Install Horizon Agent on a Linux Virtual Machine

You must install Horizon Agent on a Linux virtual machine before you can deploy the machine as a remote desktop.

Beginning with Horizon 7.0.1 release, Horizon Agent for Linux uses vCenter managed virtual machines. The managed virtual machines provide the following enhancements.

vCenter is a mandatory requirement for Linux desktop deployment.
Horizon Agent installation on Linux does not require registration.
For a deployment involving many Linux desktops, you can install the Horizon Agent on the base virtual machine.

Caution: If you intend to use NVIDIA GRIDvGPU or vDGA, you must configure these 3D features on the Linux virtual machine before you install Horizon Agent. If you install Horizon Agent first, required parameters in the xorg.conf file are overwritten, and the 3D graphics features do not work.

See Configure Supported Linux Distributions for vGPU or Configure RHEL 6.x for vDGA. Install Horizon Agent after the 3D graphics configuration is completed.

For 2D graphics configuration, you can install Horizon Agent after you complete the steps in Prepare a Linux Machine for Remote Desktop Deployment.

Prerequisites

Verify that the Linux guest operating system is prepared for desktop use. See Prepare a Linux Machine for Remote Desktop Deployment.
Familiarize yourself with the Horizon Agent installer script for Linux. See install_viewagent.sh Command-Line Options.

Procedure

Download the Horizon Agent for Linux installer file from the VMware download site at https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/downloads.
In the Desktop & End-User Computing section, select View Download Components for VMware Horizon. Under Horizon 7 for Linux, select the Downloads page for VMware Horizon 7 for 64-bit Linux systems.
The installer filename is VMware-horizonagent-linux-x86_64-y.y.y-xxxxxxx.tar.gz for 64-bit Linux where y.y.y is the version number and xxxxxxx is the build number.
Unpack the tarball for your Linux distribution on the guest operating system.
For example:
```
tar -xzvf VMware-horizonagent-linux-x86_64-y.y.y-xxxxxxx.tar.gz
```
Navigate to the tar ball folder.
Run the install_viewagent.sh script as superuser.
See install_viewagent.sh Command-Line Options for a list of the command-line options.
For example:
```
sudo ./install_viewagent.sh 
```
Type Yes to accept the EULA if you run install_viewagent.sh without specifying the -A option.
The installer does not run unless you accept the EULA.
Reboot Linux for the changes to take effect.

Results

After installation, the viewagent service is started. Verify that the service is started using sudo service viewagent status.

What to do next

Deploy the virtual machine in a desktop pool. See Create a Manual Desktop Pool for Linux.