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VMware Horizon Client
for Linux Installation and
Setup Guide
Last modified 4 JAN 2018
VMware Horizon Client for Linux 4.7

VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

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Contents
VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

1 System Requirements and Installation 6
System Requirements for Linux Client Systems

System Requirements for Real-Time Audio-Video

System Requirements for Multimedia Redirection (MMR)
Requirements for Using Flash URL Redirection

Requirements for Using Skype for Business with Horizon Client
Requirements for the Session Collaboration Feature
Smart Card Authentication Requirements
Supported Desktop Operating Systems

13
15

Preparing Connection Server for Horizon Client
Installation Options

Install or Upgrade Horizon Client for Linux from VMware Product Downloads
Configure VMware Blast Options

Horizon Client Data Collected by VMware

2 Configuring Horizon Client for End Users 28
Common Configuration Settings

Using the Horizon Client Command-Line Interface and Configuration Files
Using URIs to Configure Horizon Client

Configuring Certificate Checking for End Users
Configuring Advanced TLS/SSL Options

Configuring Specific Keys and Key Combinations to Send to the Local System
Using FreeRDP for RDP Connections
Enabling FIPS Compatible Mode

Configuring the PCoIP Client-Side Image Cache

3 Managing Remote Desktop and Published Application Connections 57
Connect to a Remote Desktop or Application

Connect to Published Applications Using Unauthenticated Access

Share Access to Local Folders and Drives with Client Drive Redirection
Setting the Certificate Checking Mode in Horizon Client
Switch Remote Desktops or Published Applications
Log Off or Disconnect

4 Using a Microsoft Windows Desktop or Application on a Linux System 67
Feature Support Matrix for Linux

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Internationalization

Keyboards and Monitors
Connect USB Devices

71
73

Using the Real-Time Audio-Video Feature for Webcams and Microphones
Using the Session Collaboration Feature
Using the Seamless Window Feature

Saving Documents in a Published Application

Set Printing Preferences for a Virtual Printer Feature on a Remote Desktop
Copying and Pasting Text

5 Troubleshooting Horizon Client 88
Restart a Remote Desktop

Reset a Remote Desktop or Published Applications
Uninstall Horizon Client for Linux
Problems with Keyboard Input

Connecting to a Server in Workspace ONE Mode

6 Configuring USB Redirection on the Client 92
System Requirements for USB Redirection
USB-Specific Log Files

Setting USB Configuration Properties
USB Device Families

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VMware Horizon Client for Linux
Installation and Setup Guide
This document, VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide, provides information about
®
installing, configuring, and using VMware Horizon Client™ software on a Linux client system.
The information in this document includes system requirements and instructions for installing and using
Horizon Client for Linux.
This information is intended for administrators who need to set up a Horizon deployment that includes
Linux client systems. The information is written for experienced system administrators who are familiar
with virtual machine technology and datacenter operations.
Note This document pertains mostly to the Horizon Client for Linux that VMware makes available. In
addition, several VMware partners offer thin and zero client devices for Horizon deployments. The
features that are available for each thin or zero client device, and the operating systems supported, are
determined by the vendor, the model, and the configuration that an enterprise chooses to use. For
information about the vendors and models for these client devices, see the VMware Compatibility Guide,
available on the VMware Web site.

VMware, Inc.

System Requirements and
Installation

Client systems must meet certain hardware and software requirements. The process of installing
Horizon Client is like installing most other applications.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
System Requirements for Linux Client Systems
n

System Requirements for Real-Time Audio-Video

System Requirements for Multimedia Redirection (MMR)

Requirements for Using Flash URL Redirection

Requirements for Using Skype for Business with Horizon Client

Requirements for the Session Collaboration Feature

Smart Card Authentication Requirements

Supported Desktop Operating Systems

Preparing Connection Server for Horizon Client

Installation Options

Install or Upgrade Horizon Client for Linux from VMware Product Downloads

Configure VMware Blast Options

Horizon Client Data Collected by VMware

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VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

System Requirements for Linux Client Systems
The Linux device on which you install Horizon Client, and the peripherals it uses, must meet certain
system requirements.
Note These system requirements pertain to the Horizon Client for Linux that VMware makes available.
In addition, several VMware partners offer thin and zero client devices for View deployments. The
features that are available for each thin or zero client device, and the operating systems supported, are
determined by the vendor and model, and the configuration that an enterprise chooses to use. For
information about the vendors and models for these client devices, see the VMware Compatibility Guide,
available on the VMware Web site.
Note
n

Starting with version 7.0, View Agent is renamed Horizon Agent.

VMware Blast, the display protocol that is available starting with Horizon Client 4.0 and Horizon Agent
7.0, is also known as VMware Blast Extreme.

Architecture

i386, x86_64, ARM

Memory

At least 2GB of RAM

Operating system

Operating System

Version

Ubuntu

12.04, 14.04

Ubuntu 64-bit

12.04, 14.04, 16.04

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

6.8, 6.9

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 64-bit

6.8, 6.9, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED)

11 SP4

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 64-bit

12 SP2

CentOS

6.8, 6.9

OpenSSL requirement

Horizon Client requires a specific version of OpenSSL. The correct version
is automatically downloaded and installed.

View Connection
Server, Security Server,
and View Agent or
Horizon Agent

Latest maintenance release of View 6.2.x and later releases
If client systems connect from outside the corporate firewall, VMware
recommends that you use a security server. With a security server, client
systems will not require a VPN connection.
Remote (hosted) applications are available only on Horizon 6.0 (or later)
View servers.

Display protocol

VMware, Inc.

VMware Blast (requires Horizon Agent 7.0 or later)

VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

Screen resolution on
the client system
Hardware requirements
for VMware Blast and
PCoIP

PCoIP

RDP

Minimum: 1024 X 768 pixels

x86- or x64-based processor with SSE2 extensions, with a 800MHz or
higher processor speed.

Available RAM above system requirements to support various monitor
setups. Use the following formula as a general guide:
20MB + (24 * (# monitors) * (monitor width) * (monitor height))

As a rough guide, you can use the following calculations:
1 monitor: 1600 x 1200: 64MB
2 monitors: 1600 x 1200: 128MB
3 monitors: 1600 x 1200: 256MB

Hardware requirements
for RDP

x86- or x64-based processor with SSE2 extensions, with a 800MHz or
higher processor speed.

128MB RAM.

Software requirements
for Microsoft RDP

Use the latest rdesktop version available.

Software requirements
for FreeRDP

If you plan to use an RDP connection to View desktops and you would
prefer to use a FreeRDP client for the connection, you must install the
correct version of FreeRDP and any applicable patches. See Install and
Configure FreeRDP.

Other software
requirements

Horizon Client also has certain other software requirements, depending on
the Linux distribution you use. Be sure to allow the Horizon Client
installation wizard to scan your system for library compatibilities and
dependencies. The following list of requirements pertains only to Ubuntu
distributions.
n

libudev0.so.0
Note Beginning with Horizon Client 4.2, libudev0 is required to
launch Horizon Client. By default, libudev0 is not installed in Ubuntu
14.04.

n
n

To support idle session timeouts: libXsso.so.1.
To support Flash URL redirection: libexpat.so.1. (The
libexpat.so.0 file is no longer required.)

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To improve performance when using multiple monitors, enable
Xinerama.

System Requirements for Real-Time Audio-Video
Real-Time Audio-Video works with standard webcam, USB audio, and analog audio devices, and with
standard conferencing applications like Skype, WebEx, and Google Hangouts. To support Real-Time
Audio-Video, your Horizon deployment must meet certain software and hardware requirements.
Remote desktops

Horizon Client
computer or client
access device

The desktops must have View Agent 6.0 or Horizon Agent 7.0 or later
installed. To use Real-Time Audio-Video with published desktops and
applications, Horizon Agent 7.0.2 or later must be installed.
n

Real-Time Audio-Video is supported on x86 and x64 devices. This
feature is not supported on ARM processors. The client system must
meet the following minimum hardware requirements.
Resolution

Frame Rate

CPU

Required Memory

320 x 240

15 FPS

2 core, 1800 MHz

105 MB

640 x 480

15 FPS

2 core, 2700 MHz

150 MB

1280 x 720

15 FPS

4 core, 3400 MHz

210 MB

Horizon Client requires the following libraries:
n

Video4Linux2

libv4l

Pulse Audio

The plug-in file
(/usr/lib/pcoip/vchan_plugins/libviewMMDevRedir.so) has the
following dependencies.:
libuuid.so.1
libv4l2.so.0
libspeex.so.1
libudev0
libtheoradec.so.1
libtheoraenc.so.1
libv4lconvert.so.0
libjpeg.so.8

All of these files must be present on the client system or the Real-Time
Audio-Video feature will not work. Note that these dependencies are in
addition to the dependencies required for Horizon Client itself.
n

VMware, Inc.

The webcam and audio device drivers must be installed, and the
webcam and audio device must be operable, on the client computer.

VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

Display protocols

To support Real-Time Audio-Video, you do not need to install the
device drivers on the remote desktop operating system where the
agent is installed.

PCoIP

VMware Blast (requires Horizon Agent 7.0 or later)

System Requirements for Multimedia Redirection (MMR)
With multimedia redirection (MMR), the multimedia stream is processed, that is, decoded, on the client
system. The client system plays the media content so that the load on the ESXi host is reduced.
Remote desktops

Horizon Client
computer or client
access device

Single-user desktops must have View Agent 6.0.2 or later, or
Horizon Agent 7.0 or later, installed.

Session-based desktops must have View Agent 6.1.1 or later, or
Horizon Agent 7.0 or later, installed on the RDS host.

For information about operating system requirements and other
software requirements and configuration settings for the remote
desktop or application, see the topics about Windows Media Multimedia
Redirection in Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon 7.

Because MMR offloads media processing from the server to the client, the
client has the following minimum hardware requirements.
Processor:

Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon dual-core

Processor speed:

1.5 GHz for common case, or 1.8 GHz for Full HD

Memory:

2-GB RAM

Video adapter:

Hardware accelerated

You must install one of the following libraries to avoid video playback
issues:
n

GStreamer core library and gstreamer-ffmpeg 0.10

GStreamer core library and fluendo 0.10

On SLED 11 SP4, if you encounter video playback issues such as a black
screen, remove the library libvdpau.
On Dell Wyse thin clients, video playback might not work with the preinstalled fluendo library. To resolve the problem, contact Dell support to
obtain the latest fluendo library.

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VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

Supported media
formats

Media formats that are supported on Windows Media Player are supported.
For example: M4V; MOV; MP4; WMP; MPEG-4 Part 2; WMV 7, 8, and 9;
WMA; AVI; ACE; MP3; WAV.
Note DRM-protected content is not redirected through Windows Media
MMR.

GStreamer Framework

Set up the GStreamer environment such that the framework is composed of
the graphics card, hardware acceleration API, and GStreamer plug-in that
allow GStreamer to function properly. Table 1‑1 lists the different possible
setup combinations. To ensure the best possible environment, set up your
GStreamer environment using the information in Table 1‑1 for the NVIDIA
and Intel graphic cards.
Table 1‑1. GStreamer Framework Setup
Graphics Card (including
Driver)

Hardware Accelerator API

GStreamer Plug-in

NVIDIA

VDPAU (libvdpau.so)

vdpau

Intel

VAAPI (libvaapi.so)

gstreamer-vaapi

OpenMax

gst-omx

DCE

gstreamer-ducati

AMD

OVD/UVD

Unavailable

To get more detailed information, see
https://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/documentation/tutorials/playback/hardwar
e-accelerated-video-decoding.html.
MMR is not enabled by default. To enable it, you must set the configuration option view.enableMMR. For
more information, see Horizon Client Configuration Settings and Command-Line Options.

Requirements for Using Flash URL Redirection
Streaming Flash content directly from Adobe Media Server to client endpoints lowers the load on the
datacenter ESXi host, removes the extra routing through the datacenter, and reduces the bandwidth
required to simultaneously stream live video events to multiple client endpoints.
The Flash URL redirection feature uses a JavaScript that is embedded inside a Web page by the Web
page administrator. Whenever a virtual desktop user clicks on the designated URL link from within a Web
page, the JavaScript intercepts and redirects the ShockWave File (SWF) from the virtual desktop session
to the client endpoint. The endpoint then opens a local VMware Flash Projector outside of the virtual
desktop session and plays the media stream locally. Both multicast and unicast are supported.
This feature is available when used with the correct version of the agent software. For View 6.0 and later
releases, this feature is included in View Agent or Horizon Agent.

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VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

To use this feature, you must set up your Web page and the client devices. Client systems must meet
certain software requirements:
n

This feature is supported for PCoIP only. This feature is not supported on ARM processors.

Client systems must have IP connectivity to the Adobe Web server that hosts the ShockWave File
(SWF) that initiates the multicast or unicast streaming. If needed, configure your firewall to open the
appropriate ports to allow client devices to access this server.

Client systems must have the appropriate Flash plug-in installed.
a

Install the libexpat.so.1 file, or verify that this file is already installed.
Ensure that the file is installed in the /usr/lib or /usr/local/lib directory.

Install the libflashplayer.so file, or verify that this file is already installed.
Ensure that the file is installed in the appropriate Flash plug-in directory for your Linux operating
system.

c
n

Install the wget program, or verify that the program file is already installed.

libffi.so.5 is required on Ubuntu 14.04 and 16.04 distributions to make Flash URL redirection
work, but Ubuntu 14.04 and 16.04 distributions only have libffi.so.6 by default. You can work
around this limitation by making a symbolic link between libffi.so.6 and libffi.so.5.

For a list of the remote desktop requirements for Flash URL redirection, and for instructions about how to
configure a Web page to provide a multicast or unicast stream, see the Horizon documentation.

Requirements for Using Skype for Business with
Horizon Client
An end user can run Skype for Business inside a virtual desktop without negatively affecting the virtual
infrastructure and overloading the network. All media processing takes place on the client machine,
instead of in the virtual desktop, during Skype audio and video calls.
To use this feature, you must install the VMware Virtualization Pack for Skype for Business feature on the
client machine during the Horizon Client for Linux installation. For information, see Installation Options .
A Horizon administrator must also install the VMware Virtualization Pack for Skype for Business feature
on the virtual desktop during Horizon Agent installation. For information about installing Horizon Agent,
see the Setting Up Virtual Desktops in Horizon 7 document.
For complete requirements, see "Configure Skype for Business" in the Configuring Remote Desktop
Features in Horizon 7 document.

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Requirements for the Session Collaboration Feature
With the Session Collaboration feature, users can invite other users to join an existing Windows remote
desktop session. To support the Session Collaboration feature, your Horizon deployment must meet
certain requirements.
Session collaborators

Windows remote
desktops

To join a collaborative session, a user must have Horizon Client 4.7 or later
for Windows, Mac, or Linux installed on the client system, or must use
HTML Access 4.7 or later.
n

Horizon Agent 7.4 or later must be installed in the virtual desktop, or on
the RDS host for published desktops.

The Session Collaboration feature must be enabled at the desktop pool
or farm level. For information about enabling the Session Collaboration
feature for desktop pools, see the Setting Up Virtual Desktops in
Horizon 7 document. For information about enabling the Session
Collaboration feature for a farm, see the Setting Up Published
Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7 document.

You can use group policy settings to configure the Session Collaboration
feature. For information, see the Configuring Remote Desktop Features in
Horizon 7 document.
The Session Collaboration feature does not support Linux remote desktop
sessions or published application sessions.
Connection Server

The Session Collaboration feature requires that the Connection Server
instance uses an Enterprise license.

Display protocols

VMware Blast

Smart Card Authentication Requirements
Client devices that use a smart card for user authentication must meet certain requirements.

Client Hardware and Software Requirements
Each client device that uses a smart card for user authentication must have the following hardware and
software:
n

Horizon Client

A compatible smart card reader.

Product-specific application drivers

Users that authenticate with smart cards must have a smart card, and each smart card must contain a
user certificate.

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VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

Remote Desktop and Application Software Requirements
A Horizon administrator must install product-specific application drivers on the remote desktops or RDS
host.

Enabling the Username Hint Field in Horizon Client
In some environments, smart card users can use a single smart card certificate to authenticate to multiple
user accounts. Users enter their user name in the Username hint field during smart card sign-in.
To make the Username hint field appear on the Horizon Client login dialog box, you must enable the
smart card user name hints feature for the Connection Server instance in Horizon Administrator. The
smart card user name hints feature is supported only with Horizon 7 version 7.0.2 and later servers and
agents. For information about enabling the smart card user name hints feature, see the View
Administration document.
If your environment uses an Unified Access Gateway appliance rather than a security server for secure
external access, you must configure the Unified Access Gateway appliance to support the smart card
user name hints feature. The smart card user name hints feature is supported only with
Unified Access Gateway 2.7.2 and later. For information about enabling the smart card user name hints
feature in Unified Access Gateway, see the Deploying and Configuring Unified Access Gateway
document.
Note Horizon Client still supports single-account smart card certificates when the smart card user name
hints feature is enabled.

Additional Smart Card Authentication Requirements
In addition to meeting the smart card requirements for Horizon Client systems, other Horizon components
must meet certain configuration requirements to support smart cards.
Connection Server and
security server hosts

An administrator must add all applicable Certificate Authority (CA)
certificates for all trusted user certificates to a server truststore file on the
Connection Server host or security server host. These certificates include
root certificates and must include intermediate certificates if the user's
smart card certificate was issued by an intermediate certificate authority.
For information about configuring Connection Server to support smart card
use, see the View Administration document.

Active Directory

For information about tasks that an administrator might need to perform in
Active Directory to implement smart card authentication, see the View
Administration document.

Configure Horizon Client for Smart Card Authentication
You must perform certain configuration steps to use a smart card in Horizon Client.

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Prerequisites
n

Install Horizon Client.

(Optional) To make the Username hint field appear in the Horizon Client login dialog box, enable the
smart card user name hints feature in Connection Server. For more information, see "Setting Up
Smart Card Authentication" in the View Administration document.

Procedure

Create the folder /usr/lib/vmware/view/pkcs11.

Create a symbol link to the pkcs11 library, which is used for smart card authentication.
For example, run the following command:
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/pkcs11/libgtop11dotnet.so
/usr/lib/vmware/view/pkcs11

Supported Desktop Operating Systems
A Horizon administrator creates virtual machines that have a guest operating system and installs agent
software in the guest operating system. End users can log in to these virtual machines from a client
device.
For a list of the supported Windows guest operating systems, see the View Installation document.
Some Linux guest operating systems are also supported if you have View Agent 6.1.1 or later, or
Horizon Agent 7.0 or later. For information about system requirements, configuring Linux virtual machines
for use in Horizon, and a list of supported features, see Setting Up Horizon 6 for Linux Desktops or
Setting Up Horizon 7 for Linux Desktops.

Preparing Connection Server for Horizon Client
A Horizon administrator must perform specific tasks to enable end users to connect to remote desktops
and applications.
Before end users can connect to a server and access a remote desktop or published application, a
Horizon administrator must configure certain pool settings and security settings.

Unified Access Gateway and Security Servers
n

If you plan to use Unified Access Gateway, configure Connection Server to work with
Unified Access Gateway. See the Deploying and Configuring Unified Access Gateway document.
Unified Access Gateway appliances fulfill the same role that was previously played by only security
servers.

If you are using a security server, verify that you are using the latest maintenance releases of
Connection Server 6.x and Security Server 6.x or later releases. For more information, see the View
Installation document.

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Secure Tunnel Connection
n

If you plan to use a secure tunnel connection for client devices, and if the secure connection is
configured with a DNS host name for Connection Server instance or a security server, verify that the
client device can resolve this DNS name.
To enable or disable the secure tunnel, in Horizon Administrator, go to the Edit Horizon Connection
Server Settings dialog box and select or deselect the Use secure tunnel connection to desktop
check box.

Desktop and Application Pools
n

Verify that a desktop or application pool has been created and that the user account that you plan to
use is entitled to access the pool. For information, see the Setting Up Virtual Desktops in Horizon 7 or
Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7 document.

