Training module 4 Configuration of VMware View · PDF fileTraining module 4 for End User Computing Training – Summer 2011 1 Created by Jonas Jansson vSpecialist Technical EMEA North

Training module 4 for End User Computing Training – Summer 2011

1 Created by Jonas Jansson

vSpecialist Technical EMEA North [email protected]

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Training module 4 – Configuration of VMware View

In this fourth module we’ll configure VMware View and create a few virtual desktops in our VDI

environment. We’ll also look at the different settings we can do to make sure our environment runs

smoothly.




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Configuration of VMware View

Configuration of the Event Database First we’ll configure the Event Database, so we can make sure we have some logs readily available from

the VMware View administration interface. This part is completely optional, but it’ll definitely help if you

need to troubleshoot the environment. The Event Database needs either an MSSQL or Oracle database,

and for this module we’ll use the MSSQL database instance that we already have up and running on our

vCenter Server.

1. Create a new database for the Event Database service, using the vCenter database instance, call

it ViewEvents




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2. Create a database user for this database, for example username ViewEvents, password view2011.

Make sure the “Enforce password policy” is unchecked otherwise you’ll not be able to use “easy”

passwords . Change the default database to ViewEvents.




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3. Edit the database properties of the ViewEvents database, make sure the new user ViewEvents is

the owner of the database




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4. Make sure that the SQL Server TCP/IP port is correctly configured using the SQL Server

Configuration Manager. Restart the SQL Service if needed after this configuration.




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5. Go back to the VMware View administration web GUI. Under “View Configuration/Event

Configuration”, choose “Edit…”




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6. Fill in the correct values, such as the ones stated in the picture




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7. Verify that the Event Database works by looking at the settings and at “Monitoring/Events”. You

should see at least one event.




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Configuration of Virtual Desktop Pools To be able to create a virtual desktop we first need to create a Virtual Desktop Pool. There are different

types of pools, but we will choose the Automatic Pool as this is the one used mostly in VMware View

environments, and it suits the lab setup really well. You can read more about the different types of pools

in the Administration Guide (https://www.vmware.com/pdf/view-46-administration.pdf).

1. Go to “Inventory/Pools”, click “Add…”

https://www.vmware.com/pdf/view-46-administration.pdf




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2. Choose “Automated Pool”. You’ll see that it will use View Composer (green checkmark next to it),

which we installed previously.




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3. Choose “Dedicated”, as we want each user to connect to their own computer every time.

Enabling automatic assignment will ensure that each user will be assigned a virtual desktop

automatically on first sign-in. “Floating” desktops are great to use in a student lab environment,

libraries or kiosks. If you want to show both types of pools, create another pool after this one

and make it floating.




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4. We want to make sure we’ll use “Linked Clones” to save space and make the entire VDI

environment more storage efficient.




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5. Give the Pool an ID and a Display name of your choice. The ID for a pool needs to be unique, but

the Display name does not. The Display name is the name that will be shown when logging in

using the View Client.




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6. You can choose the settings you’d like here, but I highly suggest you keep the defaults for most

parts for your lab, perhaps only increase the number of monitors and the maximum resolution.




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7. If you’re using Folder redirection and roaming profiles in your domain all the user data should

already be saved on a central network share. Do not redirect any data to any other disk if this is

the case. If you do not have a proper network share set up for this lab environment, you can use

Persistent Disks to keep user data on a separate disk. This will mae sure that the user data is

intact in case of any reconfigurations of the virtual desktop. For this lab setup we won’t be using

Disposable File Redirection either, so keep that unchecked.




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8. Choose a name for your desktop, for instance <yourname>view-{n}. The {n} will make sure that

the virtual desktops will be named view-1, view-2, view-3 and so on. If you’d like to have a fixed

length of your numbers, for instance 3 numbers, you can choose to name them <yourname>-

view-{n:fixed=3} which would give you a virtual desktop computer name such as “jonas-view-

001”. When choosing the numbers of desktops, you can for example choose a maximum of 5

desktops, with 2 spare and a minimum of 1.




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9. Choose the Windows 7 Base Image that we created before and also choose the latest snapshot.

If there’s no Virtual Machine Folder for you to choose, create a new one in vCenter before going

further. Specify which ESXi-host or cluster the VM should be run on.




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10. For the datastores, I will show you how to use two different datastores for your virtual desktop

environment. One for the replicas, and one for the VMs. This is where you could utilize faster

drives such as Enterprise Flash Drives for replicas. If you don’t have two different datastores for

storing your virtual desktops, just uncheck the “Use different…” checkbox and you can use one

datastore to store both replicas and linked clones.




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11. When adding the virtual desktops to the domain, if there’s a specific AD-container

(Organizational Unit) for desktops choose that one otherwise leave the setting to the defaults.

The container is where the virtual machines will be added to the Active Directory. I highly

recommend creating an OU specifically for virtual desktops if possible, that way you can have

different Group Policies for just those desktops and not disturb the rest of your environment.




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12. Look through the summary and click “Finish” if you think that everything is set correctly. Your

virtual machines will start deploying in a short while.




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13. Grab a coffee, preferably a large cup of proper strong Swedish blend , and wait until your new

virtual desktops are provisioned. Wait until they are marked “Available” in the View

Administration GUI.




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14. Now, to make sure you’re able to log in to your desktop you need to add an “Entitlement…” for

yourself or for your AD-group. Click “Entitlements” after you choose your Desktop pool and add

the users and groups that should get access to these virtual desktops.




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Your Virtual Desktop Pool is ready for use!




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Connecting to your Virtual Desktop

1. Open your View client and log in to your View Connection server




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2. Choose your new desktop and connect




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3. Enjoy the experience

Documents

Training module 4 Configuration of VMware View · PDF fileTraining module 4 for End User Computing Training – Summer 2011 1 Created by Jonas Jansson vSpecialist Technical EMEA North