections to Intermediate Servers,” on page 34.
VMware, Inc. 29
View Administration
Message Security Mode for View Components
You can set the message security mode to specify the security mechanism used when JMS messages pass
among View components.
Table 2-4 shows the options you can select to configure the message security mode. To set an option, select it
from the Message security mode list in the Global Settings dialog window.
Table 2‑4. Message Security Mode Options
Option Description
Disabled Message security mode is disabled.
Mixed Message security mode is enabled but not enforced.
You can use this mode to detect components in your View environment that predate View 3.0. The log
files generated by View Connection Server contain references to these components. This setting is not
recommended. Use this setting only to discover components that need to be upgraded.
Enabled Message security mode is enabled, using a combination of message signing and encryption. JMS messages
are rejected if the signature is missing or invalid, or if a message was modified after it was signed.
Some JMS messages are encrypted because they carry sensitive information such as user credentials. If you
use the Enabled setting, you can also use IPSec to encrypt all JMS messages between View Connection
Server instances, and between View Connection Server instances and security servers.
NOTE View components that predate View 3.0 are not allowed to communicate with other View
components.
Enhanced SSL is used for all JMS connections. JMS access control is also enabled so that desktops, security servers,
and View Connection Server instances can only send and receive JMS messages on certain topics.
View components that predate Horizon 6 version 6.1 cannot communicate with a View Connection Server
6.1 instance.
NOTE Using this mode requires opening TCP port 4002 between DMZ-based security servers and their
paired View Connection Server instances.
When you first install View on a system, the message security mode is set to Enhanced. If you upgrade
View from a previous release, the message security mode remains unchanged from its existing setting.
IMPORTANT If you plan to change an upgraded View environment from Enabled to Enhanced, you must
first upgrade all View Connection Server instances, security servers, and View desktops to Horizon 6
version 6.1 or a later release. After you change the setting to Enhanced, the new setting takes place in stages.
1 You must manually restart the VMware Horizon View Message Bus Component service on all View
Connection Server hosts in the pod, or restart the View Connection Server instances.
2 After the services are restarted, the View Connection Server instances reconfigure the message security
mode on all desktops and security servers, changing the mode to Enhanced.
3 To monitor the progress in View Administrator, go to View Configuration > Global Settings.
On the Security tab, the Enhanced Security Status item will show Enhanced when all components
have made the transition to Enhanced mode.
Alternatively, you can use the vdmutil command-line utility to monitor progress. See “Using the
vdmutil Utility to Configure the JMS Message Security Mode,” on page 31.
View components that predate Horizon 6 version 6.1 cannot communicate with a View Connection Server
6.1 instance that uses Enhanced mode
If you plan to change an active View environment from Disabled to Enabled, or from Enabled to Disabled,
change to Mixed mode for a short time before you make the final change. For example, if your current mode
is Disabled, change to Mixed mode for one day, then change to Enabled. In Mixed mode, signatures are
attached to messages but not verified, which allows the change of message mode to propagate through the
environment.
30 VMware, Inc.
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