| VMware Horizon Client for Linux 5.5.6 | 21 MAR 2023 Check for additions and updates to these release notes. |
This page contains release-related information for Horizon Client for Linux 5.5.6, which enables users to connect to and use remote desktops and published applications using a Linux device.
This page is revised periodically as needed with information about the release. Check back regularly for additions and updates to these release notes.
Horizon Client for Linux 5.5.6 includes bug fixes. Horizon Client for Linux 5.5.6 aligns with the VMware Horizon 7 version 7.13.3 release.
There is no release version 5.5.5 for Horizon Client for Linux.
For information about new remote desktop features, see the Release Notes for VMware Horizon 7 version 7.13.3.
Note: The supported systems listed below and in the Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide pertain to the Horizon Client for Linux that VMware makes available. In addition, several VMware partners offer thin and zero client devices for VMware Horizon deployments. The features that are available for each thin or zero client device, and the operating systems supported, are determined by the vendor and model, and the configuration that an enterprise chooses to use. For information about the vendors and models for these client devices, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.
The OpenSSL library is updated to version openssl-1.0.2v. For your convenience, the Horizon Client installer provided on the VMware Downloads site downloads and installs the library.
Horizon Client for Linux has been tested and is supported on the following 32-bit operating systems if you use the installer provided by VMware:
Ubuntu 16.04
Horizon Client for Linux has been tested and is supported on the following 64-bit operating systems if you use the installer provided by VMware:
Ubuntu x64 16.04, 18.04, and 20.04
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7.8 and 8.2
Horizon Client for Linux is supported on Raspberry Pi 3 Model B devices that are installed with ThinLinx Operating System (TLXOS) or Stratodesk NoTouch Operating System. The supported Horizon Client features include Blast Extreme, USB redirection, and H.264 decoding.
This release of VMware Horizon Client for Linux is supported with the latest maintenance release of VMware Horizon 7 version 7.13.x.
This release of VMware Horizon Client for Linux is not supported with VMware Horizon 2006 and later.
To install Horizon Client for Linux, download the installer from the VMware Horizon Client download page.
Horizon Client for Linux does not ship with the GTK+ library, but it does use the library installed on the host system. Make sure your system is up to date with a version of the library that includes fixes for publicly reported security vulnerabilities. A list of the publicly reported security vulnerabilities, and the versions affected, for GTK+ can be found at https://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability-list/vendor_id-666/GTK.html.
For information about the features that are supported in nested mode, see VMware Knowledge Base (KB) article 67248, "VMware Horizon Guidelines for Nested Mode."
For more system requirements and detailed installation instructions, see the Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide.
The following deployment instructions and information about library dependencies are provided for VMware distribution partners.
These instructions describe how to deploy Horizon Client for Linux and individual Horizon Client components using tar.gz packages. For instructions on how to install Horizon Client for Linux using the .bundle installer file, see Install or Upgrade Horizon Client for Linux from VMware Product Downloads.
The Auto-connect at Startup and Auto-connect when inserted USB device options are set to "False" by default. The default setting was "True" in Horizon Client 5.3 and earlier. To continue using the legacy default setting in Horizon Client 5.5, set the view.usbAutoConnectAtStartUp and view.usbAutoConnectOnInsert configuration keys to "True". For more information, see Horizon Client Configuration Settings and Command-Line Options.
Deployment Instructions
Download the vmware-view-client-linux-xxx-yyyy.tar.gz file from the VMware Downloads site and extract the contents of the downloaded tar.gz package to your system, where xxx is the product version and yyyy is the build number.
Navigate to the folder for your CPU instruction set architecture. You will find additional tar.gz packages for individual Horizon Client components. For example, in the x64 folder you will find the following tar.gz packages for Horizon Client.
VMware-Horizon-Client-xxx-yyyy.x86_64.tar.gz
VMware-Horizon-PCoIP-xxx-yyyy.x64.tar.gz
VMware-Horizon-serialportClient-xxx-yyyy.x64.tar.gz
VMware-Horizon-USB-xxx-yyyy.x64.tar.gz
VMware-Horizon-scannerClient-xxx-yyyy.x64.tar.gz
VMware-Horizon-integratedPrinting-xxx.yyyy.x64.tar.gz
VMware-Horizon-html5mmr-xxx-yyyy.x64.tar.gzTo find tar.gz packages for additional Horizon Client components, navigate to the following locations:
Printer Redirection folder for VMware-Horizon-tpClient-xxx-yyyy.tar.gz
SkypeForBusiness Redirection folder for VMware-Horizon-Media-Provider-XXX.tar.gz
Use the following deployment instructions for each of the tar.gz packages.
