After you publish your initial RDSH-capable image and create farms using it, you can make changes to that image and push the changes to all of the farms using that image. A typical reason to update an already published image is to install additional third-party applications or other features. You start this workflow in the Horizon Universal Console.

Note: If you are changing the RDSH-capable image to update the Horizon Cloud agent-related components, you use a different procedure. See Update Agent Software for RDSH Images in Horizon Cloud.

At a high-level, the workflow to update an in-use image is:

  1. Duplicate the existing image to create an image with the same configuration and a new name. In the duplication process, the system clones the sealed image's virtual machine (VM) to make a new unpublished golden image VM, and lists the new VM on the Imported VMs page.
  2. When you see that the Imported VMs page reports the new VM's agent is active, log in to the VM and make your desired changes to that duplicate VM.
  3. Use Convert to Image to publish that duplicate VM, making it an assignable (sealed) image.
  4. Edit the farms that are using the original image to use the newly updated duplicate image instead of the original one.

Prerequisites

Verify you have local administrator account credentials to log in to the image and update it. This administrator account is the same one that was used to publish the image using the New Image workflow. See Convert a Configured Image VM to an Assignable Image in Horizon Cloud.

Note: When using the Microsoft Remote Desktop Client as your RDP software to connect to the VM, ensure it is the most up-to-date version. For example, the default RDP software in the Windows 7 operating system is not at a high enough version. The version must be version 8 or higher.

Procedure

  1. Click Inventory and navigate to the image-related page where the image is listed.
  2. Select the check box for the image and click Duplicate.
    In the dialog box, enter a name for the duplicate image. After you enter a new name and click Save, the system clones the sealed image's VM to make a new image VM, and lists that new VM on the Imported VMs page.
    Note: As the system begins the cloning process, the original sealed image goes into Transition status for the first part of the process. After some time, the original sealed image returns to its original state.
  3. Navigate to Inventory > Imported VMs to see when the Imported VMs page reports the new VM's agent is active.
  4. When you see on the Imported VMs page that the new VM's agent is active, use the VM's IP address and your RDP software to connect to the RDSH-capable Windows operating system.
    • If the original image was created with a public IP address, the new duplicate VM has a public IP address and you can use that IP address in your RDP software
    • If the original image was not created with a public IP address, the new duplicate VM has an IP that is private in your Microsoft Azure cloud environment, and you must RDP into it by one of these two methods:
      • Using another VM in your Microsoft Azure subscription that does have a public IP address and doing an outbound RDP into the VM.
      • Use your VPN and RDP into the VM over your corporate network
  5. Log in to the Windows operating system using the username and password that was supplied in the Import Image wizard when the image was created.
    If using the local administrator name, enter the username as \username.
  6. In the Windows operating system, perform your intended updates.
    If you are installing additional third-party applications, see the steps described in For a Horizon Cloud Imported VM with a Microsoft Windows Server Operating System — Customize the VM for Your Organization's Needs.
  7. Return to the Imported VMs page, select the check box for that duplicate VM, and click More > Convert to Image.
    The system takes the image, which was duplicated and then updated, through its standard publishing process. The image is displayed on the image-related page where it was listed at the start of this process. When the publishing process is complete, the image is displayed with the Published status.
  8. When you see that the duplicated and updated image is in Published status, update each farm that is using the original image to use the new duplicate image instead, the image which now has your changes in it.
    In each farm's details page, click the General Settings Edit link to open a window, select the new duplicate image, and save.

Results

The farms you update automatically delete and re-create their RDSH instances using the updated image.

What to do next

When you have updated the farms that are using the original image and can determine the original image is no longer needed by your organization, you can use the console to delete the original image. Deleting the original image is a best practice, to prevent other administrators in your organization from using an image that has down-level software.