Power policies control how a virtual machine behaves when the associated remote desktop is not in use.
You set power policies when you create or edit a desktop pool. Power Policies describes the available power policies.
| Power Policy | Description |
|---|---|
| Take no power action | Horizon 8 does not enforce any power policy after a user logs off. This setting has two consequences.
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| Ensure machines are always powered on | The virtual machine remains powered on, even when it is not in use. If a user shuts down the virtual machine, it immediately restarts. The virtual machine also restarts after an administrative task such as refresh, recompose, or rebalance is completed. Select Ensure machines are always powered on if you run batch processes or system management tools that must contact the virtual machines at scheduled times. |
| Suspend | The virtual machine enters a suspended state when a user logs off, but not when a user disconnects. You can also configure machines in a dedicated pool to be suspended when a user disconnects without logging off. To configure this policy, you must set an attribute in Horizon Directory. See Configure Dedicated Machines To Be Suspended After Users Disconnect. When multiple virtual machines are resumed from a suspended state, some virtual machines might have delays in powering on. Whether any delays occur depends on the ESXi host hardware and the number of virtual machines that are configured on an ESXi host. Users connecting to their desktops from Horizon Client might temporarily see a desktop-not-available message. To access their desktops, users can connect again. |
| Power off | The virtual machine shuts down when a user logs off, but not when a user disconnects. This policy is not applicable for automated pools with floating assignments. |
When you configure a full-clone desktop pool with floating assignments, the machine is not powered off even with the power policy set to Power off when the maximum number of machines is equal to the number of spare (power on) machines.
For manual desktop pools that contain vSphere virtual machines, a spare machine is always powered on so that users can connect to it. The spare machine is powered on no matter which power policy is in effect.
When Horizon 8 Applies the Power Policy describes when Horizon 8 applies the configured power policy to full-clone desktop pools.
| Desktop Pool Type | The power policy is applied ... |
|---|---|
| Automated full-clone pool with dedicated assignment Manual desktop pool that contains vSphere virtual machines with dedicated assignment |
To unassigned machines only. On assigned machines, power operations are initiated by session management. Virtual machines are powered on when a user requests an assigned machine and are powered off or suspended when the user logs off.
Note: The
Ensure machines are always powered on policy applies to assigned and unassigned machines.
|
| Automated full-clone pool with floating assignment Manual desktop pool that contains vSphere virtual machines with floating assignment |
When a machine is not in use and after a user logs off. When you configure the Power off or Suspend power policy for a floating-assignment desktop pool, set Automatically logoff after disconnect to Immediately to prevent discarded or orphaned sessions. |
| Manual desktop pool that contains one vSphere virtual machine with floating or dedicated assignment. | Power operations are initiated by session management. The virtual machine is powered on when a user requests an assigned machine and is powered off or suspended when the user logs off.
Note: The
Ensure machines are always powered on policy applies to assigned and unassigned machines.
|
How Horizon 8 applies the configured power policy to automated pools depends on whether a machine is available. See How Power Policies Affect Automated Desktop Pools for more information.