Horizon Client for Linux
The VMware-Horizon-Client-xxx-yyyy.PLATFORM.tar.gz package contains the VMware Horizon Client binaries. Use the following instructions as a guide for configuring the VMware Horizon Client binary files.
The VMware-Horizon-PCoIP-xxx-yyyy.PLATFORM.tar.gz package contains the mandatory binaries used by both display protocols, PCoIP and VMware Blast. Use the following instructions as a guide for configuring the Horizon Client display protocol files.
Extract the VMware-Horizon-Client-xxx-yyyy.PLATFORM.tar.gz package.
Navigate to the extracted folder, VMware-Horizon-Client-xxx-yyyy.PLATFORM, and move the contents of the extracted Horizon Client files to the recommended system folders. Depending on your particular Linux environment, you can choose to use folders different from those used below.
Move the contents of the bin folder to the /usr/bin folder.
Move the contents of the lib folder to the /usr/lib folder.
Move the contents of the doc folder to the /usr/share/doc folder.
Move the contents of the share/locale folder to the /usr/share/locale folder.
Extract the contents of the VMware-Horizon-PCoIP-xxx-yyyy.PLATFORM.tar.gz package.
Navigate to the extracted folder, VMware-Horizon-PCoIP-xxx-yyyy.PLATFORM, and use the following commands to copy the contents of the extracted Horizon Client PCoIP files to the recommended system folders. Depending on your particular Linux environment, you can choose to use folders different from those used below.
Copy the contents of the bin folder to the /usr/bin folder.
Copy the contents of the lib folder to the /usr/lib folder.
To keep the attributes intact, use the -a option of the cp command when copying the files from lib folder.
USB Redirection
The VMware-Horizon-USB-xxx-yyyy.PLATFORM.tar.gz package contains the binaries used by the USB Redirection feature.
Extract the contents of the VMware-Horizon-USB-xxx-yyyy.PLATFORM.tar.gz package.
Navigate to where the package was extracted and copy the extracted folders to the recommended system folders.
Copy the contents of the bin folder to the /usr/bin folder.
Copy the contents of the lib folder to the /usr/lib folder.
Copy the contents of the init.d folder to the /etc/init.d folder.
Configure the USB Redirection feature, using the following examples for an Ubuntu system as a guide.
Set up USB arbitrator daemon in the system's auto-startup script using one of the following methods, where # refers to 2, 3, 4, or 5, depending on your system's run level.
Create symbolic links using the following command:
sudo ln -s /etc/init.d/vmware-USBArbitrator /etc/rc#.d/S50vmware-USBArbitrator Add /etc/init.d/vmware-USBArbitrator start in your system's /etc/rc.local file. Make sure /etc/rc.local has the executable permission.
Automatically stop the USB arbitrator daemon before a system reboot or halt using the following command, where # refers to 0 or 6, depending on your system's run level.
sudo ln -s /etc/init.d/vmware-USBArbitrator /etc/rc#.d/K08vmware-USBArbitratorManually start, stop, or restart the USB arbitrator daemon when necessary using the following command:
sudo /etc/init.d/vmware-USBArbitrator [start|stop|restart]Serial Port Redirection
To install the Serial Port Redirection feature, see the README file included in the VMware-Horizon-serialportClient-xxx.yyyy.PLATFORM.tar.gz file, which is available with the vmware-view-client-linux-xxx-yyyy.PLATFORM.tar.gz file that you downloaded earlier from the VMware Downloads site.
Printer Redirection
To install the Printer Redirection feature, see the Printer Redirection README file included in the VMware-Horizon-tpClient-xxx.yyyy.tar.gz file, which is available for download from the VMware Downloads site.
Scanner Redirection
To install the Scanner Redirection feature, see the README file included in the VMware-Horizon-scannerClient-xxx.yyyy.PLATFORM.tar.gz file, which is available with the vmware-view-client-linux-xxx-yyyy.PLATFORM.tar.gz file that you downloaded earlier from the VMware Downloads site.
Skype for Business
To install the Skype for Business feature, see the Skype for Business README file included in the VMware-Horizon-Media-Provider-XXX.tar.gz file, which is available for download from the VMware Downloads site.
VMware Integrated Printing
To install the VMware Integrated Printing feature, see the README file included in the VMware-Horizon-integratedPrinting-xxx.yyyy.PLATFORM.tar.gz file, which is available for download from the VMware Downloads site.
HTML5 Multimedia Redirection
To install the HTML5 Multimedia Redirection feature, see the README file included in the VMware-Horizon-html5mmr-xxx-yyyy.PLATFORM.tar.gz file, which is available for download from the VMware Downloads site.
