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, Horizon 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 when 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 Connection Server instances, verify that all instances are the same version.

Procedure

  1. In Horizon Console, select Inventory > Machines.
  2. Select a linked-clone virtual machine.
  3. On the Inventory tab, choose to refresh one virtual machine or multiple virtual machines.
    • To refresh one virtual machine, select the virtual machine, and select Refresh from the View Composer drop-down menu.
    • To refresh multiple virtual machines, select multiple virtual machines, and 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 Horizon Console, you can monitor the operation by selecting Inventory > Desktops, clicking the pool ID, and clicking the Tasks tab. Only administrators with privileges to schedule the task can cancel, pause, or resume the suspended task.