VMware Horizon View Client for Linux User Guide

Using VMware Horizon View Client for

Linux

January 2014 Horizon View

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-001162-03

Using VMware Horizon View Client for Linux

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:

docfeedback@vmware.com

VMware, Inc.

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

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Using VMware Horizon View Client for Linux 5

System Requirements and Installation 7

System Requirements 8

System Requirements for Real-Time Audio-Video 9

Supported Desktop Operating Systems 10

Requirements for Using Flash URL Redirection 10

Preparing View Connection Server for Horizon View Client 11

Install Horizon View Client for Linux 11

Configure the View Client Download Links Displayed in View Portal 12

Horizon View Client Data Collected by VMware 13

Configuring Horizon View Client for End Users 17

Using URIs to Configure Horizon View Client 18

Using the View Client Command-Line Interface and Configuration Files 21

Using FreeRDP for RDP Connections 32

Enabling FIPS Mode on the Client 33

Configuring the PCoIP Client-Side Image Cache 33

Managing Server Connections and Desktops 35

Certificate Checking Modes for Horizon View Client 37

Switch Desktops 38

Log Off or Disconnect from a Desktop 38

Roll Back a Desktop 39

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Using a Microsoft Windows Desktop on a Linux System 41

Feature Support Matrix for Linux 41

Internationalization 42

Keyboards and Monitors 42

Using the Real-Time Audio-Video Feature for Webcams and Microphones 44

Set Printing Preferences for the Virtual Printer Feature 47

Copying and Pasting Text 48

Troubleshooting Horizon View Client 49

Reset a Desktop 49

Uninstalling Horizon View Client 49

Configuring USB Redirection on the Client 51

Setting USB Configuration Properties 51

USB Device Families 55

Using VMware Horizon View Client for Linux

Using the View Client 1.5 Command-Line Option to Redirect USB Devices 56

Index 59

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Using VMware Horizon View Client for Linux

This guide, Using VMware Horizon View Client for Linux, provides information about installing and using VMware® Horizon View™ software on a Linux client system to connect to a View desktop in the datacenter.

The information in this document includes system requirements and instructions for installing and using Horizon View Client for Linux.

This information is intended for administrators who need to set up a Horizon View deployment that includes Linux client systems. The information is written for experienced system administrators who are familiar with virtual machine technology and datacenter operations.

NOTE This document pertains to the Horizon View Client for Linux that VMware makes available on Ubuntu. In addition, several VMware partners offer thin client devices for Horizon View deployments. The features that are available for each thin client device, and the operating systems supported, are determined by the vendor and model and the configuration that an enterprise chooses to use. For information about the vendors and models for thin client devices, see the VMware Compatibility Guide, available on the VMware Web site.

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Using VMware Horizon View Client for Linux

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System Requirements and

Installation 1

Client systems must meet certain hardware and software requirements. The process of installing View Client is like installing most other applications.

System Requirements on page 8

The Linux PC or laptop on which you install Horizon View Client, and the peripherals it uses, must meet certain system requirements.

System Requirements for Real-Time Audio-Video on page 9

Real-Time Audio-Video works with standard webcam, USB audio, and analog audio devices, and with standard conferencing applications like Skype, WebEx, and Google Hangouts. To support RealTime Audio-Video, your Horizon View deployment must meet certain software and hardware requirements.

Supported Desktop Operating Systems on page 10

Administrators create virtual machines with a guest operating system and install View Agent in the guest operating system. End users can log in to these virtual machines from a client device.

Requirements for Using Flash URL Redirection on page 10

Streaming Flash content directly from Adobe Media Server to client endpoints lowers the load on the datacenter ESXi host, removes the extra routing through the datacenter, and reduces the bandwidth required to simultaneously stream live video events to multiple client endpoints.

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Preparing View Connection Server for Horizon View Client on page 11

Administrators must perform specific tasks to enable end users to connect to remote desktops.

Install Horizon View Client for Linux on page 11

End users open Horizon View Client to connect to remote desktops from a physical machine. Horizon View Client for Linux runs on Ubuntu 12.04 systems, and you install it by using the Synaptic Package Manager.

