Wyse Datacenter Appliance XC for VMware View Deployment Guide Dell Wyse Solutions Engineering November 2014 A Dell Deployment and Configuration Guide
Revisions Date Description November 2014 Initial release Copyright © 2014 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws. Dell™ and the Dell logo are trademarks of Dell Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. 2014–11 Rev.
Contents Revisions .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 1 Overview............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 4 1.1 Purpose of this document ..............................
1 Overview 1.1 Purpose of this document This document describes: Configuration of Nutanix Storage Pool and Containers. The tasks to be completed to install VMware vCenter Appliance, VMware View 6.0, and View Composer 6.0. Guidance for creating the required SQL Databases. The tasks to be performed to install the Server 2012 RDSH Roles and add RDSH Session Hosts to a Farm. Configure each of the core components. 1.
2 Configuring Nutanix Storage Pool and Containers To use the cluster storage, you must configure a storage pool and containers within the pool. Create only one pool consisting of all the disks in the cluster. Within the storage pool, we recommend creating multiple containers for a logical distinction between the compute and management storage layers. 1. Figure 1 2. Nutanix Web Console Click the Create Container link and click the plus symbol (+) under the STORAGE POOL section to create a pool.
Figure 3 3. Creating Storage Pool Type a name for the pool (for example, SP1) and use all unallocated disk space. Click Save. On the Create Container page, to view additional settings, click the Advanced Settings button.
Hyper-V Hypervisor and SMB Shares SMB shares are used to store the virtual machine disks and settings files. The cluster name is the “host” portion of the SMB share name. If not created during the Nutanix cluster setup, add a DNS entry for this name and point it to the cluster IP address. The container names that you created earlier are used as the share names. The resulting share name will be \\{cluster-name}\{container-name}. For example: \\cluster\ds_mgmt.
3 Installing vCenter Server Appliance The deployment of desktop pools within VMware View requires that an install of the following VMware components is completed successfully: VMware vCenter Server Appliance, VMware View, and VMware View Composer and an associated SQL server VM. The VMware vCenter VM will be created using the VMware vCenter Server Appliance.
3. In the OVF deployment wizard, click Browse and select the vCenter Appliance OVF template file and click Next. Figure 7 9 Select OVF Template file.
4. Confirm the template details and click Next.
5. Specify a name for the vCenter Server Appliance VM and click Next.
6. Select a storage location and click Next.
7. Select the required disk format and click Next.
8. Review the settings and click Finish to deploy. Figure 12 Finish OVF Deployment Wizard The vCenter Appliance deployment process will now start.
After deployment, the vCenter Appliance VM will appear listed under the ESXi host in the vSphere Client window. Figure 14 vCenter Appliance 9. Turn on the vCenter Appliance VM and open the Console tab to view the on-screen Quick Start Guide.
10. Open a web browser window to the URL indicated in the Quick Start Guide and type the user name root and password vmware, and then click Login.
11. Accept the EULA and click Next.
12. Click Next on the Customer Experience Improvement Program screen.
13. If using a static IP address you must close the wizard and set a hostname. In this guide a static IP Address will be used. Click Cancel to close the wizard. Figure 19 Cancel Wizard 14. Click the Network tab, and then select Static as the address type from the IPv4 Address Type dropdown menu.
15. Set the Hostname and IPv4 address settings. Click Save Settings. Note: The fully qualified domain name (FQDN) format must be used for the host name. Figure 21 Set IPv4 Settings 16. When the network settings have saved, change the URL on the web browser to the static IP address you just set and log in again by using the login ID ‘root’ and password ‘vmware’, and then click the Network tab to verify your IPv4 settings. Note: You may briefly lose connectivity.
Figure 22 IPv4 Settings 17. Click the vCenter Server tab, and under the Utilities section, click the Setup wizard Launch button to re-open the Setup Wizard.
18. On the Customer Experience Improvement Program window, click Next. Figure 24 Customer Experience Improvement Program 19. Click Set custom configuration and click Next.
20. Accept the default database settings and click Next.
21. From the SSO deployment type drop-down menu, select the embedded SSO deployment type and type a password for the administrator@vsphere.local user and click Next.
