VMWare View 5.0: Teradici Zero Clients experience rapid "black/white screen" at login

Overview

Recently, I have observed an annoying issue with Teradici Zero Clients (Wyse and Samsung) while users are logging into the device. After authentication, the virtual desktop display starts rapid "black/white screen" on the display while waiting to finalize login. I tracked the problem down to the windows 7 PCoIP video driver trying to adjust to the resolution of the monitor attached to the Zero Client. Although this does not impact the overall connection most customers just live with the "screen blinking", personally I don't like it! The Windows, Mac and Smartphone clients work just fine, but with the resolution changes recommended the connections seem to be much quicker at startup.

So, through much testing with zero clients, thin clients, ThinLaunch (which rocks BTW) and end user connection validations to VMWare View environments, I believe I found a easy work around for this issue.

Resolution

The issue is with the base image configuration for VMWare View deployments. By Default, a virtual machine in vSphere 5.0 is not set to "Auto Detect" video settings. Secondly, the default screen resolution is commonly changed on the base image for console access from 800x600 to something larger for better console display. The base image is used as the golden image so all desktops inherit VM settings. In certain situations with Thin and Zero clients, the embedded agent does not react well with display changes from default settings and the view agent needs to utilize the Auto Detect VM settings rather than adjusted settings.

Note: 3D Rendering with VMWare View is still on my Radar Screen and so far, working AWESOME!!!!! However, I need to validate infrastructure impact to reference architectures.

So, in conjunction to the standard base image customization, please perform the following additional adjustments:

1) Set the default base image to Auto Detect on the Video Settings when the VM is powered off:

2) Set the default resolution on the base image to 800x600:

After these settings are performed the image resolution and login to the Zero Clients from Teradici will perform much better without the blinking screen.

Please feel free to comment.

Enjoy!!!

VMWare View 5.0: Port Information for Internal and External access

Overview

In recent deployments and upgrades of VMWare View 5.0, customers are really starting to realize the concept of the "Follow Me Desktop". When the VMWare View environment is setup correctly for end user access,  a single access URL can be easily setup to provide seamless access to VDI environments using BYODs (Bring Your Own Devices) for internal and external access (and just a "cool" solution to provide end user access to perform critical business activities in a secured manner anytie/anywhat/anydevice).

This blog focuses on the internal networking requirements to provide seamless external and internal access to VMWare View environments.

Solution

To provide seamless access via single URL access, please understand that from the URL provided to end users, Windows and Mac users, can download the installation software by just pointing their browser to the URL (smart devices are done via "market"). Now, for the IT Department, there is some effort required to make sure everything gets setup correctly. Below are the steps and diagrams to utilize for this configuration:

1) Determine load balancing setup. Some customers cannot invest the monies into a F5 or Cisco load balances, so DNS round robin can do the trick, by assigning a multiple IP addresses internally and externally to the same DNS name. I will not go into the hardware solution setup at this point.

2) Understand the port requirements and DMZ setup (diagrams below) end to end. EVERYONE MISSES PORT 4172 TCP AND UDP BOTH DIRECTS ON THE EXTERNAL and INTERNAL FIREWALLS!!!!!

3) Don't be afraid to NAT the Security Server internal IP Address from the External access IP. I usually setup a separate vSwitch for DMZ Access in this environment for my Security servers, setup layer 2 security and drop another vNic into production for "backend firewall to desktops". If you have a good network intrusion protection scheme, which you should at this point, use it!!  Please refer to the documentation at http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/view_pubs.html for View Brokler setup and configurations.

4) Two (2) factor authentication and tags are supported to block users from external access. Again refer to admin documents on the setup, but it works great.

5) Use any device access for clients, test on wired/wireless networks and DOCUMENT. I am really impressed with Teradici Management Software to provide seamless provisioning and access to thin clients (Vonage VDI...This is a whole 'nother level for a blog), ThinLaunch software to re-purpose devices and smart device support for VMware View clients.

6) Did I mention DOCUMENTATION!!!! Document the "how to guide" for end users to ease the operations support. One of the main selling points of this technology is the ease of operations, support, rapid deployment, updates and ease of access.

That's it...Happy New Year and 100,000 desktops in 2012!!!!!

