You configure FlexEngine by creating an Active Directory Group Policy Object (GPO). You use the VMware Dynamic Environment Manager administrative templates that are provided in the download package.

If you want to provide different FlexEngine configurations, you can use multiple GPOs. For example, you can manage multiple VMware Dynamic Environment Manager environments such as test and production.

GPO Mandatory Settings

After you deploy FlexEngine to the client devices, you must configure FlexEngine to run during the Windows logon and logoff processes.

FlexEngine runs during Windows logon to get all the settings for the client device and apply them as soon as the user logs in.

You can configure FlexEngine in the following ways to run during Windows logon process:

FlexEngine runs again during Windows logoff to save all the settings for the client device to the profile archives share. To run FlexEngine during Windows logoff, configure a logoff script in Group Policy. See Configure FlexEngine to Run From a Logoff Script.

You must also configure the path to the configuration share and the profile archives share in the GPO. See Configure the Flex Configuration Files Setting and Configure Profile Archives Setting.

GPO Optional Settings

The two most common optional GPO settings for VMware Dynamic Environment Manager are as follows:

  • Use the Profile Archives Backups setting to configure the location and number of backups. Users can restore their settings from a backup using the Self-Support Tool or help desk personnel can do this by using the Helpdesk Support tool.
  • Use the FlexEngine Logging setting to configure the location and filename of the log file, the level of log detail, and the maximum file size. The log file helps with troubleshooting.

For more information on all FlexEngine GPO settings, see Configure the VMware Dynamic Environment Manager Group Policy Object for details.