When you have to configure your firewall policies for a VMware View environment it’s sometimes a little bit hard to find a simple overview of all the necessary ports and firewall settings.

To help you doing your job, I provide you here a comprehensive overview of all important communication flows of such an implementation.

This documents is a consolidated aggregation of the information you can find in the following documents:

• VMware View Architecture Planning Guide (View 4.6)
• KB1012382 – TCP and UDP Ports required to access vCenter Server, ESX hosts and other network components

Perimeter Firewall Rules

DMZ Firewall Rules

Connection Server Rules

Transfer Server Rules

View Agent Rules

View Client Rules (internal / without using Security Server)

View Client Rules (external / using Security Server)

HTTP and HTTPS-Traffic can be proxied on the application layer.

Every other protocol should only be proxied using a transparent TCP-/UDP-Proxy.

There are several ways of installing the VMware View Client for Windows on a Windows based device. You can install the client software manually by first downloading it from the VMware View Server web interface and then starting the installation from your desktop, you can install the client silently with MSI command line parameters or you can deploy the client with your software deployment solution. As described in the VMware View Installation Guide 4.6 chapter 09 on page 103 you can use parameters to modify the MSI settings for the installation package which is still an EXE file. You may wonder if that works with your deployment software.

If not, you could try to directly deploy the MSI file. The next steps show you how to access the content of the VMware View Client EXE installer file.First of all download the latest version of the client from your View Connection Server by accessing the web interface. Then start the installation on a Windows desktop. In the background the installer will extract the MSI file and some CAB archives into the temporary directory on your Windows box. When the installation wizard comes up and is ready to begin please open the temporary folder in the Windows Explorer. The easiest way of doing that is using the Run dialog/search field in the startmenu. Just type %temp% here, press enter and it will take you on the right folder.

In there look for a folder whose name is starting with a bracket like seen in the last screenshot. There should be three folders created by the View Client Installer so please take a look at all of them to find the right one. If so you’ll find a VMware View Client.MSI file and some *.cab files. Here we you!

*Kudos go to some colleagues having this conversation on a mailing-list.

Isn’t that great! The VMware View iPad Client 1.0 is still number one in the Apple AppStore. Loads of users already shared their great feedback through the rating function. If you’re using the client on your iPad and you like it please do also share your feedback with VMware.

The View Client for the iPad was released last week by VMware with a huge buzz on all social media platforms. I’ve had the chance to test it in several circumstances and I’m really happy. It works pretty well and the PCoIP performance was always good enough to watch video streams or just work with my virtual desktop hosted at Terremark.. Today I’ve checked the VGA Out option for the first time. This is just awesome! The iPad screen is mirrored on the monitor and gives you the opportunity to give Powerpoint presentations from your virtual desktops running in the datacenter. Unfortunately I’ve no iPad with 3G option what means that I’ve a huge demand for an iPad 2.

Maybe you’ve already seen it but I just noticed now. If you open the Windows Startmenu and you click on the little arrow on the right side of the View Client option, you can easily access the last used servers and desktops. I really like that!

Some customers have reported issues with the VMware View Client connecting to a Windows 7 Desktop after installing a specific Microsoft Patch. In the VMware Knowledge Base you’ll find the resolution for this issue. Check the article 1034262. The problem occurs after installing one of these Microsoft patches, 2482017 or 2467023.

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.

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Back in August 2009 Devon IT released the VDI Blaster software to help companies to repurpose personal computers into thin clients. The new version 1.1 now supports VMware View 4 and the PC-over-IP (PCoIP) protocol which gives users a true PC like experience, including multimedia. The new version also includes the ability to boot the VDI blaster software from a USB key or a CD-ROM in addition to the network installation.

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Nice article on Peterro.com is showing how to install a VMware View Open Client for OSX. There are two know issues, one with the sound redirection and one with the Alt-F4 keyboard Combination but it’s worth to give it a try!

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VMware just released the Version 3.1.1, a new maintenance release of VMware View. You’ll find the details on the VMware View web site.

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