Using DPI Synchronization with Linux Remote Desktops

This topic provides an overview of the DPI Synchronization feature for Linux remote desktops. The DPI Synchronization feature ensures that the DPI value in a remote session changes to match the DPI value of the client system when users connect to a remote desktop or published application.

The following considerations apply to the DPI Synchronization feature for Linux remote desktops and published applications.

• The DPISyncEnable configuration option in the /etc/vmware/viewagent-custom.conf file determines whether the DPI Synchronization feature is enabled for a desktop. The feature is enabled by default. For more information, see Setting Options in Configuration Files on a Linux Desktop.
• To support the DPI Synchronization feature, RHEL/CentOS 7.x desktops must be running RHEL/CentOS 7.6 or later.
• To use DPI Synchronization on a client system with multiple monitors, configure each monitor with the same DPI setting. DPI Synchronization with a Linux remote desktop does not work if the client monitors have different DPI settings.
• DPI Synchronization is supported when users reconnect to a Linux remote desktop running in a Gnome desktop environment. Linux remote desktops running in a KDE or Mate desktop environment do not support DPI Synchronization upon reconnection. To use DPI Synchronization on a desktop running KDE or Mate, users must log out and log in to a new session.
• Gnome desktops do not support synchronization to the exact DPI values of the client system. Instead, DPI Synchronization rounds the client DPI value down to the nearest multiple of 96 for displaying the remote session. For example, suppose that the client system uses 250 DPI. Since 250 is greater than 192 (2 x 96) but less than 288 (3 x 96), the remote session uses the lower value, 192 DPI.

  Table 1. DPI Synchronization Values for Gnome Desktops

  Client DPI	Remote Session DPI
  96–191	96 (1 x 96)
  192–287	192 (2 x 96)
  288–383	288 (3 x 96)
  384–479	384 (4 x 96)