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 a two-way trust if an entity is searched for in the Active Directory forest. See the User Accounts and Credentials section in the VMware App Volumes Installation guide for more information.
  • 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.

    To synchronize users with Active Directory, see Sync Entities with Active Directory.

  • You must have uploaded the required Writable Volumes template to the datastore.

    Upload Templates

Procedure

  1. From the App Volumes Manager console, select INVENTORY > Writables.
  2. Click Create.
  3. From the Domain drop-down menu, select a domain that is configured with App Volumes.
  4. 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.
  5. Click Search.
    Searching entities in all domains in the forest might result in slow performance.

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

  6. 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.
  7. Enter the destination storage and path, and the source template.
    There are three types of templates available in App Volumes. See Configuring Storage for a description of the templates.
    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 appvolumes/writable_templates folder.
    Destination Path The default path is <varname>/appvolumes/writable.
    Source Template Select a source template from the drop-down menu for the new Writable Volume.
    Note: After you select a Writable Volume template type, later, you cannot change this to any other template type.

    For example, if you select the template type as UIA-only for a Writable Volume, you cannot change this to either UIA+profile or Profile-only.
  8. (Optional) Select the appropriate box to configure additional settings for the Writable Volume.
    Option Description
    Exception Resolution Select one of the options below to choose how to resolve login issues when Writable Volumes are unavailable for attachments:
    • Disable virtualization and alert user - App Volumes disables all volume virtualization and an warning message is displayed when the user logs in. AppStacks can be attached even if volume is unavailable.
      Note: You can view the warning message under ACTIVITY > System Messages.
    • Block user login - Use this setting to handle Writable Volumes conflicts. When there is a conflict due to a Writable Volume being attached elsewhere, App Volumes will prevent the user from logging into any additional computers. This will protect users from conflicts that arise when a local profile interferes with their profile on the Writable Volume.
    • Disable virtualization and alert user (errors only) - App Volumes agent will disable all volume virtualization and an alert will be displayed to the user of the desktop. This excludes conflicts stemming from users who have more than one active session at a time.
    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.

  9. Click Create.
  10. 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.
  1. From the App Volumes Manager console, select INVENTORY > Writables and verify that the volume you just created has the status set to Enabled.