VDI

Enable Touch ID Authentication in VMware Horizon

In Horizon 6.2 it is possible to authenticate with Apples Touch ID. Touch ID is not enabled by default and has the following minimal requirements:

  • iPhone 5S, 6, and 6 Plus
  • iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3
  • IOS 8
  • Horizon 6 version 6.2
  • The View Connection Server must present a valid root-signed certificate to the Horizon Client
  • Horizon 3.5 client
  • The Horizon Client certificate checking mode must be set to ‘Never connect to untrusted servers or Warn before connecting to untrusted servers’

Touch ID is not enabled by default and is a global setting, so when enabling, all users are able to login using the Touch ID! There is no other way to control who can use Touch ID.

The following steps describes enabling Touch ID

Enable BioMetrics authentication in the View Connection Server.

  • Start ADSI Edit on the View Connection Server
  • In the Connection Settings dialog box, select or connect to DC=vdi,DC=vmware,DC=int
  • In the Computer pane, type localhost

0

  • Browse to the object CN=Common, OU=Global, OU=Properties
  • Edit the pae-ClientConfig attribute and add the value BioMetricsTimeout=-1 (-1 means BioMetric Authentication is supported without any time limit. To enable a time limit, enter for example 30 for 30 minutes).

1 1a

 

  • The new setting takes effect immediately

Horizon Client

  • Check the certificate settings on the iPad or iPhone.
  • Enable Touch ID in the Horizon Client and login the first time with your password.

IMG_7029 IMG_7030

After that you’re been able to use the Touch ID to authenticate to the Horizon View environment. Pretty cool stuff!

 

VMware Horizon View Optimization Guide for Windows 7 and Windows 8 white paper update

VMware released an updated version of the “VMware Horizon with View Optimization Guide for Windows 7 and Windows 8” whitepaper. This white paper discuss the necessary information for optimizing a Windows 7 or Windows 8 virtual desktop image for VMware Horizon View using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) or use a script-based approach.

The updated (July 15, 2014) “VMware Horizon with View Optimization Guide for Windows 7 and Windows 8” whitepaper can be found here. Link

Changelog scripts:

Removed on 03 June 2014
The following code was removed to fix issues with IE10, IE11, and Adobe Acrobat:
rem reg ADD “HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory
Management” /v MoveImages /t REG_DWORD /d 0x0 /f

Removed on 11 February 2014
Rem Remove recycling bin
reg ADD “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
policies\Explorer” /v NoRecycleFiles /t REG_DWORD /d 0x1 /f

Updated version of the VMware OS Optimization Tool

The VMware Labs Flings has an updated version of the “VMware OS Optimalization Tool”. The VMware OS Optimization Tool helps optimize Windows 7/8/2008/2012 systems for use with VMware Horizon View. New enhancements are:

  • Updated templates for Windows 7/8 – based on VMware’s OS Optimization Guide
  • New templates for Windows 2008/2012 RDSH servers for use as a desktop
  • Single portal EXE design for ease of deployment and distribution
  • Combination of Remote and Local tools into one tool
  • Better template management, with built in and user-definable templates
  • Results report export feature.

The VMware OS Optimization Tool can be found here, link

Optimize Windows 8 for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environments

Optimize and tuning a Windows 8 desktop in a VDI environment is important to reduce for example the CPU, IOPS and the memory footprint. During the Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) 2013 a breakout session about optimizing a Windows 8 desktop for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is held. The session has three main subjects: 

  • Microsoft Guidance for Windows 8 Configuration VDI desktop. What version of Windows 8 do I need, how many CPUs, memory, disk partitioning etc.
  • Detailed Review of Component Configuration. What services do I need to enable or disable, do I need to disable SuperFetch?  All the optimization settings are available in VBS script
  • Recommendations for performance testing. This section is about the (third party) tools that can be used to do performance testing.

. The Windows 8 VDI sizing and optimizations  can be used for example on the following VDI solutions:

  • VMware Horizon View
  • Citrix XenDesktop
  • Microsoft VDI

A Windows 8 VDI optimization VBS script is available. This script does all the optimization work for you. Review all the settings before executing if the fits for your environment! There will be a PowerShell version available in the future. The Windows 8 optimization VBS script can be found here.

When you want to use Windows 8 for in your VDI environment this session helps you to size, tune and optimize your Windows 8 VDI desktop. The Optimizing Windows 8 for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure session can found here.