VMFocus

In the last blog post we upgraded our Security Server which had a couple of issues which we resolved.  We did experience some downtime for remote access, but this was to be expected. Upgrading the Horizon View Agent consists of two parts:

1. View Agent
2. View 5.3 Remote Experience Agent

Upgrade Process

It is assumed that you have access to your existing ‘golden template’ for your Horizon View Desktops and that the recompose operation will be undertaken out of hours.

View Agent

In my lab, I have two ‘golden template’ images for Horizon View desktops, one which is a Windows 7 32 Bit and the other which is Windows 8 64 Bit. For this upgrade, I’m going to concentrate on the Windows 7 32 Bit desktop. The first thing we are going to do is download the correct installation which is at the time of writing is  VMware-viewagent-5.3.0-1427931 Launch the installer and hit ‘Next’

Accept the EULA and hit ‘Next’

Select the components you wish to install, I have ensured that Persona Management and vCenter Operations Manager are selected.

Click Install

After the install completes, you will need to reboot the ‘golden template’.

View 5.3 Remote Experience Agent

Next up is the View 5.3 Remote Experience Agent, with the latest version being VMware-Horizon-View-5.3-Remote-Experience-Agent-1.0-1404669 Launch the installer and accept the EULA

Select your installation options

Next hit Install

Now this is done, you will need to do the following:

1. Ipconfig /release on the ‘golden image’ desktop
2. Shutdown the ‘golden image’ desktop
3. Create a new snapshot
4. Perform a recompose of the desktop pool
5. Upgrade your View Client to 5.3

I’m sure you can appreciate the above are out of scope for this post, however I did want to give you a high level overview.

Final Thoughts

The upgrade process has been fairly straight forward.  VMware have made some drastic improvements to HTML access via Blast, it is now a usable method for accessing a desktop and makes using Horizon Workspace much more appealing.

I have yet to do more thorough testing, but so far so good.

In the last blog post we upgraded our Connection Server which was straight forward (great job VMware).  Next we need to upgrade the Security Server.

To make things slightly harder, I’m performing a ‘twist test’ which means that the upgrade is being performed using a Horizon View 5.2 dedicated desktop.  Any issues to the usability of the desktop will be in the table at the end of the post.

Upgrade Process

Before we embark on this upgrade process, the number one rule is to get a good backup.  Plus I recommend you check that everything is in good working order in your Horizon View 5.2 environment.

View Security Server 

In my lab, I have a single View Security server called VMF-VSEC01.  Before we can start the upgrade, we need to make sure we have no Remote Sessions as these will be effected.

The first thing we are going to do is download the correct installation which is at the time of writing is VMware-viewconnectionserver-x86_64-5.3.0-1427931

Launch the installer and hit ‘Next’

Accept the EULA and hit ‘Next’

Select Paired Connection Server and hit ‘Next’

I then received an error message ‘Unable to connect to the server VMF-VCON01.vmfocus.com on TCP port 8009.  Please check that the specified Connection Server is running and that this TCP port is not being blocked by a firewall’

A telnet to VMF-VCON01 on 8009 shows that the Connection Server is listening correctly.

I was unable to select ‘Prepare for Upgrade or Re installation’ of my View Security Server as this was ‘greyed out’.

To resolve this, go into Windows Advanced Firewall on both your View Connection and Security Server > Connection Security Rules > Delete > VMware View Security Pairing

A quick re try and we are now able to enter a Security Server Pairing Password.  This needs to be set in View Administrator by going to View Configuration > Servers > Connection Servers > More Commands > Specify Security Server Pairing Password

We can now enter the Security Server Pairing Password in our installation screen

Check your External URL, PCoIP External URL and Blast External URL to ensure these are correct and hit ‘Next’

Select Configure Windows Firewall Automatically and hit ‘Next’

Then hit ‘Install’

A quick check of the vmfocus.com Horizon View environment shows everything is working, so onto the next step!

Twist Test

In the last blog post we upgraded our Composer Server which was straight forward (great job VMware).  Next we need to upgrade the Connection Server.

The upgrade process is in two parts, first of all we need to upgrade the Connection Server and then install HTML Access.

To make things slightly harder, I’m performing a ‘twist test’ which means that the upgrade is being performed using a Horizon View 5.2 dedicated desktop.  Any issues to the usability of the desktop will be in the table at the end of the post.

Upgrade Process

Before we embark on this upgrade process, the number one rule is to get a good backup.  Plus I recommend you check that everything is in good working order in your Horizon View 5.2 environment.

The Connection Server upgrade forms two parts:

1. Connection Server
2. View HTML Access

View Connection Server 

In my lab, I have a single View Connection server called VMF-VCON01.

The first thing we are going to do is download the correct installation which is at the time of writing is VMware-viewconnectionserver-x86_64-5.3.0-1427931

Launch the installer and hit ‘Next’

Accept the EULA and hit ‘Next’

Click Install

A quick check of the vmfocus.com Horizon View environment shows everything is working, so onto the next step!

Twist Test

Horizon View 5.3, brings with it a host of new features.  The one which I’m most excited about is being able to use Windows Server 2008 R2 as a desktop operating system.  A list of enhancements is shown below (source VMware Horizon View 5.3 release notes)

What’s New?

• Windows Server 2008 R2 Desktop Operating System Support
• Windows 8.1 Desktop Operating System Support
• VMware Horizon Mirage Support
• VMware Virtual SAN Support
• vDGA Support
• VMware Horizon View Agent Direct-Connection

TOP TIP: Horizon View does not support Windows 2012 Active Directory

Upgrade Process

Before we embark on this upgrade process, the number one rule is to get a good backup.  Plus I recommend you check that everything is in good working order in your Horizon View 5.2 environment.

Twist

To make things a little more interesting, I’m going to do the upgrade whilst using a Horizon View 5.2 dedicated desktop to see if any part of the upgrade effects my experience or the ability to work.

Upgrade Order

The order in which I’m going to tackle the upgrade is as follows:

1. View Composer
2. View Connection Server including HTML Access
3. View Security Server
4. View Transfer Server (I don’t have one of these in my environment)
5. View Agent including Remote Experience Agent
6. View Client

View Composer

In my lab, View Composer is on a seperate Windows 2008 R2 Server called VMF-VCOM01.

The first thing we are going to do is download the correct installation which is at the time of writing is VMware-viewcomposer-5.3.0-1427647

Launch the installer and hit ‘Next’

Accept the EULA and hit ‘Next’

Select install location and hit ‘next’

Enter your ODBC Password

In my environment, I’m using an existing SSL certificate.

Hit Install

Once finished a reboot is required.

A quick check of the vmfocus.com Horizon View environment and we can see everything is ‘tickety boo’.

Twist Test

Question	Answer
Did the installation cause any disruption to existing Horizon View 5.2 desktop connections?	No
Able to connect to existing composed desktops after installation?	Yes
Recompose tasks work on Horizon View 5.2 desktops?	Yes
Did the View Composer Server require a reboot?	No
HTML 5.2 Access via Blast working after installation?	Yes