VMware Horizon (view) 7 Lab Manual

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VEPSUN TECHNOLOGIES
Lab Guide for
VMware Horizon View 7

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INDEX
Lab Description Page No.
Introduction to Horizon View 7 1
1 Installation of Connection Server 5
2 Installation of Security Server 16
3 Adding vCenter to Horizon View 24
4 RDS Farm 33
5 Create Master Desktop Template 53
6 Create Automated Desktop Pool 64
7 Installation of View Composer 75
8 Create View Composer Linked Clones 89

1 | P a g e w w w . v e p s u n . i n
HORIZON VIEW 7

Horizon View
Horizon View is the VMware VDI solution that simplifies IT
management, increases security and increases control of end-user access
while decreasing costs by centrally delivering desktop services from your
cloud. Horizon View enables highly available, scalable, secure and reliable
desktop services unmatched by physical PCs. Delivering the highest-fidelity
performance and user experience across locations, Horizon View with PC
over IP(PCoIP) gives users a rich, personalized desktop for access to data, applications, unified
communications and 3D graphics.
Horizon 6 Editions
VMware VDI (Horizon View) – Components
There are various components of Horizon View. Everything works together to provide perfect
VMware VDI solution.
vCenter Server: acts as a central administrator for ESX/ESXi hosts that are connected on a
network. A vCenter Server provides the central point for configuring, provisioning, and
managing virtual machines in the datacenter. VMware Horizon View connection server
interacts with vSphere environment via vCenter server’s web services. You must have vCenter
in the network to deploy virtual desktops using VMware Horizon 6.
View Connection Server: a software service that acts as a broker for client connections and
authenticate users via Active Directory and then directing incoming user requests to the
appropriate virtual desktop, physical desktop, or terminal server. It provides web-based View
administrator portal to manage the entire VMware VDI (View) infrastructure.
View Replica Server: View Replica server can be deployed to provide high availability and load
balancing for View connection server. you can install one or more additional instances of View
Connection Server that replicate an existing View Connection Server instance. After a replica
installation, the existing and newly installed instances of View Connection Server are identical.

View Security Server: View Security server allows external users to access their virtual desktop
in the organization internal network from the Internet. The Security server is installed on
Windows Server and placed on DMZ network.
View Composer: VMware View Composer will be installed on a vCenter server to allow View
to rapidly deploy multiple linked-clone desktops from a single centralized base image. This
clone is based on parent virtual machine. View Composer reduces the disk space required for
virtual machines.
View Composer can be installed on a standalone
system or on the vCenter Server system.
View Composer has the following features:
• Uses linked-clone technology:
• Disk savings.
• Supports tiered storage.
• Image separation:
• Shared operating system disk replicates
changes quickly across dependent virtual
machines.
• Persistent user data disk retains user-
specific data.
• QuickPrep or Sysprep for user
personalization
View Agent: View Agent will be installed on all guest virtual machines, physical systems, or
terminal servers to allow them to be managed by View and deliver as a desktop as part of
VMware VDI solution. The agent provides features such as connection monitoring, Virtual
Printing, USB support, and single sign-on.

VMware View Client: VMware View client is the client which is installed on end users’ desktops
or laptops. View client communicates with View Connection Server to allow users to connect
to their desktops. The View Client can be installed on Windows, Max OSX, Linux open client
and thin clients.
View Persona Management: View Persona Management preserves user profiles and
dynamically synchronizes them with a remote profile repository. Persona Management
downloads only the files that Windows requires at login, such as user registry files. When the
user or application opens other files from the desktop profile folder, these files are copied
from the stored user persona to the View desktop. This algorithm provides performance
beyond that achieved with Windows roaming profiles.
VMware ThinApp: – ThinApp is application virtualization solution from VMware. It is an
optional component in VMware VDI infrastructure. ThinApp can execute applications without
them being installed in the traditional sense by virtualizing resources such as environment
variables, files and Windows Registry keys
Remote Desktop Services Hosts: An RDS host can be virtual or physical server that hosts
applications and desktop sessions for remote access. In View, an RDS host is a server that has
the Microsoft Remote Desktop Services role, the Microsoft Remote Desktop Session Host
service, and View Agent installed. Remote Desktop Services was previously known as Terminal
Services. The Remote Desktop Session Host service allows a server to host applications and
remote desktop sessions. With View Agent installed on an RDS host, users can connect to
applications and desktop sessions by using the display protocol PCoIP. PCoIP provides an
optimized user experience for the delivery of remote content, including images, audio and
video.
AppVolume: App Volumes is the VMware application layering product for virtual machines
(VMs). App Volumes refers
to its application layers as
App Stacks. These are
virtual disks, either VMDK
or VHD, that contain
everything needed to run
the application, such as
executables and Registry
keys. Unlike ThinApp
packages, App Stacks
aren't containerized or run
in isolation, and the App
Volumes agent is
responsible for merging
the contents of the App
Stacks with the file system
and Windows Registry.

