VMware Horizon uses desktop pools for centralized desktop management and distribution. In Horizon, you create a pool of virtual machines and select settings that give all the machines in the pool a standard desktop definition
This chapter describes the following:
Creating a template from an existing virtual machine
Creating a Customization Specification
Provisioning a single vGPU-enabled virtual machine from a template
Creating Full and Linked Clones Horizon pools
Enabling User Access to pools
To create a pool, you must first convert an existing virtual machine into a template, which you can create a single virtual machine or virtual machines on demand.
A complete demonstration of these features is beyond the scope of this document; however, converting a virtual machine to a template and then deploying virtual machines from that template is a fundamental operation that can reduce evaluation time.
To create a template from an existing virtual machine:
Open the vSphere Web Client:
vSphere displays the 10Clone Virtual Machine To Template window. With the Select a name and folder tab selected.
In the VM template name field, enter a name for the template.
Select a location to create the template. Click Next.
Select a compute resource for the template. Click Next.
Select the target datastore. Click Next.
Review the Ready to Complete window settings and click Finish to start cloning the virtual machine to a template.
When the cloning process is complete, the VM template is displayed at the end of the list in the VMs and Templates section.
Before you can provision a virtual machine from a template, you must create a VM Customization Specification. This will handle actions such as joining the domain and renaming the machine.
To create a VM Customization Specification:
From the left-hand pane of the vSphere Client Shortcuts view, select VM Customization Specifications in the Monitoring section.
In the VM Customization Specifications window, click New.
For Target guest OS, select Windows.
Check the Generate New Security ID (SID) checkbox.
If your organization uses an answer file, you can load that file by checking the Use custom SysPrep answer file checkbox.
If your organization does not use this functionality, leave the checkbox cleared. Enter a name for the new specification in the Customization Specification Name field. Click Next
Enter the VM owner’s name in the Name field and the owner’s organization’s name in the Organization field, then click Next
Enter a computer name for the VM, then click Next.
Enter your Windows product key information or leave this field blank. Then click Next
Enter and confirm the administrator password (it is case sensitive) in the Password and Confirm Password fields, then click Next
Select your time zone from the Time Zone pulldown menu, then click Next
Enter any required one-time commands in this tab, then click Next
Click the appropriate radio button to either:
Use standard network settings: Automatically selects network settings.
Use manual network settings: Enter the network description, IPv4 address, and/or IPv6 address in the respective fields.
Click Next.
Select the appropriate radio button to make the VM a member of either a workgroup or a domain. Enter the VM’s workgroup or domain information in the appropriate fields. Then click. Next
Review your settings. If any are incorrect, click Back to correct them. When all of the settings are correct, click Finish to view the new customization specification from the template.
You do not need to create a virtual machine guest customization specification every time you clone a virtual machine from a template.
To provision a single vGPU-enabled virtual machine from a template:
From vSphere Client, right-click the template and select New VM from this Template. vSphere displays the Deploy From Template window with the Select a name and folder tab selected.
Enter a name for the new VM in the Virtual machine name field and select a location. Click Next.
Select the Compute Resource, click Next.
Select the target storage type and datastore, click Next.
Check the Customize the operating system checkbox In the Select clone options window. Click Next.
Select the Guest OS used to create the VM. Click Next.
vSphere displays the Ready to complete tab of the Deploy From Template window, displaying the “Win11” Guest OS Customization specification properties.
Review the settings. If any are incorrect, click the Back button to make corrections. Click Finish to begin creating the virtual machine from the template.
Once the VM is created, it becomes visible in the data center on its cloned host.
We will add the newly cloned VM to a Horizon Desktop Pool, then authorize user/groups to use it. These steps are described later in Enabling User Access to Desktop Pools.
Horizon can leverage templates to create virtual machines automatically and on-demand to save time and resources. See the Horizon 8 Documentation for instructions on using this functionality.
The following sections describe how to create a desktop pool and grant entitlements to users and groups who use the pool. In Horizon 8 2312, you can create desktop pools from a gold master image with Full Clones or Linked Clones. Both use cases are explained in the following sections.
To create full clone desktop pools, you must have a template of the golden master image. Find the reference VM in the Navigator and right-click it. Select Clone > Clone to Template.
Alternatively, you can create a VM template using instructions from Creating a Template. The Clone Virtual Machine To Template wizard walks you through the steps. At the end of the process, click Finish to create the template.
