A machine refresh operation restores the operating system disk of each linked clone to its original state and size, reducing storage costs.

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

For guidelines, see Machine Refresh Operations.

Prerequisites

  • Decide when to schedule the refresh operation. By default, View Composer starts the operation immediately.

    You can schedule only one refresh operation at a time for a given set of linked clones. You can schedule multiple refresh 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 refreshing 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 refresh 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 refresh operations on remote desktops that require logoffs is 12.

  • If your deployment includes replicated View Connection Server instances, verify that all instances are the same version.

Procedure

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

Results

The OS disks are reduced to their original size.

In vCenter Server, you can monitor the progress of the refresh operation on the linked-clone virtual machines.

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.