Dave

VMWare View 5.0 Composer Error while adding QuickPrep Users: "Error while adding the administrator. Please re-check your information"

Overview

During a couple of recent VMWare View 5.0 (will occur in 4.x as well) I came across an error when adding a "Quickprep" user to the Composer accounts through view manager: "Error while adding the administrator. Please re-check your information". I found very limited information concerning this error and validated the resolution from the VMWare KB article kb.vmware.com/kb/1035626.


Note: The connection server log is really not that informative as well, but I do suggest anyone that is involved in VMWare View deployments get familiar with generating vmware view log bundles for support from the View Brokers:

View Connection Manager->Start->VMWare->Generate View Connection Server Log....

Log Information from this error:

Error while adding the administrator. Please re-check your information com.vmware.vdi.admin.ui.common.ViewFlexFactory$ViewProxy.invoke(SourceFile:87)
com.vmware.vdi.admin.ui.common.FlexRemoteException: Error while adding the administrator. Please re-check your information
at com.vmware.vdi.admin.ui.bean.VCServerBean.addAdmin(SourceFile:500)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597)


Resolution

What I did realize is that the issue was mainly with the DNS resolution within the environment and with the latest Virtualization Migration, a couple of Domain Controllers were converted and dcpromo'ed out. When I ping'd and nslookup'd the domain, I noticed a couple of IP addresses of DC's that no longer exist. If anyone has not realized yet, on any VMWare View deployments, a solid windows Domain infrastructure is most important and mis-configurations that may "fly" in a non-virtualized desktop environments will not work well in VMWare View, Citrix Xen, etc...

The main problem is that the Virtual Center Composer and View Manager could resolve users and adding vCenter Servers, however the View composer component requires the user to be fully authenticated across each domain set and if there is a single DNS resolution failure of authentication controllers for the QuickPrep user, the user for QuickPrep will not be added with error noted in this post. The KB Article in this post from VMWare covers most of the issues that can cause this error as well, so please refer to that as well since.

I found the old domain controllers entries in the "Domain Controllers" OU's and Sites/Locations, then:

1) Removed the non-existent DC controllers entries manually.
2) Cleaned up DNS entrires all around.
3) Then re-synced the Domain
4) Went ahead restart the View Manager's and vCenter server with View Composer service (could have probably flushed, but went with clean restart)
5) Then added the Domain Administrator account to View Manager composer QuickPrep user

Done!!!

Again, the bottom line is to ensure proper domain administration and Virtualization in general is a great opportunity to "right" the "wrongs" of the past.

Hope this information was useful and please feel free to comment.

Dave

Desktop Virtualization - Windows 7 IOPs and Impacts on VDI Deployments

Overview

I recently came across an excellent resource describing Windows 7 IOPs and performance impacts on Desktop Virtualization environments. There are excellent points made around the importance of preparing the Windows operating systems for VDI, allocating storage capacity based upon upfront analysis, validating your expectations prior to production and the importance of determine the VDI environment user roles.

Understanding and getting a grasp on your VDI IOPs is one of the most important attributes for a success VDI Deployment.

Successful desktop deployments involve doing your homework, understand the technology and research "lessons learned" from others that have deployed. You can't believe everything you read, so you will have to dig through the marketing hype to get to the valued information.

One item I would like to point out is the use of tools to validate your VDI deployments. Storage is about 40% of the overall cost of any VDI deployment, so if you have the ability to prove out your IOPs on a small scale system before large scale deployments with your expected user profile usage, that is ideal. Personally I like using IOMeter to generate "simulated" user I/O since this tool has the ability to custom generate scripts. If you have a knack for scripting, couple with this "Autologon" and login scripts and you can deploy 100's of VDI desktops through your provsiioning manager (View Manager, PVS, DDC, etc..) to burn-in your environment prior to production that will launch IOMeter scipts. I also recommend AutoIT VBScript builder as well to simulate launching and type withing applications.

Below are a few links that provide details on IOPs and VDI solutions from "real world" implementations:

Windows 7 IOPS:

“Windows 7 IOPS for VDI: Deep Dive”

Virtualization blogs (just a few):

http://myvirtualcloud.net/
http://blogs.vmware.com/view/
http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/brianmadden/default.aspx
http://www.petri.co.il/forums/index.php

Please feel free to comment or contact me for more details:

Dave Harmon

VMWare View 5.0 Client - Remove Certificate Warning Message at Startup

Overview

How to remove the Annoying certification warning pop-up on VMware View 5.0 Client is pretty straight forward. I know this is a pain, but for CP Compliance the default behavior was changed.