User Authentication
n

To use two-factor authentication with Horizon Client, such as RSA SecurID or RADIUS authentication,
you must enable this feature in the Connection Server instance. For more information, see the topics
about two-factor authentication in the View Administration document.

To hide security information in Horizon Client, including server URL information and the Domain
drop-down menu, enable the Hide server information in client user interface and Hide domain
list in client user interface settings in Horizon Administrator. These global settings are available in
Horizon 7 version 7.1 and later. For information about configuring global settings, see the View
Administration document.
To authenticate when the Domain drop-down menu is hidden, users must provide domain information
by entering their user name in the format domain\username or username@domain in the User name
text box.
Important If you enable the Hide server information in client user interface and Hide domain
list in client user interface settings and select two-factor authentication (RSA SecureID or RADIUS)
for the Connection Server instance, do not enforce Windows user name matching. Enforcing
Windows user name matching will prevent users from being able to enter domain information in the
user name text box and login will always fail. For more information, see the topics about two-factor
authentication in the View Administration document.

To provide end users unauthenticated access to published applications in Horizon Client, you must
enable this feature in the Connection Server instance. For more information, see the topics about
unauthenticated access in the View Administration document.

Installation Options
During the Horizon Client installation process, you are prompted to confirm whether to install various
components. The default is to install all components.

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VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

The following table provides a brief summary of each optional component.
Table 1‑2. Horizon Client for Linux Installation Options
Option

Description

Seamless
Window

With this feature, users can interact with an application that is running on a remote desktop as if it was a locally
running application. This feature is supported only on Ubuntu 14.04 and Ubuntu 16.04 systems.
The component files are installed in /usr/lib/vmware/view/bin/. After you install the client, you must
manually configure this feature by setting the following environment variable before starting a Horizon Client
session.
export ENABLE_SEAMLESS_WINDOW=1

Multimedia
Redirection
(MMR)

Redirects multimedia stream from the desktop to the client machine, where the stream is processed.

Smart Card

Lets users authenticate with smart cards when they use the VMware Blast or PCoIP display protocol. Although
this option is selected in the client installer by default, this option is not selected by default when you run the
View Agent installer in the remote desktop.

The component file is installed in /usr/lib/vmware/view/vdpService/.

Smart card is supported on remote desktops that are deployed on single-user machines and RDS hosts. For
smart card support on RDS hosts, you must have View Agent 6.1.1 or later.
The component files are installed in /usr/lib/pcoip/vchan_plugins/.
Real-Time AudioVideo

Redirects webcam and audio devices that are connected to the client system so that they can be used on the
remote desktop.
The component file is installed in /usr/lib/pcoip/vchan_plugins/.

VMware
Horizon(R)
Virtualization
Pack for Skype for
Business

Lets users run Skype for Business inside a virtual desktop without negatively affecting the virtual infrastructure
and overloading the network. All media processing takes place on the Linux client machine, instead of in the
virtual desktop, during Skype audio and video calls.

USB Redirection

Gives users access to locally connected USB devices on their desktops and applications.

The component file is installed in /usr/lib/vmware/mediaprovider.

USB redirection is supported on remote desktops and applications that are deployed on single-user machines.
The component files are installed in /usr/lib/vmware/view/usb/. If you allow the installer to register and
start installed services after the installation completes, the USB arbitrator daemon, vmware-USBArbitrator,
runs automatically. Otherwise, you can start the daemon manually by running the following command:
sudo /etc/init.d/vmware-USBArbitrator start
Note You can use group policy settings to disable USB redirection for specific users. For more information,
see the Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon 7 document.

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VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

Table 1‑2. Horizon Client for Linux Installation Options (Continued)
Option

Description

Virtual Printing

Lets users print to any printer available on their client computers. Users do not have to install additional drivers
on their remote desktops.
The component files are installed in /usr/lib/vmware/view/virtualPrinting/. After you install the client,
if you allow the installer to register and start installed services after the installation, you do not need to
configure this feature manually. Otherwise, you can configure and enable this feature by following the
instructions in Enable the Virtual Printing Feature on a Linux Client.
In Horizon 6.0.2 and later, virtual printing is supported on the following remote desktops and applications:

Client Drive
Redirection

Desktops that are deployed on single-user machines.

Desktops that are deployed on RDS hosts, where the RDS hosts are virtual machines.

Remote applications, which are provided by RDS hosts.

Remote applications that are launched from Horizon Client inside remote desktops (nested sessions).

Lets users share folders and drives on the client computer with remote desktops and applications. Drives can
include mounted drives and USB storage devices.
The component files are installed in /usr/lib/vmware/view/vdpService/.

Install or Upgrade Horizon Client for Linux from VMware
Product Downloads
You can download and run a Horizon Client installer bundle from the VMware Downloads page. This
installer contains modules for features such as USB redirection, virtual printing, Real-Time Audio-Video,
smart card, and client drive redirection.
Note On most Linux distributions, the Horizon Client installer bundle launches a GUI wizard. On SUSE
Linux distributions, the bundle installer launches a command-line wizard. You can also run the installer
with the --console option to launch the command-line wizard.
Prerequisites
n

Verify that the client system runs a supported operating system. See System Requirements for Linux
Client Systems.

Become familiar with the installation options. See Installation Options.

Verify that you have root access on the host system.

Verify that VMware Workstation is not installed on the client system.

If you plan to use the RDP display protocol to connect to a View desktop, verify that you have the
appropriate RDP client installed. See System Requirements for Linux Client Systems.

Uninstall any earlier version of the Horizon Client software. See Uninstall Horizon Client for Linux.

If you plan to use the command-line installer, become familiar with the Linux command-line
installation options. See Command-Line Installation Options for the Linux Client.

On SUSE Linux distributions, run sudo zypper install python-curses to install the curses
library.

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In a python2 environment on Ubuntu 16.04 x64 distributions, run sudo apt-get install pythongtk2 to install the gtk2 library.

As part of the installation process, the installer runs a scan of the system libraries to determine whether
the system is compatible with Horizon Client, although you can select to skip the scan.
Procedure

On the Linux client system, download the Horizon Client installer file from the Horizon Client Product
Downloads page at http://www.vmware.com/go/viewclients.
The name of the file is VMware-Horizon-Client-x.x.x-yyyyyyy.arch.bundle, where x.x.x is the
version number, yyyyyyy is the build number, and arch is either x86 or x64.

Open a Terminal window, change directories to the directory that contains the installer file, and run
the installer, using the appropriate command.
Option

Command

For the GUI wizard, if you have set
executable permissions

sudo ./VMware-Horizon-Client-x.x.x-yyyyyyy.arch.bundle

For the GUI wizard, if you have not set
executable permissions

sudo sh ./VMware-Horizon-Client-x.x.x-yyyyyyy.arch.bundle

For the command-line installer

sudo ./VMware-Horizon-Client-x.x.x-yyyyyyy.arch.bundle
--console

The installer wizard appears, prompting you to accept the end user license agreement.
3

Follow the prompts to finish the installation.
Important You are prompted to allow the installer to register and start installed services after the
installation. Allowing the installer to complete these tasks means that you will not need to manually
start USB redirection services every time you reboot, and you will not need to manually enable the
virtual printing feature.

After installation is complete, specify whether to perform the compatibility scan for libraries that
various feature components are dependent on.
The system scan displays a result value for each library compatibility.
Result Value

Description

Success

All needed libraries were found.

Failed

The specified library was not found.

Log information about the installation is recorded in /tmp/vmware-root/vmware-installer-pid.log.
What to do next

Start Horizon Client and verify that you can log in to the correct virtual desktop. See Connect to a Remote
Desktop or Application.

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VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

Command-Line Installation Options for the Linux Client
You can use command-line installation options to install Horizon Client on a Linux system.
Install Horizon Client silently by using the --console option along with other command-line options and
environment variable settings. With silent installation, you can efficiently deploy View components in a
large enterprise.
The following table lists the options you can use when you run the VMware-Horizon-Client-x.x.xyyyyyyy.arch.bundle installer file.
Table 1‑3. Linux Command-Line Installation Options
Option

Description

--help

Displays usage information.

--console

Enables you to use the command-line installer in a Terminal window.

--custom

Shows all installation questions, even if default answers have been
scripted, such as, for example, by using the --set-setting options.
The default is --regular, which means show only questions that do not
have a default answer.

--eulas-agreed

Agrees to the end user license agreement.

--gtk

Opens the GUI-based VMware installer, which is the default option. If the
GUI cannot be displayed or loaded for any reason, console mode is used.

--ignore-errors or -I

Allows the installation to continue even if there is an error in one of the
installer scripts. Because the section that has an error does not complete,
the component might not be properly configured.

--regular

Shows installation questions that have not been answered before or are
required. This is the default option.

--required

Shows the license agreement prompt only and then proceeds to install the
client.
The default is --regular, which means show only questions that do not
have a default answer.

--set-setting vmware-horizon-smartcard
smartcardEnable yes

Installs the smart card component.

--set-setting vmware-horizon-rtav
rtavEnable yes

Installs the Real-Time Audio-Video component.

--set-setting vmware-horizon-usb usbEnable
yes

Installs the USB redirection feature.

--set-setting vmware-horizon-virtualprinting tpEnable yes

Installs the virtual printing feature.

--set-setting vmware-horizon-tsdr
tsdrEnable yes

Installs the client drive redirection feature.

--set-setting vmware-horizon-mmr mmrEnable
yes

Installs the multimedia redirection (MMR) feature.

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Table 1‑3. Linux Command-Line Installation Options (Continued)
Option

Description

--set-setting vmware-horizon-media-provider
mediaproviderEnable yes

Installs the VMware Horizon Virtualization Pack for Skype for Business
component.

--stop-services

Do not register and start installed services.

In addition to the options listed in the table, you can set the following environment variables.
Table 1‑4. Linux Environment Variable Installation Settings
Variable

Description

TERM=dumb

Displays a very basic text UI.

VMWARE_EULAS_AGREED=yes

Allows you to silently accept the product EULAs.

VMIS_LOG_LEVEL=value

Use one of the following values for value:
n

NOTSET

DEBUG

INFO

WARNING

ERROR

CRITICAL

Log information is recorded in /tmp/vmware-root/vmware-installer-pid.log.

Example: Silent Installation Commands
Following is an example of how to install Horizon Client silently, and, for each component, the example
specifies whether to install that component.
sudo env TERM=dumb VMWARE_EULAS_AGREED=yes \
./VMware-Horizon-Client-x.x.x-yyyyyyy.arch.bundle --console \
--set-setting vmware-horizon-usb usbEnable no \
--set-setting vmware-horizon-virtual-printing tpEnable yes \
--set-setting vmware-horizon-smartcard smartcardEnable no\
--set-setting vmware-horizon-rtav rtavEnable yes \
--set-setting vmware-horizon-tsdr tsdrEnable yes

This next example shows how to perform a silent installation of Horizon Client using the default settings.
sudo env TERM=dumb VMWARE_EULAS_AGREED=yes \
./VMware-Horizon-Client-x.x.x-yyyyyyy.arch.bundle --console --required

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VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

Enable the Virtual Printing Feature on a Linux Client
The installer bundle for Horizon Client 3.2 and later includes a virtual printing component. If you have
Horizon Client 3.2, you must create a configuration file and set some environment variables to enable the
feature..
The virtual printing feature lets end users use local or network printers from a remote desktop without
requiring that additional print drivers be installed in the remote desktop.
Important Performing this procedure is usually not necessary if you have Horizon Client 3.4 or later
because you can specify during client installation that the installer should register and start installed
services after installation. When the user launches the client, a configuration file is automatically created
and placed in the user's home directory
Prerequisites

You must use the installer bundle provided by VMware to install Horizon Client 3.2 or later. The virtual
printing component is then installed by default.
Procedure

Open a Terminal window and enter a command to create a folder named .thnuclnt in the home
directory.
$ mkdir ~/.thnuclnt/

Note Because this file is created in a specific user's home directory, the file needs to be created for
each user who will be using the Linux client system.
2

Use a text editor to create a configuration file called thnuclnt.conf in the ~/.thnuclnt folder, and
add the following text to the file:
autoupdate = 15
automap = true
autoid = 0
updatecount = 1
editcount = 0
connector svc {
protocol = listen
interface = /home/user/.thnuclnt/svc
setdefault = true
}

In this text, substitute the user name for user.
3

Save and close the file.

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Enter a command to start the thnuclnt process.
$ thnuclnt -fg

Enter the commands to set the environment variables for the virtual printing components.
$ export TPCLIENTADDR=/home/user/.thnuclnt/svc
$ export THNURDPIMG=/usr/bin/thnurdp

To launch Horizon Client, start the vmware-view process.
The printers that normally appear in the client are now also redirected so that they appear in the Print
dialog boxes in your remote desktop.

(Optional) If you ever want to disable the virtual printing feature, use the following steps:
a

Enter a command to stop the thnuclnt process.
$ killall thnuclnt

Disconnect from the remote desktop and reconnect to the desktop.

The printers will no longer be redirected.

Configure VMware Blast Options
You can configure H.264 decoding and network condition options for remote desktop and application
sessions that use the VMware Blast display protocol.
The maximum resolution that is supported depends on the capability of the graphical processing unit
(GPU) on the client. A GPU that can support 4K resolution for JPEG/PNG might not support 4K resolution
for H.264. If a resolution for H.264 is not supported, Horizon Client uses JPEG/PNG instead.
H.264 decoding is supported on AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel GPUs. H.264 decoding requires that the
graphics library OpenGL 3.2 or later is installed for AMD and NVIDIA GPUs.
If you plan to use H.264 decoding with a NVIDIA GPU, install VDPAU (Video Decode and Presentation
API for Unix). VDPAU is no longer included with the latest NVIDIA driver and must be installed separately.
To use H.264 with an Intel GPU, the Intel VA-API driver and the GLX VA-API libraries are required.
Running the command vainfo shows the H.264 profiles. If the VA-API driver version is 1.2.x or earlier,
you must add the entry mks.enableGLBasicRenderer = TRUE
to /etc/vmware/config, /usr/lib/vmware/config, or ~/.vmware/config. The configuration files are
processed in the following order:
1

/etc/vmware/config

/usr/lib/vmware/config

~/.vmware/config

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With Red Hat 7.2, Intel GPU, Intel driver version 1.2 or earlier, OpenGL 3.2, and H.264 enabled, you must
add the following entries to one of the three configuration files to avoid display issues such as a black
screen.
mks.enableGLRenderer=FALSE
mks.enableGLBasicRenderer=TRUE

H.264 is not supported on SLED 11 SP4 with Intel GPU because the xorg version is too old.
You cannot change the network condition option after you connect to a server. You can configure H.264
decoding before or after you connect to a server.
Prerequisites

To use this feature, Horizon Agent 7.0 or later must be installed.
Procedure

Select File > Configure VMware Blast from the menu bar.

Configure the decoding and network condition options.
Option

Action

H.264

Select this option to allow H.264 decoding in Horizon Client.
When this option is selected (the default setting), Horizon Client uses H.264
decoding if the agent supports H.264 software or hardware encoding. If the agent
does not support H.264 software or hardware encoding, Horizon Client uses
JPG/PNG decoding.
Deselect this option to use JPG/PNG decoding.

Select your network condition for the
best experience

Select one of the following network condition options:
n

Excellent - Horizon Client uses only TCP networking. This option is ideal for
a LAN environment.

Typical (default) - Horizon Client works in mixed mode. In mixed mode,
Horizon Client uses TCP networking when connecting to the server and uses
Blast Extreme Adaptive Transport (BEAT) if the agent and Blast Security
Gateway (if enabled) support BEAT connectivity. This option is the default
setting.

Poor - Horizon Client uses only BEAT networking if the BEAT Tunnel Server
is enabled on the server, otherwise it switches to mixed mode.

Note In Horizon 7 version 7.1 and earlier, Connection Server and Security
Server instances do not support the BEAT Tunnel Server.
Unified Access Gateway 2.9 and later supports the BEAT Tunnel Server.
Blast Security Gateway for Connection Server and Security Server instances do
not support BEAT networking.

Click OK to save your changes.

Changes for H.264 take effect the next time a user connects to a remote desktop or application and
selects the VMware Blast display protocol. Your changes do not affect existing VMware Blast sessions.

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Horizon Client Data Collected by VMware
If your company participates in the customer experience improvement program, VMware collects data
from certain Horizon Client fields. Fields that contain sensitive information are anonymous.
VMware collects data on client systems to prioritize hardware and software compatibility. If your
company's administrator has opted to participate in the customer experience improvement program,
VMware collects anonymous data about your deployment to respond better to customer requirements.
VMware does not collect data that identifies your organization. Horizon Client information is sent first to
the Connection Server instance and then to VMware, with data from Connection Server, desktop pools,
and remote desktops.
Although the information is encrypted while in transit to the Connection Server instance, the information
on the client system is logged unencrypted in a user-specific directory. The logs do not contain any
personally identifiable information.
The administrator who installs Connection Server can select whether to participate in the VMware
customer experience improvement program while running the Connection Server installation wizard, or an
administrator can set an option in Horizon Administrator after the installation.
Table 1‑5. Data Collected from Horizon Clients for the Customer Experience Improvement
Program
Is This Field
Made
Anonymous?

Example Value

Company that produced the Horizon Client
application

VMware

Product name

VMware Horizon Client

Client product version

(The format is x.x.x-yyyyyy, where x.x.x is the client version
number and yyyyyy is the build number.)

Client binary architecture

Examples include the following:

Description

Client build name

VMware, Inc.

i386

x86_64

arm

Examples include the following:
n

VMware-Horizon-Client-Win32-Windows

VMware-Horizon-Client-Linux

VMware-Horizon-Client-iOS

VMware-Horizon-Client-Mac

VMware-Horizon-Client-Android

VMware-Horizon-Client-WinStore

VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

Table 1‑5. Data Collected from Horizon Clients for the Customer Experience Improvement
Program (Continued)

Description

Is This Field
Made
Anonymous?

Example Value

Host operating system

Examples include the following:

Host operating system kernel

Host operating system architecture

Host system model

Host system CPU

Windows 8.1

Windows 7, 64-bit Service Pack 1 (Build 7601 )

iPhone OS 5.1.1 (9B206)

Ubuntu 12.04.4 LTS

Mac OS X 10.8.5 (12F45)

Examples include the following:
n

Windows 6.1.7601 SP1

Darwin Kernel Version 11.0.0: Sun Apr 8 21:52:26 PDT 2012;
root:xnu-1878.11.10~1/RELEASE_ARM_S5L8945X

Darwin 11.4.2

Linux 2.6.32-44-generic #98-Ubuntu SMP Mon Sep 24
17:27:10 UTC 2012

unknown (for Windows Store)

Examples include the following:
n

x86_64

i386

armv71

ARM

Examples include the following:
n

Dell Inc. OptiPlex 960

iPad3,3

MacBookPro8,2

Dell Inc. Precision WorkStation T3400 (A04 03/21/2008)

Examples include the following:
n

Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00GH

Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GH

unknown (for iPad)

Number of cores in the host system's
processor

For example: 4

MB of memory on the host system

Examples include the following:
n

4096

unknown (for Windows Store)

Number of USB devices connected

2 (USB device redirection is supported only for Linux, Windows,
and Mac clients.)

Maximum concurrent USB device
connections

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VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

Table 1‑5. Data Collected from Horizon Clients for the Customer Experience Improvement
Program (Continued)

Description

Is This Field
Made
Anonymous?

Example Value

USB device vendor ID

Examples include the following:

USB device product ID

USB device family

USB device usage count

VMware, Inc.