Configure the View Client Download Links Displayed in View Portal on page 12

By default, when you open a browser and enter the URL of a View Connection Server instance, the portal page that appears contains links to the VMware Download site for downloading Horizon View Client. You can change the default .

Horizon View Client Data Collected by VMware on page 13

If your company participates in the customer experience improvement program, VMware collects data from certain Horizon View Client fields. Fields containing sensitive information are made anonymous.

Using VMware Horizon View Client for Linux

System Requirements

The Linux PC or laptop on which you install Horizon View Client, and the peripherals it uses, must meet certain system requirements.

NOTE These system requirements pertain to the Horizon View Client for Linux that VMware makes available on Ubuntu. In addition, several VMware partners offer thin client devices for Horizon View deployments. The features that are available for each thin client device, and the operating systems supported, are determined by the vendor and model and the configuration that an enterprise chooses to use. For information about the vendors and models for thin client devices, see the VMware Compatibility Guide, available on the VMware Web site.

Model

Memory

Operating systems

View Connection Server, Security Server, and View Agent

Display protocol for Horizon View

Screen resolution on client system

Hardware Requirements for PCoIP

Intel-based desktop or laptop computer

At least 2GB of RAM

View Client 2.0 and later: 32-bit Ubuntu Linux 12.04

View Client 1.6 and 1.7: 32-bit Ubuntu Linux 10.04 or 12.04

View Client 1.5: 32-bit Ubuntu Linux 10.04 or 10.10

Latest maintenance release of VMware View 4.6.x and later releases

If client systems connect from outside the corporate firewall, VMware recommends that you use a security server. With a security server, client systems will not require a VPN connection.

PCoIP or RDP

IMPORTANT Although Horizon View Client for Linux supports the RDP display protocol, the particular RDP client that ships with your distribution of Ubuntu might not work with Horizon View Client.

Minimum: 1024 X 768 pixels

x86-based processor with SSE2 extensions, with a 800MHz or higher

processor speed.

Available RAM above system requirements to support various monitor

setups. Use the following formula as a general guide:

20MB + (24 * (# monitors) * (monitor width) * (monitor height))

As a rough guide, you can use the following calculations:

1 monitor: 1600 x 1200: 64MB 2 monitors: 1600 x 1200: 128MB 3 monitors: 1600 x 1200: 256MB

Hardware Requirements for RDP

Software Requirements

x86-based processor with SSE2 extensions, with a 800MHz or higher

processor speed.

128MB RAM.

For Ubuntu 12.04, use rdesktop 1.7.0.

for Microsoft RDP

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For Ubuntu 10.04, use rdesktop 1.6.0.

Chapter 1 System Requirements and Installation

Software Requirements for FreeRDP

If you plan to use an RDP connection to View desktops and you would prefer to use a FreeRDP client for the connection, you must install the correct version of FreeRDP and any applicable patches. See “Install and Configure

FreeRDP,” on page 32.

System Requirements for Real-Time Audio-Video

Real-Time Audio-Video works with standard webcam, USB audio, and analog audio devices, and with standard conferencing applications like Skype, WebEx, and Google Hangouts. To support Real-Time AudioVideo, your Horizon View deployment must meet certain software and hardware requirements.

Horizon View remote desktop

Horizon View Client software

Horizon View Client computer or client access device

The desktops must have View Agent 5.2 or later installed. The desktops must also have the corresponding Remote Experience Agent installed. For example, if View Agent 5.3 is installed, you must also install the Remote Experience Agent from Horizon View 5.3 Feature Pack 1. See the VMware Horizon View Feature Pack Installation and Administration document for VMware Horizon View

Horizon View Client 2.2 for Linux or a later release. Note that this feature is available only with the version of Horizon View Client for Linux provided by third-party vendors.

Real-Time Audio-Video is supported on x86 devices. This feature is not

supported on ARM processors. The client system processor must have at least two cores.