NOTE: DO NOT ADD THIS TO A GPO WITH SERVERS!!!!! If added to View Brokers or any servers with non-trusted certs, SSL connections will be BLOCKED!!!

Solution 

This can be done as a local policy or as a GPO update for computer hardware based policies.

a)      On the local machine or AD Server import the vdm_client.adm template

1)      Gpedit.msc

2)      Add the vdm_client.adm template from_C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware View\Client\extras (copy to server for GPO change)

b)      Enable the setting for “Certification Verification Mode” and set for "No Security" to bypass security cert checking.

That's all...

VMWare View 5.0 Fix for Windows 7 provisioing error: "View Composer agent initialization state error (18): Failed to join the domain"

The same thing happened for Windows XP, but that fix is different and I already posted that solution previously. THis Also Happens in View 4.5 and 4.6 release as well.

 

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1024419

View Composer linked clones fail to finish customizing when they are created from a Windows 7 parent virtual machine and the Active Directory is configured on Windows Server 2008.

Details

Most linked clones that have this problem cannot join the domain. View Administrator displays the following error message: "View Composer agent initialization state error (18): Failed to join the domain (waited nnn seconds)."

This issue does not occur when the View deployment uses an Active Directory instance that runs on Windows Server 2003.

Solution

1. Take the following actions in the Windows 7 operating system on the parent virtual machine:
*  Set the default DHCP gateway. In the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties dialog box, select "Obtain an IP address automatically," click Advanced, click ADD under the Default Gateways list, and type the default DHCP gateway.
* Disable Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).
* Follow the instructions in the Microsoft Support Knowledge Base article, Unable to Join Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7 Computer to Active Directory Domain.
See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2008652.

In particular, add the following Windows registry key to the parent virtual machine:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netlogon\Parameters
Value Name: NeutralizeNT4Emulator
Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value Data: 0x1
* In the DNS tab of the Advanced TCP/IP Settings dialog box, remove extraneous DNS servers from the list of DNS server addresses.
2. Take a snapshot of the parent

VMWare View 5.0 and VMWare AppBlaster is the real "Game Changer"

Overview - View 5.0

With the release of VMWare View 5.0, we finally have the long user profile management integrated into desktop virtualization. Administrators can embed departmental applications and configure custom settings for the virtual desktops, without the desktops taking up more space in storage.The next big feature in VMWare View 5.0, besides the overall performance enhancements in provisioning, is the ability to offer support for viewing three-dimensional visualization, paving the way for running high-end modeling applications, as well as for rendering the Windows 7 Aero interface.

In addition to updating View, VMware also updated a related piece of software for VDI environments, VMware Horizon, an application portal. The new version of the software can also deliver to users Windows-based applications, in addition to the cloud based applications the earlier version provided. The company has also released a version for mobile applications, VMware Horizon Mobile

This alone is a big game changer in the "VDI" technology space, however it only gets better.

Overview - VMWare AppBlaster

VMWare AppBlaster is not a hacked up, antiquated terminal servers application deliver tool that has multiple management consoles and 10 additional servers just to deliver applications to the end user. AppBlaster uses HTML 5 support browsers to seamlessly deliver any application to any device that support HTML 5. Someone finally got this right. I know I am partial to VMWare, but I am really partial to end user computing technology and an advocate to any technology that delivers technology that is MSRP (Manageable, Scalable, reproducable and Predictable), because at the end of the day my customers expect that and it all equates to innovation and $aving$ Check out the video from VMWorld.

http://www.linkedin.com/share?viewLink=&sid=s561699568&url=http%3A%2F%2Ft%2Eco%2Fc9PyKWo&urlhash=16JT&uid=5515180661545115648&trk=NUS_UNIU_SHARE-lnk

Conclusion

There are several posts I need to get caught up on, but this one could not wait. Be looking for several blogs around DOs and DON'Ts with VMWare View 4.6, more Windows issues that impacts performance in large environments, my First View 5.0 production deployment and more success stories on VMWare View implementations over the past 6 months.

VMWare View 4.6 (4.x) Windows Prep Information for Optimal End User Performance

Overview

With the major migrations going on with Windows 7 and the excellent use case for VMWare View for Windows 7 Migration of legacy Windows Desktops environment it is fast becoming aware to me that just building a Windows 7 image from the .iso requires a little more tweaking. Windows 7 withing a VDI environment can help "right the wrongs" of past desktop OS deployments. Just like the Windows XP guide, VMWare has recently released an updated Windows 7 image prep guide for view. I am not a big fan of the sysrep stuff, but the main point to take out of this is the use of default user profiles that will greatly improve logins for non-persistent desktops and the performance tweaks that are built into default user profiles to ensure the best possible end user experience.