Kingston

NEC

Nokia

Wacom

Examples include the following:
n

DataTraveler

Gamepad

Storage Drive

Wireless Mouse

Examples include the following:
n

Security

Human Interface Device

Imaging

(Number of times the device was shared)

Configuring Horizon Client for
End Users

Configuring Horizon Client for end users can involve constructing URIs, setting the certificate verification
mode, modifying advanced TLS/SSL options, configuring specific keys and key combinations, setting
display protocol options, and enabling FIPS Compatible mode.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n

Common Configuration Settings

Using the Horizon Client Command-Line Interface and Configuration Files

Using URIs to Configure Horizon Client

Configuring Certificate Checking for End Users

Configuring Advanced TLS/SSL Options

Configuring Specific Keys and Key Combinations to Send to the Local System

Using FreeRDP for RDP Connections

Enabling FIPS Compatible Mode

Configuring the PCoIP Client-Side Image Cache

Common Configuration Settings
Horizon Client provides several configuration mechanisms to simplify the login and desktop selection
experience for end users, and enforce security policies.
The following table shows only some of the configuration settings that you can set in one or more ways.
Table 2‑1. Common Configuration Settings
Setting

Mechanisms for Configuring

Connection Server address

URI, Configuration File Property, Command Line

Active Directory user name

URI, Configuration File Property, Command Line

Domain name

URI, Configuration File Property, Command Line

Desktop display name

URI, Configuration File Property, Command Line

Window size

URI, Configuration File Property, Command Line

Display protocol

URI, Configuration File Property, Command Line

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Table 2‑1. Common Configuration Settings (Continued)
Setting

Mechanisms for Configuring

Configuring certificate checking

Configuration File Property

Configuring SSL protocols and
cryptographic algorithms

Configuration File Property, Command Line

Using the Horizon Client Command-Line Interface and
Configuration Files
You can configure Horizon Client using command-line options or equivalent properties in a configuration
file.
You can use the vmware-view command-line interface or set properties in configuration files to define
default values your users see in Horizon Client or to suppress some dialog boxes from prompting users
for information. You can also specify settings that you do not want users to change.

Processing Order for Configuration Settings
When Horizon Client starts up, configuration settings are processed from various locations in the
following order:
1

/etc/vmware/view-default-config

~/.vmware/view-preferences

Command-line arguments

/etc/vmware/view-mandatory-config

If a setting is defined in multiple locations, the value that is used is the value from the last file or
command-line option read. For example, to specify settings that override users' preferences, set
properties in the /etc/vmware/view-mandatory-config file.
To set default values that users can change, use the /etc/vmware/view-default-config file. After
users change a setting, when they exit Horizon Client, any changed settings are saved in the
~/.vmware/view-preferences file.

Properties That Prevent Users from Changing Defaults
For many properties, you can set a corresponding view.allow property that controls whether users are
allowed to change the setting. For example, if you set the view.allowDefaultBroker property to
"FALSE" in the /etc/vmware/view-mandatory-config file, users will not be able to change the name
of the server when they connect using Horizon Client.

Syntax for Using the Command-Line Interface
Use the following form of the vmware-view command from a terminal window.
vmware-view [command-line-option [argument]] ...

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By default, the vmware-view command is located in the /usr/bin directory.
You can use either the short form or the long form of the option name, although not all options have a
short form. For example, to specify the domain you can use either -d (short form) or --domainName=
(long form). You might choose to use the long form to make a script more human-readable.
You can use the --help option to get a list of command-line options and usage information.
Important If you need to use a proxy, use the following syntax:
http_proxy=proxy_server_URL:port https_proxy=proxy_server_URL:port vmware-view options

This workaround is required because you must clear the environment variables that were previously set
for the proxy. If you do not perform this action, the proxy exception setting does not take effect in
Horizon Client. You configure a proxy exception for the View Connection Server instance.

Horizon Client Configuration Settings and Command-Line Options
For your convenience, almost all configuration settings have both a key=value property and a
corresponding command-line option name. For a few settings, there is a command-line option but no
corresponding property you can set in a configuration file. For a few other settings, you must set a
property because no command-line option is available.
Important Some command-line options and configuration keys are available only with the version of
Horizon Client provided by third-party vendors. For more information about VMware thin-client and zeroclient partners, see the VMware Compatibility Guide at
http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=vdm.
Table 2‑2. Horizon Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys
Configuration Key

Command-Line Option

Description

view.allMonitors

--allmonitors

Hides the host operating system and opens the
Horizon Client user interface in full screen mode
on all monitors that are connected when the client
is launched.
If you are setting the configuration key, specify
"TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE".

view.allowDefaultBroker

-l, --lockServer

Using this command-line option, or setting the
property to "FALSE", disables the Server field
unless the client has never connected to any
server, and no server address is provided in the
command line or the preferences file.
Example of using the command-line option:
--lockServer -s view.company.com

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Table 2‑2. Horizon Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys (Continued)
Configuration Key

Command-Line Option

Description

view.autoConnectBroker

None

Automatically connects to the last View server
used unless the view.defaultBroker
configuration property is set or unless the
--serverURL= command-line option is used.
Specify "TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE".
Setting this property and the
view.autoConnectDesktop property to "TRUE"
is the equivalent of setting the
view.nonInteractive property to "TRUE".

view.autoConnectDesktop

None

Automatically connects to the last View desktop
used unless the view.defaultDesktop
configuration property is set or unless the
--desktopName= command-line option is used.
Specify "TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE".
Setting this property and the
view.autoConnectBroker property to "TRUE" is
the equivalent of setting the
view.nonInteractive property to "TRUE".

view.autoDisconnectEmptyAppSessionNone

When set to "TRUE" (the default), if the application
session becomes empty because the user quits all
applications, a message is displayed to the end
user. This message prompts the user to choose
between disconnecting the empty session or
keeping the empty session running. If set to
"FALSE", the session is closed according to the
timeout setting used in View Administrator, which
by default would be to disconnect after one
minute.

view.defaultAppHeight

None

Specifies the default height of the window for
remote applications, in pixels. Use this property in
conjunction with view.defaultAppWidth when
specifying a custom desktop size
(view.defaultAppSize property is set to "5").
Default is "480".

view.defaultAppSize

--appSize=

Sets the default size of the window for remote
applications:
n

To use all monitors, specify "1".

To use full screen mode on one monitor,
specify "2".

To use a large window, specify "3".

To use a small window, specify "4".

To set a custom size, specify "5"and then
also set the view.defaultAppWidth and
view.defaultAppHeight properties.

Default is "1".

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Table 2‑2. Horizon Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys (Continued)
Configuration Key

Command-Line Option

Description

view.defaultAppWidth

None

Specifies the default width of the window for
remote applications, in pixels. Use this property in
conjunction with view.defaultAppHeight when
specifying a custom desktop size
(view.defaultAppSize property is set to "5").
Default is "640".

view.defaultBroker

-s, --serverURL=

Adds the name that you specify to the Server field
in Horizon Client. Specify a fully qualified domain
name. You can also specify a port number if you
do not use the default 443.
Default is the most recently used value.
Examples of using the command-line option:
--serverURL=https://view.company.com
-s view.company.com
--serverURL=view.company.com:1443

view.defaultDesktop

-n, --desktopName=

Specifies which desktop to use when
autoConnectDesktop is set to "TRUE" and the
user has access to multiple desktops.
This is the name you would see in the Select
Desktop dialog box. The name is usually the pool
name.

view.defaultDesktopHeight

None

Specifies the default height of the window for the
View desktop, in pixels. Use this property in
conjunction with view.defaultDesktopWidth
when specifying a custom desktop size
(view.defaultDesktopSize property is set to
"5").

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Table 2‑2. Horizon Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys (Continued)
Configuration Key

Command-Line Option

Description

view.defaultDesktopSize

--desktopSize=

Sets the default size of the window for the View
desktop:
n

To use all monitors, set the property to "1" or
use the command-line argument "all".

To use full screen mode on one monitor, set
the property to "2" or use the command-line
argument "full".

To use a large window, set the property to "3"
or use the command-line argument "large".

To use a small window, set the property to "4"

To set a custom size, set the property to
"5"and then also set the

or use the command-line argument "small".

view.defaultDesktopWidth and
view.defaultDesktopHeight properties.
Alternatively, specify the width by height, in
pixels, at the command-line as
"widthxheight".
Examples of using the command-line option:
--desktopSize="1280x800"
--desktopSize="all"
view.defaultDesktopWidth

None

Specifies the default width of the window for the
View desktop, in pixels. Use this property in
conjunction with view.defaultDesktopHeight
when specifying a custom desktop size
(view.defaultDesktopSize property is set to
"5").

view.defaultDomain

-d, --domainName=

Sets the domain name that Horizon Client uses for
all connections and adds the domain name that
you specify to the Domain Name field in the
authentication dialog box.

view.defaultLogLevel

None

Sets the log level for Horizon Client logs. Set the
property to one of the following values:
n

"0" means include all log events.

"1" means include trace-level events and
events captured for settings 2 though 6.

"2" means include debug events and events
captured for settings 3 through 6.

"3" (the default) means include info-level
events and events captured for settings 4
through 6.

"4" means include warning, error, and fatal
events.

"5" means include error and fatal events.

"6" means include fatal events.

Default is "3".

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Table 2‑2. Horizon Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys (Continued)
Configuration Key

Command-Line Option

Description

view.defaultPassword

-p "-", --password="-"

For VMware Blast, PCoIP, and rdesktop
connections, always specify "-" to read the
password from stdin.
Sets the password that Horizon Client uses for all
connections and adds the password to the
Password field in the authentication dialog box if
View Connection Server accepts password
authentication.
Note You cannot use a blank password. That is,
you cannot specify --password=""

view.defaultProtocol

--protocol=

Specifies which display protocol to use. Specify
"PCOIP" or "RDP". These values are casesensitive. For example, if you enter rdp the
protocol used will be the default. Default is the
setting specified in View Administrator, under pool
settings for the pool.
If you use RDP and you want to use FreeRDP
rather than rdesktop, you must also use the
rdpClient setting.

view.defaultUser

-u, --userName=

Sets the user name that Horizon Client uses for all
connections and adds the user name that you
specify to the User Name field in the
authentication dialog box.
For kiosk mode, the account name can be based
on the client's MAC address, or it can begin with a
recognized prefix string, such as custom-.

view.disableMaximizedApp

--disableMaximizedApp

If set to "FALSE" (the default), the application is
launched in full screen mode.

view.enableMMR

None

Enables multimedia redirection (MMR).
Specify "TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE".

view.fullScreen

--fullscreen

Hides the host operating system and opens the
Horizon Client user interface in full screen mode
on one monitor. This option does not affect the
screen mode of the desktop session.
If you are setting the configuration key, specify
"TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE".

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VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

Table 2‑2. Horizon Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys (Continued)
Configuration Key

Command-Line Option

Description

view.kbdLayout

-k, --kbdLayout=

Specifies which locale to use for the keyboard
layout.
Note rdesktop uses locale codes, such as "fr"
and "de", whereas freerdp uses keyboard
layout IDs. For a list of these IDs, use the
following command:
xfreerdp --kbd-list
Example of using the command-line option for
rdesktop:
--kbdLayout="en-us"
-k "fr"
Example of using the command-line option for
freerdp:
-k "0x00010407"

view.kioskLogin

--kioskLogin

Specifies that Horizon Client is going to
authenticate using a kiosk mode account.
If you are setting the configuration key, specify
"TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE".
For examples, see the kiosk mode example that
follows this table.

view.mmrPath

-m, --mmrPath=

(Available only with distributions from third-party
vendors) Specifies the path to the directory that
contains the Wyse MMR (multimedia redirection)
libraries.
Example of using the command-line option:
--mmrPath="/usr/lib/altmmr"

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Table 2‑2. Horizon Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys (Continued)
Configuration Key

Command-Line Option

Description

view.monitors

--monitors= numbered list

Allows you to specify which adjacent monitors to
use for Horizon Client. Use --allmonitors (or
view.allMonitors) to specify that you want to
use full screen on all monitors, and use
--monitors=numbered list to specify which
subset of the monitors to use.
Example of using the command-line option to
specify the first and second monitors in a
configuration where 3 monitors are set next to
each other horizontally:
--allmonitors --monitors="1,2" `
To help distinguish which physical monitor is
associated with a monitor icon in the client UI, a
rectangle is displayed at the top left corner of the
physical monitor you had specified to use. The
rectangle has the corresponding color and number
that is used in the icon for the chosen monitor.

view.noMenuBar

--nomenubar

Suppresses the Horizon Client menu bar when the
client is in full screen mode, so that users cannot
access menu options to log off of, reset, or
disconnect from a View desktop. Use this option
when configuring kiosk mode.
If you are setting the configuration key, specify
"TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE".

view.nonInteractive

-q, --nonInteractive

Hides unnecessary UI steps from end users by
skipping the screens that are specified in the
command line or configuration properties.
If you are setting the configuration key, specify
"TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE".
Setting this property to "TRUE" is the equivalent of
setting the view.autoConnectBroker and
view.autoConnectDesktop properties to
"TRUE".
Example of using the command-line option:
--nonInteractive
-serverURL="https://view.company.com"
--userName="user1" --password="-"
--domainName="xyz"
--desktopName="Windows 7"

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Table 2‑2. Horizon Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys (Continued)
Configuration Key

Command-Line Option

Description

view.once

--once

Specifies that you do not want Horizon Client to
retry connecting in the case of an error occurring.
You should usually specify this option if you use
kiosk mode, and use the exit code to handle the
error. Otherwise, you might find it difficult to kill the
vmware-view process remotely.
If you are setting the configuration key, specify
"TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE".

view.rdesktopOptions

--rdesktopOptions=

(Available if you use the Microsoft RDP display
protocol) Specifies command-line options to
forward to the rdesktop application. For
information about rdesktop options, see the
rdesktop documentation.
Example of using the command-line option:
--rdesktopOptions="-f -m"

None

-r, --redirect=

(Available if you use the Microsoft RDP display
protocol) Specifies a local device that you want
rdesktop to redirect to the View desktop.
Specify the device information that you want to
pass to the -r option of rdesktop. You can set
multiple device options in a single command.
Example of using the command-line option:
--redirect="sound:off"

view.rdpClient

--rdpclient=

(Available if you use the Microsoft RDP display
protocol) Specifies which type of RDP client to
use. The default is rdesktop. To use FreeRDP
instead, specify xfreerdp.
Note To use FreeRDP, you must have the
correct version of FreeRDP installed, along with
any applicable patches. For more information, see
Install and Configure FreeRDP.

None

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--save

Saves the user name and domain name that were
last used to successfully log in so that you do not
need to enter the user name or domain name the
next time you are prompted to supply login
credentials.

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Table 2‑2. Horizon Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys (Continued)
Configuration Key

Command-Line Option

Description

view.sendCtrlAltDelToLocal

None

(Available if you use the VMware Blast or PCoIP
display protocol) When set to "TRUE", sends the
key combination Ctrl+Alt+Del to the client system
rather than opening a dialog box to prompt the
user to disconnect from the View desktop. Default
is "FALSE".
Note If you use the Microsoft RDP display
protocol, you can achieve this functionality by
using the -K option; for example, vmware-view K.
This option has the same priority as the setting in
the /etc/vmware/view-keycombos-config file.

view.sendCtrlAltDelToVM

None

(Available if you use the VMware Blast or PCoIP
display protocol) When set to "TRUE", sends the
key combination Ctrl+Alt+Del to the virtual
desktop rather than opening a dialog box to
prompt the user to disconnect from the View
desktop. Default is "FALSE".
This option has a higher priority than the setting in
the /etc/vmware/view-keycombos-config file.

view.sendCtrlAltInsToVM

None

(Available if you use the VMware Blast or PCoIP
display protocol) When set to "TRUE", sends the
key combination Ctrl+Alt+Ins to the virtual desktop
rather than sending Ctrl+Alt+Del. Default is
"FALSE".
Note To use this feature, you must also set the
agent-side GPO policy called "Use alternate key
for sending Secure Attention Sequence," available
in the pcoip.adm template. See the topic called
"PCoIP Keyboard Settings" in the "Configuring
Policies for Desktop and Application Pools"
chapter of the Configuring Remote Desktop
Features in Horizon 7 document.
This option has a lower priority than the setting in
the /etc/vmware/view-keycombos-config file.

view.shareRemovableStorage

None

When set to "TRUE", enables the Allow access
to removable storage option. Default is "TRUE".

view.sslCipherString

--sslCipherString=

Configures the cipher list to restrict the use of
certain cryptographic algorithms before
establishing an encrypted SSL connection.
For a list of cipher strings, see
http://www.openssl.org/docs/apps/ciphers.html .
The default for Horizon Client is "!aNULL:kECDH
+AESGCM:ECDH+AESGCM:RSA
+AESGCM:kECDH+AES:ECDH+AES:RSA
+AES".

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Table 2‑2. Horizon Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys (Continued)
Configuration Key

Command-Line Option

Description

view.sslProtocolString

--sslProtocolString=

Configures the cipher list to restrict the use of
certain cryptographic protocols before establishing
an encrypted SSL connection.
The supported protocols are SSLv3/SSLv3.0,
TLSv1.0/TLSv1, TLSv1.1, and TLSv1.2. The
cipher list consists of one or more protocol strings
separated by colons. The strings are not casesensitive.
The default is "TLSv1.0:TLSv1.1:TLSv1.2".

view.sslVerificationMode

None

Sets the server certificate verification mode.
Specify "1" to reject connections when the
certificate fails any of the verification checks, "2"
to warn but allow connections that use a selfsigned certificate, or "3" to allow unverifiable
connections. If you specify "3" no verification
checks are performed. Default is "2".

view.UnauthenticatedAccessEnabled --unauthenticatedAccessEnabled When set to "TRUE", the Unauthenticated Access
feature is enabled by default. The Log in
anonymously using Unauthenticated Access
setting is visible in the user interface and is
marked as selected.
When set to "FALSE", the Unauthenticated
Access feature is disabled. The Log in
anonymously using Unauthenticated Access
setting is hidden and deselected.
When set to "", the Unauthenticated Access
feature is disabled, and the Log in anonymously
using Unauthenticated Access setting is visible
from the user interface and deselected.
If you are setting the configuration key, specify
"TRUE" or "FALSE".
Examples for using the command-line option:
--unauthenticatedAccessEnabled="TRUE"
view.UnauthenticatedAccessAccount --unauthenticatedAccessAccount Specifies the account to use when
unauthenticatedAccessEnabled is set to
"TRUE".
If the unauthenticatedAccessEnabled is set to
"FALSE", then this configuration is ignored.
Example for using the command-line option with
the anonymous1 user account:
-unauthenticatedAccessAccount='anonymou
s1'

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Table 2‑2. Horizon Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys (Continued)
Configuration Key

Command-Line Option

Description

view.usbAutoConnectAtStartup

—-usbAutoConnectAtStartUp=

Automatically redirects USB devices to a Horizon
desktop if the USB devices were inserted into the
host system before the desktop is connected. This
option does not apply to remote applications.
Specify "TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "TRUE".

view.usbAutoConnectOnInsert

-—usbAutoConnectOnInsert=

Automatically redirects USB devices to a Horizon
desktop when the USB devices are inserted into
the host system after the desktop is connected.
This option does not apply to remote applications.
Specify "TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "TRUE".

view.xfreerdpOptions

--xfreerdpOptions=

(Available if you use the Microsoft RDP display
protocol) Specifies command-line options to
forward to the xfreerdp program. For information
about xfreerdp options, see the xfreerdp
documentation.
Note To use FreeRDP, you must have the
correct version of FreeRDP installed, along with
any applicable patches. For more information, see
Install and Configure FreeRDP.

None

--enableNla

(Applies if you are using FreeRDP for RDP
connections) Enables network-level authentication
(NLA). You must use this option in conjunction
with the --ignore-certificate option. For
more information, see Using FreeRDP for RDP
Connections.
NLA is turned off by default if you are using
FreeRDP.
You must have the correct version of FreeRDP
installed, along with any applicable patches. For
more information, see Install and Configure
FreeRDP.
Note The rdesktop program does not support
NLA.

None

--printEnvironmentInfo

Displays information about the environment of a
client device, including its IP address, MAC
address, machine name, and domain name.
For kiosk mode, you can create an account for the
client based on the MAC address. To display the
MAC address, you must use this option with the
-s option.
Example of using the command-line option:
--printEnvironmentInfo
-s view.company.com

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Table 2‑2. Horizon Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys (Continued)
Configuration Key

Command-Line Option

Description

None

--usb=

Specifies which options to use for USB
redirection. See System Requirements for USB
Redirection.