Horizon View Client requires the following libraries:

Video4Linux2

libv4l

Pulse Audio

The plug-in file /usr/lib/pcoip/vchan_plugins/libmmredir_plugin.so has the following dependencies.:

libuuid.so.1 libv4l2.so.0 libspeex.so.1 libudev.so.0 libtheoradec.so.1 libtheoraenc.so.1 libv4lconvert.so.0 libjpeg.so.8

All of these files must be present on the client system or the Real-Time Audio-Video feature will not work. Note that these dependencies are in addition to the dependencies required for Horizon View Client itself.

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Using VMware Horizon View Client for Linux

The webcam and audio device drivers must be installed, and the

webcam and audio device must be operable, on the client computer. To support Real-Time Audio-Video, you do not have to install the device drivers on the desktop operating system where View Agent is installed.

Display protocol for Horizon View

PCoIP

Real-Time Audio-Video is not supported in RDP desktop sessions.

Supported Desktop Operating Systems

Administrators create virtual machines with a guest operating system and install View Agent in the guest operating system. End users can log in to these virtual machines from a client device.

For a list of the supported guest operating systems, see the "Supported Operating Systems for View Agent" topic in the Horizon View 4.6.x or 5.x installation documentation.

Requirements for Using Flash URL Redirection

The Flash URL redirection feature uses a JavaScript that is embedded inside a Web page by the Web page administrator. Whenever a virtual desktop user clicks on the designated URL link from within a Web page, the JavaScript intercepts and redirects the ShockWave File (SWF) from the virtual desktop session to the client endpoint. The endpoint then opens a local VMware Flash Projector outside of the virtual desktop session and plays the media stream locally.

This feature is available when used in conjunction with the correct version of VMware Horizon View Feature Pack.

Multicast support requires VMware Horizon View 5.2 Feature Pack 2 or later.

Unicast support requires VMware Horizon View 5.3 Feature Pack 1 or later.

To use this feature, you must set up your Web page and your client devices. Client systems must meet certain software requirements:

For multicast support, client systems must use Horizon View Client 2.1 or later. For unicast support,

client systems must use Horizon View Client 2.2 or later.

NOTE This feature is supported only on the version of Horizon View Client provided by partners and only on x86 thin client devices. This feature is not supported on ARM processors.

Client systems must have IP connectivity to the Adobe Web server that hosts the ShockWave File (SWF)

that initiates the multicast or unicast streaming. If needed, configure your firewall to open the appropriate ports to allow client devices to access this server.

Client systems must have the appropriate Flash plug-in installed.

a Install the libexpat.so.0 file, or verify that this file is already installed.

Ensure that the file is installed in the /usr/lib or /usr/local/lib directory.

b Install the libflashplayer.so file, or verify that this file is already installed.

Ensure that the file is installed in the appropriate Flash plug-in directory for your Linux operating system.

c Install the wget program, or verify that the program file is already installed.

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Chapter 1 System Requirements and Installation

For a list of the View desktop requirements for Flash URL redirection, and for instructions about how to configure a Web page to provide a multicast or unicast stream, see the VMware Horizon View Feature Pack Installation and Administration document.

Preparing View Connection Server for Horizon View Client

Administrators must perform specific tasks to enable end users to connect to remote desktops.

Before end users can connect to View Connection Server or a security server and access a remote desktop, you must configure certain pool settings and security settings:

If you are using a security server, as VMware recommends, verify that you are using the latest

maintenance releases of View Connection Server 4.6.x and View Security Server 4.6.x or later releases. See the VMware Horizon View Installation documentation.

If you plan to use a secure tunnel connection for client devices and if the secure connection is

configured with a DNS host name for View Connection Server or a security server, verify that the client device can resolve this DNS name.

To enable or disable the secure tunnel, in View Administrator, go to the Edit View Connection Server Settings dialog box and use the check box called Use secure tunnel connection to desktop.

Verify that a desktop pool has been created and that the user account that you plan to use is entitled to

access the remote desktop. See the topics about creating desktop pools in the VMware Horizon View Administration documentation.

To use two-factor authentication with Horizon View Client, such as RSA SecurID or RADIUS

authentication, you must enable this feature on View Connection Server. RADIUS authentication is available with View 5.1 or later View Connection Server. For more information, see the topics about two-factor authentication in the VMware Horizon View Administration documentation.