Create a Customization Specification file to deploy the full clone pool. The VM Customization Specification wizard walks you through these steps, as described in Creating a Customization Specification
Log in to the Horizon Administrator. Select Desktops in the Inventory pane, then click Add.
Select Automated Desktop Pool, then click Next.
Select the vCenter Server instance. Select the Full Virtual Machine radio button to create a full clone desktop pool. Click Next.
Select Floating as the User Assignment type. Click Next.
Select the Use VMware virtual SAN Radio button for the Storage Optimization. Click Next.
Enter a unique ID and Display Name for the desktop pool. Click Next.
Enter the Provisioning Settings for your environment. Click Next.
In the vCenter Settings tab. Fill in the details for your Horizon Pool.
Vmware suggests using the Worksheet to Create an Automated Full-Clone Desktop Pool to prepare your configuration options before creating the desktop pool.
In the Desktop Pool Settings tab. Fill in the details for your Horizon Desktop Pool.
Vmware suggests using the Worksheet to Create an Automated Full-Clone Desktop Pool to prepare your configuration options before creating the desktop pool.
In the Remote Display Settings tab. Fill in the details for your Horizon Desktop Pool.
Under the Guest Customization tab. Scroll towards the bottom and select the Use a Customization Specification (Sysprep), then select the customization specification you created for the Horizon Pool.
Review your selections. If any are incorrect, click Previous to correct them. When your selections are correct, click Finish to deploy the Desktop Pool.
Click the Status button to display the pools’ status.
Creating a linked pool of VDI desktops is similar to creating a full clone pool. A linked pool leverages Horizon 8 to deploy multiple desktops from one master image. Linked clones consume less disk space than full clones and are easier to manage, upgrade, and deploy with little impact on the end-user.
As for a clone pool, you begin by selecting a VM as the golden master image. Instead of using a template of the VM, though, you take a snapshot of it.
To create a linked-clone desktop pool:
Start vSphere Web Client. Right-click the gold master image VM.
Select Snapshots > Take Snapshot to open the Take Snapshot window.
Name the snapshot to conform to your VM naming standards. Give the snapshot a meaningful description, then click OK to create the snapshot.
Start the VMware Horizon Administrator. Select Desktops in the Inventory pane, then click the Add button. Horizon Administrator starts the Desktop Pool wizard.
Select Automated Desktop Pool, then click Next.
Select the vCenter Server instance. You must select the Instant Clone Radio button for the Linked Clones pool. Click Next.
Select Floating radio button as the User Assignment type. Click Next.
Select the Use VMware virtual SAN radio button for the Storage Optimization. Click Next.
Enter a unique ID and a display name for the desktop pool. Click Next.
Enter the Provisioning Settings for your environment Click Next.
In the vCenter Settings tab. Fill in the details for your Horizon Pool.
Vmware suggests using the Worksheet to Create an Automated Full-Clone Desktop Pool to prepare your configuration options before creating the desktop pool.
In the Desktop Pool Settings tab. Fill in the details for your Horizon Desktop Pool.
Vmware suggests using the Worksheet to Create an Automated Full-Clone Desktop Pool to prepare your configuration options before creating the desktop pool.
In the Remote Display Settings tab. Fill in the details for your Horizon Desktop Pool.
In the Guest Customization tab. Scroll towards the bottom and Select the customization specification (Sysprep), then select the customization specification you created for the Horizon Pool.
Review your selections. If any are incorrect, click Back to correct them. When your selections are correct, click Finish to deploy the Desktop Pool.
Click the Status button to display the pools’ status.
Entitle users to access the VDI desktops in a desktop pool.
Start or return to VMware Horizon Administrator and click Desktop Pools in the left-hand pane.
Click the Add button to enter your entitlements.
In the Find User or Group window. Check the Users checkbox or the Groups checkbox (or both) to display the defined users or groups. Enter a string in the Name/Username field or the Description field (or both) to limit the display to users and/or groups whose name or description (or both) match that string. By default, “matching the string” means “containing the string.” Possible matching criteria are “Contains,” “Begins with,” etc. You can change the criteria for a match on either field by selecting a different entry in the dropdown between the field’s label and the field’s matching string.
When the Find User or Group contains the exact set of users and/or groups that you want to entitle, click OK to entitle them and close the window.