None

--version

Displays version information about Horizon Client.

Example: Kiosk Mode Example
Kiosk users might include customers at airline check-in stations, students in classrooms or libraries,
medical personnel at medical data entry workstations, or customers at self-service points. Accounts are
associated with client devices rather than users because users do not need to log in to use the client
device or the View desktop. Users can still be required to provide authentication credentials for some
applications.
To set up kiosk mode, you must use the vdmadmin command-line interface on the View Connection
Server instance and perform several procedures documented in the chapter about kiosk mode in the View
Administration document. After you set up kiosk mode, you can use the vmware-view command on a
Linux client to connect to a View desktop in kiosk mode.
To connect to View desktops from Linux clients in kiosk mode, you must, at a minimum, include the
following configuration keys or command-line options.
Configuration Key

Equivalent Command-line Options

view.kioskLogin

--kioskLogin

view.nonInteractive

-q, --nonInteractive

view.fullScreen

--fullscreen

view.noMenuBar

--nomenubar

view.defaultBroker

-s, --serverURL=

Omitting any of these configuration settings is not supported for kiosk mode. If View Connection Server is
set up to require a non-default kiosk user name, you must also set the view.defaultUser property or
use the -u or --userName= command-line option. If a non-default user name is not required and you do
not specify a user name, Horizon Client can derive and use the default kiosk user name.
Note If you set the view.sslVerificationMode configuration key, be sure to set it in
the /etc/vmware/view-mandatory-config file. When the client runs in kiosk mode, the client does not
look in the view-preferences file.
The command shown in this example runs Horizon Client on a Linux client system and has the following
characteristics:
n

The user account name is based on the client's MAC address.

Horizon Client runs in full screen mode without a Horizon Client menu bar.

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Users are automatically connected to the specified View Connection Server instance and View
desktop and are not prompted for login credentials.

If a connection error occurs, depending on the error code returned, a script might run or a kiosk
monitoring program might handle the error. As a result, for example, the client system might display
an out-of-order screen or might wait a certain amount of time before attempting to connect to View
Connection Server again.
./vmware-view --kioskLogin --nonInteractive --once --fullscreen --nomenubar
--serverURL="server.mycomany.com" --userName="CM-00:11:22:33:44:55:66:77" --password="mypassword"

Important If a pre-login message has been configured to appear before allowing Horizon Client to
connect to a View desktop, the user must acknowledge the message before being allowed to access the
desktop. To avoid this issue, use View Administrator to disable pre-login messages.

Using URIs to Configure Horizon Client
Using uniform resource identifiers (URIs), you can create a Web page or an email with links that end
users click to start Horizon Client, connect to a server, and open a specific desktop or application with
specific configuration options.
You can simplify the process of connecting to a remote desktop or application by creating Web or email
links for end users. You create these links by constructing URIs that provide some or all the following
information, so that your end users do not need to supply it:
n

Connection Server address

Port number for Connection Server

Active Directory user name

Domain name

Desktop or application display name

Window size

Actions including reset, log out, and start session

Display protocol

To construct a URI, you use the vmware-view URI scheme with Horizon Client specific path and query
parts.
Note You can use URIs to start Horizon Client only if the client software is already installed on client
computers.

Syntax for Creating vmware-view URIs
Syntax includes the vmware-view URI scheme, a path part to specify the desktop or application, and,
optionally, a query to specify desktop or application actions or configuration options.

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URI Specification
When you create a URI, you are essentially calling vmware-view with the full View URI string as an
argument.
Use the following syntax to create URIs to start Horizon Client:
vmware-view://[authority-part][/path-part][?query-part]

The only required element is the URI scheme, vmware-view. For some versions of some client operating
systems, the scheme name is case-sensitive. Therefore, use vmware-view.
Important In all parts, non-ASCII characters must first be encoded according to UTF-8 [STD63], and
then each octet of the corresponding UTF-8 sequence must be percent-encoded to be represented as
URI characters.
For information about encoding for ASCII characters, see the URL encoding reference at
http://www.utf8-chartable.de/.
authority-part

Specifies the server address and, optionally, a user name, a non-default
port number, or both. Underscores (_) are not supported in server names.
Server names must conform to DNS syntax.
To specify a user name, use the following syntax:
user1@server-address

You cannot specify a UPN address, which includes the domain. To specify
the domain, you can use the domainName query part in the URI.
To specify a port number, use the following syntax:
server-address:port-number

path-part

Specifies the desktop or application. Use the desktop display name or
application display name. This name is the one specified in Horizon
Administrator when the desktop or application pool was created. If the
display name has a space in it, use the %20 encoding mechanism to
represent the space.

query-part

Specifies the configuration options to use or the desktop or application
actions to perform. Queries are not case-sensitive. To use multiple queries,
use an ampersand (&) between the queries. If queries conflict with each
other, the last query in the list is used. Use the following syntax:
query1=value1[&query2=value2...]

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Supported Queries
This topic lists the queries that are supported for this type of Horizon Client. If you are creating URIs for
multiple types of clients, such as desktop clients and mobile clients, see the Using VMware Horizon Client
guide for each type of client system.
action

Table 2‑3. Values That Can Be Used With the action Query
Value

Description

browse

Displays a list of available desktops and applications hosted on the
specified server. You are not required to specify a desktop or application
when using this action.

start-session

Opens the specified desktop or application. If no action query is provided
and the desktop or application name is provided, start-session is the
default action.

args

reset

Shuts down and restarts the specified desktop or published application.
Unsaved data is lost. Resetting a remote desktop is the equivalent of
pressing the Reset button on a physical PC.

restart

Shuts down and restarts the specified desktop. Restarting a remote
desktop is the equivalent of the Windows operating system restart
command. The operating system usually prompts the user to save any
unsaved data before it restarts.

logoff

Logs the user out of the guest operating system in the remote desktop. If
you specify an application, the action is ignored or the end user sees the
warning message "Invalid URI action."

Specifies command-line arguments to add to published application launch.
Use the syntax args=value, where value is a string. Use percent encoding
for the following characters:
n

For a colon (:), use %3A

For a back slash (\), use %5C

For a space ( ), use %20

For a double quotation mark ("), use %22

For example, to specify the filename "My new file.txt" for the Notepad
++ application, use %22My%20new%20file.txt%22.
appProtocol

For published applications, valid values are PCOIP and BLAST. For
example, to specify PCoIP, use the syntax appProtocol=PCOIP.

desktopLayout

Sets the size of the window that displays a remote desktop. To use this
query, you must set the action query to start-session or else not have
an action query.

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Table 2‑4. Valid Values for the desktopLayout Query

desktopProtocol

Value

Description

fullscreen

Full screen on one monitor. This value is the default.

multimonitor

Full screen on all monitors.

windowLarge

Large window.

windowSmall

Small window.

WxH

Custom resolution, where you specify the width by height, in
pixels. An example of the syntax is desktopLayout=1280x800.

For remote desktops, valid values are RDP, PCOIP, and BLAST. For
example, to specify PCoIP, use the syntax desktopProtocol=PCOIP.

domainName

The NETBIOS domain name associated with the user who is connecting to
the remote desktop or published application. For example, you might use
mycompany rather than mycompany.com.

useExisting

If this option is set to true, only one Horizon Client instance can run. If
users try to connect to a second server, they must log out of the first server,
causing desktop and application sessions to be disconnected. If this option
is set to false, multiple Horizon Client instances can run and users can
connect to multiple servers at the same time. The default is true. An
example of the syntax is useExisting=false.

unauthenticatedAccess
Enabled

If this option is set to true, the Unauthenticated Access feature is enabled
by default. The Log in anonymously using Unauthenticated Access
option is visible in the user interface and is selected. If this option is set to
false, the Unauthenticated Access feature is disabled. The Log in
anonymously using Unauthenticated Access setting is hidden and
disabled. When this option is set to "", the Unauthenticated Access feature
is disabled and the Log in anonymously using Unauthenticated Access
setting is visible from the user interface and deselected. An example of the
syntax is unauthenticatedAccessEnabled=true.

unauthenticatedAccess
Account

Sets the account to use if the Unauthenticated Access feature is enabled. If
Unauthenticated Access is disabled, then this query is ignored. An example
of the syntax using the anonymous1 user account is
unauthenticatedAccessAccount=anonymous1.

Examples of vmware-view URIs
You can create hypertext links or buttons with the vmware-view URI scheme and include these links in
email or on a Web page. Your end users can click these links to, for example, open a particular remote
desktop with the startup options you specify.

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URI Syntax Examples
Each URI example is followed by a description of what the end user sees after clicking the URI link.
1

vmware-view://view.mycompany.com/Primary%20Desktop?action=start-session

Horizon Client starts and connects to the view.mycompany.com server. The login box prompts the
user for a user name, domain name, and password. After a successful login, the client connects to
the desktop whose display name is displayed as Primary Desktop, and the user is logged in to the
guest operating system.
Note The default display protocol and window size are used. The default display protocol is PCoIP.
The default window size is full screen.
You can change the defaults. See Using the Horizon Client Command-Line Interface and
Configuration Files.
2

vmware-view://view.mycompany.com:7555/Primary%20Desktop

This URI has the same effect as the previous example, except that it uses the nondefault port of 7555
for Connection Server. (The default port is 443.) Because a desktop identifier is provided, the desktop
opens even though the start-session action is not included in the URI.
3

vmware-view://fred@view.mycompany.com/Finance%20Desktop?desktopProtocol=PCOIP

Horizon Client starts and connects to the view.mycompany.com server. In the login box, the User
name text box is populated with the name fred. The user must supply the domain name and
password. After a successful login, the client connects to the desktop whose display name is
displayed as Finance Desktop, and the user is logged in to the guest operating system. The
connection uses the PCoIP display protocol.
4

vmware-view://view.mycompany.com/Calculator?action=start-session&appProtocol=BLAST

Horizon Client starts and connects to the view.mycompany.com server. In the login box, the user
must supply the user name, domain name, and password. After a successful login, the client
connects to the application whose display name is displayed as Calculator. The connection uses the
VMware Blast display protocol.
5

vmware-view://fred@view.mycompany.com/Finance%20Desktop?domainName=mycompany

Horizon Client starts and connects to the view.mycompany.com server. In the login box, the User
name text box is populated with the name fred, and the Domain text box is populated with
mycompany. The user must supply only a password. After a successful login, the client connects to
the desktop whose display name is displayed as Finance Desktop, and the user is logged in to the
guest operating system.

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vmware-view://view.mycompany.com/

Horizon Client starts and the user is taken to the login prompt for connecting to the
view.mycompany.com server.
7

vmware-view://view.mycompany.com/Primary%20Desktop?action=reset

Horizon Client starts and connects to the view.mycompany.com server. The login box prompts the
user for a user name, domain name, and password. After a successful login, Horizon Client displays
a dialog box that prompts the user to confirm the reset operation for Primary Desktop.
Note This action is available only if a Horizon administrator has enabled the desktop reset feature
for the desktop.
8

vmware-view://view.mycompany.com/Primary%20Desktop?action=restart

Horizon Client starts and connects to the view.mycompany.com server. The login box prompts the
user for a user name, domain name, and password. After a successful login, Horizon Client displays
a dialog box that prompts the user to confirm the restart operation for Primary Desktop.
Note This action is available only if a Horizon administrator has enabled the desktop restart feature
for the desktop.
9

vmware-view://

Horizon Client starts and the user is taken to the page for entering the address of a server.
10

vmware-view://10.10.10.10/My%20Notepad++?args=%22My%20new%20file.txt%22

Launches My Notepad++ on server 10.10.10.10 and passes the argument My new file.txt in the
application launch command. The filename is enclosed in double quotes because it contains spaces.
11

vmware-view://10.10.10.10/Notepad++%2012?args=a.txt%20b.txt

Launches Notepad++ 12 on server 10.10.10.10 and passes the argument a.text b.txt in the
application launch command. Because the argument is not enclosed in quotes, a space separates the
filenames and the two files are opened separately in Notepad++.
Note Applications can differ in the way they use command line arguments. For example, if you pass
the argument a.txt b.txt to Wordpad, Wordpad will open only one file, a.txt.
12

vmware-view://view.mycompany.com/Notepad?
unauthenticatedAccessEnabled=true&unauthenticatedAccessAccount=anonymous1

Horizon Client starts and connects to the view.mycompany.com server using the anonymous1 user
account. The Notepad application is launched without prompting the user to provide login credentials.

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HTML Code Examples
You can use URIs to make hypertext links and buttons to include in emails or on Web pages. The
following examples show how to use the URI from the first URI example to code a hypertext link that
says, Test Link, and a button that says, TestButton.

Test Link

Configuring Certificate Checking for End Users
You can configure the certificate verification mode so that, for example, full verification is always
performed.
Certificate checking occurs for SSL connections between Connection Server and Horizon Client. You can
configure the verification mode to use one of the following strategies:
n

End users are allowed to choose the verification mode. The rest of this list describes the three
verification modes.

(No verification) No certificate checks are performed.

(Warn) End users are warned if a self-signed certificate is being presented by the server. Users can
choose whether or not to allow this type of connection.

(Full security) Full verification is performed and connections that do not pass full verification are
rejected.

For more information about the types of verification checks performed, see Setting the Certificate
Checking Mode in Horizon Client.
Use the view.sslVerificationMode property to set the default verification mode:
n

1 implements Full Verification.

2 implements Warn If the Connection May Be Insecure.

3 implements No Verification Performed.

To configure the mode so that end users cannot change the mode, set the
view.allowSslVerificationMode property to "False" in the /etc/vmware/view-mandatory-config
file on the client system. See Horizon Client Configuration Settings and Command-Line Options.

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Configuring Advanced TLS/SSL Options
You can select the security protocols and cryptographic algorithms that are used to encrypt
communications between Horizon Client and servers, or between Horizon Client and the agent in the
remote desktop.
These options are also used to encrypt the USB channel (communication between the USB service
daemon and the agent).
With the default setting, cipher suites use 128- or 256-bit AES, remove anonymous DH algorithms, and
then sort the current cipher list in order of encryption algorithm key length.
By default, TLS v1.0, TLS v1.1, and TLS v1.2 are enabled. SSL v2.0 and v3.0 are not supported.
Note If TLS v1.0 and RC4 are disabled, USB redirection does not work when users are connected to
Windows XP desktops. Be aware of the security risk if you choose to make this feature work by enabling
TLS v1.0 and RC4.
If you configure a security protocol for Horizon Client that is not enabled on the server to which the client
connects, a TLS/SSL error occurs and the connection fails.
Important At least one of the protocols that you enable in Horizon Client must also be enabled on the
remote desktop. Otherwise, USB devices cannot be redirected to the remote desktop.
On the client system, you can use either configuration file properties or command-line options for these
settings:
n

To use configuration file properties, use the view.sslProtocolString and view.sslCipherString
properties.

To use command-line configuration options, use the --sslProtocolString and
--sslCipherString options.

For more information, see Using the Horizon Client Command-Line Interface and Configuration Files and
look up the property and option names in the table in Horizon Client Configuration Settings and
Command-Line Options.

Configuring Specific Keys and Key Combinations to Send
to the Local System
Starting with Horizon Client, if you use PCoIP, or, starting with Horizon Client 4.0, it you use VMware Blast
or PCoIP, you can create a view-keycombos-config file to specify which individual keys and key
combinations should not be forwarded to the remote desktop.
You might prefer to have some keys or key combinations handled by your local client system when
working in a remote desktop. For example, you might want to use a particular key combination to start the
screen saver on your client computer. You can create a file located at /etc/vmware/view-keycombosconfig and specify the key combinations and individual keys.

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Place each key or key combination on a new line using the following format:
scanCode
scanCode

The first example is for a key combination. The second example is for a single key. The scanCode value
is the keyboard scan code, in hexadecimal.
In this example, modName is one of four modifier keys: ctrl, alt, shift, and super. The Super key is
keyboard-specific. For example, the Super key is usually the Windows key on a Microsoft Windows
keyboard but is the Command key on a Mac OS X keyboard. You can also use as a wildcard for
modName. For example, 0x153 specifies all combinations of the Delete key, including the individual
Delete key for the US keyboard. The value you use for modName is not case-sensitive.

Specifying the Scan Code for a Key
The scanCode value must be in hexadecimal format. To determine which code to use, open the
appropriate language- and keyboard-specific file in the lib/vmware/xkeymap directory on your client
system. In addition to the key codes listed in that file, you can also use the following codes:
Table 2‑5. Multimedia Keys
Key Name

Scan Code

PREVIOUS_TRACK

0x110

NEXT_TRACK

0x119

MUTE

0x120

CALCULATOR

0x121

PLAY_PAUSE

0x122

STOP

0x124

VOLUME_DOWN

0x12e

VOLUME_UP

0x130

BROWSER_HOME

0x132

BROWSER_SEARCH

0x165

BROWSER_FAVORITES

0x166

BROWSER_REFRESH

0x167

BROWSER_STOP

0x168

BROWSER_FORWARD

0x169

BROWSER_BACK

0x16A

MY_COMPUTER

0x16B

MAIL

0x16C

MEDIA_SELECT

0x16D

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Table 2‑6. Hangul and Hanja Keys
Key Name

Scan Code

HANGUL_EN

0x72

HANJA_EN

0x71

HANGUL_KO

0x172

HANJA_KO

0x171

HANGUL

0xF2

HANJA

0xF1

Table 2‑7. System Sleep, Wake, and Power Keys
Key Name

Scan Code

SYSTEM_SLEEP

0x15F

SYSTEM_WAKE

0x163

SYSTEM_POWER

0x15e

The following list shows the example contents of a /etc/vmware/view-keycombos-config file. Code
comments are preceded by the # character.
0x152
15
0x153
0x137
0x010
0x03b
0x04f

#block ctrl-insert
#block alt-tab
#block ctrl-alt-del
#block any combinations of the
#block the individual Q key
#or block the individual A key
#block the individual F1 key
#block the individual 1 key in

Print key
in a US English keyboard
in a French keyboard
a numeric keypad

Using FreeRDP for RDP Connections
If you plan to use RDP rather than VMware Blast or PCoIP for connections to View desktops, you can
choose between using an rdesktop client or xfreerdp, the open-source implementation of the Remote
Desktop Protocol (RDP), released under the Apache license.
Because the rdesktop program is no longer being actively developed, Horizon Client can also run the
xfreerdp executable if your Linux machine has the required version and patches for FreeRDP.
Important If you plan to connect to remote desktops or applications on a Microsoft RDS host, if that host
is configured with the Per Device mode of licensing, you must use xfreerdp or else change the licensing
mode to Per User mode. The reason is that Per Device licensing mode requires the RDP client to provide
a client ID, and rdesktop does not provide that ID, whereas xfreerdp does.
You must have the correct version of FreeRDP installed, along with any applicable patches. For more
information, see Install and Configure FreeRDP.

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General Syntax
You can use the vmware-view command-line interface or some properties in configuration files to specify
options for xfreerdp, just as you can for rdesktop.
n

To specify that Horizon Client should run xfreerdp rather than rdesktop, use the appropriate
command-line option or configuration key.

Command-line option:

--rdpclient="xfreerdp"

Configuration key:

view.rdpClient="xfreerdp"

To specify options to forward to the xfreerdp program, use the appropriate command-line option or
configuration key, and specify the FreeRDP options.
Command-line option:

--xfreerdpOptions

Configuration key:

view.xfreerdpOptions

For more information about using the vmware-view command-line interface and configuration files, see
Using the Horizon Client Command-Line Interface and Configuration Files.

Syntax for Network Level Authentication
Many configuration options for the rdesktop program are the same as for the xfreerdp program. One
important difference is that xfreerdp supports network-level authentication (NLA). NLA is turned off by
default. You must use the following command-line option to turn on network-level authentication:
--enableNla

Also, you must add the /cert-ignore option so that the certificate verification process can succeed.
Following is an example of the correct syntax:
vmware-view --enableNla --rdpclient=xfreerdp --xfreerdpOptions="/p:password /cert-ignore /u:username /d:domain-name /v:server"

If the password contains any special characters, escape the special characters (for example: \$).

