Complete these high-level tasks to install VMware Horizon 8 and configure an initial deployment.

Prerequisites

Review the system requirements for all of the Horizon 8 components that you plan to install. For more information, see "System Requirements for Server Components" in the Horizon 8 Installation and Upgrade guide.

Procedure

  1. Set up the required administrator users and groups in Active Directory.
    See "Preparing Active Directory" in the Horizon 8 Installation and Upgrade guide.
  2. If you have not yet done so, install and set up VMware ESXi servers and vCenter Server.
    See the VMware vSphere documentation on the VMware Documentation website.
  3. Install and set up the connection broker. Install the Events database.
    See "Installing Horizon Connection Server" in the Horizon 8 Installation and Upgrade guide.
  4. Configure SSL certificates for Horizon 8 servers. See "Configuring TLS Certificates for VMware Horizon 8 Servers" in the Horizon 8 Installation and Upgrade guide.
  5. Complete the initial setup of your Horizon 8 environment. See "Configuring VMware Horizon for the First Time" in the Horizon 8 Installation and Upgrade guide.
  6. Create desktop pools that run on virtual desktop machines.
    1. Create one or more virtual machines that can be used as a template VM for full-clone desktop pools.
      See "Creating and Preparing a Virtual Machine for Cloning" in the Windows Desktops and Applications in Horizon 8 guide.
    2. To create an instant-clone desktop pool, see "Creating and Managing Instant-Clone Desktop Pools" in the Windows Desktops and Applications in Horizon 8.
    3. To create a full-clone desktop pool, see "Creating and Managing Automated Full-Clone Desktop Pools" in the Windows Desktops and Applications in Horizon 8 guide.
    4. To create a manual desktop pool, "Creating and Managing Manual Desktop Pools" in the Windows Desktops and Applications in Horizon 8 guide.
  7. Create desktop and application pools that run on session-based Remote Desktop Services (RDS) hosts.
    1. Prepare RDS hosts to support desktop and application sessions. See "Setting Up Remote Desktop Services Hosts" in the Windows Desktops and Applications in Horizon 8 guide.
    2. Create one or more farms. See "Creating and Managing Farms" in the Windows Desktops and Applications in Horizon 8 guide.
    3. Create application pools. See "Creating Application Pools" in the Windows Desktops and Applications in Horizon 8 guide.
    4. Create published desktop pools. See "Creating Published Desktop Pools" in the Windows Desktops and Applications in Horizon 8 guide.
  8. Control user access to desktops and applications.
    See "Entitling Users and Groups" in the Horizon 8 Administration guide.
  9. Install Horizon Client on end users' machines and mobile devices and have end users access their remote desktops and applications.
    See the VMware Horizon Clients documentation on the VMware Horizon documentation landing page.

Results

Your initial configuration of Horizon 8 is completed.

What to do next

After you have successfully installed and configured your Horizon 8 environment, you can perform the following additional configuration tasks.

  • Create and configure additional administrators to allow different levels of access to specific inventory objects and settings. See "Configuring Role-Based Delegated Administration" in the Horizon 8 Administration guide.
  • Configure policies to control the behavior of Horizon 8 components, desktop and application pools, Remote Desktop Services, and users. See "Configuring Policies for Desktop and Application Pools" in the Horizon Remote Desktop Features and GPOs guide.
  • For added security, integrate smart card authentication and two-factor authentication solutions such as RSA SecurID and RADIUS. See "Setting Up Other Types of User Authentication" in the Horizon 8 Administration guide.