Creating Windows 2019 or Windows 10 Desktop Pool

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Theory

There are three types of pools:

Manual pool
We can create VMs and install Horizon agent. Then we can add them to Manual pool. This can be used to add physical Desktops / Servers etc. also to the horizon for connection server / UAG based remote access
RDS pool
Once we create RDSH farm, we can create RDS pool as described in detail at Creating RDSH Automatic Instant Clone Farms
Automated pool
In this case we create a golden image and Horizon will create copies of that golden image for us automatically for users. In case of automated pool we have floating and dedicated.
  • Floating is very good option as that uses Instant clone and VMs get destroyed on log-off. However in that case we should use DEM for storing configuration and users should not store any data on local drive. All data should be on mapped drive. This is created based on VMs and snapshots.
  • In case of dedicated pool the setup is very simple. The VMs get create based on template. The created VMs are independent vsphere VMs that are there forever till we remove them. We can choose option of automated assignment or manual assignment. However by default VMs are not part of AD. We need to join them in AD with correct name. There is lot of freedom and simplicity in this approach. The users can install printer drivers, store files on Desktop, install separate applications for themselves, etc. The only disadvantage is slowness of machine over time due to temporary files, etc. Also updates would have to be done on each machine separately.

Prerequisites

  1. Connection server should be setup as per Horizon Connection server installation
  2. AD should be configured as per AD Configuration required for various Windows RDSH or Desktop pools
  3. OS Golden image should be ready as per Creating Golden image for Windows OS
  4. In case of Server OS
    1. In Horizon Administrator, select View Configuration > Global Settings.
    2. In the General pane, click Edit.
    3. Select the Enable Windows Server desktops check box and click OK.


Creation of Desktop Pool with Floating assignment and instant clones

To create Desktop Pool for Windows 2019 or Windows 10 use:

  1. In Horizon Console, on the left, expand Inventory, and click Desktops.
  2. On the right, click Add.
  3. In the Type page, select Automated Desktop Pool, and click Next
  4. In vCenter server, select Instant Clone and click Next
  5. In User Assignment page, select Floating click Next
  6. In Storage Policy Management page, click Next
  7. In the Desktop Pool ID page, give appropriate ID, name and click next.
  8. In Provisioning settings page, select Enable Provisioning and select Stop Provisioning on Error
    Use Naming Pattern as per requirement such as W10P1-{n=fixed:4}
  9. All machines up-front and Maximum Machines as per requirement 2
  10. Click Next
  11. In vCenter settings page, Choose Golden Image in vCenter, its snapshot, VM folder location, cluster, resource pool, datastore and network.
  12. In Desktop Pool Settings page, use following:
    State
    Enabled
    Connection Server Restrictions
    None
    Category Folder
    None
    Client Restrictions
    Don't select
    Session Types
    Desktop
    Log Off After Disconnect
    Never
    Allow users to Restart machines
    Yes
    Allow separate Desktop Sessions from Different client devices
    No
  13. In Remote Display Settings page,
    Default Display Protocol
    VMware Blast
    Allow users to choose protocol
    Yes
    3D Render
    Manage using vSphere Client
  14. In the Guest Customization page
    1. From dropdown, select the domain
    2. Select an OU to place the new virtual machines
      This is the VDI-VMs OU that we created as per AD Configuration required for various Windows RDSH or Desktop pools
    3. select Allow reuse of pre-existing computer accounts
  15. In the Ready to Complete page, Review the settings, click Submit


Machine recreation process in case of floating pool

Machine recreation process in case of Instant clone is:

  1. The maximum machines always be running.
  2. If users logs in, User will be assigned to one instant clone machine randomly.
  3. When user logs off or disconnect, the assigned machine will be deleted and recreated in short time.
  4. This process can be observe from vCenter

Refer: - https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Horizon-7/7.13/horizon-virtual-desktops/GUID-5D941C48-C931-4CA5-BA23-8AA0C392A6DE.html


Creation of pool as dedicated

Most steps are same as that of Instant clones but with difference that:

  • Instead of VM with snapshot we need to select template
  • Choose "Full virtual machines" to create independent machines
  • We can show machine name and alias on the Horizon client (even web) page to user
  • Machines do not join AD and hence need to be named and joined AD manually
  • After pool is created in case of manual assignment we can go to Machines page, select a machine and assign to user. That way user will get access to that corresponding machine.
  • Multi assignments are possible. A single VM can be assigned to multiple users. A single user can access multiple VMs.


Machine recreation process in case of dedicated pool

In this case since we are planning to store data machine recreation is not frequent. We create machines for new users. For that if we want we can update the template being used. New VMs will automatically use the new template.


Common steps between floating and dedicated pools

Check Desktop pool creation status

To view the status of Desktop Pool creation

  1. Inventory -> Desktops -> Click the newely created desktop pool
  2. The bottom of the Summary tab shows you the State of the Publishing progress
  3. You can watch the progress in vSphere Client. This process will complete in short time
  4. Eventually the tab named Machines (Instant Clone details) Hosts will show the new virtual machines.


Entitle the users to Desktop pool

To entitle (Assign) users go to pool and add entitlement for AD user or group for that pool

  1. Login to Connection Server
  2. Then go to, Inventory -> Desktops -> Select the Desktop pool -> Click Entitlements -> Add Entitlements
  3. In Add Entitlements page,
  4. Click Add
  5. Find and select the AD group
  6. Click Ok
  7. Select the group, then click ok


Add machines to pool

We can add more machines to the Desktop pool using:

  1. Login to Connection Server
  2. Then go to, Inventory -> Desktops -> Select the Desktop pool -> Click Edit
  3. In pop page, Go to "Provisioning Settings" tab
  4. Increase Maximum Machines changes to desire number
  5. Click Ok
  6. New machine will be create in vCenter.
  7. The same can be view from Desktop pool -> Machines (Instant Clone Details)


Acess the Desktop pool

Access desktop pool from a user who is entitled as explained above. For connecting use either:

  • Connection server via browser : https://<connection-server-fqdn>/portal
  • Horizon client



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