Archive for the ‘Active Directory’ Category
Location based Printing in View 4.5
A great enhancement in VMware View 4.5 is the Location based Printing feature. With Location based Printing you can always print on a network printer, which is located nearest to you. The feature can be enabled via a Microsoft Windows Group Policy option and is computer specific. The functionality is relatively easy. There is a translation table which contains rules e.g. Map printer NP54621 if the client’s IP address is in the range 192.168.178.10-192.168.178.40. If the user logs on from a client device which is in the given IP address range, the network printer will automatically be mapped into the virtual desktop session. This is great for people who often change their workplace as seen in the healthcare or financial areas but there are a lot more good use cases for that.
Kiosk Mode and automated USB redirection
VDI can be used for several use cases including call centres, standard workplaces, high security desktops and much more. With VMware View 4.5 you can also use your virtual desktops for kiosk mode purposes. The most popular kiosk mode use case is a Internet surf station but you could also think about other self service terminals like the ticket machines at the airport. The kiosk mode can be fully automated that it directly connects to the View broker and the desktop when the end users device is turned on. The authentication is done via MAC address verification.
Registering ThinApp applications using thinreg.exe
The flexibility of VDI can be enhanced when using virtualized applications on the virtual desktops. With VMware ThinApp you can install or stream virtual applications to the virtual desktop when the user needs them. Installing the application means that the ThinApp container will be deployed to the machine in a MSI package. When installing the MSI the application will be registered in the Add/Remove software dialog in the control panel and when configured in the package.ini before, the shortcuts on desktop and start menu will be created and also the file type extension will be registered.
Roaming Profiles used virtual but not local
Yesterday a customer asked me how to use Windows roaming profiles just on the virtual desktops and not on the local desktops from which the user is connecting. Those local desktops are also a member of the Active Directory and the connecting user has a profile path configured in his user setting within the Active Directory.
How to use Novell with VMware View
Since VMware View does only support Microsoft Active Directory Service as directory service, Novell eDirectory users need another way to get their environment working with the VMware virtual desktop infrastructure. First of all you will definitely need an Active Directory to integrate the View Manager with so that the users can logon and get authenticated. To get the users from the eDirectory in sync with the Active Directory you should use the standard Novell tools.
Novell and View
Running Novell eDirectory with view is problematic and not supported. However here is how you do it if you feel so inclined. I would like to thank a very good customer of mine, Carl Hooker for helping me solve this riddle in his environment.
Hiding drives on the virtual desktop
Recently I wrote an article about the handling of client mapped drives when using VMware View. RDP supports the redirection of the clients drives which will be forwarded to the virtual client and shown as network drives. With an GPO template which is included in View or the default Active Directory policy you can control this mapping. But what if the drive is a local drive like the OS disk in a automated linked clone pool?
View VM naming pattern
The hostname naming conventions in companies are very different and mostly the come from the early days of IT. In banks for example often they are using a prefix or suffix with an increasing number. With VMware View it’s possible to use naming patterns to customize the hostname. By default the prefix can be up to 13 characters in length and some numeric suffix is appended to that in order to distinguish each desktop from others in the pool.
Easily managing Server/Client/Agent option with GPO’s
When browsing the file system on the View connection server you’ll find four ADM files in the server’s program files directory: C:\Program Files\VMware View\Server\Extras\GroupPolicyFiles. With those files you can easily manage the View Server, View Client and View agent configuration settings.
Quickprep OU configuration
With VMware View 3 and the View Composer it is possible to create automated desktop pools using the linked clone technology and saving storage through that. Within the configuration you can directly set an organizational unit in the Active Directory for the desktops in the automated desktop pool.