Install Horizon View Client for Linux

IMPORTANT Customers using Linux-based thin clients must contact their thin client vendor for Horizon View Client updates. Customers who have successfully built their own Linux-based endpoints and need an updated client must contact their VMware sales representative.

Prerequisites

Verify that the client system uses a supported operating system. See “System Requirements,” on page 8.

Verify that you can log in as an administrator on the client system.

If you plan to use the RDP display protocol to connect to a View desktop, verify that you have the

appropriate RDP client installed. See “System Requirements,” on page 8.

Procedure

1 On your Linux laptop or PC, enable Canonical Partners.

a From the Ubuntu menu bar, select System > Administration > Update Manager.

b Click the Settings button and supply the password for performing administrative tasks.

c In the Software Sources dialog box, click the Other Software tab and select the Canonical Partners

check box to select the archive for software that Canonical packages for their partners.

d Click Close and follow the instructions to update the package list.

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Using VMware Horizon View Client for Linux

2 Download the package from the Ubuntu Software Center, as follows.

a From the Ubuntu menu bar, select System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager

b Click Search and search for vmware.

c In the list of packages returned, select the check box next to vmware-view-client and select Mark

for Installation.

d Click Apply in the toolbar.

If your operating system is Ubuntu 12.04, the latest version of Horizon View Client is installed. If your operating system is Ubuntu 10.04, View Client for Linux 1.7 is installed.

3 To determine that installation succeeded, verify that the VMware Horizon View application icon

appears in the Applications > Internet menu.

What to do next

Start Horizon View Client and verify that you can log in to the correct virtual desktop. See “Log In to a

Remote Desktop for the First Time,” on page 35.

Configure the View Client Download Links Displayed in View Portal

The default Horizon View Client links on portal page ensure that you are directed to the latest compatible Horizon View Client installers. In some cases, however, you might want to have the links point to an internal Web server, or you might want to make specific client versions available on your own View Connection Server. You can reconfigure the page to point to a different URL.

When you make links for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows client systems, the correct operating system specific link is shown on the portal page. For example, if you browse to the portal page from a Windows system, only the link or links for Windows installers appear. You can make separate links for 32-bit and 64bit installers. You can also make links for iOS and Android systems, but these operating systems are not automatically detected, so that if you browse to the portal page from an iPad, for example, you see the links for both iOS and Android, if you created links for both.

IMPORTANT If you customize the portal page links, as described in this topic, and later install VMware Horizon View HTML Access on the server, your customized portal page is replaced by an HTML Access page. For information about customizing that page, see Using VMware Horizon View HTML Access.

Prerequisites

Download the installer files for the Horizon View Client types that you want to use in your

environment. The URL to the client download page is https://www.vmware.com/go/viewclients.

Determine which HTTP server will host the installer files. The files can reside on a View Connection

Server instance or on another HTTP server.

Procedure

1 On the HTTP server where the installer files will reside, create a folder for the installer files.

For example, to place the files in a downloads folder on the View Connection Server host, in the default installation directory, use the following path:

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware View\Server\broker\webapps\downloads

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Chapter 1 System Requirements and Installation

The links to the files would then use URLs with the format https://server-name/downloads/client-

installer-file-name. For example, a server with the name view.mycompany.com might use the following

URL for View Client for Windows: https://view.mycompany.com/downloads/VMware-Horizon-View-

Client.exe. In this example, the folder named downloads is located in the webapps root folder.

2 Copy the installer files into the folder.

If the folder resides on View Connection Server, you can replace any files in this folder without having to restart the VMware View Connection Server service.

3 On the View Connection Server machine, copy the portal-links.properties file and the

portal.properties file located in install-path\Server\Extras\PortalExamples.

4 Create a portal folder the directory C:\ProgramData\VMware\VDM, and copy the portal-

links.properties and portal.properties files into the portal folder.

5 Edit C:\ProgramData\VMware\VDM\portal\portal-links.properties file to point to the new location of

the installer files.

You can edit the lines in this file and add to them if you need to create more links. You can also delete lines.

