A rebalance operation evenly redistributes linked-clone virtual machines among available datastores.

You can also use the rebalance operation to migrate linked-clone virtual machines to another datastore. Do not use vSphere Client or vCenter Server to migrate or manage linked-clone virtual machines. See Migrate Linked-Clone Virtual Machines to Another Datastore.

If possible, schedule rebalance operations during off-peak hours.

For guidelines, see Rebalancing Linked Clones Among Logical Drives.

Prerequisites

  • Familiarize yourself with the rebalance operation. See Rebalancing Linked Clones Among Logical Drives.
  • Decide when to schedule the rebalance operation. By default, View Composer starts the operation immediately.

    You can schedule only one rebalance operation at a time for a given set of linked clones. You can schedule multiple rebalance operations if they affect different linked clones.

  • Decide whether to force all users to log off as soon as the operation begins or wait for each user to log off before rebalancing that user's linked-clone desktop.

    If you force users to log off, Horizon 7 notifies users before they are disconnected and allows them to close their applications and log off.

    If you force users to log off, the maximum number of concurrent rebalance operations on remote desktops that require logoffs is half the value of the Max concurrent View Composer maintenance operations setting. For example, if this setting is configured as 24 and you force users to log off, the maximum number of concurrent rebalance operations on remote desktops that require logoffs is 12.

  • Verify that provisioning for the desktop pool is enabled. When pool provisioning is disabled, Horizon 7 stops the virtual machines from being customized after they are rebalanced.
  • If your deployment includes replicated View Connection Server instances, verify that all instances are the same version.

Procedure

  1. Choose whether to rebalance the whole pool or a single virtual machine.
    Option Action
    To rebalance all virtual machines in the pool
    1. In View Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools.
    2. Select the pool to rebalance by double-clicking the pool ID in the left column.
    3. On the Inventory tab, click Machines.
    4. Use the Ctrl or Shift keys to select multiple all the machine IDs in the left column.
    5. Select Rebalance from the View Composer drop-down menu.
    To rebalance a single virtual machine
    1. In View Administrator, select Resources > Machines.
    2. Select the machine to rebalance by double-clicking the machine ID in the left column.
    3. On the Summary tab, select Rebalance from the View Composer drop-down menu.
  2. Follow the wizard instructions.

Results

The linked-clone virtual machines are refreshed and rebalanced. The OS disks are reduced to their original size.

In View Administrator, you can monitor the operation by selecting Catalog > Desktop Pools, double-clicking the pool ID, and clicking the Tasks tab. You can click Cancel task, Pause task, or Resume task to terminate a task, suspend a task, or resume a suspended task.