Lab 1
INSTALLATION OF CONNECTION SERVER

Lab 1: Installing the Connection Server
Hardware:
• Dedicated physical or virtual machine:
– Minimum Pentium IV 2.0 GHz processor or higher
– Four CPUs recommended
• Memory:
– Minimum 4 GB RAM or higher
– At least 10 GB for 50 or more remote desktops
• Network adapter:
– Minimum 100 Mbps NIC
– 1 Gbps recommended
Operating systems, all 64-bit:
• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Standard/Enterprise/Datacenter Editions
• Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard/Datacenter Editions
Pre-requisites:
• A supported version of vSphere:
– vSphere 6.0, vSphere 6.0 U1
– vSphere 5.5 U1/U2/U3, vSphere 5.1 U1/U2/U3, or vSphere 5.0
U1/U2/U3
• At least one VMware ESXi™ host:
– VMware Virtual SAN™ requires a minimum of three hosts.
• At least one VMware vCenter Server™ instance.
• Host systems that are running View Connection Server must be members of
an Active Directory (AD) domain supported by one of the following domain
services:
– Windows Server 2003 AD
– Windows Server 2008 AD or Windows Server 2008 R2 AD
– Windows Server 2012 AD or Windows Server 2012 R2 AD
• Customization specifications that join clones of virtual machines to the AD
domain.
• View Composer, if linked-clone desktops are to be deployed.
• A valid license key for View.
Firewall Ports
The installation program can configure the required Windows firewall rules for you:
TCP 80 in for HTTP TCP 443 in for HTTPS
TCP 3389 TCP 4001 in for JMS
TCP 4002 in for JMS TCP 4100 in for JMSIR
TCP 4101 in for JMSIR TCP 4172 in for PCoIP
UDP 4172 in and out for PCoIP TCP 8009 in for AJP13
TCP 8443 for HTML Access (used only in security server configurations)
TCP 8472, 22389, and 22636 for the Cloud Pod Architecture feature

Login to the server you have designated to be the Connection Server.
Launch the installer

Click Next.

The EULA must be accepted to continue. Click Next
Change the installation directory if applicable. Click Next

Select the Horizon 7 Standard Server, check the box labeled Install HTML access (HTML access
uses the Blast Protocol to enable access to your View resources straight from a web browser),
select your network protocol (IPv4) then click Next:
Enter a password for the backups that View creates. Click Next:

Ensure the listed firewall ports are open. Click Next:
Give the account details for the administrator account. Click Next:

Check the box if you wish to participate in the User Experience Improvement Program.
Click Next:
Click Install

Wait for the installation to happen.
Once complete click Finish

You can also open a browser and access the Administrator Console by going to:
https://{FQDN of Connection Server or IP Address}/admin
Login using an account that has permissions given during the installation.
Welcome to the Horizon View 7 Administrator Console! You will perform all View setup and
administration from here. To create the pairing password, go to Servers -> Connection
Servers tab -> More Commands -> Specify Security Server Pairing Password…

On the pop up window, enter a password and select a timeout period then click Ok

Lab 2
INSTALLATION OF SECURITY SERVER

Lab 2: Installing the Security Server
Now, login to the server you designed as the Security Server instance and launch the same
installer that was used for the Connection Server

Click Next.
Accept the License and click Next.

