Discover VMware Horizon – Part 1

Horizon VMware

As I have been asked for a potential project with VMware Horizon technologies and I did not upgrade my knowledge since few years, I decided to have a look and test an implementation.

Here after is a step-by-step guide to implement VMware Horizon 7.7

Connection Server

The first component I have installed is the Connection Server.

I started with a Windows Server 2019 Template domain-joined.

After downloading the source from VMware web site, just launch the setup

  • Click on Next
  • Accept the license agreement and click on Next
  • Change or keep the Destination Folder and click on Next
  • Keep or change the Installation Options and click on Next
  • Enter twice the Data Recovery password, optionally a reminder and click on Next
  • You can keep the default option and click on Next
  • If you server is domain-joined, it’s a best practice to create an AD Security Group and select it for Horizon Administrators. Click on Next
  • If you want to help VMware with CEIP, which is always for an Editor, provide information and click on Next
  • Click on Install
  • At the end of the installation click on Finish

Security Server pre-requisites

Before installing the security server, we must create a pairing password.

Tip: I had to install Chrome to access the Console, in fact it was not working with Internet Explorer, need to figure-out why …

  • Open Horizon 7 Administration Console
  • Log on the Web Console
  • Click on Servers
  • Click on Connection Servers
  • Select the server, click on More Commands > Specify Security Server Pairing Password…
  • Provide a pairing password and a timeout (this is my own lab and security is not a big deal, so I selected here 8 hours for timeout, do not do that in Production). Click on OK

Security Server

  • Log on the server
  • Launch the Setup
  • Click on Next
  • Accept the license agreement and click on Next
  • Change or keep the Destination Folder and click on Next
  • Select Horizon 7 Security Server and click on Next
  • Provide the name of the Connection Server and click on Next
  • Provide the pairing password created earlier and click on Next
  • Keep the default, as it can be changed later, and click on Next
  • You can keep the default option and click on Next
  • Click on Install
  • At the end of the installation click on Finish

Installation Validation

  • On the Connection Server, click on Security Servers tab
  • The Security Server is listed with the Connection Server

Initial Configuration

Add vCenter

  • Click on vCenter Servers Tab
  • Click on Add…
  • Provide vCenter information and click on Next
  • If you have the above warning, click on View Certificate
  • Click on Accept
  • As I want to keep it simple, I will discover View Composer later, just click on Next. So I will use Instant Clones
  • Keep the proposed settings (Instant Clones require Storage Accelerator) and click on Next
  • Click on Finish

Add License

  • Click on Product Licensing and Usage
  • Click on Edit License…
  • Provide your License serial number and click on OK
  • After license validation, your license appear in the console

Note: As this is a test/discover environment, I will not change SSL Certificate and setup the Event Database.

As I do not want the article to be too long to read, I will stop here.

The part 2 will follow soon with the remaining steps for configuration

Stay tuned…