Building Dependencies
The following libraries are required for building and running Horizon Client for Linux.
libxss1, libxss-dev, libxinerama1, and libxinerama-dev
Install the libraries using a command similar to the following, which is an example in an Ubuntu-based system.
sudo apt-get install libxss1 libxss-dev libxinerama1 libxinerama-devopenssl-1.0.2v or later
curl-7.68.0 or later
Create a dynamic link for this library to the openssl-1.0.2v or later library.
gcc 6.4 or later
glibc 2.11 or later for x86 and x64 systems; glibc 2.17 or later for systems with 32-bit hard-float ARMv7 (armhf) architecture
libstdc++ 3.4.22 or later
The following environment variables are required for building Horizon Client for Linux with the Seamless Window feature.
export WITH_CRTBORA=1
export VIEW_LIBCRTBORA=1
export GOBUILD_CRTBORA_ROOT="Path of VMware-Horizon-CRTBORA-xxx-yyyyy"After you install the Horizon Client components, locate the /bin directory in the Horizon Client package that you extracted earlier. From that bin directory, run the vmware-view-lib-san script, which checks the build dependencies.
There are no major issue resolutions to report for this release.
System Tray redirection functionality is not supported.
System Tray redirection functionality is not supported, so you cannot exit a remote application session using the system tray.
Workaround: Use the remote application's UI to end the application session. For example, to exit a Skype session, select the Settings icon and then select File > Exit.
You cannot start an application from the Application Launcher because the launcher is unsupported.
Workaround: Start the remote application via the Linux client's UI.
On some HP thin clients that have the HP ThinPro 5.2.0 (T6X52011) operating system, Horizon Client for Linux might display a black screen or crash when user is playing some video on a remote desktop and pressing the fast-rewind button on Windows Media Player.
Workaround: Upgrade the OS to HP ThinPro 6.1.0 (T7X61007) or the latest version.
The Horizon Client for Linux authentication domain list, desktop/application protocol list, and display list appear black on some Linux operating systems.
Because Horizon Client for Linux uses the Linux operating system's GNOME theme, these lists appear black, making them difficult to read.
Workaround: Change the GNOME theme used by the Linux operating system. For example, on an Ubuntu system, install gnome-tweak-tool if it is not yet installed, run gnome-tweak-tool, and change the GTK+ theme from Ambiance to Radiance.
When client users connect to a published application using a multiple-monitor configuration, they may encounter unexpected behavior in the display if they disconnect or reconnect monitors in their configuration.
Workaround: Disconnect from the published application and reconnect again.
Video thumbnail does not display correctly.
When you connect to a remote desktop with HTML5 Multimedia Redirection enabled and open a webpage that contains video content, the video thumbnail might not be displayed correctly. This issue only affects the thumbnail display of the video, not its playback capabilities.
Workaround: None
When you open a local URL in Microsoft Edge on the remote desktop, multimedia content is not redirected to the client system as expected.
By default, HTML5 MMR in an Edge browser only works for content situated on a non-local URL. To redirect content from a local URL, you must configure a certain setting for Microsoft Edge.
Workaround: On the remote desktop, open a Command Prompt window and run the following command:
CheckNetIsolation LoopbackExempt -a -n=Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbweMouse does not work inside the Blast session when the keyboard layout is switched to Secondary Keyboard Layout
Workaround: Manually add the following configuration option in the /etc/vmware/config file:
RemoteDisplay.allowVMPointerEvent2 = FALSEKeyboard and mouse do not work when connecting to a remote application from a Raspberry Pi running ThinLinX or Stratodesk.
There is a system conflict when using H.264 decoding with ThinLinX or Stratodesk Raspberry Pi for remote application sessions.
Workaround: Turn off H.264 decoding in the VMware Blast settings.
Windows shortcuts don't work with seamless window applications.
If there are identical shortcuts with differing functions on the client Linux operating system and a remote Windows operating system, the shortcut for the Windows operating system will not work when a seamless window application is active. Only the shortcut for the Linux operating system takes effect. For example, by default, pressing Alt opens a Search dialog window on an Ubuntu operating system and it shows the application's menu on a Windows operating system. When a seamless window application is active, pressing Alt displays the Ubuntu operating system's Search menu, but does not show the application's menu.
Workaround: Change the shortcut in the host Linux operating system or in the remote Windows operating system so that the shortcuts in the two operating systems do not conflict.
MMR video frame overlays on another browser tab.
On a Windows 7 remote desktop, when you play video on Internet Explorer and then open a new tab, the MMR video frame overlays in the new tab.
