When you create a manual desktop pool, you can configure certain options. Use this worksheet to prepare your configuration options before you create the pool.

Note: In a manual pool, you must prepare each machine to deliver remote desktop access. Horizon Agent must be installed and running on each machine before you can add the machine to the manual desktop pool.
Table 1. Worksheet: Configuration Options for Creating a Manual Desktop Pool
Option Description
vCenter Server The vCenter Server that manages the machines.

This option appears only if the machines are virtual machines that are managed by vCenter Server.

User assignment Choose the type of user assignment:
  • In a dedicated-assignment pool, each user is assigned to a machine. After a user is assigned a desktop, no other user can use the desktop. Users receive the same machine each time they log in.
  • In a floating-assignment pool, users receive different machines each time they log in.

For details, see Assign a Machine to a User in a Dedicated-Assignment Pool.
Enable automatic assignment In a dedicated-assignment pool, a machine is assigned to a user when the user first logs in to the pool. You can also explicitly assign machines to users.

If you do not enable automatic assignment, you must explicitly assign a machine to each user.

You can assign machines manually even when automatic assignment is enabled.

Enable Multi-User Assignment In a dedicated-assignment pool, you can assign multiple users to each machine in the pool.

Multi-user assignment is not supported for automatic user assignment desktop pools.

If an assigned user has a connected or disconnected session on a multi-user assignment machine, other assigned users will be unable to launch a session on that machine.
Machine Source The virtual machines or physical computers that you want to include in the desktop pool.
  1. Decide which type of machine you want to use. You can use either virtual machines that are managed by vCenter Server, or virtual machines that are managed by another virtualization platform, and physical computers.
  2. Prepare a list of the machines that you want to include in the desktop pool.
  3. Install Horizon Agent on each machine that you want to include in the desktop pool.

To use PCoIP with machines that are unmanaged virtual machines or physical computers, you must use Teradici hardware.

Note: When you enable Windows Server desktops in Horizon Console, Horizon Console displays all available Windows Server machines, including machines on which Connection Server and other Horizon 8 servers are installed, as potential machine sources.

You cannot select machines for the desktop pool if Horizon 8 server software is installed on the machines. Horizon Agent cannot coexist on the same virtual or physical machine with any other Horizon 8 software component, including Connection Server or Horizon Client.

Desktop Pool ID The pool name that users see when they log in and that identifies the pool in Horizon Console.

If multiple vCenter Servers are running in your environment, make sure that another vCenter Server is not using the same pool ID.

A Connection Server configuration can be a standalone Connection Server instance or a pod of replicated instances that share a common LDAP configuration.
Display name The pool name that users see when they log in from a client. If you do not specify a name, the pool ID is used.
Access group Select an access group for the pool or leave the pool in the default root access group.

If you use an access group, you can delegate managing the pool to an administrator who has a specific role.

Note: Access groups are different from vCenter Server folders that store desktop VMs.
State
  • Enabled. After being created, the desktop pool is enabled and ready for immediate use.
  • Disabled. After being created, the desktop pool is disabled and unavailable for use. This is an appropriate setting if you want to conduct activities such as testing or other forms of baseline maintenance.

    When this state is in effect, remote desktops are unavailable for use.

Connection Server restrictions
  • None. The desktop pool can be accessed by any Connection Server instance.
  • With tags. Select one or more Connection Server tags to make the desktop pool accessible only to Connection Server instances that have those tags. You can use the check boxes to select multiple tags.

If you intend to provide access to your desktops through VMware Workspace ONE Access, and you configure Connection Server restrictions, the VMware Workspace ONE Access app might display desktops to users when those desktops are actually restricted. VMware Workspace ONE Access users will be unable to launch these desktops.

Category Folder

Specifies the name of the category folder that contains a Start menu shortcut for the desktop pool entitlement on Windows client devices. For more information, see "Configuring Start Menu Shortcuts for Desktop and Application Pools," in the Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon document.

