Create a Writable Volume

You can create Writable Volumes for computers and users to store user-specific data such as applications installed by a user, application settings, user profile, configuration settings, and licensing information.

About this task

You can create one Writable Volume per user or computer. The Writable Volume can migrate with the user. If you create a Writable Volume for a specific computer, you can reassign it to other computers.

Prerequisites

The account that you use to log in to the App Volumes Manager must have read access to the domains that you use with App Volumes, and these domains must be configured with two-way trust. See User Accounts and Credentials for details.

Procedure

From the App Volumes Manager console, select Volumes > Writables > Create Writable.
Select an option for searching the Active Directory domains.
- From the Domain drop-down menu, select an Active Directory domain that is configured with App Volumes.
- Select the Search all domains in the Active Directory forest check box to search the entire Active Directory forest.
  
  Note:
  Searching all domains in the forest might result in slow performance.
In the Search Active Directory text box, enter a search string to locate the entity to which you want to assign the Writable Volume.

You can search for individual users, computers, groups, or OUs. User Principal Name string searches (search_term@domain.local) and Down-Level Logon Name string searches (domain\search_string) are supported.
Click Search.

A list of search results appears.

Note:
If you are unable to locate the entity that you need, this might be because your account might not have read access to the domains where you search, or the domains are not configured with two-way trust.
Select the check box on the left of the entity for which you want to create Writable Volumes.

If you select a group or OU, individual Writable Volumes are created for each member of that group or OU. Group membership is discovered by using recursion, meaning that users and computers in subgroups also receive volumes. However, when creating Writable Volumes for OUs, groups are not recursed.
Select either the default datastore or a different datastore for the Destination Storage.

The default datastore is the datastore that you configured for storing the Writable Volumes.

If you select a different datastore, verify that you have the Writable Volumes templates on that datastore in the cloudvolumes/writable_templates folder.
Select the Destination Path.
Select a template for the new Writable Volume.

Configure the advanced options for the Writable Volume.

Option	Description
Prevent user login if the writable is in use on another computer	Ensure that the user does not log in to a computer to which their Writable Volume is not attached, because their local profile might interfere with their profile on the Writable Volume. This option is best used to protect users from logging in to persistent desktops without their Writable Volume. It is not needed when using non-persistent pools, because the computer is reverted to a clean snapshot before use.
Limit the attachment of users writables to specific computers	Enter the prefix to a computer name. When you provide such a prefix, the Writable Volume is attached only to a computer with a name that begins with the prefix. Use this setting for users who do not need to access their Writable Volume on all computers that they use. Additionally, some users might need separate Writable Volumes that are only attached to specific computers. For example, a user that has two Writable Volumes, one limited to Win7-Dev and another limited to Win7-Test. When the user logs in to the computer named Win7-Dev-021, the user gets the first volume. When the user logs in to Win7-Testing, the user gets the second volume. If the user logs in to Win2012R2, no Writable Volume is attached.
Delay writable creation for group/OU members until they log in	Delay the creation of Writable Volumes for group and OU members until their next login. This option only affects groups and OUs. Users and computer entities that were directly selected have their volumes created immediately. Use this option when you select a group or an OU. Often these containers can have hundreds or thousands of members. This can be problematic because creating many volumes at the same time might take a long time. Some members might not need a Writable Volume.

Option

Description

Prevent user login if the writable is in use on another computer

Ensure that the user does not log in to a computer to which their Writable Volume is not attached, because their local profile might interfere with their profile on the Writable Volume.

This option is best used to protect users from logging in to persistent desktops without their Writable Volume. It is not needed when using non-persistent pools, because the computer is reverted to a clean snapshot before use.

Limit the attachment of users writables to specific computers

Enter the prefix to a computer name. When you provide such a prefix, the Writable Volume is attached only to a computer with a name that begins with the prefix.

Use this setting for users who do not need to access their Writable Volume on all computers that they use. Additionally, some users might need separate Writable Volumes that are only attached to specific computers.

For example, a user that has two Writable Volumes, one limited to Win7-Dev and another limited to Win7-Test. When the user logs in to the computer named Win7-Dev-021, the user gets the first volume. When the user logs in to Win7-Testing, the user gets the second volume. If the user logs in to Win2012R2, no Writable Volume is attached.

Delay writable creation for group/OU members until they log in

Delay the creation of Writable Volumes for group and OU members until their next login. This option only affects groups and OUs. Users and computer entities that were directly selected have their volumes created immediately.

Use this option when you select a group or an OU. Often these containers can have hundreds or thousands of members. This can be problematic because creating many volumes at the same time might take a long time. Some members might not need a Writable Volume.

Click Create.