vmware horizon view

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

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  • 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).

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  • 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.

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

 

The end of Tera1 zero client support in VMware Horizon View 6

The Tera1 zero clients has reached their limits on new features that can be added and the ability to support new features of Horizon View such as RDSH.  Teradici supports the following combinations:

Processor Firmware Horizon View Version support VMware Certified
Tera2 4.8.0 6.1 Yes
Tera2 4.7.1 6.0 Yes
Tera1 4.7.1 6.0.1 No (*2)

(*2) Tera1 zero clients are certified on VMware Horizon View 5.3 and earlier. Horizon View 6.x is not supported by VMware. If you require VMware support use VMware Horizon View 5.3 and earlier or upgrade to Tera2 zero clients.

Teradici provides technical support on PCoIP Firmware (FW 4.7.1 and earlier) for Tera1 zero clients with VMware Horizon View 6.0.1 and earlier. Here is an overview of the Teradici End-of-Life (EOL) notifications:

Definition Date
End-of-Life (EOL) Notification Notification of EOL provided through Teradici’s Technical Support portal.Tera1 firmware releases will not include development for new platform version support or features.Firmware updates will only be provided to address issues deemed critical by Teradici for Tera1 against supported platform. April 21, 2015
End-of-Support No additional firmware updates or maintenance releases for Tera1 products after this date. April 30, 2016
End-of-Technical Guidance The last day in which Teradici Technical Support can answer questions, assist in finding workarounds or provide development guidance. December 31, 2016

The latest release of VMware Horizon View when written is version 6.1. Both VMware and Teradici don’t have support for the Tera1 zero clients in this release.

So what options do you have?

The following options can be used when having Tera1 zero clients:

  • Use VMware Horizon View 5.3 or earlier. This options is fully supported by Teradici and VMware.
  • Upgrade to View Horizon 6.0.1. This option is only supported by Teradici.
  • Use Tera1 zero clients with Horizon View version 6.1. Don’t use any new features that are introduced in VMware Horizon View 6 and later. Be sure to test test and test this option, because this isn’t supported by VMware and Teradici!
  • Buy new Tera2 zero clients. 10ZiG for example offers a buy-back program for any Tera1 Zero Client when upgrading to Tera2 hardware. It does not matter which brand the Tera1 zero client is. This can reduced the hardware upgrade costs! Tera2 zero clients adds support for the latest version of Horizon View and improves performance. To learn more about the 10ZiG Tera1 buy-back offer, use the following this link.

I created a Horizon 6 matrix with the new and  features that aren’t supported anymore. The matrix can be found here, link.

VMware tools update fails on ESXi 6 hosts with Dutch Operating System VMs

After upgrading all the hosts in the lab environment to VMware ESXi 6, I tried to upgrade the VMware tools version of a Dutch Windows 7 golden VM used by VMware Horizon View. The VMware tools upgrade fails with the following message:

VMware Tools Setup Wizard ended prematurely

vmware tools

This is a known bug in VMware ESXi 6.0 with Dutch Operating System VMs (see KB, link).

The following work around can be used:

  • Create a local group named “everyone”
  • Add the user used for installing VMware tools to the “everyone” group
  • Run the VMware tools upgrade
  • Remove the “everyone” group