Syntax Specific to Using FreeRDP with Horizon Client
Keep the following guidelines in mind:
n

You must escape special characters that you might normally place in quotation marks. For example,
the following command does not work because the special character $ in pa$$word is not escaped:

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VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

(incorrect) vmware-view --rdpclient=xfreerdp --xfreerdpOptions="/p:'pa$
$word' /u:'crt\administrator'"
Instead, you must use:
(correct) vmware-view --rdpclient=xfreerdp -xfreerdpOptions="/p:'pa\$\$word' /u:'crt\administrator'"
n

If end users will use a session-in-session implementation of Horizon Client, you must use the /rfx
option. An example of a session-in-session implementation is one in which an end user logs in to
Horizon Client on a thin client, so that the Horizon Client interface is the only one the end user sees,
and the end user then launches a nested version of Horizon Client in order to use a remote
application provided by an RDS host. In cases like this, if you do not use the /rfx option, the end
user will not be able to see the remote desktop and application icons in the desktop and application
selector of the nested client.

Install and Configure FreeRDP
To use a FreeRDP client for RDP connections to View desktops, your Linux machine must include the
required version of FreeRDP.
For a list of the packages that xfreerdp depends on in Ubuntu, go to
https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/wiki/Compilation.
Prerequisites

On your Linux client machine, download FreeRDP 1.1 from GitHub, at
https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP.
Procedure

Patch with the file called freerdp-1.1.0.patch, using the following patch commands:
cd /client-installation-directory/patches/FreeRDP-stable-1.1
patch -p1 < freerdp-1.1.0.patch
patch -p1 < freerdp-1.1.0-tls.patch

Here client-installation-directory is the path to VMware-Horizon-View-Client-x.x.x-yyyyyy.i386,
where x.x.x is the version number and yyyyyy is the build number. The freerdp-1.1.0-tls.patch
file enables the TLSv1.2 connection in xfreerdp. If you have installed the VMware Horizon Client for
Linux, the freerdp-1.1.0.patch and freerdp-1.1.0-tls.patch files are located in
the /usr/share/doc/vmware-horizon-client/patches directory. For more information about the
freerdp-1.1.0.patch file, see the README.patches file in the same client-installationdirectory/patches directory.
2

Run the following command:
cmake -DWITH_SSE2=ON -DWITH_PULSEAUDIO=ON -DWITH_PCSC=ON -DWITH_CUPS=ON .

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Run the following command:
make

Run the following command, which installs the built xfreerdp binary in a directory on the execution
PATH so that Horizon Client can run the program by executing xfreerdp:
sudo make install

(Optional) Verify that the virtual printing module can be loaded successfully.
a

To verify that tprdp.so can be loaded by FreeRDP 1.1, run the following command:
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/vmware/rdpvcbridge/tprdp.so /usr/local/lib/i386-linux-gnu/freerdp/tprdpclient.so

To start Horizon Client with the virtual printing feature enabled, run the following command:
vmware-view --rdpclient=xfreerdp --xfreerdpOptions='/cert-ignore /vc:tprdp'

Note The virtual printing feature is available if you use VMware Blast or PCoIP.

Enabling FIPS Compatible Mode
You can enable FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) Compatible mode so that the client uses
FIPS-compliant cryptographic algorithms when communicating with remote desktops.
Note FIPS Compatible Mode means Horizon Client for Linux implements a cryptographic module that is
designed for FIPS 140-2 compliance. This module was validated in operational environments listed in
CMVP certificate #2839 and was ported to this platform. However, the CAVP and CMVP testing
requirement to include the new operational environments in VMware's NIST CAVP and CMVP certificates
remains to be completed on the product roadmap.
Important If you enable FIPS Compatible mode in the client, the remote desktop must have FIPS
Compatible mode enabled as well. Mixed mode, where only the client, or only the desktop, has FIPS
Compatible mode enabled, is not supported.
To enable FIPS Compatible mode, make the following configuration changes:
1

Edit /etc/vmware/config and add the following lines:
usb.enableFIPSMode = "TRUE"
mks.enableFIPSMode = “TRUE”

Edit /etc/vmware/view-mandatory-config and add the following line:
View.fipsMode = ”TRUE”

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Edit /etc/teradici/pcoip_admin.conf and add the following line:
pcoip.enable_fips_mode = 1

Configuring the PCoIP Client-Side Image Cache
PCoIP client-side image caching stores image content on the client to avoid retransmission. This feature
is enabled by default to reduce bandwidth usage.
The PCoIP image cache captures spatial, as well as temporal, redundancy. For example, when you scroll
down through a PDF document, new content appears from the bottom of the window and the oldest
content disappears from the top of the window. All the other content remains constant and moves upward.
The PCoIP image cache is capable of detecting this spatial and temporal redundancy.
Because during scrolling, the display information sent to the client device is primarily a sequence of cache
indices, using the image cache saves a significant amount of bandwidth. This efficient scrolling has
benefits both on the LAN and over the WAN.
n

On the LAN, where bandwidth is relatively unconstrained, using client-side image caching delivers
significant bandwidth savings.

Over the WAN, to stay within the available bandwidth constraints, scrolling performance is often
degraded unless client-side caching is used. In this situation, client-side caching can save bandwidth
and ensure a smooth, highly responsive scrolling experience.

By default this feature is enabled, so that the client stores portions of the display that were previously
transmitted. The default cache size is 250MB. A larger cache size reduces bandwidth usage but requires
more memory on the client. A smaller cache size requires more bandwidth usage. For example, a thin
client with little memory requires a smaller cache size.

Setting the Configuration Property
To configure the cache size, you can set the pcoip.image_cache_size_mb property. For example, the
following setting configures the cache size to be 50MB:
pcoip.image_cache_size_mb = 50

Use a space before and after the equals (=) sign.
If you specify a value that is less than the amount of available memory divided by 2, the value is rounded
to the nearest multiple of 10. The minimum value is 50. Any value that is less than 50 is ignored.
If you specify a value that is larger than the available memory divided by 2, the value is set to the amount
of available memory divided by 2 and rounded to the nearest multiple of 10.
You can set this property in any of several files. When Horizon Client starts up, the setting is processed
from various locations in the following order:
1

/etc/teradici/pcoip_admin_defaults.conf

~/.pcoip.rc

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/etc/teradici/pcoip_admin.conf

If a setting is defined in multiple locations, the value that is used is the value from the last file read.
Note You can set the following property to display a visual indication that the image cache is working:
pcoip.show_image_cache_hits = 1

With this configuration, for every tile (32 x 32 pixels) in an image that comes from the image cache, you
can see a rectangle around the tile.

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Managing Remote Desktop and
Published Application
Connections

End users can use Horizon Client to connect to a server, log in to or off of remote desktops, and use
published applications. For troubleshooting purposes, end users can also restart and reset remote
desktops and reset published applications.
Depending on how you configure policies, end users might be able to perform many operations on their
remote desktops and published applications.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n

Connect to a Remote Desktop or Application

Connect to Published Applications Using Unauthenticated Access

Share Access to Local Folders and Drives with Client Drive Redirection

Setting the Certificate Checking Mode in Horizon Client

Switch Remote Desktops or Published Applications

Log Off or Disconnect

Connect to a Remote Desktop or Application
After logging in to a server, you can connect to the remote desktops and applications that you are
authorized to use.
Before you have end users access their remote desktops and applications, test that you can connect to a
remote desktop or application from a client device. You must specify a server and supply credentials for
your user account.
To use remote applications, you must connect to View Connection Server 6.0 or later.
Prerequisites
n

Obtain login credentials, such as a user name and password, RSA SecurID user name and
passcode, RADIUS authentication user name and passcode, or smart card personal identification
number (PIN).

Obtain the NETBIOS domain name for logging in. For example, you might use mycompany rather than
mycompany.com.

Perform the administrative tasks described in Preparing Connection Server for Horizon Client.

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If you are outside the corporate network and require a VPN connection to access remote desktops
and applications, verify that the client device is set up to use a VPN connection and turn on that
connection.

Verify that you have the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the server that provides access to the
remote desktop or application. Underscores (_) are not supported in server names. If the port is not
443, you also need the port number.

If you plan to use the RDP display protocol to connect to a remote desktop, verify that the
AllowDirectRDP agent group policy setting is enabled.

Procedure

Either open a terminal window and enter vmware-view or search the applications for VMware
Horizon Client, and double-click the icon.

If you are prompted for RSA SecurID credentials or RADIUS authentication credentials, enter the
user name and passcode and click OK.

If you are prompted for a user name and password, supply Active Directory credentials.
a

Type the user name and password of a user who is entitled to use at least one desktop or
application pool.
If the Domain drop-down menu is disabled, you must type the user name as domain\username
or username@domain.

(Optional) Select a domain value from the Domain drop-down menu.

Click OK.

If the desktop security indicator turns red and a warning message appears, respond to the prompt.
Usually, this warning means that Connection Server did not send a certificate thumbprint to the client.
The thumbprint is a hash of the certificate public key and is used as an abbreviation of the public key.

(Optional) To configure display settings for remote desktops, either right-click a desktop icon or select
a desktop icon and click the Settings (gear-shaped) icon next to the server name in the upper portion
of the window.
Option

Description

Display protocol

If the Horizon administrator has allowed it, you can use the Connect Via list to
select the display protocol. To use VMware Blast, Horizon Agent 7.0 or later must
be installed.

Display layout

Use the Display list to select a window size or to use multiple monitors.

(Optional) To mark the remote desktop or application as a favorite, right-click the desktop or
application icon and select Mark as Favorite from the context menu that appears.
A star icon appears in the upper-right corner of the desktop or application name. The next time you
log in, you can click the Show Favorites button to find this application or desktop quickly.

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Double-click a remote desktop or application to connect.
If you are connecting to a session-based remote desktop, which is hosted on a Microsoft RDS host,
and if the desktop is already set to use a different display protocol, you will not be able to connect
immediately. You will be prompted to either use the protocol that is currently set or have the system
log you off of the remote operating system so that a connection can be made with the protocol you
selected.

After you are connected, the client window appears.
If authentication to View Connection Server fails or if the client cannot connect to the remote desktop or
application, perform the following tasks:
n

Determine whether View Connection Server is configured not to use SSL. The client software
requires SSL connections. Check whether the global setting in View Administrator for the Use SSL
for client connections check box is deselected. If so, you must either select the check box, so that
SSL is used, or set up your environment so that clients can connect to an HTTPS enabled load
balancer or other intermediate device that is configured to make an HTTP connection to View
Connection Server.

Verify that the security certificate for View Connection Server is working properly. If it is not, in View
Administrator, you might also see that the View Agent on desktops is unreachable. These are
symptoms of additional connection problems caused by certificate problems.

Verify that the tags set on the View Connection Server instance allow connections from this user. See
the View Administration document.

Verify that the user is entitled to access this desktop or application. See the Setting Up Published
Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7 document.

If you are using the RDP display protocol to connect to a remote desktop, verify that the remote
operating system allows remote desktop connections.

Connect to Published Applications Using Unauthenticated
Access
You can connect to published applications using an unauthenticated access account with Horizon Client.
Before you have end users access their published applications using unauthenticated access, test that
you can connect to the published applications from a client device using an unauthenticated access user
account.
Prerequisites
n

Verify that Horizon 7 version 7.1 or later Connection Server is configured for unauthenticated access.

Verify that your unauthenticated access users are created in Horizon Administrator. If the default
unauthenticated user is the only unauthenticated access user, the Horizon Client connects to the
Connection Server with the default user.

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Procedure

Either open a terminal window and enter vmware-view or search the applications for VMware
Horizon Client, and double-click the icon.

In the Horizon Client home screen, select File > Log in anonymously using Unauthenticated
Access from the menu bar, if it is not already selected.

Connect to the Connection Server that is configured for unauthenticated access.
n

If the server that you need has not yet been added, double-click the + Add Server button if no
servers have yet been added or click the + New Server button in the menu bar to add a new one,
and enter the name of the Connection Server or a security server, and click Connect.

If the server that you need is displayed in the Horizon Client home screen, right-click the icon for
the server and select Connect from the context menu.

You might see a message that you must confirm before the login dialog box appears.
4

In the Server Login dialog box, specify the unauthenticated access account to use.
a

Select a user account from the drop-down list of existing unauthenticated access accounts.
The default user account has (default) displayed next to it.

(Optional) Click Always use this account if you want to bypass the Server Login dialog box the
next time you connect to the server.

Click OK.

The application selector window appears and displays the published applications that the
unauthenticated access account is authorized to use.
Note If you had selected the Always use this account option during a previous unauthenticated
access login session, you will not be prompted for the account to use for the current unauthenticated
access session. To deselect this option, right-click the icon for the server in the Horizon Client home
screen, and select Forget the saved Unauthenticated Access account from the context menu.
5

To start an application, double-click the application icons to launch it.
The application window appears.

Exit the application after you are done using it.
The Disconnect from Session dialog box appears asking if you want to disconnect from the server.

If the session timeout specified by your Horizon administrator is reached, the session is automatically
disconnected from the server.

Share Access to Local Folders and Drives with Client
Drive Redirection
You can use Horizon Client to share folders and drives on the local client system with remote desktops
and applications. This feature is called client drive redirection.

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Drives can include mapped drives and USB storage devices.
In a Windows remote desktop, shared folders and drives appear in the This PC folder or in the Computer
folder, depending on the Windows operating system version. In a published application, such as Notepad,
you can browse to and open a file in a shared folder or drive.
You do not need to be connected to a remote desktop or application to configure client drive redirection
settings. The settings apply to all remote desktops and applications. That is, you cannot configure the
settings so that local client folders are shared with one remote desktop or application, but not with other
remote desktops or applications.
The client drive redirection feature requires that the following library files be installed. On some thin client
machines, these library files might not be installed by default.
n

libsigc-2.0.so.0

libglibmm-2.4.so.1

Prerequisites

To share folders and drives with a remote desktop or application, a Horizon administrator must enable the
client drive redirection feature. This task includes installing View Agent 6.1.1 or later, or Horizon Agent 7.0
or later, and enabling the agent Client Drive Redirection option. It can also include setting policies or
registry settings to control client drive redirection behavior. For more information, see the Configuring
Remote Desktop Features in Horizon 7 document.
On Ubuntu 16.04 x64 distributions, the libglibmm-2.4.so.1.3.0 library included in the distribution is
incompatible with the current Client Drive Redirection (CDR) implementation. To work around this
limitation, copy the libglibmm-2.4.so.1.3.0 library file from an Ubuntu14.04 x64 distribution to your
Ubuntu 16.04 x64 distribution.
Configuring the browser on the client system to use a proxy server can cause poor client drive redirection
performance if the secure tunnel is enabled on the Connection Server instance. For the best client drive
redirection performance, configure the browser not to use a proxy server or automatically detect LAN
settings.
Procedure

Open the Settings dialog box with the Sharing panel displayed.
Option

Description

From the desktop and application
selection window

Right-click a desktop or application icon, select Settings, and click Sharing.
Alternatively, select Connection > Settings from the menu bar and click
Sharing.

From the Sharing dialog box when you
connect to a desktop or application

Click Allow to share, or Deny to not share, your home directory.

From within a desktop OS

Select Connection > Settings from the menu bar and click Sharing.

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Configure the client drive redirection settings.
Option

Action

Share a specific folder or drive with
remote desktops and applications

Click the Add button, browse to and select the folder or drive to share, and click
OK.
Note You cannot share a folder on a USB device if the device is already
connected to a remote desktop or application with the USB redirection feature.

Stop sharing a specific folder or drive

Select the folder or drive in the Folder list and click the Remove button.

Allow remote desktops and
applications access to files in your
home directory

Select the Share your home folder: home-directory check box.

Share USB storage devices with
remote desktops and applications

Select the Allow access to removable storage check box. The client drive
redirection feature automatically shares all USB storage devices inserted in your
client system and all FireWire and Thunderbolt-connected external drives. You do
not need to select a specific device to share.
Note USB storage devices already connected to a remote desktop or application
with the USB redirection feature are not shared.
If this check box is deselected, you can use the USB redirection feature to
connect USB storage devices to remote desktops and applications.

Do not show the Sharing dialog box
when you connect to a remote desktop
or application

Select the Do not show dialog when connecting to a desktop or application
check box.
If this check box is deselected, the Sharing dialog box appears the first time you
connect to a desktop or application after you connect to a server. For example, if
you log in to a server and connect to a desktop, you see the Sharing dialog box. If
you then connect to another desktop or application, you do not see the dialog box
again. To see the dialog box again, you must disconnect from the server and then
log in again.

What to do next

Verify that you can see the shared folders from within the remote desktop or application:
n

From within a Windows remote desktop, open File Explorer and look in the This PC folder, or open
Windows Explorer and look in the Computer folder, depending on the Windows operating system
version.

From within a published application, if applicable, select File > Open or File > Save As and navigate
to the folder or drive.

The folders and drives that you selected for sharing might use one or more of the following naming
conventions:
n

name on MACHINE-NAME. For example, jsmith on JSMITH-W03.

N on MACHINE-NAME. For example, Z on JSMITH-W03.

name (N:). For example, jsmith (Z:).

A redirected folder can have two entrances, such as Z on JSMITH-W03 and jsmith (Z:), and both
entrances can appear at the same time. If all the volume labels (from A: through Z:) are already in use,
the redirected folder has only one entrance, such as Z on JSMITH-W03.

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Share Folders by Editing a Configuration File
In addition to sharing folders through the Settings dialog box, you can also share folders by editing a
configuration file.
Procedure

Create a configuration file named config if it does not exist in any of the following locations:
n

$HOME/.vmware/

/usr/lib/vmware/

/etc/vmware/

Add the following line for each folder that you want to share:
tsdr.share=Folder Path

For example, to share folders / and /home/user1, create the file /etc/vmware/config and add the
following lines:
tsdr.share=/
tsdr.share=/home/user1

Folders that are shared in a configuration file are not listed in the Sharing pane of the Settings dialog. You
can edit the configuration file to stop sharing folders or share additional folders.

Setting the Certificate Checking Mode in Horizon Client
You can determine whether client connections are rejected if any or some server certificate checks fail by
configuring a setting in Horizon Client.
You can configure the default certificate verification mode and prevent end users from changing it in
Horizon Client. For more information, see Configuring Certificate Checking for End Users.
Certificate checking occurs for SSL connections between the server and Horizon Client. Certificate
verification includes the following checks:
n

Is the certificate intended for a purpose other than verifying the identity of the sender and encrypting
server communications? That is, is it the correct type of certificate?

Has the certificate expired, or is it valid only in the future? That is, is the certificate valid according to
the computer clock?

Does the common name on the certificate match the host name of the server that sends it? A
mismatch can occur if a load balancer redirects Horizon Client to a server that has a certificate that
does not match the host name entered in Horizon Client. Another reason a mismatch can occur is if
you enter an IP address rather than a host name in the client.

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Is the certificate signed by an unknown or untrusted certificate authority (CA)? Self-signed certificates
are one type of untrusted CA.
To pass this check, the certificate's chain of trust must be rooted in the device's local certificate store.

Note For information about distributing a self-signed root certificate that users can install on their Linux
client systems, see the Ubuntu documentation.
Horizon Client uses the PEM-formatted certificates stored in the /etc/ssl/certs directory on the client
system. For information about importing a root certificate stored in this location, see "Importing a
Certificate into the System-Wide Certificate Authority Database" in the document at
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/OpenSSL.
In addition to presenting a server certificate, the server also sends a certificate thumbprint to
Horizon Client. The thumbprint is a hash of the certificate public key and is used as an abbreviation of the
public key. If the server does not send a thumbprint, you see a warning that the connection is untrusted.
If your Horizon administrator has allowed it, you can set the certificate checking mode. To set the
certificate checking mode, start Horizon Client and select File > Preferences from the menu bar. You
have three choices:
n

Never connect to untrusted servers. If any of the certificate checks fails, the client cannot connect
to the server. An error message lists the checks that failed.