The following examples show properties for creating two links for View Client for Windows and two links for View Client for Linux:

link.win=https://server-name/downloads/VMware-Horizon-View-Client-x86_64-y.y.y-XXXX.exe#win link.win.1=https://server-name/downloads/VMware-Horizon-View-Client-y.y.y-XXXX.exe#win link.linux=https://server-name/downloads/VMware-Horizon-View-Client-x86_64-y.y.y- XXXX.rpm#linux link.linux.1=https://server-name/downloads/VMware-Horizon-View-Client-y.y.y-XXXX.tar.gz#linux

In this example, y.y.y-XXXX indicates the version and build number. The win text at the end of the line indicates that this link should appear in the browser if the client has a Windows operating system. Use

win for Windows, linux for Linux, and mac for Mac OS X. For other operating systems, use unknown.

6 Edit C:\ProgramData\VMware\VDM\portal\portal.properties file to specify the text to display for the

links.

These lines appear in the section of the file called # keys based on key names in portal-

links.properties.

The following example shows the text that corresponds to the links specified for link.win and

link.win.1:

text.win=View Client for Windows 32 bit Client users text.win.1=View Client for Windows 64 bit Client users

7 Restart the VMware View Connection Server service.

When end users enter the URL for View Connection Server, they see links with the text you specified. The links point to the locations you specified.

Horizon View Client Data Collected by VMware

If your company participates in the customer experience improvement program, VMware collects data from certain Horizon View Client fields. Fields containing sensitive information are made anonymous.

NOTE This feature is available only if your Horizon View deployment uses View Connection Server 5.1 or later. Client information is sent for View Client 1.7 and later clients.

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Using VMware Horizon View Client for Linux

VMware collects data on the clients to prioritize hardware and software compatibility. If your company's administrator has opted to participate in the customer experience improvement program, VMware collects anonymous data about your deployment in order to improve VMware's response to customer requirements. No data that identifies your organization is collected. Horizon View Client information is sent first to View Connection Server and then on to VMware, along with data from Horizon View servers, desktop pools, and remote desktops.

Although the information is encrypted while in transit to View Connection Server, the information on the client system is logged unencrypted in a user-specific directory. The logs do not contain any personally identifiable information.

To participate in the VMware customer experience improvement program, the administrator who installs View Connection Server can opt in while running the View Connection Server installation wizard, or an administrator can set an option in View Administrator after the installation.

Table 1‑1. Data Collected from Horizon View Clients for the Customer Experience Improvement Program

Description

Company that produced the Horizon View Client application

Product name No VMware Horizon View Client

Client product version No The format is x.x.x-yyyyyy, where x.x.x is the client version

Client binary architecture No Examples include the following:

Client build name No Examples include the following:

Host operating system No Examples include the following:

Host operating system kernel No Examples include the following:

Host operating system architecture

Is This Field Made Anonymous? Example Value

No VMware

number and yyyyyy is the build number.

i386

x86_64

arm

VMware-Horizon-View-Client-Win32-Windows

VMware-Horizon-View-Client-Linux

VMware-Horizon-View-Client-iOS

VMware-Horizon-View-Client-Mac

VMware-Horizon-View-Client-Android

VMware-Horizon-View-Client-WinStore

Windows 8.1

Windows 7, 64-bit Service Pack 1 (Build 7601 )

iPhone OS 5.1.1 (9B206)

Ubuntu 10.04.4 LTS

Mac OS X 10.7.5 (11G63)

Windows 6.1.7601 SP1

Darwin Kernel Version 11.0.0: Sun Apr 8 21:52:26 PDT

2012; root:xnu-1878.11.10~1/RELEASE_ARM_S5L8945X

Darwin 11.4.2

Linux 2.6.32-44-generic #98-Ubuntu SMP Mon Sep 24

17:27:10 UTC 2012

unknown (for Windows Store)

No Examples include the following:

x86_64

i386

armv71

ARM

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Chapter 1 System Requirements and Installation

Table 1‑1. Data Collected from Horizon View Clients for the Customer Experience Improvement Program (Continued)

Is This Field Made

Description

Host system model No Examples include the following:

Host system CPU No Examples include the following:

Number of cores in the host system's processor

MB of memory on the host system No Examples include the following:

Anonymous? Example Value

Dell Inc. OptiPlex 960

iPad3,3

MacBookPro8,2

Dell Inc. Precision WorkStation T3400 (A04 03/21/2008)

Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00GH

Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GH

unknown (for iPad)

For example: 4

4096

unknown (for Windows Store)

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Using VMware Horizon View Client for Linux

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Configuring Horizon View Client for

End Users 2

Horizon View Client provides several configuration mechanisms to simplify the login and desktop selection experience for end users, and also to enforce security policies.

