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Note: This tutorial assumes you have already installed Vmware View composer, installed Vmware View and installed Vmware View Agent. ESX4 or ESX4i must already be installed along with vCenter server. You must also create a snapshot of your Workstation that we’ll be using later on in this tutorial.
1. We are now logged onto the VMware View server where you installed View Connection Server. Open the admin page either by double clicking the View Administrator Console on the desktop or by opening your browser and typing in the URL https://
2. Type in your username and password and click Login. If you are in a multi domain environment make sure you select the correct domain in the drop down box.
3. Before we are able to use View we need to enter in our license. Click Edit License.
4. Enter your license serial number and click Ok. You can register on VMware’s website for a 60 day trial version of VMware View (https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/?p=view4&lp=1)
5. Once you’ve entered in your license key you will see that View Composer and Offline Desktop is Enabled. If you are using a trial version you will see when the trial expires. Or if you are using a full license you will not see any expiration date.
6. Under Configuration click Servers. We now need to enter in our vCenter server. Click Add under vCenter Servers.
7. Enter in all the relvent vCenter information along with your credentials and click Ok.
8. As you can see, your vCenter server is now registered.
9. If we click on Configuration – Administrators, we can see a list of users or groups that are allowed to Administer VMware View. Users and Groups are populated from Active Directory.
10. If we click back on Servers.
11. Click once on our vCenter server and click Edit. You will see the previous vCenter settings. Click Check for View Composer Compatibility.
12. Once the connection is successfull click Add under the Quick Prep Domains:
13. Enter in your domain name followed by a user that has admin rights to your domain. Make sure you enter in the credentials with the correct syntax of domain.com\username
14. The QuickPrep domain is now added. Click Ok
15. Now it’s time to start creating our virtual desktops. Click the Desktops and Pools button. Click Add.
16. I won’t be giving a full explanation into what each options means. Please check the Resources section and refer to the VMware View User Guide for detailed descriptions. We will be using view composer along with linked clone technology and our Windows XP base image to create two virtual desktops for our pool. Select Automated Desktop Pool and click Next.
17. We would like each user to have a dedicated virtual desktop. Therefore we will select Persistent and click Next.
18. Select “Use linked clone technology to create desktops in this pool”
19. Enter a Unique ID along with a Display name and description. Click Next.
20. Again refer to the View User Guide in the Resources section for definitions to each of these options. However I have changed “Automatic logoff after disconnect” to After 60 minutes and “Allow users to reset thier desktop”. All other settings are default. Click Next.
21. We will be provisioning a total of two desktops in this tutorial. I’ve given my virtual desktops a naming convention of vdidesktop1 and vdidesktop2. The {n} after the name corresponds to the next incremented number. i.e. 1 then 2, then 3, etc. Click Next.
22. Select the Windows XP Virtual Machine that you created as the Parent VM. Click Next.
23. Select the snapshot you created from the Parent Virtual Machine. In this case I named mine Parent VM Snapshot. Click Next.
24. If you have a virtual machine folder setup you can select it here. Otherwise just select the Datacenter object. The new Virtual Desktops will be created under this folder or object. Click Next.
25. Selec the Host or Cluster where you wish your virtual desktops to run. I have selected our VMLAB Cluster. Click Next.
26. If you have resource pools setup you can select a pool to place your virtual desktops, otherwise just select the host or cluster object. Click Next.
27. I would like my user data preserved, especially if the desktops are refreshed or recomposed. I have allocated 1024MB of space to user data and have also selected to store the user data in a seperate data store to the virtual machine. If you store user data on the same desk as the virtual desktops operating system, the user data will be deleted when a refresh or recompose is performed. Check the View User Guide in the Resources section for definitions of refreshing or recomposing. Click Next.
28. Select two datastore. Under the Use For column, select one datastore for OS Data and the other for User data. Click Next.
29. Make sure the correct QuickPrep domain is selected. We are not using any Power-off or Post synchronization scripts. Enter in the Active Directory container you wish to create the virtual desktops in. CN means folders in AD i.e. CN=Computers, OU mean Organisational Unit i.e. OU=SydneyOffice. Click Next.
30. You are now ready to create your first virtual desktops. Review the summary and click back if you wish to make any changes. If you are happy with all your settings click Finish.
31. Clicking back on Desktops and Pools you can now see our WindowsXP Pool.
32. If we head over to our vCenter server, we can see that VMware View, along with View composer, has created our virtual desktops vdidesktop1 and vdidesktop2.
33. We now need to specify in VMware View Manager who can access the Virtual Desktops. Click Desktops and Pools and select the Pool you created earlier. In this tutorial it’s WindowsXP
34. Click Entitlements and click Add.
35. In this tutorial I have created an Active Directory Group called VDI-Access. I select Groups and in the Name field type in the beginning of my group name and then click Find. I select the Group and click Ok.
36. The group is now added and allowed to access my virtual desktops.
37. Now it’s time to test our setup. I’m logged into a Windows XP machine on my lab network. I browse to https://
38. The first time you log into the VMware View Portal you will have to install the View Client which is an ActiveX file. Click on the bar at the top of your browse and allow the ActiveX to install.
39. Click Install
40. I can see the Virtual Desktop Pool that I created earlier. Click on it to launch the Virtual Desktop.
41. The View Client is launched and you have access to your Virtual Desktop.
42. It is also possible to connect to your Virtual Desktop via your iPhone or iPad using Wyse Pocket Cloud. Please see the Wyse Pocket Cloud section of the website for a tutorial in how to set this application up to connect through to Vmware View on your iPhone or iPad. Also check the Resources section under WYSE for more information
Disclaimer:
All the tutorials included on this site are performed in a lab environment to simulate a real world production scenario. As everything is done to provide the most accurate steps to date, we take no responsibility if you implement any of these steps in a production environment.
Hi,thanks for this tutorials, they are very good! can you post the lab environment you used to make this? did you virtualize the servers for vCenter and View Manager or did you use “real” servers?
Greetings
Hi Lucas, I’m glad you like the tutorials. In regards to the lab environment, everything is virtualized. Here is a list of servers, all running on vmware workstation.
1. ESX 4.0
2. vCenter 4.0 with Vmware View Composer 4.0
3. Vmware View Connection Server 4.0
4. Windows XP Professional SP3
5. Windows 2008 Domain Controller
Excellent…
nice share, i’m studying vmware view right now..