Warn before connecting to untrusted servers. If a certificate check fails because the server uses a
self-signed certificate, you can click Continue to ignore the warning. For self-signed certificates, the
certificate name is not required to match the server name you entered in Horizon Client.

Do not verify server identity certificates. This setting means that no certificate checking occurs.

Switch Remote Desktops or Published Applications
If you are connected to a remote desktop, you can switch to another desktop. You can also connect to
published applications while you are connected to a remote desktop.

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Procedure
u

Select a remote desktop or application from the same server or a different server.
Option

Action

Choose a different desktop or
application on the same server

Perform one of the following actions:

Choose a different desktop or
application on a different server

If you are logged in to a remote desktop and you want to switch to another
remote desktop or application that is already running on your client, select the
desktop or application from the View menu.

If you are logged in to a remote desktop or application and you want to switch
to another desktop or application that is not running, select File > Return to
Desktop and Applications List from the menu bar and then launch the
desktop or application from the selector window.

From the desktop and application selector window, double-click the icon for
the other desktop or application. That desktop or application opens in a new
window so that you have multiple windows open, and you can switch between
them.

Perform either of the following actions:
n

If you want to keep the current desktop or application open and also connect
to a remote desktop or application on another server, start a new instance of
Horizon Client and connect to the other desktop or application.

If you want to close the current desktop and connect to a desktop on another
server, go to the desktop selector window, click the Disconnect icon in the
upper-left corner of the window, and confirm that you want to log off of the
server. You will be disconnected from the current server and any open
desktop or application sessions. You can then connect to a different server.

Log Off or Disconnect
With some configurations, if you disconnect from a remote desktop without logging off, applications in the
desktop can remain open. You can also disconnect from a server and leave published applications
running.
Even if you do not have a remote desktop open, you can log off of the remote desktop operating system.
Using this feature has the same result as sending Ctrl+Alt+Del to the desktop and then clicking Log Off.

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Procedure
n

Disconnect without logging off.
Option

Action

Also quit Horizon Client

Click the Close button in the corner of the window or select File > Quit from the
menu bar.

Choose a different remote desktop on
the same server

Select Desktop > Disconnect from the menu bar.

Choose a remote desktop on a
different server

Select File > Disconnect from server from the menu bar.

Note A Horizon administrator can configure remote desktops to automatically log off when they are
disconnected. In that case, any open programs in the remote desktop are stopped.
n

Log off and disconnect from a remote desktop.
Option

Action

From within the desktop OS

Use the Windows Start menu to log off.

From the menu bar

Select Desktop > Disconnect and Log off.
If you use this procedure, files that are open on the remote desktop will be closed
without being saved first.

Log off when you do not have a remote desktop open.
a

From the Home screen with desktop shortcuts, select the desktop and select Desktop > Log off
from the menu bar.

If prompted, supply credentials for accessing the remote desktop.

If you use this procedure, files that are open on the remote desktop will be closed without being
saved first.

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Using a Microsoft Windows
Desktop or Application on a
Linux System

Horizon Client for Linux supports many features.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n

Feature Support Matrix for Linux

Internationalization

Keyboards and Monitors

Connect USB Devices

Using the Real-Time Audio-Video Feature for Webcams and Microphones

Using the Session Collaboration Feature

Using the Seamless Window Feature

Saving Documents in a Published Application

Set Printing Preferences for a Virtual Printer Feature on a Remote Desktop

Copying and Pasting Text

Feature Support Matrix for Linux
Some features are supported on one type of Horizon Client but not on another.
When planning which display protocol and features to make available to your end users, use the following
information to determine which client operating systems support the feature.
Table 4‑1. Remote Desktop Features Supported Linux Clients

Feature

Windows XP
Desktop (View
Agent 6.0.2 and
earlier)

Windows Vista
Desktop (View
Agent 6.0.2 and
earlier)

Windows 7
Desktop

Windows 8.x
Desktop

Windows 10
Desktop

Windows
Server
2008/2012 R2
or Windows
Server 2016
Desktop

USB redirection

Limited

Real-Time AudioVideo (RTAV)

Limited

Scanner redirection

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Table 4‑1. Remote Desktop Features Supported Linux Clients (Continued)

Windows XP
Desktop (View
Agent 6.0.2 and
earlier)

Windows Vista
Desktop (View
Agent 6.0.2 and
earlier)

Windows 7
Desktop

Windows 8.x
Desktop

Windows 10
Desktop

Windows
Server
2008/2012 R2
or Windows
Server 2016
Desktop

RDP display
protocol

Limited

PCoIP display
protocol

Limited

Feature
Serial port
redirection

VMware Blast
display protocol
Persona
Management
Wyse MMR

Partner client
systems only,
and only with
RDP

Windows Media
MMR
Location-based
printing

Limited

Virtual printing

Limited

Smart cards

Limited

RSA SecurID or
RADIUS

Limited

Single sign-on

Limited

Multiple monitors

Limited

Client Drive
Redirection

Windows 10 desktops require View Agent 6.2 or later. Windows Server 2012 R2 desktops require View
Agent 6.1 or later. Windows Server 2016 desktops require Horizon Agent 7.0.2 or later.
VMware Blast requires Horizon Agent 7.0 or later.
Important View Agent 6.1 and later releases do not support Windows XP and Windows Vista desktops.
View Agent 6.0.2 is the last View release that supports these guest operating systems. Customers who
have an extended support agreement with Microsoft for Windows XP and Vista, and an extended support
agreement with VMware for these guest operating systems, can deploy the View Agent 6.0.2 version of
their Windows XP and Vista desktops with View Connection Server 6.1.

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Feature Support for Published Desktops on RDS Hosts
RDS hosts are server computers that have Windows Remote Desktop Services and View Agent or
Horizon Agent installed. Multiple users can have desktop sessions on an RDS host simultaneously. An
RDS host can be either a physical machine or a virtual machine.
Note The following table contains rows only for the features that are supported. Where the text specifies
a minimum version of View Agent, the text "and later" is meant to include Horizon Agent 7.0.x and later.
Table 4‑2. Features Supported for RDS Hosts with View Agent 6.0.x or Later, or
Horizon Agent 7.0.x or Later, Installed
Feature

Windows Server 2008 R2
RDS Host

Windows Server 2012
RDS Host

Windows Server 2016 RDS
Host

RSA SecurID or RADIUS

Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later

Smart card

View Agent 6.1 and later

Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later

Single sign-on

Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later

RDP display protocol

Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later

PCoIP display protocol

Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later

VMware Blast display protocol

Horizon Agent 7.0 and later

Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later

HTML Access

View Agent 6.0.2 and later
(virtual machine only)

Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later

Windows Media MMR

View Agent 6.1.1 and later

Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later

Client drive redirection

View Agent 6.1.1 and later

Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later

Virtual printing

View Agent 6.0.1 and later
(virtual machine only)

Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later
(virtual machine only)

Location-based printing

View Agent 6.0.1 and later
(virtual machine only)

Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later
(virtual machine only)

Multiple monitors

Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later

Unity Touch

Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later

Real-Time Audio-Video (RTAV)

Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later

Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and
later

Horizon Agent 7.0.3 and later

For information about which editions of each guest operating system are supported, see the View
Installation document.

Limitations for Specific Features
Features that are supported on Windows desktops with Horizon Client for Linux have the following
restrictions.

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Table 4‑3. Requirements for Specific Features
Feature

Requirements

Real-Time Audio-Video

For client software from third-party vendors, this feature requires View 5.2 with Feature Pack
2 or later.

For Horizon Client from VMware, this feature requires View Agent 6.0.2 or later.

Requires the VMware Blast or PCoIP display protocol.
Virtual printing and locationbased printing for Windows
Server 2008 R2 desktops, RDS
desktops (on virtual machine
RDS hosts), and remote
applications

For client software from third-party vendors, this feature requires Horizon 6.0.1 with View or
later.

For Horizon Client from VMware, this feature requires View Agent 6.0.2 or later.

USB redirection

For client software from third-party vendors, this feature requires View 5.1 or later.

For Horizon Client from VMware, this feature requires View Agent 6.0.2 or later.

Requires the VMware Blast or PCoIP display protocol.

Requires the VMware Blast or PCoIP display protocol.
Smart cards

For single-user virtual machine desktops, this feature requires View Agent 6.0.2 or later.
For session-based desktops provided by RDS hosts, this feature requires View Agent 6.1 or
later.

Client drive redirection

View Agent 6.1.1 or later.

Note You can also use Horizon Client to securely access remote Windows-based applications, in
addition to remote desktops. Selecting an application in Horizon Client opens a window for that
application on the local client device, and the application looks and behaves as if it were locally installed.
You can use remote applications only if you are connected to Connection Server 6.0 or later. For
information about which operating systems are supported for the RDS host, which provides published
applications and published desktops, see the View Installation document.
Note The features that are available for each thin client device are determined by the vendor and model
and the configuration that an enterprise chooses to use. For information about the vendors and models
for thin client devices, see the VMware Compatibility Guide at
http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=vdm.
For descriptions of these features and their limitations, see the View Planning document.

Feature Support for Linux Desktops
Some Linux guest operating systems are supported if you have View Agent 6.1.1 or later. For a list of the
latest supported Linux operating systems and information about supported features, see the Setting Up
Horizon 7 for Linux Desktops document.

Internationalization
The user interface and documentation are available in English, Japanese, French, German, Simplified
Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, and Spanish.

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If you are using a Ubuntu 10.4 Linux client system and you want to display the client user interface in a
language other than English, you must set the client system to use a locale that uses UTF-8 encoding.

Keyboards and Monitors
You can use multiple monitors and all types of keyboards with a remote desktop. Certain settings ensure
the best possible user experience.

Best Practices for Using Multiple Monitors
Following are recommendations for successfully using multiple monitors with a remote desktop:
n

Define the primary monitor as the bottom-left-most monitor.

Enable Xinerama. If you do not enable Xinerama, the primary display might be identified incorrectly.

The menu bar will appear on the top-left-most monitor. For example, if you have two monitors side by
side and the top of the left monitor is lower than the top of the right monitor, the menu bar will appear
on the right monitor because the right monitor is still the top-left-most monitor.

You can use up to 4 monitors if you have enough video RAM.
To use more than 2 monitors to display your remote desktop on a Ubuntu client system, you must
configure the kernel.shmmax setting correctly. Use the following formula:
max horizontal resolution X max vertical resolution X max number of monitors X 4
For example, manually setting kernel.shmmax to 65536000 allows you to use four monitors with a
screen resolution of 2560x1600.

Horizon Client uses the monitor configuration that is in use when Horizon Client starts. If you change
a monitor from landscape to portrait mode or if you plug an additional monitor in to the client system
while Horizon Client is running, you must restart Horizon Client in order to use the new monitor
configuration.

Horizon Client supports the following monitor configurations:
n

If you use 2 monitors, the monitors are not required to be in the same mode. For example, if you are
using a laptop connected to an external monitor, the external monitor can be in portrait mode or
landscape mode.

If you have a version of Horizon Client that is earlier than 4.0, and you use more than 2 monitors, the
monitors must be in the same mode and have the same screen resolution. That is, if you use 3
monitors, all 3 monitors must be in either portrait mode or landscape mode and must use the same
screen resolution.

Monitors can be placed side by side, stacked 2 by 2, or vertically stacked only if you are using 2
monitors.

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If you specify that you want to use all monitors, and if you are using the VMware Blast or PCoIP
display protocol, you can specify a subset of adjacent monitors to use by right-clicking the desktop in
the desktop selector window, selecting Full Screen - All Monitors from the Display drop-down list,
and clicking to select the monitors you want to use.
Note If you have a Ubuntu client system, you must select the top-left-most monitor as one of the
monitors. For example, if you have 4 monitors stacked 2 X 2, you must select either the 2 monitors on
top or the 2 left-most monitors.

Screen Resolution
Consider the following guidelines when setting screen resolutions:
n

If you open a remote desktop on a secondary monitor and then change the screen resolution on that
monitor, the remote desktop moves to the primary monitor.

With PCoIP, if you use 2 monitors, you can adjust the resolution for each monitor separately, with a
resolution of up to 2560 x 1600 per display. If you use more than 2 monitors, the monitors must use
the same screen resolution.

With the VMware Blast display protocol or the PCoIP display protocol, a remote desktop screen
resolution of 4K (3840 x 2160) is supported. The number of 4K displays that are supported depends
on the hardware version of the desktop virtual machine and the Windows version.

Hardware Version

Windows Version

Number of 4K Displays
Supported

10 (ESXi 5.5.x compatible)

7, 8, 8.x, 10

11 (ESXi 6.0 compatible)

7 (3D rendering feature disabled and Windows Aero
disabled)

7 (3D rendering feature enabled)

8, 8.x, 10

The remote desktop must have View Agent 6.2 or later, or Horizon Agent 7.0 or later, installed. For
best performance, the virtual machine should have at least 2 GB of RAM and 2 vCPUs. This feature
might require good network conditions, such as a bandwidth of 1000 Mbps with low network latency
and a low package loss rate.
Note When the remote desktop screen resolution is set to 3840 x 2160 (4K), items on the screen
might appear smaller, and you might not be able to use the Screen Resolution dialog box in the
remote desktop to make text and other items larger.
n

With RDP, if you have multiple monitors, you cannot adjust the resolution for each monitor separately.

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Keyboard Limitations
For the most part, keyboards work as well with a remote desktop as they do with a physical computer.
Following is a list of the limitations you might encounter, depending on the type of peripherals and
software on your client system:
n

If you use the PCoIP display protocol and want the remote desktop to detect which keyboard map
your client system uses, such as, for example, a Japanese keyboard or a German keyboard, you
must set a GPO in the View agent. Use the Turn on PCOIP user default input language
synchronization policy, available as part of the View PCoIP Session Variables ADM template file.
For more information, see the Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon 7 document.

Some multimedia keys on a multimedia keyboard might not work. For example, the Music key and My
Computer key might not work.

If you connect to a desktop using RDP and if you have the Fluxbox window manager, if a screen
saver is running in the remote desktop, after a period of inactivity, the keyboard might stop working.
Regardless of which window manager you use, VMware recommends turning off the screen saver in
a remote desktop and not specifying a sleep timer.

Connect USB Devices
You can access locally attached USB devices, such as thumb flash drives, cameras, and printers, from a
remote desktop. This feature is called USB redirection.
With this feature, most USB devices that are attached to the local client system are available from a menu
in Horizon Client. You can use the menu to connect and disconnect the devices.
Using USB devices with remote desktops has the following limitations:
n

When you access a USB device from a menu in Horizon Client and use the device in a remote
desktop, you cannot access the device on the local computer.

USB devices that do not appear in the menu, but are available in a remote desktop, include human
interface devices such as keyboards and pointing devices. The remote desktop and the local
computer use these devices at the same time. Interaction with these devices can sometimes be slow
because of network latency.

Large USB disk drives can take several minutes to appear in the desktop.

Some USB devices require specific drivers. If a required driver is not already installed on a remote
desktop, you might be prompted to install it when you connect the USB device to the remote desktop.

If you plan to attach USB devices that use MTP drivers, such as Android-based Samsung smart
phones and tablets, you must set Horizon Client to automatically connect USB devices to your remote
desktop. Otherwise, if you try to manually redirect the USB device by using a menu item, the device
will not be redirected unless you unplug the device and then plug it in again.

Webcams are not supported for USB redirection using the Connect USB Device menu. See Using
the Real-Time Audio-Video Feature for Webcams and Microphones.

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The redirection of USB audio devices depends on the state of the network and is not reliable. Some
devices require a high data throughput even when they are idle. Audio input and output devices work
well with the Real-Time Audio-Video feature. You do not need to use USB redirection for those
devices.

You cannot format a redirected USB drive in a published desktop on an RDS host unless you connect
to the remote desktop as an administrator user.

You can connect USB devices to a remote desktop either manually or automatically.
Note Do not redirect USB devices such as USB Ethernet devices and touch screen devices to the
remote desktop. If you redirect a USB Ethernet device, your client system will lose network connectivity. If
you redirect a touch screen device, the remote desktop will receive touch input but not keyboard input. If
you have set your virtual desktop to autoconnect USB devices, you can configure a policy to exclude
specific devices. See "Configuring Filter Policy Settings for USB Devices" in the Configuring Remote
Desktop Features in Horizon 7 document.
Important This procedure describes how to use the Horizon Client menu to connect USB devices and to
configure connecting USB devices automatically. You can also configure USB redirection by using a
configuration file or by creating a group policy. For more information about using a configuration file, see
System Requirements for USB Redirection. For more information about creating group policies, see the
Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View document.
Prerequisites
n

To use USB devices with a remote desktop, the View administrator must have enabled the USB
feature for the remote desktop.
This task includes installing the USB Redirection component of the agent, and can include setting
policies regarding USB redirection. For more information, see the Configuring Remote Desktop
Features in Horizon 7 document.

When Horizon Client was installed, the USB Redirection component must have been installed. If you
did not include this component in the installation, uninstall the client and run the installer again to
include the USB Redirection component.

Procedure
n

Manually connect a USB device to a remote desktop.
a

Connect the USB device to your local client system.

From the Horizon Client menu bar, click Connect USB Device.

Select the USB device.

The device is manually redirected from the local system to the remote desktop.

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Connect the USB device to a remote hosted application.
a

In the desktop and application selector window, open the remote application.
The name of the application is the name that your administrator has configured for the
application.

In the desktop and application selector window, right-click the application icon and select
Settings.

In the left pane, select USB Devices.

In the right pane, select the USB device and click Connect.

Select the application, and click OK.
Note The name of the application in the list comes from the application itself and might not
match the application name that your administrator configured to appear in the desktop and
application selector window.
You can now use the USB device with the remote application. After you close the application, the
USB device is not released right away.

When you are finished using the application, to release the USB device so that you can access it
from your local system, in the desktop and application selector window, open the Settings window
again, select USB Devices, and select Disconnect.

Configure Horizon Client to connect USB devices automatically to the remote desktop when
Horizon Client starts.
This option is selected by default.
a

Before you plug in the USB device, start Horizon Client and connect to a remote desktop.

From the Horizon Client menu bar, click Connect USB Device.

Select Automatically Connect at Startup.

Plug in the USB device and restart Horizon Client.

USB devices that you connect to your local system after you start Horizon Client are redirected to the
remote desktop. USB devices that you connect to your local system after you start Horizon Client are
redirected to the remote desktop.
n

Configure Horizon Client to connect USB devices automatically to the remote desktop when you plug
them in to the local system.
Enable this option if you plan to connect devices that use MTP drivers, such as Android-based
Samsung smart phones and tablets. This option is selected by default.
a

Before you plug in the USB device, start Horizon Client and connect to a remote desktop.

From the Horizon Client menu bar, click Connect USB Device.

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Select Automatically Connect when Inserted.

Plug in the USB device.

USB devices that you connect to your local system after you start Horizon Client are redirected to the
remote desktop.
You can also configure automatically connecting USB devices using the configuration file options
view.usbAutoConnectAtStartup and view.usbAutoConnectOnInsert For more information, see
Horizon Client Configuration Settings and Command-Line Options..
If the USB device does not appear in the desktop after several minutes, disconnect and reconnect the
device to the client computer.
What to do next

If you have problems with USB redirection, see the topic about troubleshooting USB redirection problems
in the Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon 7 document.

Using the Real-Time Audio-Video Feature for Webcams
and Microphones
With the Real-Time Audio-Video feature, you can use the local client system's webcam or microphone on
a remote desktop. Real-Time Audio-Video is compatible with standard conferencing applications and
browser-based video applications, and supports standard webcams, audio USB devices, and analog
audio input.
For information about setting up the Real-Time Audio-Video feature and configuring the frame rate and
image resolution in a remote desktop, see the Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon 7
document. For information about configuring these settings on client systems, see the VMware
knowledge base article Setting Frame Rates and Resolution for Real-Time Audio-Video on Horizon View
Clients, at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2053644.
To download a test application that verifies the correct installation and operation of the Real-Time AudioVideo functionality, go to http://labs.vmware.com/flings/real-time-audio-video-test-application. This test
application is available as a VMware fling, and therefore no technical support is available for it.
Note This feature is available only with the version of Horizon Client for Linux provided by third-party
vendors or with the Horizon Client software available from the VMware Product Downloads Web site.

