You can upgrade Horizon Agent on a Linux virtual machine by installing the latest version of Horizon Agent.
When upgrading Horizon Agent on RHEL 8.x, you can choose between the following installer formats:
- The .tar.gz installer package, which is not digitally signed. The existing Horizon Agent feature configuration and virtual machine deployment mode are not automatically preserved. To keep the existing configuration, you must include the appropriate feature parameters when running the installer.
- The .rpm installer package, which is digitally signed. The existing Horizon Agent feature configuration and virtual machine deployment mode are automatically preserved.
When upgrading Horizon Agent on a Linux distribution other than RHEL 8.x, you must use the .tar.gz installer package. To keep your existing feature configuration, you must include the appropriate feature parameters when running the installer.
In addition, you can choose between two types of virtual machine deployment.
Unmanaged Virtual Machine Deployment
- This type of upgrade is available for existing unmanaged virtual machines.
- The Horizon Agent installer registers the virtual machine to Horizon Connection Server which requires broker admin information.
- The Desktop Pool Creation wizard uses Other Sources in the Machine Source page to select the registered virtual machine.
Managed Virtual Machine Deployment
- This type of upgrade is available for unmanaged or managed virtual machines.
- The Horizon Agent installer does not communicate with Horizon Connection Server.
- The Desktop Pool Creation wizard uses vCenter virtual machines in the Machine Source page to select the virtual machines through vCenter.
- The deployment supports the following functions:
- Remote Machine Power Policy
- Allow users to reset their machines
You can use the following methods to upgrade an unmanaged virtual machine:
- Retain the unmanaged virtual machine deployment while upgrading to the latest version of Horizon Agent. This upgrade scenario does not require any configuration modifications in Horizon Connection Server.
- Upgrade from an unmanaged virtual machine deployment to a managed virtual machine deployment that uses the latest version of Horizon Agent. This upgrade scenario requires the creation of a new desktop pool based on the virtual machine.
Note: To ensure the best possible performance, upgrade to a managed virtual machine deployment. The
Horizon Agent upgrade does not support conversion of a managed virtual machine deployment to an unmanaged virtual machine deployment.
Prerequisites
- Verify that the
VMwareBlastServer
process is not running. To stop this process, use one of the following methods:- Ensure that the user logs off the machine and no desktop session is active.
- Restart the virtual machine.
- If you plan to upgrade Horizon Agent using the tarball installer, review the optional parameters for the install_viewagent.sh setup script. See Command-line Options for Installing Horizon Agent for Linux.