You can integrate Horizon desktops and applications, Horizon Cloud desktops and applications, Citrix published resources, and ThinApp packaged applications with the Workspace ONE Access service. These resources are managed through virtual apps collections and require you to install a Workspace ONE Access (formerly called VMware Identity Manager) connector.
A virtual apps collection contains the configuration information for an integration, including the type of resource, the servers from which to sync resources, the connector to use for sync, and the sync schedule.
You can create a single virtual apps collection or multiple collections for any type of resource except ThinApp packages for which you can only create a single collection. For example, to integrate a deployment of 50 Citrix XenApp farms, you can set up 10 virtual apps collections in Workspace ONE Access, with five farms in each collection. This allows for easier management of the configuration and faster sync as each collection is synced separately.
You can also use different connectors for each collection to distribute the sync load.
The Virtual Apps Collections page, accessed by navigating to in the Workspace ONE Access console, provides a central location for managing all your resources integrations. You can create and edit collections, monitor the sync status of all collections, view alerts, and sync manually from this page.
Benefits of Using Virtual Apps Collections
The virtual apps collections feature provides the following benefits:
- A central location from which to manage all resource integrations
- Manage all types of resources
- Manage the configuration and sync settings for each collection
- Monitor the sync status of all collections
- Ability to sync smaller sets of data by setting up multiple collections for a large resource integration. For example, you can create separate collections for each Horizon pod or each XenApp farm.
- Ability to set up separate collections for different domains. Multiple domains do not need a trust relationship if you use separate collections for each domain.
Requirements for Virtual Apps Collections
- All instances of the Workspace ONE Access service must be version 3.1 or later.
- All connectors used to sync resources must be version 2017.12.1.0 or later.
- Role requirements
- The Super Admin role is required to access the Virtual Apps Collections page initially.
- In a new installation, when you select the tab for the first time, an information page appears and you click Get Started to display the Virtual Apps Collections page. This initial getting started flow requires a Super Admin role.
- For installations that are upgraded from an earlier release, the Super Admin role is required to migrate existing resource configurations to virtual apps collections.
- For installations that are upgraded from an earlier release but do not have any resources configured, the Super Admin role is required to access the Virtual Apps Collections page initially. This scenario is similar to the new installation scenario.
- Subsequently, you can manage virtual apps collections with any role that can perform the following actions in the Catalog service:
- Manage Desktop Apps (to create, edit, or delete Horizon, Horizon Cloud, and Citrix-published virtual apps collections)
- Manage ThinApps (to create, edit, or delete ThinApps collections)
- The Super Admin role is required to save the Network Ranges page for Horizon and Citrix collections. The Network Ranges page is used to specify Client Access FQDNs to direct user requests to the appropriate servers.
- The Super Admin role is required to access the Virtual Apps Collections page initially.
Migrating from Earlier Releases
The Virtual Apps Collection feature was introduced in Workspace ONE Access (formerly called VMware Identity Manager) 3.1.
With virtual apps collections, resource configurations are stored in the Workspace ONE Access service instead of the connector. They are managed from the page instead of the pages.
In new installations, the Virtual Apps Collections page is automatically enabled. To integrate Horizon, Horizon Cloud, Citrix, or ThinApp resources, create new collections.
For upgrade from earlier releases, a migration path is available for maintaining your existing resource integrations. See Migrating Existing Configurations to Virtual Apps Collections for information.