Give the destination and click Next.
On the Installation Options screen select the Horizon 7 Security Server option, select your
network protocol (IPv4) then click Next:

Enter the hostname or IP address of your Connection Server then click Next
Enter the pairing password you created above. Click Next

You can leave this default, we will edit this at a later step. Click Next
Ensure the listed firewall ports are open. Click Next

Click Install

Once the installation is done, click Finish.
Under Servers -> Security Servers tab you will now see your Security Server that is paired to
your Connection Server

Lab 3
ADDING VCENTER TO HORIZON VIEW

Lab 3: Adding vCenter to Horizon View
To add vCenter go to Servers -> vCenter Servers -> Add
On the pop up window, enter your vCenter information then click Next

If you are still using unsigned certificates you will get the following popup. Click View
Certificate and click Accept.
Click Next As of now select the Do not use View composer and we’ll be configuring the view
composer in the next lab.

Instant Clones requires Storage Accelerator be enabled. Click Next
Click Finish

Your vCenter server should now be populated
Add License to View:
To license View, click Product Licensing and Usage -> Edit License

Enter your product key then click OK
View is now licensed
Create Events Database
Horizon View uses the events database as a repository to store logging information such as
user connections. Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle database servers are supported. For our
environment, we will be using SQL Server 2012. This step can be skipped if you do not want
to log these events

First, we need to create the database. Login to your SQL server, launch the SQL Server
Management Studio, right click Database then click New Database
Give the database a name

Switch back over to the View Administrator Console, drill down to View Configuration -
> Event Configuration -> then click Edit
Enter the FQDN/IP Address of your SQL Server, Database Name, and the Login created from
above.
You would enter something in the Table Prefix if you were going to have multiple instances
of View talking to the same database.
Click Ok

The Event Database section should now be populated if the details you entered were correct.
You can edit the Events Settings to change the time settings, but I left them default
Browse to Monitoring -> Events. Here you will find a summary of recently added events

Lab 4
RDS FARM

Lab 4: RDS Farm
To publish remote applications, you may need an RDS Server. Get the help of Windows
Administrators to configure the RDS Server.
In the same server, install the view agent.

Click Next.

Accept the License and click Next.
Select IPv4 and click Next.

Select the required components and click Next.
Give the FQDN/IP of the connection server.

Click Install.

Once the installation is done, click Finish.
Click Yes to initiate the reboot.

Login to the View Admin portal and click Farms under Resources. Click Add.
Select Manual Farm and click Next.

Give a name to the Farm and verify the settings of the Farm. Click Next.
Select the RDS Server.

Review the settings and click Finish.
Farms will be populated.

Goto Application Pools and click Add.
It displays the applications which are published in the RDS Server.

Select the Entitle Users after this wizard finishes Click Finish.
A wizard pops up. Select Add in that.

Mention the users to access the applications.

Access the application
View Client
Open the browser and open the following URL.
https://fqdn/IP_of_connection_server
Accept the certificate.

Click Install VMware Horizon Client to download the Horizon Client.
Open the application and click Add Server.

Give the FQDN/IP of the Connection Server.
Click Continue to accept the license.

Give the user details.
Click the application.

The application will be launched.
Mobile Application
Horizon application is available in Google Play store and iTunes where you can connect to
the server and access the applications.

Web Client
Select VMware Horizon HTML Access
Login with the credentials.

Your applications will show up.
Double-click the application to launch it.

Lab 5
CREATE MASTER DESKTOP TEMPLATE

Lab 5: Create Master Desktop Template
Create a VM which would be used for the master template for the remote desktop.
When creating the VM shell ensure you have the required settings.
Enable Memory and CPU Hot Add

Remove unwanted devices like floppy drive.

Install the OS and don’t forget to install the VMTools.

OS Optimization Tool
For best performance, OS optimization must be carried out.
VMware OS optimization tool can be downloaded at
https://labs.vmware.com/flings/vmware-os-optimization-tool#src=vmw_so_vex_dbori_1255
Once launched scroll through the list and tweak the settings how you want the template to
be in your environment. Click Optimize.

