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

Prerequisites

  • Your account must have read access to the domains that you use with App Volumes, and the domains must be configured with two-way trust. See the User Accounts and Credentials section in the VMware App Volumes Installation guide for more information.

  • Important:

    If you are creating a Writable Volume for a group or OU, sync the users in the group or OU so that any changes to group or OU membership for the user are reflected in the App Volumes database. Go to DIRECTORY > Users and click Sync to see the updated list of users.

Procedure

  1. From the App Volumes Manager console, select Volumes > Writables > Create Writable.
  2. From the Domain drop-down menu, select a domain that is configured with App Volumes.
  3. Enter a search string in the Search Active Directory text box domain 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 ([email protected]) and Down-Level Logon Name string searches (domain\search_string) are supported. You can filter your search query by Contains, Begins, Ends, or Equals.

    1. (Optional) Select the Search all domains in the Active Directory forest check box to search the entire Active Directory forest.
  4. Click Search.

    Searching all domains in the forest might result in slow performance.

    If you are unable to locate the entity that you want, it your account might not have read access to the domains you are searching, or the domains are not configured with two-way trust.

  5. Select the entity for which you want to create the Writable Volume.

    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.

  6. Enter the following information:

    Option

    Description

    Destination Storage

    Select either the default datastore or a different datastore. The default datastore is the one 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.

    Destination Path

    The default path is <varname>/cloudvolumes/writable.

    Source Template

    Select a source template from the drop-down menu for the new Writable Volume:

    • UIA only - Captures all user-installed applications but does not capture any data that is written to the user profile. You can use this template with a third-party profile solution or VMware User Environment Manager.

    • UIA+profile - Includes all user-installed applications and user profile data. The user profile data is only a local profile and is not a roaming profile or other managed user profiles. The profile is delivered early in the boot process and considered only a local profile delivery. Additional profile tools like roaming profiles and VMware User Environment Manager still apply and work as expected. Use this template if a profile solution is not in place.

  7. (Optional) Select the appropriate box to configure additional settings for the Writable Volume.

    Option

    Description

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

    Select this option to ensure that the user does not log in to a computer to which their Writable Volume is not present. Using a desktop without an attached Writable Volume might result in the user working on a machine where the data is not saved to the Writable Volume.

    Limit the attachment of users writables to specific computers

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

    For example, a user has two Writable Volumes assigned, 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.

  8. Click Create.
  9. On the Confirm Create Writable Volumes window, select when you want to create the selected volume:

    • Create volume in the background - App Volumes Manager dispatches a background job to create the volume and the display goes back to the manager console immediately.

    • Create volume immediately - App Volumes Manager waits for the volume to be created and the console is not responsive until either the process is complete or 10 minutes have elapsed.

What to do next

Confirm that the Writable Volume has been created for the user. From the App Volumes Manager console, select Volumes > Writables and verify that the volume you just created has the status set to Enabled.