Install a Replicated Instance of Horizon Connection Server

To provide high availability and load balancing, you can install one or more additional instances of Connection Server that replicate an existing Connection Server instance. After a replica installation, the existing and newly installed instances of Connection Server are identical.

To see the max number of Horizon Connection Servers you can install in a single Horizon pod, see VMware Configuration Maximums.

When you install a replicated instance, VMware Horizon 8 copies the Horizon LDAP configuration data from the existing Connection Server instance.

After the installation, identical Horizon LDAP configuration data is maintained on all Connection Server instances in the replicated group. When a change is made on one instance, the updated information is copied to the other instances.

If a replicated instance fails, the other instances in the group continue to operate. When the failed instance resumes activity, its configuration is updated with the changes that took place during the outage.

Note: Replication functionality is provided by Horizon LDAP, which uses the same replication technology as Microsoft Active Directory.

The replica server software cannot coexist on the same virtual or physical machine with any other Horizon 8 software component, including another Connection Server, Horizon Agent, or Horizon Client.

By default, the HTML Access component is installed on the Connection Server host when you install Connection Server. This component configures the Horizon 8 user portal page to display an HTML Access icon in addition to the Horizon Client icon. The additional icon allows users to select HTML Access when they connect to their desktops.

For an overview of setting up Connection Server for HTML Access, see the Horizon HTML Access Guide document, located on the Horizon Client Documentation page.

Prerequisites

• Verify that at least one Connection Server instance is installed and configured on the network.
• To install the replicated instance, you must log in as a user with the Administrators role. You specify the account or group with the Administrators role when you install the first instance of Connection Server. The role can be assigned to the local Administrators group or a domain user or group. See Install Horizon Connection Server with a New Configuration.
• If the existing Connection Server instance is in a different domain than the replicated instance, the domain user must also have Administrator privileges on the Windows Server computer where the existing instance is installed.
• Verify that your installation satisfies the requirements described in Horizon Connection Server Requirements.
• Verify that the computers on which you install replicated Connection Server instances are connected over a high-performance LAN. See Network Requirements for Replicated Horizon Connection Server Instances.
• Prepare your environment for the installation. See Installation Prerequisites for Horizon Connection Server.
• Prepare a data recovery password. See Install Horizon Connection Server with a New Configuration.
• Familiarize yourself with the network ports that must be opened on the Windows Firewall for Connection Server instances. See Firewall Rules for Horizon Connection Server.

Procedure

1. Download the Connection Server installer file from the VMware download site at https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/downloads.
   Under Desktop & End-User Computing, select the VMware Horizon download, which includes Connection Server.

   The installer filename is VMware-Horizon-Connection-Server-x86_64-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe, where xxxxxx is the build number and y.y.y is the version number.

2. To start the Connection Server installation program, double-click the installer file.
3. Accept the VMware license terms.
4. Accept or change the destination folder.
5. Select the Horizon Replica Server installation option.
6. Select the Internet Protocol (IP) version, IPv4 or IPv6.
   You must install all VMware Horizon 8 components with the same IP version.
7. Select whether to enable or disable FIPS mode.
   This option is available only if FIPS mode is enabled in Windows.
8. Make sure that Install HTML Access is selected if you intend to allow users to connect to their desktops by using HTML Access.
   If IPv4 is selected, this setting is selected by default. If IPv6 is selected, this setting is not displayed because HTML Access is not supported in an IPv6 environment.
9. Enter the host name or IP address of the existing Connection Server instance you are replicating.
10. Type a data recovery password and, optionally, a password reminder.
11. Choose how to configure the Windows Firewall service.

    Option	Action
    Configure Windows Firewall automatically	Let the installer configure Windows Firewall to allow the required network connections.
    Do not configure Windows Firewall	Configure the Windows firewall rules manually. Select this option only if your organization uses its own predefined rules for configuring Windows Firewall.

12. Complete the installation wizard to finish installing the replicated instance.
13. Check for new patches on the Windows Server computer and run Windows Update as needed.
    Even if you fully patched the Windows Server computer before you installed Connection Server, the installation might have enabled operating system features for the first time. Additional patches might now be required.

Results

The VMware Horizon services are installed on the Windows Server computer:

• VMware Horizon Connection Server
• VMware Horizon Framework Component
• VMware Horizon Message Bus Component
• VMware Horizon Script Host
• VMware Horizon Security Gateway Component
• VMware Horizon PCoIP Secure Gateway
• VMware Horizon Blast Secure Gateway
• VMware Horizon Web Component
• VMware VDMDS, which provides Horizon LDAP services

For information about these services, see Understanding VMware Horizon Services in the Horizon 8 Administration document.

If the Install HTML Access setting was selected during the installation, the HTML Access component is installed on the Windows Server computer. This component configures the HTML Access icon in the VMware Horizon user portal page and enables the VMware Horizon Connection Server (Blast-In) rule in the Windows Firewall. This firewall rule allows Web browsers on client devices to connect to the Connection Server on TCP port 8443.

What to do next

Configure an SSL server certificate for the Connection Server instance. See Configuring TLS Certificates for VMware Horizon 8 Servers.

You do not have to perform an initial VMware Horizon 8 configuration on a replicated instance of Connection Server. The replicated instance inherits its configuration from the existing Connection Server instance.

However, you might have to configure client connection settings for this Connection Server instance, and you can tune Windows Server settings to support a large deployment. See Configuring Horizon Client Connections and Sizing Windows Server Settings to Support Your Deployment.

If you are reinstalling Connection Server and you have a data collector set configured to monitor performance data, stop the data collector set and start it again.