When You Can Use a Webcam
If a Horizon administrator has configured the Real-Time Audio-Video feature, and if you use the VMware
Blast display protocol or the PCoIP display protocol, a webcam that is built-in or connected to the local
client computer can be used on a remote desktop. You can use the webcam in conferencing applications
such as Skype, Webex, or Google Hangouts.

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During the setup of an application such as Skype, Webex, or Google Hangouts on the remote desktop,
you can choose input and output devices from menus in the application. For virtual machine desktops,
you can choose VMware Virtual Microphone and VMware Virtual Webcam. For published desktops, you
can choose Remote Audio Device and VMware Virtual Webcam.
With many applications, however, this feature will just work, and selecting an input device is not
necessary.
If the webcam is currently being used by the local client computer it cannot be used by the remote
desktop simultaneously. Also, if the webcam is being used by the remote desktop it cannot be used by the
local client computer at the same time.
Important If end users are using USB webcams, do not configure the client to automatically forward
devices through USB redirection. If the webcam connects through USB redirection, the performance will
be unusable for video chat.
If more than one webcam is connected to the local client computer, you can configure a preferred
webcam to use on remote desktops.

Select a Default Microphone on a Linux Client System
If you have multiple microphones on your client system, only one of them is used on your Horizon 7
desktop. To specify which microphone is the default, you can use the Sound control on your client
system.
With the Real-Time Audio-Video feature, audio input devices and audio output devices work without
requiring the use of USB redirection, and the amount of network bandwidth required is greatly reduced.
Analog audio input devices are also supported.
This procedure describes choosing a default microphone from the user interface of the client system.
Administrators can also configure a preferred microphone by editing a configuration file. See Select a
Preferred Webcam or Microphone on a Linux Client System.
Prerequisites
n

Verify that you have a USB microphone or another type of microphone installed and operational on
your client system.

Verify that you are using the VMware Blast display protocol or the PCoIP display protocol for your
remote desktop.

Procedure

In the Ubuntu graphical user interface, select System > Preferences > Sound.
You can alternatively click the Sound icon on the right side of the toolbar at the top of the screen.

Click the Input tab in the Sound Preferences dialog box.

Select the preferred device and click Close.

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Select a Preferred Webcam or Microphone on a Linux Client
System
With the Real-Time Audio-Video feature, if you have multiple webcams and microphones on your client
system, only one webcam and one microphone can be used on your Horizon 7 desktop. To specify which
webcam and microphone are preferred, you can edit a configuration file.
The preferred webcam or microphone is used on the remote desktop if it is available, and if not, another
webcam or microphone is used.
With the Real-Time Audio-Video feature, webcams, audio input devices, and audio output devices work
without requiring the use of USB redirection, and the amount network bandwidth required is greatly
reduced. Analog audio input devices are also supported.
To set the properties in the /etc/vmware/config file and specify a preferred device, you must determine
the values of certain fields. You can search the log file for the values of these fields.
n

For webcams, you set the rtav.srcWCamId property to the value of the UserId field for the webcam
and the rtav.srcWCamName property to the value of the Name field for the webcam.
The rtav.srcWCamName property has a higher priority than the rtav.srcWCamId property. Both
properties should specify the same webcam. If the properties specify different webcams, the webcam
specified by rtav.srcWCamName is used, if it exists. If it does not exist, the webcam specified by
rtav.srcWCamId is used. If both webcams are not found, the default webcam is used.

For audio devices, you set the rtav.srcAudioInId property to the value of the Pulse Audio
device.description field.

Prerequisites

Depending on whether you are configuring a preferred webcam, preferred microphone, or both, perform
the appropriate prerequisite tasks:
n

Verify that you have a USB webcam installed and operational on your client system.

Verify that you have a USB microphone or another type of microphone installed and operational on
your client system.

Verify that you are using the VMware Blast display protocol or the PCoIP display protocol for your
remote desktop.

Procedure

Launch the client, and start a webcam or microphone application to trigger an enumeration of camera
devices or audio devices to the client log.
a

Attach the webcam or audio device you want to use.

Use the command vmware-view to start Horizon Client.

Start a call and then stop the call.
This process creates a log file.

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Find log entries for the webcam or microphone.
a

Open the debug log file with a text editor.
The log file with real-time audio-video log messages is located at /tmp/vmware/vmware-RTAV-.log. The client log is located at /tmp/vmware/vmware-view-.log.

Search the log file to find the log file entries that reference the attached webcams and
microphones.
The following example shows an extract of the webcam selection:
main| I120: RTAV: static void VideoInputBase::LogDevEnum() - 3 Device(s) found
main| I120: RTAV: static void VideoInputBase::LogDevEnum() - Name=UVC Camera (046d:0819)
UserId=UVC Camera (046d:0819)#/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.7/usb1/1-3/1-3.4/1-3.4.5
SystemId=/dev/video1
main| I120: RTAV: static void VideoInputBase::LogDevEnum() - Name=gspca main driver
UserId=gspca main driver#/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.7/usb1/1-3/1-3.4/1-3.4.7
SystemId=/dev/video2
main| I120: RTAV: static void VideoInputBase::LogDevEnum() ®
®
Name=Microsoft LifeCam HD-6000 for Notebooks
UserId=Microsoft LifeCam HD-6000 for
Notebooks#/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.7/usb1/1-3/1-3.6
SystemId=/dev/video0
main| W110: RTAV: static bool AudioCaptureLin::EnumCaptureDevices(MMDev::DeviceList&) enumeration data unavailable

The following example shows an extract of the audio device selection, and the current audio level
for each:
vthread-18| I120: RTAV: bool AudioCaptureLin::TriggerEnumDevices() - Triggering enumeration
vthread-18| I120: RTAV: static void AudioCaptureLin::PulseAudioGetSourceCB(pa_context*, const
pa_source_info*, int, void*) - PulseAudio Get Source (idx=1 'alsa_output.usbLogitech_Logitech_USB_Headset-00-Headset.analog-stereo.monitor' 'Monitor of Logitech USB
Headset Analog Stereo')
vthread-18| I120: RTAV: static
pa_source_info*, int, void*) vthread-18| I120: RTAV: static
pa_source_info*, int, void*) vthread-18| I120: RTAV: static
pa_source_info*, int, void*) -

void AudioCaptureLin::PulseAudioGetSourceCB(pa_context*, const
channel:0 vol:65536
void AudioCaptureLin::PulseAudioGetSourceCB(pa_context*, const
channel:1 vol:65536
void AudioCaptureLin::PulseAudioGetSourceCB(pa_context*, const
PulseAudio Get Source (idx=2 'alsa_input.usb-

Logitech_Logitech_USB_Headset-00-Headset.analog-mono' 'Logitech USB Headset Analog Mono')
vthread-18| I120: RTAV: static void AudioCaptureLin::PulseAudioGetSourceCB(pa_context*, const
pa_source_info*, int, void*) - channel:0 vol:98304
vthread-18| I120: RTAV: static void AudioCaptureLin::PulseAudioGetSourceCB(pa_context*, const
pa_source_info*, int, void*) - PulseAudio Get Source (idx=3 'alsa_output.usbMicrosoft_Microsoft_LifeChat_LX-6000-00-LX6000.analog-stereo.monitor' 'Monitor of Microsoft
LifeChat LX-6000 Analog Stereo')
vthread-18| I120: RTAV: static void AudioCaptureLin::PulseAudioGetSourceCB(pa_context*, const
pa_source_info*, int, void*) - channel:0 vol:65536

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Warnings are shown if any of the source audio levels for the selected device do not meet the
PulseAudio criteria if the source is not set to 100% (0dB), or if the selected source device is
muted, as follows:
vthread-18| I120: RTAV: static
pa_source_info*, int, void*) vthread-18| I120: RTAV: static
pa_source_info*, int, void*) -

void AudioCaptureLin::PulseAudioSourceInfoCB(pa_context*, const
Note, selected device channel volume: 0: 67%
void AudioCaptureLin::PulseAudioSourceInfoCB(pa_context*, const
Note, selected device channel is muted

Copy the description of the device and use it to set the appropriate property in
the /etc/vmware/config file.
®

For a webcam example, copy Microsoft LifeCam HD-6000 for Notebooks and Microsoft
LifeCam HD-6000 for Notebooks#/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.7/usb1/1-3/1-3.6
to specify the Microsoft webcam as the preferred webcam and set the properties as follows:
®

rtav.srcWCamName = “Microsoft LifeCam HD-6000 for Notebooks”
®
rtav.srcWCamId = “Microsoft LifeCam HD-6000 for Notebooks#/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.
7/usb1/1-3/1-3.6”

For this example, you could also set the rtav.srcWCamId property to "Microsoft". The
rtav.srcWCamId property supports both partial and exact matches. The rtav.srcWCamName
property supports only an exact match.
For an audio device example, copy Logitech USB Headset Analog Mono to specify the Logitech
headset as the preferred audio device and set the property as follows:
rtav.srcAudioInId="Logitech USB Headset Analog Mono"

Save your changes and close the /etc/vmware/config configuration file.

Log off of the desktop session and start a new session.

Using the Session Collaboration Feature
You can use the Session Collaboration feature to invite other users to join an existing remote desktop
session.

Invite a User to Join a Remote Desktop Session
When the Session Collaboration feature is enabled for a remote desktop, you can invite other users to
join an existing remote desktop session.
By default, you can send Session Collaboration invitations by email, in an instant message (IM), or by
copying a link to the clipboard and forwarding the link to users. To use the email invitation method, an
email application must be installed. To use the IM invitation method, Skype for Business must be installed
and configured. You can invite only users that belong to a domain that the server allows for
authentication. You can invite up to five users by default.

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The Session Collaboration feature has the following limitations.
n

If you have multiple monitors, only the primary monitor is shown to session collaborators.

The Session Collaboration feature does not support PCoIP or RDP sessions. You must select the
VMware Blast display protocol when you create a remote desktop session.

H.264 hardware encoding is not supported. If the session owner is using hardware encoding and a
collaborator joins the session, both fall back to software encoding.

Anonymous collaboration is not supported. Session collaborators must be identifiable through
Horizon-supported authentication mechanisms.

Session collaborators must have Horizon Client 4.7 for Windows, Mac, or Linux installed, or they
must use HTML Access 4.7. If a session collaborator has an unsupported version of Horizon Client,
an error message appears when the user clicks a collaboration link.

You cannot use the Session Collaboration feature to share Linux remote desktop sessions or
published application sessions.

Prerequisites

To invite users to join a remote desktop session, a Horizon administrator must enable the Session
Collaboration feature.
This task includes enabling the Session Collaboration feature at the desktop pool or farm level. It can also
include using group policies to configure Session Collaboration features, such as the available invitation
methods. For complete requirements, see Requirements for the Session Collaboration Feature.
For information about enabling the Session Collaboration feature for desktop pools, see the Setting Up
Virtual Desktops in Horizon 7 document. For information about enabling the Session Collaboration feature
for a farm, see the Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7 document. For
information about using group policy settings to configure the Session Collaboration feature, see the
Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon 7 document.
Procedure

Connect to a remote desktop for which the session collaboration feature is enabled.
You must use the VMware Blast display protocol.

In the system tray in the remote desktop, click the VMware Horizon Collaboration icon, for example,
.
The collaboration icon looks different depending on the Windows operating system version.

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When the VMware Horizon Collaboration dialog box opens, enter the user name (for example,
testuser or domain\testuser) or the email address of the user that you want to join the remote
desktop session.
The first time you enter the user name or email address of a particular user, you must click Look up
"user", enter a comma (,), or press the Enter key to validate the user. The session collaboration
feature remembers the user the next time you enter the user's user name or email address.
You can invite up to five users by default. A Horizon administrator can change the maximum number
of users that you can invite.

Select an invitation method.
The following invitation methods are available by default. A Horizon administrator can disable the
email and IM invitation methods.
Option

Action

Copies the collaboration invitation to the clipboard and opens a new email
message in the default email application. An email application must be installed to
use this invitation method.

Copies the collaboration invitation to the clipboard and opens a new window in
Skype for Business. Press Ctrl+V to paste the link into the Skype for Business
window. Skype for Business must be installed and configured to use this invitation
method.

Copy Link

Copies the collaboration invitation to the clipboard. You must manually open
another application, such as Notepad, and press Ctrl+V to paste the invitation.

After you send an invitation, the VMware Horizon Collaboration icon also appears on the desktop and the
session collaboration user interface turns into a dashboard that shows the current state of the
collaboration session and enables you to take certain actions.
When a session collaborator accepts your invitation and joins the session, the session collaboration
feature notifies you and a red dot appears on the VMware Horizon Collaboration icon in the system tray.
What to do next

Manage the collaborative session in the VMware Horizon Collaboration dialog box. See Manage a
Collaborative Session.

Manage a Collaborative Session
After you send a session collaboration invitation, the Session Collaboration user interface turns into a
dashboard that shows the current state of the collaborative session and enables you to take certain
actions.
Prerequisites

Start a collaborative session. See Invite a User to Join a Remote Desktop Session.

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Procedure

In the remote desktop, click the VMware Horizon Collaboration icon in the system tray, or double-click
the VMware Horizon Collaboration icon on the desktop.
The names of all session collaborators appear in the Name column and their status appears in the
Status column.

Use the VMware Horizon Session Collaboration dashboard to manage the collaboration session.
Option

Action

Revoke an invitation or remove a
collaborator

Click Remove in the Status column.

Hand off control to a session
collaborator

After the session collaborator joins the session, toggle the switch in the Control
column to On.
To resume control of the session, double-click or press any key. The session
collaborator can also give back control by toggling the switch in the Control
column to Off, or by clicking the Give Back Control button.

Add a collaborator

Click Add Collaborators.

End the collaborative session

Click End Collaboration. All active collaborators are disconnected.
You can also end the collaborative session by clicking the VMware Horizon
Session Collaboration icon on the desktop and clicking the Stop button.

Join a Collaborative Session
To join a collaborative session, you can click the link in a collaboration invitation. The link might be in an
email or instant message, or in a document that the session owner forwards to you. Alternatively, you can
log in to the server and double-click the icon for the collaborative session in the remote desktop and
application selector window.
This procedure describes how to join a collaborative session from a collaboration invitation.
Note In a Cloud Pod Architecture environment, you cannot join a collaborative session by logging in to
the server unless you log in to the session owner's pod.
You cannot use the following remote desktop features in a collaborative session.
n

USB redirection

Real-Time Audio-Video (RTAV)

Multimedia redirection

Client drive redirection

Smart card redirection

Virtual printing

Clipboard redirection

You cannot change the remote desktop resolution in a collaborative session.

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Prerequisites

To join a collaborative session, you must have Horizon Client 4.7 for Windows, Mac, or Linux installed on
the client system, or you must use HTML Access 4.7 or later.
Procedure

Click the link in the collaboration invitation.
Horizon Client opens on the client system.

Enter your credentials to log in to Horizon Client.
After you are successfully authenticated, the collaborative session begins and you can see the
session owner's remote desktop. If the session owner transfers mouse and keyboard control to you,
you can use the remote desktop.

To return mouse and keyboard control to the session owner, click the VMware Horizon Session
Collaboration icon in the system tray and toggle the switch in the Control column to Off, or click the
Give Back Control button.

To leave the collaborative session, click Options > Disconnect.

Using the Seamless Window Feature
With the Seamless Window feature, you can interact with an application that is running on a remote
desktop as if it was a locally running application.
This feature is available only on Ubuntu 14.04 and Ubuntu 16.04 systems.
The component files are installed in /usr/lib/vmware/view/bin/.
After you install the client, you must manually configure this feature by setting the following environment
variable before starting a Horizon Client session.
export ENABLE_SEAMLESS_WINDOW=1

Saving Documents in a Published Application
With certain published applications, such as Microsoft Word or WordPad, you can create and save
documents. Where these documents are saved depends on your company's network environment. For
example, your documents might be saved to a home share mounted on your local computer.
A Horizon administrator can use the RDS Profiles group policy setting called Set Remote Desktop
Services User Home Directory to specify where documents are saved. For more information, see the
Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon 7 document.

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Set Printing Preferences for a Virtual Printer Feature on a
Remote Desktop
With the virtual printing feature, you can use local or network printers from a remote desktop without
having to install additional print drivers in the remote desktop. For each printer available through this
feature, you can set preferences for data compression, print quality, double-sided printing, color, and
other settings.
Important The virtual printing feature is available only with Horizon Client 3.2 or a later release that is
available from the VMware Product Downloads Web site, or with the version of Horizon Client for Linux
that is provided by third-party vendors.
This feature also has the following requirements:
n

The remote desktop must have View Agent 6.0.2 or later, or Horizon Agent 7.0 or later, installed.

You must be using the VMware Blast or PCoIP display protocol.

For more information about VMware thin-client and zero-client partners, see the VMware Compatibility
Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=vdm. For client
software provided by third-party vendors, you must be using the VMware Blast, PCoIP, or FreeRDP
display protocol. This feature does not work with rdesktop.
After a printer is added on the local client computer, Horizon Client adds that printer to the list of available
printers on the remote desktop. No further configuration is required. If you have administrator privileges,
you can still install printer drivers on the remote desktop without creating a conflict with the virtual printer
component.
Important This feature is not available for the following types of printers:
n

USB printers that are using the USB redirection feature to connect to a virtual USB port in the remote
desktop.
You must disconnect the USB printer from the remote desktop in order to use the virtual printing
feature with it.

The Windows feature for printing to a file.
Selecting the Print to file check box in a Print dialog box does not work. Using a printer driver that
creates a file does work. For example, you can use a PDF writer to print to a PDF file.

This procedure applies to remote desktops that have a Windows 7 or Windows 8.x (desktop) operating
system. The procedure is similar, but not exactly the same, for Windows Server 2008 and Windows
Server 2012.
Prerequisites

Verify that the Virtual Printing component of the agent is installed on the remote desktop. In the remote
desktop file system, verify that the following folder exists: C:\Program Files\Common
Files\ThinPrint.

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To use virtual printing, a Horizon administrator must enable the virtual printing feature for the remote
desktop. This task includes enabling the Virtual Printing setup option in the agent installer, and can
include setting policies regarding virtual printing behavior. For more information, see the Setting Up Virtual
Desktops in Horizon 7 or Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7 document.
Procedure

1
2

In the Windows 7 or Windows 8.x remote desktop, click Start > Devices and Printers.
In the Devices and Printers window, right-click the default printer, select Printer Properties from the
context menu, and select the printer.
Virtual printers appear as in single-user virtual machine desktops and as
(s) in published desktops on RDS hosts if View Agent 6.2 or later, or
Horizon Agent 7.0 or later, is installed. If View Agent 6.1 or earlier is installed in the remote desktop,
virtual printers appear as #:.

In the Printer Properties window, click the Device Setup tab and specify which settings to use.

On the General tab, click Preferences and specify which settings to use.

In the Printing Preferences dialog box, select the different tabs and specify which settings to use.
For the Page Adjustment advanced setting, VMware recommends that you retain the default
settings.

Click OK.

Copying and Pasting Text
It is possible to copy text to and from remote desktops and applications. Your View administrator can set
this feature so that copy and paste operations are allowed only from your client system to a remote
desktop or application, or only from a remote desktop or application to your client system, or both, or
neither.
This feature is available if you use the VMware Blast display protocol or the PCoIP display protocol.
Remote applications are supported with Horizon 6.0 or later.
Administrators configure the ability to copy and paste by using group policy objects (GPOs) that pertain to
View Agent or Horizon Agent in remote desktops. For more information, see the chapter about configuring
policies in the Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon 7 document.
You can copy text from Horizon Client to a remote desktop or application, or the reverse, but the pasted
text is plain text.
You cannot copy and paste graphics. You also cannot copy and paste files between a remote desktop
and the file system on your client computer.