Below are some really good links to documentation and web sites I use to build base images for VMWare View (and XenDesktop using MCS provisioning...I will explain at a later date). Enjoy!!

Also, please refer to the Windows Server 2008 Prep instructions I recently posted for Virtual servers for View connection brokers and/or any Windows 2K8 server you want to virtualize.

References

Win 7
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/VMware-View-OptimizationGuideWindows7-EN.pdf

Win XP
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/XP_guide_vdi.pdf

Win 2008 Std
http://dharmgolf.blogspot.com/2010/11/creating-windows-2008-r2-vm-as-template.html

A great Blog to reference
http://blogs.contourds.com/2010/04/30/windows-7-deployment-guide-for-vmware-view/

The steps below show of the tweaks to perform on Windows 7 32 bit OS to prepare it for deployment through VMware View.
1. Uninstall Tablet PC Components
2. In IE8, Remove Suggested Sites, and use Default settings
3. In IE8, Set Google as default search provider
4. In IE8, Delete existing bookmarks
5. Visual Effects set to "Adjust for Best Performance"
6. Turn off System Protection
7. Delete all previous Restore Points
8. Set desktop Background to a solid blue
9. UnPin Windows Media Player from Taskbar
10. Launch Windows Media Player, Set recommended settings
11. Install Adobe Flash Player
12. Install Adobe Reader, launch Adobe Reader and accept license agreement.
13. Remove Adobe icons from desktop
14. Set Taskbar buttons to "Never Combine"
15. Disable "allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties" for C: Drive, do it for all folders and sub folder
16. in msconfig, set "No GUI Boot"
17. in msconfig, uncheck Adobe startup items
18. in a cmd window running as administrator, set: fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 1
19. turn off defragmentation schedule
20. Disable checking for Automatic Updates
21. Run all Windows updates
22. Delete "Games" start menu folder
23. Delete Start Menu Items shown in screen shot to right ->
24. Remove all Recently Used icons from Start Menu
25. Disable "Windows Search" service
26. Disable "Super Fetch" service
27. Disable "Themes" service
28. Disable "Windows Defender"
29. Install vSphere Client
30. Install VMware View Agent, accept all defaults
31. Install CCleaner (don't install Yahoo toolbar in the install of it)
32. Join Domain
33. Active Windows
34. Run CCleaner.
35. Shut down VM, take SnapShot for VMware View to run from

VMware has a great guide for deploying WinXP through VMware View. But there isn't one out yet for deploying Windows 7. The steps below show of the tweaks to perform on Windows 7 32 bit OS to prepare it for deployment through VMware View.
1. Uninstall Tablet PC Components
2. In IE8, Remove Suggested Sites, and use Default settings
3. In IE8, Set Google as default seach provider
4. In IE8, Delete existing bookmarks
5. Visual Effects set to "Adjust for Best Performance"
6. Turn off System Protection
7. Delete all previous Restore Points
8. Set desktop Background to a solid blue
9. UnPin Windows Media Player from Taskbar
10. Launch Windows Media Player, Set recommended settings
11. Install Adobe Flash Player
12. Install Adobe Reader, launch Adobe Reader and accept license agreement.
13. Remove Adobe icons from desktop
14. Set Taskbar buttons to "Never Combine"
15. Disable "allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties" for C: Drive, do it for all folders and sub folder
16. in msconfig, set "No GUI Boot"
17. in msconfig, uncheck Adobe startup items
18. in a cmd window running as administrator, set: fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 1
19. turn off defragmentation schedule
20. Disable checking for Automatic Updates
21. Run all Windows updates
22. Delete "Games" start menu folder
23. Delete Start Menu Items shown in screen shot to right ->
24. Remove all Recently Used icons from Start Menu
25. Disable "Windows Search" service
26. Disable "Super Fetch" service
27. Disable "Themes" service
28. Disable "Windows Defender"
29. Install vSphere Client
30. Install VMware View Agent, accept all defaults
31. Install CCleaner (don't install Yahoo toolbar in the install of it)
32. Join Domain
33. Active Windows
34. Run CCleaner.
35. Shut down VM, take SnapShot for VMware View to run from