Client Restrictions Select whether to restrict access to entitled desktop pools from certain client computers. You must add the names of the computers that are allowed to access the desktop pool in an Active Directory security group. You can select this security group when you add users or groups to the desktop pool entitlement.
Session Types You can enable the VM Hosted Applications feature by selecting the supported session type for the desktop pool:
  • Desktop. Select this option to use the pool as a regular desktop pool. All the virtual machines in the pool can only be used to host desktops.
  • Application. Select this option to use all the virtual machines in the pool to host applications.
  • Desktop and Application. When this option is selected, the virtual machine in the pool can either host a regular desktop session or host an application session. The first connection to the particular virtual machine will determine the session type of the virtual machine.

For more information about the VM Hosted Applications feature, see the technical marketing white paper "Best Practices for Published Applications and Desktops in VMware Horizon and VMware Horizon Apps" available at https://techzone.vmware.com.
Remote machine power policy Determines how a virtual machine behaves when the user logs off of the associated desktop. This option is only available for a manual pool of vSphere virtual machines.

For descriptions of the power-policy options, see Power Policies for Desktop Pools.

For more information about how power policies affect automated pools, see "setting Power Policies for Desktop Pools," in the Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon document.

Logoff after disconnect
  • Immediately. Users are logged off as soon as they disconnect.
  • Never. Users are never logged off.
  • After. The time after which users are logged off when they disconnect. Type the duration in minutes.

    The log off time applies to future disconnections. If a desktop session was already disconnected when you set a log off time, the log off duration for that user starts when you set the log off time, not when the session was originally disconnected. For example, if you set this value to five minutes, and a session was disconnected 10 minutes earlier, Horizon will log off that session five minutes after you set the value.

Empty session timeout (applications only)

Determines the amount of time that an empty application session is kept open. An application session is empty when all the applications that run in the session are closed. While the session is open, users can open applications faster. You can save system resources if you disconnect or log off empty application sessions. Select Never, Immediate, or set the number of minutes as the timeout value. The default is After 1 minute. If you select Immediate, the session logs off or disconnects within 30 seconds.

You can further reduce the time the session logs off or disconnects by editing a registry key on the RDS Host on which Horizon Agent is installed. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.\VMware VDM\Plugins\wssm\applaunchmgr\Params and set a value for WindowCheckInterval. The default value is 20000. This means that the poll for the empty session check is every 20 seconds, which sets the maximum time between the last application session close and session log off to 40 seconds. You can change this value to 2500. This means that the poll for the empty session check is every 2.5 seconds, which sets the maximum time between the last application close and session log off to 5 seconds.

Pre-launch session timeout (applications only) Determines the timeout for the application session before the session is disconnected or logged off.
When timeout occurs Determines whether an empty application session is disconnected or logged off after the Empty session timeout limit is reached. Select Disconnect or Log off. A session that is logged off frees up resources, but opening an application takes longer. The default is Disconnect.
Allow users to reset/restart their machines Allow users to reset or restart their own desktops.
Display Assigned Machine Name Displays the host name of the assigned machine instead of the desktop pool display name when you log in to Horizon Client.

If no machine is assigned to the user then, Display Name (No Machine Assigned) appears for the desktop pool when you log in to Horizon Client.
Default Display Protocol VMware Blast. The VMware Blast Extreme protocol is built on the H.264 protocol and supports the broadest range of client devices, including smart phones, tablets, ultra-low-cost PCs, and Macs, across any network.

PCoIP. PCoIP is supported as the display protocol for virtual and physical machines that have Teradici hardware. PCoIP provides an optimized PC experience for the delivery of images, audio, and video content for a wide range of users on the LAN or across the WAN.

Microsoft RDP. Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) uses RDP to transmit data. RDP is a multichannel protocol that allows a user to connect to a computer remotely.
Allow Users to Choose Protocol Allow users to override the default display protocol for their desktops in Horizon Client.
3D Renderer You can configure the 3D Renderer to use software rendering or hardware rendering based on physical GPU graphics cards installed on hosts.

If you select RDP as the Default Display Protocol, you must enable the Allow users to choose protocol setting (select Yes) to enable 3D rendering. If the default display protocol is RDP and you disable the Allow users to choose protocol setting (select No), the 3D rendering option is disabled.