Configuring the Client Clipboard Memory Size
In Horizon 7 version 7.0.1 and later and Horizon Client 4.1 and later, the clipboard memory size is
configurable for both the server and the client.

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When a PCoIP or VMware Blast session is established, the server sends its clipboard memory size to the
client. The effective clipboard memory size is the lesser of the server and client clipboard memory size
values.
To set the client clipboard memory size, add the following parameter to any one of three configuration
files: ~/.vmware/config, /usr/lib/vmware/config, or /etc/vmware/config.
mksvchan.clipboardSize=value

value is the client clipboard memory size in kilobytes (KB). You can specify a maximum value of 16384
KB. If you specify 0 or do not specify a value, the default client clipboard memory size is 8192 KB (8 MB).
Horizon Client looks for the clipboard memory size in the configuration files in the following order and
stops as soon as a non-zero value is found.
1

~/.vmware/config

/usr/lib/vmware/config

/etc/vmware/config

A large clipboard memory size can negatively affect performance, depending on your network. VMware
recommends that you do not set the clipboard memory size to a value greater than 16 MB.

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Troubleshooting Horizon Client

You can solve most problems with Horizon Client by restarting or resetting the desktop, or by reinstalling
the VMware Horizon Client application.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n

Restart a Remote Desktop

Reset a Remote Desktop or Published Applications

Uninstall Horizon Client for Linux

Problems with Keyboard Input

Connecting to a Server in Workspace ONE Mode

Restart a Remote Desktop
You might need to restart a remote desktop if the desktop operating system stops responding. Restarting
a remote desktop is the equivalent of the Windows operating system restart command. The desktop
operating system usually prompts you to save any unsaved data before it restarts.
You can restart a remote desktop only if a Horizon administrator has enabled the desktop restart feature
for the desktop.
For information about enabling the desktop restart feature, see the Setting Up Virtual Desktops in Horizon
7 or Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7 document.
Procedure
u

Use the Restart command.
Option

Action

From within the desktop

Select Connection > Restart Desktop from the menu bar.

From the desktop selection window

Select the remote desktop and select Connection > Restart Desktop from the
menu bar.

Horizon Client prompts you to confirm the restart action.
The operating system in the remote desktop reboots and Horizon Client disconnects and logs off from the
desktop.

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What to do next

Wait an appropriate amount of time for system startup before you attempt to reconnect to the remote
desktop.
If restarting the remote desktop does not solve the problem, you might need to reset the remote desktop.
See Reset a Remote Desktop or Published Applications.

Reset a Remote Desktop or Published Applications
You might need to reset a remote desktop if the desktop operating system stops responding and
restarting the remote desktop does not solve the problem. Resetting published applications quits all open
applications.
Resetting a remote desktop is the equivalent of pressing the Reset button on a physical PC to force the
PC to restart. Any files that are open on the remote desktop are closed and are not saved.
Resetting published applications is the equivalent of quitting the applications without saving any unsaved
data. All open published applications are closed, even applications that come from different RDS server
farms.
You can reset a remote desktop only if a Horizon administrator has enabled the desktop reset feature for
the desktop.
For information about enabling the desktop reset feature, see the Setting Up Virtual Desktops in Horizon
7 or Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7 document.
Procedure
u

Use the Reset command.
Option

Action

Reset a remote desktop from within the
desktop

Select Connection > Reset from the menu bar.

Reset a remote desktop from the
desktop and application selection
window

Select the remote desktop and select Connection > Reset from the menu bar.

Reset published applications from the
desktop and application selection
window

Click the Settings button (gear icon) in the upper right corner of the window,
select Applications in the left pane, click Reset, and click Continue.

When you reset a remote desktop, the operating system in the remote desktop reboots and
Horizon Client disconnects and logs off from the desktop. When you reset published applications, the
applications quit.
What to do next

Wait an appropriate amount of time for system startup before attempting to reconnect to the remote
desktop or published application.

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Uninstall Horizon Client for Linux
You can sometimes resolve problems with Horizon Client by uninstalling and reinstalling the
Horizon Client application.
The method you use for uninstalling Horizon Client for Linux depends on the version and the method you
used for installing the client software.
Prerequisites

Verify that you have root access on the Linux client system.
Procedure
n

If you have Horizon Client 3.1 or earlier, or if you installed the client from the Ubuntu Software Center,
select Applications > Ubuntu Software Center, and in the Installed Software section, select
vmware-view-client and click Remove.

If you have Horizon Client 3.2 or later, which you installed from the VMware Product Downloads Web
site, open a Terminal window, change directories to the directory that contains the installer file, and
run the installer command with the -u option.
sudo env VMWARE_KEEP_CONFIG=yes \
./VMware-Horizon-Client-x.x.x-yyyyyyy.arch.bundle -u vmware-horizon-client

In the file name, x.x.x is the version number, yyyyyyy is the build number, and arch is either x86 or
x64. Using the VMWARE_KEEP_CONFIG=yes setting means retain the configuration settings when the
client is uninstalled. If this environment variable is not set, you are prompted to specify whether to
save the configuration settings.
What to do next

You can reinstall the client or install a new version. See Install or Upgrade Horizon Client for Linux from
VMware Product Downloads.

Problems with Keyboard Input
If, when you type in a remote desktop or application, none of the keystrokes seem to work, the issue
might be with security software on your local client system.
Problem

While connected to a remote desktop or application, no characters appear when you type. Another
symptom might be that a single key keeps repeating itself.

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Cause

Some security software, such as Norton 360 Total Security, includes a feature that detects keylogger
programs and blocks keystroke logging. This security feature is meant to protect the system against
unwanted spyware that, for example, steals passwords and credit card numbers. Unfortunately, this
security software might block Horizon Client from sending keystrokes to the remote desktop or
application.
Solution
u

On the client system, turn off the keylogger detection feature of your antivirus or security software.

Connecting to a Server in Workspace ONE Mode
If you cannot connect to a server directly through Horizon Client, or if your desktop and application
entitlements are not visible in Horizon Client, Workspace ONE mode might be enabled on the server.
Problem
n

When you try to connect to the server directly through Horizon Client, Horizon Client redirects you to
the Workspace ONE portal.

When you open a desktop or application through a URI or shortcut, or when you open a local file
through file association, the request redirects you to the Workspace ONE portal for authentication.

After you open a desktop or application through Workspace ONE and Horizon Client starts, you
cannot see or open other entitled remote desktops or applications in Horizon Client.

Cause

Beginning with Horizon 7 version 7.2, a Horizon administrator can enable Workspace ONE mode on a
Connection Server instance. This behavior is normal when Workspace ONE mode is enabled on a
Connection Server instance.
Solution

Use Workspace ONE to connect to a Workspace ONE enabled server and access your remote desktops
and applications.

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Configuring USB Redirection on
the Client

With the USB redirection feature, you can use a configuration file on the client system to specify which
USB devices can be redirected to a remote desktop.
For example, you can restrict the types of USB devices that Horizon Client makes available for
redirection, make View Agent prevent certain USB devices from being forwarded from a client computer,
and specify whether Horizon Client should split composite USB devices into separate components for
redirection.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n

System Requirements for USB Redirection

USB-Specific Log Files

Setting USB Configuration Properties

USB Device Families

System Requirements for USB Redirection
The USB redirection feature is available only with certain versions of the client software.
For the Horizon Client software provided by third-party vendors, the USB redirection feature has the
following requirements:
n

The version of View Agent and View Connection Server must be View 5.1 or later.

The USB filtering features and device splitting features described in this document are available with
View Connection Server 5.1 and later.

For more information about VMware thin-client and zero-client partners, see the VMware Compatibility
Guide. To use the USB components available for third-party vendors, certain files must be installed in
certain locations, and certain processes must be configured to start before Horizon Client is launched.
These details are beyond the scope of this document.
For Horizon Client, the USB redirection feature has the following requirements:
n

The remote desktop must have View Agent 6.0.2 or later installed.

You must be using the VMware Blast or PCoIP display protocol.

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If you use Horizon 6.0.1 and later, you can plug USB 3.0 devices into USB 3.0 ports. USB 3.0 devices are
supported only with a single stream. Because multiple stream support is not yet implemented, USB
device performance is not enhanced. Note that on the Linux client system, i386 processors are
supported, whereas armel and armhf architectures are not. The Linux kernel version must be 2.6.35 or
later.

USB-Specific Log Files
Horizon Client sends USB information to log files.
To specify the USBD log level, add the following parameter in one of the configuration files.
view-usbd.logLevel = "value"

Use one of the following values for value.
n

trace

info

debug

error

The configuration files are in the following locations and processed in the order listed:
1

/etc/vmware/config

/usr/lib/vmware/config

~/.vmware/config

For troubleshooting purposes, you can increase the amount of information sent to USB-specific logs by
using the following commands:
1

Stop the USB arbitrator daemon.
sudo /etc/init.d/vmware-USBArbitrator stop

Restart the USB arbitrator daemon using the verbose option.
sudo /usr/lib/vmware/view/usb/vmware-usbarbitrator -verbose

The default USB arbitrator log file is located in /var/log/vmware/vmware-usbarb-.log, where
is the process id for the USB arbitrator daemon.
To get a list of usage information, use the following command:
sudo /usr/lib/vmware/view/usb/vmware-usbarbitrator -h

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Setting USB Configuration Properties
You can set USB configuration properties in the /etc/vmware/config, /usr/lib/vmware/config, and
~/.vmware/config configuration files.
Use the following syntax to set USB configuration properties in the configuration files.
viewusb.property1 = "value1"

With USB configuration properties, you can control whether certain types of devices are redirected.
Filtering properties are also available to enable you to include or exclude certain types of devices. For
Linux clients version 1.7 and later, and for Windows clients, properties for splitting composite devices are
also provided.
Some property values require the VID (vendor ID) and PID (product ID) for a USB device. To find the VID
and PID, you can search on the Internet for the product name combined with vid and pid. Alternatively,
you can look in the /tmp/vmware-/vmware-view-usbd-*.log file after you plug in the
USB device to the local system when Horizon Client is running. To set the location of this file, use the
view-usbd.log.fileName property in the /etc/vmware/config file, for example:
view-usbd.log.fileName = "/tmp/usbd.log"

Important When redirecting audio devices, make sure that the kernel version of your Ubuntu system is
3.2.0-27.43 or later. Ubuntu 12.04 includes kernel version 3.2.0-27.43. If you cannot upgrade to this
kernel version, you can alternatively disable host access to the audio device. For example, you can add
the line "blacklist snd-usb-audio" at the end of the /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf file. If your
system does not meet either of these requirements, the client system might crash when Horizon Client
attempts to redirect the audio device. By default, audio devices are redirected.
The following table describes the available USB configuration properties.
Table 6‑1. Configuration Properties for USB Redirection
Policy Name and Property

Description

Allow Auto Device Splitting

Allow the automatic splitting of composite USB devices.

Property:

The default value is undefined, which equates to false.

viewusb.AllowAutoDeviceSplitting
Exclude Vid/Pid Device From Split
Property:
viewusb.SplitExcludeVidPid

Excludes a composite USB device specified by vendor and product IDs from
splitting. The format of the setting is vid-xxx1_pid-yyy1[;vid-xxx2_pid-yyy2]...
You must specify ID numbers in hexadecimal. You can use the wildcard character
(*) in place of individual digits in an ID.
For example: vid-0781_pid-55**
The default value is undefined.

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Table 6‑1. Configuration Properties for USB Redirection (Continued)
Policy Name and Property

Description

Split Vid/Pid Device
Property:

Treats the components of a composite USB device specified by vendor and product
IDs as separate devices. The format of the setting is

viewusb.SplitVidPid

vid-xxxx_pid-yyyy([exintf:zz[;exintf:ww ]])[;...]
You can use the exintf keyword to exclude components from redirection by
specifying their interface number. You must specify ID numbers in hexadecimal, and
interface numbers in decimal including any leading zero. You can use the wildcard
character (*) in place of individual digits in an ID.
For example: vid-0781_pid-554c(exintf:01;exintf:02)
Note If the composite device includes components that are automatically
excluded, such as mouse and keyboard components, then View does not
automatically include the components that you have not explicitly excluded. You
must specify a filter policy such as Include Vid/Pid Device to include those
components.
The default value is undefined.

Allow Audio Input Devices

Allows audio input devices to be redirected.

Property:

The default value is undefined, which equates to false because the Real-Time

viewusb.AllowAudioIn

Audio-Video feature is used for audio input and video devices, and USB redirection
is not used for those devices by default.

Allow Audio Output Devices

Allows audio output devices to be redirected.

Property:

The default value is undefined, which equates to false.

viewusb.AllowAudioOut
Allow HID

Allows input devices other than keyboards or mice to be redirected.

Property:

The default value is undefined, which equates to true.

viewusb.AllowHID
Allow HIDBootable
Property:

Allows input devices other than keyboards or mice that are available at boot time
(also known as hid-bootable devices) to be redirected.

viewusb.AllowHIDBootable

The default value is undefined, which equates to true.

Allow Device Descriptor Failsafe

Allows devices to be redirected even if the Horizon Client fails to get the
config/device descriptors.

Property:
viewusb.AllowDevDescFailsafe

To allow a device even if it fails the config/desc, include it in the Include filters, such
IncludeVidPid or IncludePath.
The default value is undefined, which equates to false.

Allow Keyboard and Mouse Devices
Property:

Allows keyboards with integrated pointing devices (such as a mouse, trackball, or
touch pad) to be redirected.

viewusb.AllowKeyboardMouse

The default value is undefined, which equates to false.

Allow Smart Cards

Allows smart-card devices to be redirected.

Property:

The default value is undefined, which equates to false.

viewusb.AllowSmartcard
Allow Video Devices

Allows video devices to be redirected.

Property:

The default value is undefined, which equates to false because the Real-Time

viewusb.AllowVideo

Audio-Video feature is used for audio input and video devices, and USB redirection
is not used for those devices by default.

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VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

Table 6‑1. Configuration Properties for USB Redirection (Continued)
Policy Name and Property

Description

Disable Remote Configuration Download

Disables the use of View Agent settings when performing USB device filtering.

Property:

The default value is undefined, which equates to false.

viewusb.DisableRemoteConfig
Exclude All Devices

Excludes all USB devices from being redirected. If set to true, you can use other

Property:

policy settings to allow specific devices or families of devices to be redirected. If set
to false, you can use other policy settings to prevent specific devices or families of

viewusb.ExcludeAllDevices

devices from being redirected.
If you set the value of Exclude All Devices to true on View Agent, and this
setting is passed to Horizon Client, the View Agent setting overrides the
Horizon Client setting.
The default value is undefined, which equates to false.

Exclude Device Family
Property:

Excludes families of devices from being redirected. The format of the setting is
family_name_1[;family_name_2]...

viewusb.ExcludeFamily

For example: bluetooth;smart-card
If you have enabled automatic device splitting, View examines the device family of
each interface of a composite USB device to decide which interfaces should be
excluded. If you have disabled automatic device splitting, View examines the device
family of the whole composite USB device.
The default value is undefined.

Exclude Vid/Pid Device
Property:
viewusb.ExcludeVidPid

Excludes devices with specified vendor and product IDs from being redirected. The
format of the setting is vid-xxx1_pid-yyy2[;vid-xxx2_pid-yyy2]...
You must specify ID numbers in hexadecimal. You can use the wildcard character
(*) in place of individual digits in an ID.
For example: vid-0781_pid-****;vid-0561_pid-554c
The default value is undefined.

Exclude Path
Property:
viewusb.ExcludePath

Exclude devices at specified hub or port paths from being redirected. The format of
the setting is bus-x1[/y1]..._port-z1[;bus-x2[/y2]..._port-z2]...
You must specify bus and port numbers in hexadecimal. You cannot use the
wildcard character in paths.
For example: bus-1/2/3_port-02;bus-1/1/1/4_port-ff
The default value is undefined.

Include Device Family
Property:

Includes families of devices that can be redirected. The format of the setting is
family_name_1[;family_name_2]...

viewusb.IncludeFamily

For example: storage
The default value is undefined.

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VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

Table 6‑1. Configuration Properties for USB Redirection (Continued)
Policy Name and Property

Description

Include Path

Include devices at a specified hub or port paths that can be redirected. The format
of the setting is bus-x1[/y1]..._port-z1[;bus-x2[/y2]..._port-z2]...

Property:
viewusb.IncludePath

You must specify bus and port numbers in hexadecimal. You cannot use the
wildcard character in paths.
For example: bus-1/2_port-02;bus-1/7/1/4_port-0f
The default value is undefined.

Include Vid/Pid Device
Property:
viewusb.IncludeVidPid

Includes devices with specified vendor and product IDs that can be redirected. The
format of the setting is vid-xxx1_pid-yyy2[;vid-xxx2_pid-yyy2]...
You must specify ID numbers in hexadecimal. You can use the wildcard character
(*) in place of individual digits in an ID.
For example: vid-0561_pid-554c
The default value is undefined.

USB Redirection Examples
Each example is followed by a description of the effect on USB redirection.
n

Include most devices within mouse device family.
viewusb.IncludeFamily = "mouse"
viewusb.ExcludeVidPid = "Vid-0461_Pid-0010;Vid-0461_Pid-4d20"

The first property in this example tells Horizon Client to allow mouse devices to be redirected to a
View desktop. The second property overrides the first and tells Horizon Client to keep two specific
mouse devices local and not redirect them.
n

Turn on automatic device splitting, but exclude one particular device from splitting. For another
particular device, keep one of its components local and redirect the other components to the remote
desktop:
viewusb.AllowAutoDeviceSplitting = "True"
viewusb.SplitExcludeVidPid = "Vid-03f0_Pid-2a12"
viewusb.SplitVidPid = "Vid-0911_Pid-149a(exintf:03)"
viewusb.IncludeVidPid = "Vid-0911_Pid-149a"

Composite USB devices consist of a combination of two or more devices, such as a video input
device and a storage device. The first property in this example turns on automatic splitting of
composite devices. The second property excludes the specified composite USB device
(Vid-03f0_Pid-2a12) from splitting.
The third line tells Horizon Client to treat the components of a different composite device
(Vid-0911_Pid-149a) as separate devices but to exclude the following component from being
redirected: the component whose interface number is 03. This component is kept local.

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Because this composite device includes a component that is ordinarily excluded by default, such as a
mouse or keyboard, the fourth line is necessary so that the other components of the composite
device Vid-0911_Pid-149a can be redirected to the View desktop.
The first three properties are splitting properties. The last property is a filtering property. Filtering
properties are processed before splitting properties.
Important These client configuration properties might be merged with or overridden by corresponding
policies set for View Agent on the remote desktop. For information about how USB splitting and filtering
properties on the client work in conjunction with View Agent USB policies, see the topics about using
policies to control USB redirection, in the View Administration document.

USB Device Families
You can specify a family when you are creating USB filtering rules for Horizon Client, or View Agent or
Horizon Agent.
Note Some devices do not report a device family.
Table 6‑2. USB Device Families
Device Family
Name

Description

audio

Any audio-input or audio-output device.

audio-in

Audio-input devices such as microphones.

audio-out

Audio-output devices such as loudspeakers and headphones.

bluetooth

Bluetooth-connected devices.

comm

Communications devices such as modems and wired networking adapters.

hid

Human interface devices excluding keyboards and pointing devices.

hid-bootable

Human interface devices that are available at boot time excluding keyboards and pointing devices.

imaging

Imaging devices such as scanners.

keyboard

Keyboard device.

mouse

Pointing device such as a mouse.

other

Family not specified.

pda

Personal digital assistants.

physical

Force feedback devices such as force feedback joysticks.

printer

Printing devices.

security

Security devices such as fingerprint readers.

smart-card

Smart-card devices.

storage

Mass storage devices such as flash drives and external hard disk drives.

unknown

Family not known.

vendor

Devices with vendor-specific functions.

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VMware Horizon Client for Linux Installation and Setup Guide

Table 6‑2. USB Device Families (Continued)
Device Family
Name

Description

video

Video-input devices.

wireless

Wireless networking adapters.

wusb

Wireless USB devices.

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