VMWare View 4.6 - PC-over-IP Through View Security Broker(s) Ports needed

Overview

One of the most outstanding feature of the latest release for VMWare View 4.6 is the ability to support PC-over-IP protocol through the DMZ security brokers. I will have an upcoming blog that will detail the administration and operations of this feature, but if you are familiar with View connection brokers setup, it is pretty much the same. The operations is a bit tricky, but the main objective to to ensure the proper ports are opened in the DMZ so the connection can tunnel to the desktop accordingly

It is necessary to open up the Internet facing firewall for PCoIP to get the benefits of native AES-128 encrypted PCoIP performance over the WAN. This is TCP port 4172 in and UDP port 4172 in both directions. In gateway mode, when the Connection Server gives the destination IP address and port numbers for PCoIP to the View Client at desktop launch time, the addresses are for the Security Server and not the virtual desktop. This ensures all PCoIP communication is routed through the Security Server.

Plus, ensure ports 3389, 8009 and 4001 are open as well on the backend. Just do it!!!

Enjoy!!

The steps below show of the tweaks to perform on Windows 7 32 bit OS to prepare it for deployment through VMware View. 1. Uninstall Tablet PC Components
2. In IE8, Remove Suggested Sites, and use Default settings
3. In IE8, Set Google as default seach provider
4. In IE8, Delete existing bookmarks
5. Visual Effects set to "Adjust for Best Performance"
6. Turn off System Protection
7. Delete all previous Restore Points
8. Set desktop Background to a solid blue
9. UnPin Windows Media Player from Taskbar
10. Launch Windows Media Player, Set recommended settings
11. Install Adobe Flash Player
12. Install Adobe Reader, launch Adobe Reader and accept license agreement.
13. Remove Adobe icons from desktop
14. Set Taskbar buttons to "Never Combine"
15. Disable "allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties" for C: Drive, do it for all folders and sub folder
16. in msconfig, set "No GUI Boot"
17. in msconfig, uncheck Adobe startup items
18. in a cmd window running as administrator, set: fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 1
19. turn off defragmentation schedule
20. Disable checking for Automatic Updates
21. Run all Windows updates
22. Delete "Games" start menu folder
23. Delete Start Menu Items shown in screen shot to right ->
24. Remove all Recently Used icons from Start Menu
25. Disable "Windows Search" service
26. Disable "Super Fetch" service
27. Disable "Themes" service
28. Disable "Windows Defender"
29. Install vSphere Client
30. Install VMware View Agent, accept all defaults
31. Install CCleaner (don't install Yahoo toolbar in the install of it)
32. Join Domain
33. Active Windows
34. Run CCleaner.
35. Shut down VM, take SnapShot for VMware View to run from

VMWare View 4.5 - Ensure Proper Timing on all Connection Brokers to Avoid JMS and AJP Service Failures

Overview

I have ran into several issues involved with View Messaging services JMS and AJP failing with a variety of issues. Today I noticed one of my View Connection Managers (4.5) stopped working due to AJP service stopped working. Error was "Event ID 104  - Failed to Fetch AJP Service".

The underlying cause seems everytime seems to be the affected server's clock source is skewed by more than an hour from the other View Connection Manager servers.


Solution

Ensure all your VM's are timing from the same source. Domain Controllers, NTP servers, etc... or change the setting in VMWare tools to "Sync with ESX Hosts" on each VM and ensure your ESX hosts are timed correctly. During View Manager installation procedures, the installation will fail if your clock sources are skewed, but that does not stop anyone from changing the source after the fact or the clock source is invalid.

If the View service fails, change the clock to the correct settings and you will need to restart the Windows server to ensure a clean start up of the View Manager services.

VMWare View 4.5 Provisioning Failure - "LDAP Error code 51 .... problem 5001 (BUSY)"

Overview

Now that VMWare View Clusters are growing into the 100's+ (even 1000's+ in some cases), provisioning new desktops or re-composing existing desktop pools can cause issue with overloading your vCenter. I fully recommend having a dedicated vCenter for VDI Desktops and a dedicated vCenter for Servers, but that is for another day. I have observed this in vCenter clusters managing around 1000 VM's (200+ Servers and 700+ Desktops). All the VDI Desktops are Floating (non-persistenet) and refreshed after logoff, so pretty active cluster.

