Both Connection Server and View Composer require a parent virtual machine from which you generate a base image for creating instant clones or linked clones.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that an RDS host virtual machine is set up. See Setting Up Remote Desktop Services Hosts. To set up the RDS host, be sure not to use a virtual machine that was previously registered to View Connection Server.

    A parent virtual machine that you use for View Composer must either belong to the same Active Directory domain as the domain that the linked-clone machines will join or be a member of the local WORKGROUP.

  • Verify that the virtual machine was not converted from a View Composer linked clone. A virtual machine that is converted from a linked clone has the clone's internal disk and state information. A parent virtual machine cannot have state information.
    Important: Linked clones and virtual machines that were converted from linked clones are not supported as parent virtual machines.
  • To create an automated instant-clone farm, you must select the Instant Clone option when you install Horizon Agent on the parent virtual machine. See Install Horizon Agent on a Remote Desktop Services Host.
  • Verify that the virtual switch that the instant-clone VMs connect to has enough ports to support the expected number of VMs. Each network card on a VM requires one port.
  • Verify that you added an instant-clone domain administrator in Horizon Administrator.
  • To create an automated linked-clone farm, you must select the View Composer Agent option when you install Horizon Agent on the parent virtual machine.

    To update Horizon Agent in a large environment, you can use standard Windows update mechanisms such as Altiris, SMS, LanDesk, BMC, or other systems management software. You can also use the recompose operation to update Horizon Agent.

    Note: Do not change the log on account for the VMware View Composer Guest Agent Server service in a parent virtual machine. By default, this is the Local System account. If you change this account, the linked clones created from the parent do not start.
  • To deploy Windows machines, configure a volume license key and activate the parent virtual machine's operating system with volume activation. See " Activating Windows on Instant Clones and View Composer Linked Clones" in the Setting Up Virtual Desktops in Horizon 7 document.
  • Familiarize yourself with the procedure for disabling searching Windows Update for device drivers. See the Microsoft Technet article, "Disable Searching Windows Update for Device Drivers" at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc730606(v=ws.10).aspx.
  • To implement the RDS host load balancing feature, modify the RDS host parent virtual machine as described in "Configuring Load Balancing for RDS Hosts" in the Horizon 7 Administration document.

Procedure

  • Remove the DHCP lease on the parent virtual machine to avoid copying a leased IP address to the linked clones in the farm.
    1. On the parent virtual machine, open a command prompt.
    2. Type the ipconfig /release command.
  • Verify that the system disk contains a single volume.
    You cannot deploy linked clones from a parent virtual machine that contains more than one volume. The View Composer service does not support multiple disk partitions. Multiple virtual disks are supported.
  • Verify that the virtual machine does not contain an independent disk.
    An independent disk is excluded when you take a snapshot of the virtual machine. Linked clones that are created or recomposed from the virtual machine will not contain the independent disk.
  • Disable the hibernation option to reduce the size of linked-clone OS disks that are created from the parent virtual machine.
  • Before you take a snapshot of the parent virtual machine, disable searching Windows Update for device drivers.
    This Windows feature can interfere with the customization of linked-clone machines. As each linked clone is customized, Windows might search for the best drivers on the Internet for that clone, resulting in repeated searches and customization delays.
  • In vSphere Client, disable the vApp Options setting on the parent virtual machine.
  • On Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 R2 machines, disable the scheduled maintenance task that recovers disk space by removing unused features.
    For example: Schtasks.exe /change /disable /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\AppxDeploymentClient\Pre-staged app cleanup"

    If left enabled, this maintenance task can remove the Sysprep customization script after the linked clones are created, which would cause subsequent recompose operations to fail with customization operation timeout errors. For more information, see the Microsoft KB article available at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2928948.

  • On Windows Server 2012 machines, apply the Microsoft hotfix available at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3020396.
    This hotfix allows Sysprep to customize a Windows Server 2012 virtual machine that has the RDS role enabled. Without the hotfix, Sysprep customization will fail on the Windows Server 2012 linked-clone machines that are deployed in an automated farm.

What to do next

Use vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client to take a snapshot of the parent virtual machine in its powered-down state. This snapshot is used as the baseline configuration for the first set of linked-clone machines that are anchored to the parent virtual machine.

Important: Before you take a snapshot, completely shut down the parent virtual machine by using the Shut Down command in the guest operating system.