Wait for the Optimization to complete.
Install Horizon View Agent:
After the optimization is done, open the Horizon View Agent. Click Next.

Accept the License.
Select IPv4 and click Next.

Make sure the Instant Clone feature is installed instead of View Composer.
Select Enable the Remote Desktop capacity on this computer and click Next.

Click Install.
After it is done, click Finish.

Click Yes to initialize the reboot.
After the reboot, Shutdown the VM.

Convert that VM to template.

Lab 6
CREATE AUTOMATED DESKTOP POOL

Lab 6: Create Automated Desktop Pool
To create a desktop pool login to the View Administrator Console, drill down to Catalog->
Desktop Pools -> then click Add
Let’s create an Automated Desktop Pool. Click Next
Dedicated means a user is assigned to a single workstation and does not float around.
Floating lets users connect to a random workstation in the pool every time they connect.

Here we are going to use Dedicated with Enable automatic assignment
Full Virtual Desktops: Machines are deployed as 1 to 1, meaning if the template is 40 GB then
each desktop deployed with be 40 GB.
View Composer Linked Clones: Here starts VMware magic, in this series I did not setup a
Composer server as I opted to go the new technology in View 7 called Instant Clone.
Instant Clone: A master desktop is deployed then each workstation thereafter is a spawn off
the master which significantly reduces disk space and deployment times.
We will be using Full virtual machines, click Next

Give the pool a ID and Display Name. Click Next
The default settings should satisfy the majority of your desktop pools. Click Next
Enter a naming pattern of the workstations. In my example I used VDI-{n:fixed=2}. This
naming pattern will do a number sequence starting at 01 and works its way up. Example:
VDI-01 , VDI-02, etc

Click Next.
Click Next.

Click Browse and select each of the settings it wants to know.
Once finished click Next
Click Next

Click Next
Check the box to Entitle users after this wizard. Click Finish
On the Entitlement popup, click Add. Try adding an Active Directory group with multiple
users so you can see how the Automatic Assignment work.

Once added click Close
Now there will be 2 workstations in the pool with a status of provisioning.

If you switch over to vCenter you should see Clone virtual machines tasks for each
workstation being provisioned
Once the workstations finish deploying and running through their customization script they
should appear as Available

Launch the Horizon Client and you should see the desktop pool we created. Double click it
to launch

A desktop will launch! If you look in the Administrator Console you will see it automatically
assigned a workstation to you and how’s Connected

Lab 7
INSTALLATION OF VIEW COMPOSER

Lab 7: Installation of View Composer
Create a Database for the View Composer.

Open the Server which is dedicated for the View Composer Server. Install the View
Composer package.

Click Next.
Accept the license.

Select the location for the installation and click Next.
Select ODBC DSN Setup to create an ODBC connection.

Create an SQL Native Client ODBC connectivity.

Click Next.

Click Install.

Click Finish.
Click Yes to initialize the reboot.

Login to the Horizon Admin portal and edit the vCenter server.
Click Edit.

Select Standalone View Composer Server and provide the details.
Click Verify Server Information.

Click Add
Give the details for the domain

Click OK.
A popup windows will show up warning you about the certificate. Click View certificate.

Click Accept.
You might notice the icon color change of the vCenter server.

Lab 8
CREATE VIEW COMPOSER LINKED CLONES

Lab 8: Create View Composer Linked Clones
Goto Desktop Pools and click Add.
Select Automated Desktop Pool and click Next.

Select Dedicated and click Next.
Select View Composer Lined Clones and click Next.

Give a name to the Pool and click Next.
Review the settings and click Next.

Give a naming pattern and click Next.
Click Next.

Click Next.
Give the vCenter Details.

Select the Template.
Select the snapshot

After providing all details, click Next.
Click Next.

Click Next.
Entitle users and click Finish.

Click Add to add the users.

Now a Desktop Pool will be created.
VMs will start provisioning and will be available to connect.

VMware Horizon (view) 7 Lab Manual

VMware Horizon (view) 7 Lab Manual

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