Other that that, overall perfromance is awesome. (yes, another post coming on observed performance with VMWare View 4.5)

Solution

If during provisioning of your View Environment, you receive the "LDAP error code 51...problem 5001 (BUSY)" error message, there are a couple of options to perform:

1) Change the setting in your View Desktop Pool "Stop Provisioing on Error", just uncheck the option. This will not stop the provisioing, but will generate an event; or

2) Reduce the number of concurrent Power on and Provisioing limits in View Manager Advanced settings for vCenter. Defaults are 8 and 5.

• Cloning failure

The pool manager disables provisioning when it encounters an error when cloning a virtual machine. This error message is displayed in the desktop's overview page.  
 
The following two log messages indicate that the VirtualCenter has been overloaded. Try reducing the provisioning and power operation limits for that VirtualCenter in VDM:
 
LDAP: error code 51 - 0000200E: SvcErr: DSID-02080499, problem 5001 (BUSY)
No disk space: Insufficient disk space on datastore 'm81 sdb (1)
The following log messages indicate a connection problem. Make sure you can connect to the VDM Connection server/VirtualCenter server.
WARN  <PendingOperation-/flat-dc/vm/bignp2/bignp2-5> [ServiceConnection] Problem while performing VC operation: '(0)null' [org.apache.axis.AxisFault] Message: (0)null
WARN  <PendingOperation-/flat-dc/vm/bignp2/bignp2-2> [ServiceConnection] Problem while performing VC operation: 'java.net.SocketException: Connection reset' [org.apache.axis.AxisFault] Message: ; nested exception is: java.net.SocketException: Connection reset Cause: java.net.SocketException: Connection reset
 
The following message means that VirtualCenter has been overloaded. Reduce the number of concurrent operations allowed for that VirtualCenter.
WARN  <PendingOperation-/flat-dc/vm/bignp2/bignp2-4> [ServiceConnection] Problem while performing VC operation: 'Permission to perform this operation was denied.' [com.vmware.vim.NoPermission]

Unable to connect from the View Client on Windows 7 to the View Connection Server after installing the patch in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 2482017 or 2467023

Follow this link for complete details. Just ran into this issue:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1034262

Symptoms

• Unable to connect from the View Client on Windows 7  to the View Connection Server
• Connecting the View Client on Windows 7 to the View Connection Server fails
• You have installed one or both these Microsoft patches 2482017 or 2467023

Resolution

This issue occurs when you have installed one of these Microsoft patches, 2482017 or 2467023.

 

If you have already installed these patches, you can install VMware View Client (build 353760) or uninstall the Microsoft patches.

 

If you have not installed these patches, delay the installation of the Microsoft patches until you have installed VMware View Client (build 353760).

  

VMware View Client build 353760 has been tested on: 

• Windows 7 Enterprise 32 bit +  Internet Explorer 8
• Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit +  Internet Explorer 8
• Windows 7 Home 32 bit +  Internet Explorer 8 

The View Client patch can be downloaded from here. Enter your credentials, accept the EULA and download the appropriate file:

• If you are using Windows 7 32-bit, use VMware-viewclient-4.5.0-353760.exe.
• If you are using Windows 7 64-bit, use VMware-viewclient-x86_64-4.5.0-353760.exe.

Note: If you are using View Client 4.0.x and are experiencing this issue, you can install the appropriate View Client 4.5 for your environment.

 

Disclaimer: Using Windows 7 with a View Client 4.0.x is not supported. This information is provided as-is and without testing.

 

To apply this patch: 

1. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs.
2. Choose the previously installed VMware View Client and click Remove.
3. Navigate to where you downloaded VMware-viewclient-xxx-4.5.0-353760.exe and run the executable file.
4. Follow the installation wizard to complete the installation.
5. Reboot the computer.

Note: VMware View Clients with build number 353760 or later are not affected by this issue.

Note: The preceding links were valid as of February 8, 2011. If you find the links are broken, please provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

VMware View 4.5 - Repurpose your old computers to View Based Thin Clients

Overview

As the Virtual Desktop revolution is swinging into high gear, there is a glaring issue of what to do with your existing PC's that still have some value. The View VDI solution is agnostic to end user devices allowing connections from Windows, Linux, and Mac OS's along with smartphone plug-ins (Wyse Pocket Cloud and VMware app coming soon). Sooo the big question is what to do with your existing PCs and notebooks that still have investment value.