Workaround: Do not open a new tab or switch to a different tab while video is playing.
Video files do not play properly.
Some video files might not play properly on a remote desktop when MMR is enabled.
Workaround: Make sure that the video format is supported and the proper decoder plug-in for the video is installed on the client.
Videos do not play smoothly in remote desktops and sound disappears when MMR is enabled and the network delay is more than 75 ms.
Workaround: Disable MMR when the network delay is more than 75 ms.
If multiple Horizon clients connect to the same published desktop or published application simultaneously and map to a location-based printer with the same name, the printer appears in the first client session, but not in later client sessions.
Workaround: For the client sessions in which the printer does not appear, perform a manual refresh. For a remote desktop, press F5 or refresh the Devices and Printers window. For a remote application, close and reopen the application print dialog box. The location-based printer appears in the printer list.
If you connect to a remote desktop with FreeRDP and configure the desktop to connect to a separate disk, if the disk name includes non-ASCII characters, the disk name cannot be displayed correctly in the remote desktop.
For example, if you use non-ASCII characters in the disk name and then launch Horizon Client with command line option --rdpclient=xfreerdp and --xfreerdpOptions="/drive:, /home/user" the disk name does not appear correctly in the remote desktop.
Workaround: None
If you use a FreeRDP connection and specify a monitor configuration that conflicts with the configuration the end user chooses, Horizon Client performance becomes poor and the client might stop responding altogether.
For example, the following command for launching Horizon Client would cause problems if the user selected Full Screen - This Monitor:
vmware-view --enableNla --rdpclient=xfreerdp --xfreerdpOptions="/sec:nla /cert-ignore /p:password/u:crt\administrator /multimon"Workaround: As a best practice, avoid specifying FreeRDP options for the display, such as /multimon or /workarea. Instead, let Horizon Client control the topology.
Neither FreeRDP (xfreerdp) nor Remote Desktop (rdesktop) work on a client system running RedHat Enterprise Linux Workstation due to an Xorg error.
Workaround: Use the Blast protocol instead.
Users cannot use rdesktop 1.8.x to connect to Horizon 7 Windows desktops.
This issue exists because Horizon 7 does not support TLSv1.0 by default and rdesktop 1.8.x supports only TLSv1.0.
Workaround: Enable TLSv1.0 on the desktop by setting the following registry key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS1.0\Server]"Enabled"=dword:00000001Be aware that TLSv1.0 is considered insufficiently secure. For Windows 7 desktops, Microsoft KB https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3080079 must also be installed.
Conflict between RHEL 7 and PC/SC Lite 1.8.8.
When a RHEL 7 client user connects to a published Windows Server desktop using the VMware Blast display protocol and attempts to log out from the session, Horizon Client might hang. This issue is caused by conflicting processes associated with version 1.8.8 of the PC/SC Lite (pcsclite) library.
Workaround: On RHEL 7 systems, upgrade the pcsclite library to a version later than 1.8.8.
Issues when client system runs pcsc-lite version 1.5.
Smart card removal policy may not work, logging off, shutting down or resetting a Windows remote desktop may result in a black screen, or the Horizon Client menu may become blank for about 10 seconds when a user has smart card sessions to multiple desktops and the user disconnects from one desktop.
Workaround: Upgrade to pcsc-lite 1.7.4 or later.
If you use a PulseAudio sound system, you might hear static when setting the volume using guest system volume slider.
Workaround: Use the Linux client system's volume slider or use ALSA audio by adding sound.backendType = alsa to either the ~/.vmware/config or the /etc/vmware/config configuration file.
Horizon Client crashes upon connecting to a remote desktop.
This known issue occurs under the following conditions:
Horizon Client is running on an Ubuntu 20.04 system with Intel Ice Lake or later hardware, and
Session protocol is VMware Blast with HEVC 4:4:4 encoding
The Intel media driver that ships by default with Ubuntu 20.04 contains a bug that causes Horizon Client to crash. Later versions of the driver contain a fix for this bug.
Workaround: Update the Intel media driver by installing the latest version of intel-media-va-driver-non-free.
Horizon Client for Linux documentation is in the VMware Horizon Documentation Center.
The user interface and documentation for Horizon Client are available in English, Japanese, French, German, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, and Spanish.
Note: To have the client user interface use Simplified Chinese characters, set the client system to use the zh_CN locale. If you set the client system to use the zh_SG locale, the user interface is displayed in English characters.
To receive support, access VMware Customer Connect. To learn more about the support policies, see Support Policies.
For information on filing a support request in Customer Connect and via Cloud Services Portal, see the VMware knowledge base article at https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2006985.
