You can integrate Horizon desktops and applications, Horizon Cloud desktops and applications, Citrix published resources, and ThinApp packages with the VMware Identity Manager service. Beginning with the 3.1 release, these resources are managed through virtual apps collections.
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 VMware Identity Manager, with 5 farms in each collection. This allows for easier management of the configuration as well as 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 Configuration page, accessed by navigating to in the VMware Identity Manager 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
Benefits of using the virtual apps collection feature include the following:
- 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 VMware Identity Manager service must be version 3.1 or later.
- All connectors used to sync resources must be version 2017.12.1.0 or later.
- Beginning with VMware Identity Manager 3.2, a Super Admin role is required to get started with virtual apps collections.
- In a new installation, the Super Admin role is required to access the Virtual Apps Configuration page initially. When you select the tab and click Virtual Apps Configuration for the first time, an information page appears and you click Get Started to display the Virtual Apps Configuration page. This initial getting started flow requires a Super Admin role.
Subsequently, you can use 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
- For installations that are upgraded to 3.2 or later from earlier releases, the Super Admin role is required to migrate existing resource configurations to virtual apps collections.
After the resources are migrated, you can use any role that can perform the following actions in the Catalog service:
- Manage Desktop Apps: Allows you to create, edit, or delete Horizon, Horizon Cloud, and Citrix-published virtual apps collections
- Manage ThinApps: Allows you to create, edit, or delete ThinApps collections
Note: In the scenarios in which the old Manage Desktop Applications menu is still available, the Read Only Admin role is sufficient to edit and manage existing configurations from that menu.
- In a new installation, the Super Admin role is required to access the Virtual Apps Configuration page initially. When you select the tab and click Virtual Apps Configuration for the first time, an information page appears and you click Get Started to display the Virtual Apps Configuration page. This initial getting started flow requires a Super Admin role.
- If you upgraded to 3.2 or later from an earlier release and did not have any resources configured, the new installation scenario applies.
Migrating from Earlier Releases
The Virtual Apps Collection feature was introduced in VMware Identity Manager 3.1.
With virtual apps collections, resource configurations are stored in the VMware Identity Manager service instead of the connector. They are managed from the page instead of the pages.
In new installations, the Virtual Apps Configuration page is automatically enabled. To integrate Horizon, Horizon Cloud, Citrix, or ThinApp resources, create one or more collections.
For upgrade from earlier releases, a migration path is available for maintaining your existing resource integrations. See Migrating Existing Configurations to Virtual Apps Collection for information.