Solutions

There are several options out there to repurpose existing computers, but there several concerns around continued OS maintenance, updates and power consumption with using existing computers. Thin clients are a valid option for PC refresh cycles, since Thin Clients draw around 12 KW/h vs. traditional desktops that draw around 80-100 KW/h. However, the cost of thin clients that support advanced protocols like PC-over-IP cost about $300-400 per device, which is about the cost of a new PC these days, so the power consumption is the "green" tipping point for decision makers. Actually, the power money savings alone for 500-1000 desktops can more than justify a Thin Client for PC replacements. I have one customer in production estimating $50K saving from 8 months last year for 400 desktops replaced with thin clientsJ Thin Clients in general will be discussed in a later blog post, so I will not delve into that area right now.

I want to focus on two (2) solutions that I find work really well for re-purposing existing compute infrastructure. My recommendations are always based on MSRP (Manageable, Scalable, Reproducible and Predictable) architectures, like View vs. Citrix. You know my stance on that.

The first solution is a windows based application call ThinLaunch (www.thinlaunch.com) that will completely lock down the windows OS and only launch the View client to connect to the View broker(s). This is a great cost effective solution that is a “Trojan” type approach to lock down the desktop; multiple OS support (XP/7 and even 2000) and no need to apply any updates to the existing OS. It has a very small footprint and overhead and personally has been a big hit with my customers so far. You can purchase this directly or through my company (I will provide training and support) and can be purchased in small quantities. Please refer to ThinLaunch website for technical details or email me through this blog for more information.

The second solution that a really like is a new product from Wyse called Wyse PC Extender (http://www.wyse.com/products/software/pcextender/index.asp). This is a SUSE Linux based solution that utilizes the Wyse Device Manager control for a "Vonage VDI" type solution. By using DHCP tags and FTP server(s), the end devices can be auto configured and updated with little or no hands on after setup. All devices are controlled by Wyse "ini" files and customization is very easy after setup. Some of the issues at this point are the lack of end device support and minimum quantities the end user must purchase in blocks of 1000. Below is the current list of supported end user devices, but I have this working on some older HP laptops, but had to install the network drivers to get working for SUSE Linux:

• Dell Optiplex GX170
• Dell Optiplex GX 270
• Dell Optiplex GX280
• HP 7900
• HP D530
• HP 7900
• HP DC5100
• HP 5150

Like I stated earlier, there are several other options out there, home-grown and commercial, but I always look at the MSRP value of sundry solutions because at the end of the day MSRP="Cost Effective":)

For more information, please research the technology websites listed or send me an email and we can discuss further.

VMware vSphere HA Error – “cmd addnode failed for primary node"

Overview

I have ran into this problem since ESX 3.5 and vCenter 2.5 and is still present today in vSphere 4.1 HA configuration. I have had several clusters initiate HA events today due to bad weather in our region and rolling black outs. 90% of the clusters recovered without errors, but some of them had the HA failure with "cmd addnode failed for primary node". All VMs came back and this is more of a minor issue, but still not clean.

I believe the race conditions with HA recovery and and cluster monitoring may be an issue.

Solution

I tried to use the "Reconfigure HA" from the vCenter options but failed continuously. I found out the method of just removing and adding HA to the cluster fixed the issue. I will be submitting this again to VMWare for resolution.

VMWare View 4.5 Success Story - Texas Public Schools

Overview

This is our latest success story around our end-to-end VMWare View implementation. Just one of many more coming down the pipe.

The only parts missing was the use of Solarwinds and ThinLaunch (http://www.thinlaunch.com/) software for monitoring and re-purpose/lockdown PCs and Laptops.
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/customers/11Q1_Aledo_ISD_Case_Study.pdf

VMWare View 4.5 - Another Success Story for Texas School

Http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/customers/11Q1_Aledo_ISD_Case_Study.pdf

VMWare View 4.5 - Windows 7 Prep Guide

Overview

I know there are several links and information regarding prepping a Windows 7 desktop for VMWare View. Below is a great link with excellent references that provides all the details to get the job done right!!!! Also, check out any GPO's around NLA and single-sign-on controls..FYI:)


http://virtualize.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/vmware-viewwindows-7-optimization-guide/

VMWare View Provisioing Interrupted during LDAP operation

Overview

I ran into a problem when build a new Windows 7 Pro 32-Bit user pool. I had about half of my View desktops (25 linked clone) desktops with Provisioning Errors due to "Interrupted during LDAP operation".

Recompose fixed the problem. The underlying problem was slow network for NFS storage.