With the hardware-based 3D Renderer options, users can take advantage of graphics applications for design, modeling, and multimedia. With the software 3D Renderer option, users can take advantage of graphics enhancements in less demanding applications such as AERO, Microsoft Office, and Google Earth. For more details, see Configuring 3D Rendering for Full-Clone Virtual Machine Pools.

When you edit this setting, you must power off existing virtual machines, verify that the machines are reconfigured in vCenter Server, and power on the machines to cause the new setting to take effect. Restarting a virtual machine does not cause the new setting to take effect.
Max Number of Monitors If you select PCoIP or VMware Blast as the display protocol, you can select the maximum number of monitors on which users can display the desktop.

You can select up to four monitors.

When the 3DRenderer setting is not selected, the Max number of monitors setting affects the amount of VRAM that is assigned to machines in the pool. When you increase the number of monitors, more memory is consumed on the associated ESXi hosts.

Multiple monitors are best supported at a lower resolution. Select fewer monitors if you select a higher resolution.

When you edit the pool, you must power off and on existing virtual machines for this setting to take effect. Restarting a virtual machine does not cause the setting to take effect.
Max Resolution of Any One Monitor If you select PCoIP or VMware Blast as the display protocol, you should specify the maximum resolution of any one monitor.

The maximum resolution of any one monitor is set to 1920 x 1200 pixels by default, but you can configure this value.

When the 3D Renderer setting is not selected, the Max resolution of any one monitor setting affects the amount of VRAM that is assigned to machines in the pool. When you increase the resolution, more memory is consumed on the associated ESXi hosts.

Multiple monitors are best supported at a lower resolution. Select fewer monitors if you select a higher resolution.

When you edit the pool, you must power off and on existing virtual machines for this setting to take effect. Restarting a virtual machine does not cause the setting to take effect.
HTML Access Select Enabled to allow users to connect to remote desktops from within their Web browsers.

When a user logs in through the VMware Horizon Web portal page or the VMware Workspace ONE Access app and selects a remote desktop, the HTML Access agent enables the user to connect to the desktop over HTTPS. The desktop is displayed in the user's browser. Other display protocols, such as PCoIP or RDP, are not used. Horizon Client software does not have to be installed on the client devices.

To use HTML Access, you must install HTML Access in your Horizon 8 deployment. For more information, see Using HTML Access, available from https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.

To use HTML Access with VMware Workspace ONE Access, you must pair Connection Server with a SAML Authentication server, as described in the Horizon Administration document. VMware Workspace ONE Access must be installed and configured for use with Connection Server.

Allow Session Collaboration Select Enabled to allow users of the pool to invite other users to join their remote desktop sessions. Session owners and session collaborators must use the VMware Blast display protocol.
Allow user to initiate separate sessions from different client devices Allow user to initiate separate sessions from different client devices
Use View Storage Accelerator Determine whether ESXi hosts cache common virtual machine disk data. View Storage Accelerator can improve performance and reduce the need for extra storage I/O bandwidth to manage boot storms and anti-virus scanning I/O storms. This feature is enabled by default.
Note: Horizon Console does not save the blackout times if you add or delete blackout times and then disable View Storage Accelerator.
Transparent Page Sharing Scope This option is only available for a manual pool of vSphere virtual machines.

Select the level at which to allow transparent page sharing (TPS). The choices are Virtual Machine (the default), Pool, Pod, or Global. If you turn on TPS for all the machines in the pool, pod, or globally, the ESXi host eliminates redundant copies of memory pages that result if the machines use the same guest operating system or applications.

Page sharing happens on the ESXi host. For example, if you enable TPS at the pool level but the pool is spread across multiple ESXi hosts, only virtual machines on the same host and within the same pool will share pages. At the global level, all machines managed by VMware Horizon on the same ESXi host can share memory pages, regardless of which pool the machines reside in.

Note: The default setting is not to share memory pages among machines because TPS can pose a security risk. Research indicates that TPS could possibly be abused to gain unauthorized access to data in very limited configuration scenarios.