To use View Composer, you must configure settings that allow Horizon 7 to connect to the VMware Horizon View Composer service. View Composer can be installed on its own separate host or on the same host as vCenter Server.

There must be a one-to-one mapping between each VMware Horizon View Composer service and vCenter Server instance. A View Composer service can operate with only one vCenter Server instance. A vCenter Server instance can be associated with only one VMware Horizon View Composer service.

After the initial Horizon 7 deployment, you can migrate the VMware Horizon View Composer service to a new host to support a growing or changing Horizon 7 deployment. You can edit the initial View Composer settings in Horizon Administrator, but you must perform additional steps to ensure that the migration succeeds. See Migrate View Composer to Another Machine.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that you created a user in Active Directory with permission to add and remove virtual machines from the Active Directory domain that contains your linked clones. See Create a User Account for View Composer AD Operations.
  • Verify that you configured Horizon 7 to connect to vCenter Server. To do so, you must complete the vCenter Server Information page in the Add vCenter Server wizard. See Add vCenter Server Instances to Horizon 7.
  • Verify that this VMware Horizon View Composer service is not already configured to connect to a different vCenter Server instance.

Procedure

  1. In Horizon Administrator, complete the vCenter Server Information page in the Add vCenter Server wizard.
    1. Select View Configuration > Servers.
    2. On the vCenter Servers tab, click Add and provide the vCenter Server settings.
  2. On the View Composer Settings page, if you are not using View Composer, select Do not use View Composer.
    If you select Do not use View Composer, the other View Composer settings become inactive. When you click Next, the Add vCenter Server wizard displays the Storage Settings page. The View Composer Domains page is not displayed.
  3. If you are using View Composer, select the location of the View Composer host.
    Option Description
    View Composer is installed on the same host as vCenter Server.
    1. Select View Composer co-installed with the vCenter Server.
    2. Make sure that the port number is the same as the port that you specified when you installed the VMware Horizon View Composer service on vCenter Server. The default port number is 18443.
    View Composer is installed on its own separate host.
    1. Select Standalone View Composer Server.
    2. In the View Composer server address text box, type the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the View Composer host.
    3. Type the name of the View Composer user.

      For example: domain.com\user or [email protected]

    4. Type the password of the View Composer user.
    5. Make sure that the port number is the same as the port that you specified when you installed the VMware Horizon View Composer service. The default port number is 18443.
  4. Click Next to display the View Composer Domains page.

What to do next

Configure View Composer domains.

  • If the View Composer instance is configured with a signed TLS certificate, and Connection Server trusts the root certificate, the Add vCenter Server wizard displays the View Composer Domains page.
  • If the View Composer instance is configured with a default certificate, you must first determine whether to accept the thumbprint of the existing certificate. See Accept the Thumbprint of a Default TLS Certificate.