You can configure the VMware Horizon 8 web portal page to show or hide the icon for downloading Horizon Client, the icon for connecting to a remote desktop through HTML Access, and other links.

By default, the VMware Horizon 8 web portal page shows both an icon for downloading and installing Horizon Client, an icon for connecting through HTML Access, and a link pointing to the client download page on the VMware website. You can remove one or both of the icons from the VMware Horizon 8 web portal page by modifying the values in the portal-links-html-access.properties file.

Sometimes, you might want the links on the VMware Horizon 8 web portal page to point to an internal web server, or you might want to make specific client versions available on your own server. You can reconfigure the VMware Horizon 8 web portal page to point to a different download URL by modifying the contents of the portal-links-html-access.properties file. If that file is unavailable or is empty, and the oslinks.properties file exists, the oslinks.properties file determines the link value for the installer file.

You can define installer links for specific client operating systems in the portal-links-html-access.properties file or the oslinks.properties file. For example, if you browse to the VMware Horizon 8 web portal page from a macOS system, the link for the Horizon Client for Mac installer appears. For Linux clients, you can make separate links for 32-bit and 64-bit installers. For Chrome clients, you can substitute the link to Horizon Client for Chrome in the Chrome Web Store (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/vmware-horizon-client-for/ppkfnjlimknmjoaemnpidmdlfchhehel).

Procedure

  1. On the Connection Server host, use a text editor to open the portal-links-html-access.properties file in the CommonAppDataFolder\VMware\VDM\portal\portal-links-html-access.properties directory.
    The CommonAppDataFolder directory is usually in the C:\ProgramData directory. To show the C:\ProgramData folder in Windows Explorer, use the Folder Options dialog box to show hidden folders.
    Note: If the portal-links-html-access.properties file does not exist, you can use the oslinks.properties file to modify the URLs used for downloading specific installer files. See the next step of this procedure.
  2. Edit the configuration properties.
    By default, both the installer icon and the HTML Access icon are enabled and a link points to the client download page on the VMware website. To deactivate an icon, which removes the icon from the web page, set the property to false.
    Option Property Setting
    Disable HTML Access enable.webclient=false

    Setting this option to false removes the HTML Access icon from the VMware Horizon 8 web portal page.

    • If this option is set to false, but the enable.download option is set to true, the user is taken to a web page for downloading the native Horizon Client installer.
    • If both options are set to false, the user sees the following message: "Contact your local administrator for instructions on accessing this Connection Server."
    Disable downloading Horizon Client enable.download=false

    Setting this option to false removes the Horizon Client download icon from the VMware Horizon web portal page.

    • If this option is set to false, but the enable.webclient option is set to true, the user is taken to the HTML Access login web page.
    • If both options are set to false, the user sees the following message: "Contact your local administrator for instructions on accessing this Connection Server."
    Change the URL of the Web page for downloading Horizon Client link.download=https://url-of-web-server

    Use this property if you plan to create your own web page.

    Create links for specific installers

    The following examples show full URLs. If you place the installer files in the downloads directory, which is under the C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware View\Server\broker\webapps\ directory on the Connection Server host, you can use relative URLs as described in a later step of this procedure.

    • General link to download installer: 
      link.download=https://server/downloads
    • 64-bit Windows installer: 
      link.win64=https://server/downloads/VMware-Horizon-Client-x86_64-build#.exe
    • 64-bit Linux installer: 
      link.linux64=https://server/downloads/VMware-Horizon-Client-build#.x64.bundle
    • macOS installer: 
      link.mac=https://server/downloads/VMware-Horizon-Client-build#.dmg
    • iOS installer: 
      link.ios=https://server/downloads/VMware-Horizon-Client-iPhoneOS-build#.ipa
    • Android installer: 
      link.android=https://server/downloads/VMware-Horizon-Client-AndroidOS-build#.apk
    Change the URL for the Help link in the login page link.help

    By default, this link points to a help system hosted on the VMware website. The Help link appears at the bottom of the login page.

  3. (Optional) If the portal-links-html-access.properties file does not exist, use the oslinks.properties file to modify the URLs used for downloading specific installer files.
    Note: The oslinks.properties file can be used only to configure the links to specific installer files. If this file is missing during the HTML Access session, the download link directs users to https://www.vmware.com/go/viewclients by default.
    1. On the Connection Server host, use a text editor to open the oslinks.properties file in the <installation-directory>\VMware\VMware View\Server\broker\webapps\portal\WEB-INF directory.
    2. Configure the URLs for downloading specific installer files.
      If you place the installer files in the downloads directory, which is under the C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware View\Server\broker\webapps\ directory on the Connection Server host, you can use relative URLs as described in the next step of this procedure.

      The oslinks.properties file contains the following default values.

      link.download=https://www.vmware.com/go/viewclients
# download Links for particular platforms
link.win64=https://www.vmware.com/go/viewclients#win64
link.linux64=https://www.vmware.com/go/viewclients#linux64
link.mac=https://www.vmware.com/go/viewclients#mac
link.ios=https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vmware-view-for-ipad/id417993697
link.android=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vmware.view.client.android
  4. To have users download installers from a location other than the VMware website, place the installer files on the HTTP server where the installer files reside.
    This location must correspond to the URLs that you specified in the portal-links-html-access.properties file or in the oslinks.properties file from the previous steps. For example, to place the files in a downloads directory on the Connection Server host, use the following path. 
    C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware View\Server\broker\webapps\downloads

    The links to the installer files can then use relative URLs with the format /downloads/client-installer-file-name.

  5. Restart the Horizon Web Component service.