The following table shows some of the configuration settings that you can set in any of several ways. For many other configuration settings, you must use a particular mechanism. For example, to use the setting for Disable Toaster Notifications, you must use a Group Policy setting..

Table 2‑1. Common Configuration Settings

Setting Mechanisms for Configuring

View Connection Server address URI, Group Policy, Command Line, Windows Registry

Active Directory user name URI, Group Policy, Command Line, Windows Registry

Domain name URI, Group Policy, Command Line, Windows Registry

Desktop display name URI, Group Policy, Command Line

Window size URI, Group Policy, Command Line

Display protocol URI, Command Line

Options for redirecting USB devices URI, Group Policy, Command Line

Configuring certificate checking Group Policy, Windows Registry

Configuring SSL protocols and cryptographic algorithms

Group Policy, Windows Registry

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This chapter includes the following topics:

“Using URIs to Configure Horizon View Client,” on page 18

“Using the View Client Command-Line Interface and Configuration Files,” on page 21

“Using FreeRDP for RDP Connections,” on page 32

“Enabling FIPS Mode on the Client,” on page 33

“Configuring the PCoIP Client-Side Image Cache,” on page 33

Using VMware Horizon View Client for Linux

Using URIs to Configure Horizon View Client

Using uniform resource identifiers (URIs), you can create a Web page or an email with links that end users click to launch Horizon View Client, connect to View Connection Server, and launch a specific desktop with specific configuration options.

You can simplify the process of logging in to a remote desktop by creating Web or email links for end users. You create these links by constructing URIs that provide some or all of the following information, so that your end users do not need to supply it:

View Connection Server address

Port number for View Connection Server

Active Directory user name

Domain name

Desktop display name

Window size

Desktop actions, including reset, log off, and start session

Display protocol

To construct a URI, you use the vmware-view URI scheme with Horizon View Client specific path and query parts.

NOTE You can use URIs to launch Horizon View Client only if the client software is already installed on end users' client computers.

Syntax for Creating vmware-view URIs

Syntax includes the vmware-view URI scheme, a path part to specify the desktop, and, optionally, a query to specify desktop actions or configuration options.

VMware Horizon View URI Specification

When you create a URI, you are essentially calling vmware-view with the full View URI string as an argument.

Use the following syntax to create URIs for launching Horizon View Client:

vmware-view://[authority-part][/path-part][?query-part]

The only required element is the URI scheme, vmware-view. For some versions of some client operating systems, the scheme name is case-sensitive. Therefore, use vmware-view.

IMPORTANT In all parts, non-ASCII characters must first be encoded according to UTF-8 [STD63], and then each octet of the corresponding UTF-8 sequence must be percent-encoded to be represented as URI characters.

For information about encoding for ASCII characters, see the URL encoding reference at

http://www.utf8-chartable.de/.

authority-part

Specifies the server address and, optionally, a user name, a non-default port number, or both. Server names must conform to DNS syntax.

To specify a user name, use the following syntax:

user1@server-address

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+ 42 hidden pages

VMware Horizon View Client for Linux User Guide

Contents

Using VMware Horizon View Client for Linux

System Requirements

System Requirements for Real-Time Audio-Video

Supported Desktop Operating Systems

Requirements for Using Flash URL Redirection

Preparing View Connection Server for Horizon View Client

Install Horizon View Client for Linux

Configure the View Client Download Links Displayed in View Portal

Horizon View Client Data Collected by VMware

Using URIs to Configure Horizon View Client

Syntax for Creating vmware-view URIs