22. To configure Active Directory authentication select the Active Directory Enabled check box and type the domain name to authenticate to, along with an administrative user login and password for that domain. Click Next.
23. Review the configuration settings and click Start.
24. When the configuration processes are completed, click Close.
3.2 Adding Hosts to vCenter 1. To add the Nutanix configured ESXi hosts to be managed by vCenter, open the vSphere Client and attach to the vCenter Server Appliance, click Create a datacenter to add a datacenter, and then name the datacenter. Figure 31 New Datacenter 2. Right-click the datacenter and select New Cluster.
3. In the Name box, type a cluster name. vSphere HA or DRS may be enabled at this point, if required. Click Next.
4. Configure Enhanced vMotion, if required, and then click Next. Figure 34 Enhanced vMotion 5. Set the VM Swapfile policy, if required, and click Next.
6. Review and click Finish to complete the cluster setup. Figure 36 Complete Cluster Setup 7. Click the newly created cluster and click Add a host, enter the ESXi host FQDN or IP address, ESXi host user name, and password in the wizard, and then click Next.
8. Review the host summary and click Next. Figure 38 Host Summary 9. Assign a license key, if required, and then click Next.
10. Set the Lockdown mode, if required, and click Next. Figure 40 Lockdown Mode 11. Click Finish to add the ESXi host to the cluster. Repeat the process of adding the host for all Nutanix configured ESXi hosts.
3.3 Setting up vCenter Networking 1. To add networking in vCenter, click one of the host servers, select the Configuration tab, click Networking, and then click Add Networking. The vSphere Standard Switch view should be selected. Figure 42 vCenter Network Configuration 2. Select Virtual Machine connection type to create a Virtual Machine Port Group.
3. Create a Standard vSwitch, select the two 10Gb NICs, and then click Next. Figure 44 Create vSphere Standard Switch 4. Assign a name for the VDI VLAN that will host user virtual desktops and a VLAN ID and click Next.
5. Click Finish to complete. Figure 46 Finish Network Configuration 6. Repeat tasks 1—2 to create a second Virtual Machine Port Group to host the Nutanix CVMs and vCenter VMs and use the previously created vSwitch.
7. Assign a name and VLAN ID, and then click Next and click Finish to complete.
8. Click Add Networking again and create a VMKernel connection type for the vMotion network, and then click Next.
9. Select the existing vSwitch and click Next. Figure 50 Select vSwitch 10. Assign a name and VLAN ID and select the Use this port group for vMotion check box and click Next.
11. Assign an IP address and click Next. Figure 52 Assign IP Address 12. Click Finish to complete.
13. Repeat tasks 8 and 9 to create another VMkernel Port for the Management network. 14. Assign a name and VLAN ID, select the Use this port for vMotion check box and Use this port group for management traffic check box, select IP and IPv6 as the Network Type, and then click Next.
15. Enter an IP address and click Next. Figure 55 VMkernel IP Settings 16. Select the Obtain IPv6 address automatically through Router Advertisement check box and click Next.
17. Click Finish to complete. Figure 57 Configuration Complete 18. Click Add Networking to create a second switch for the internal CVM traffic and select the Virtual Machine connection type, and then click Next. Note: This internal switch is created automatically during the Nutanix install process but is included here for reference and in case the switch needs to be re-created.
Figure 58 Create Second Switch 19. Click Create a vSphere standard switch and deselect any network adapters and click Next.
20. Type a network label in the Network Label box and click Next. Figure 60 Assign Network Label 21. Click Finish to complete.
22. Click Add Networking again and select a VMkernel connection type. Figure 62 Adding VMKernel Connection 23. Select the newly created switch and click Next.
24. Assign a network label and click Next. Figure 64 Assign Network Label 25. Assign an IP address and click Next.
26. Click Finish to complete. Figure 66 Completed Network Configuration The completed networking topology should look like the one shown in the screen shot here.
4 Installing SQL Server Create a virtual machine using the disk space and CPU settings recommended in the table here for hosting MSSQL Server and install the Windows Server 2012 R2 operating system. OS vDisk Role Primary SQL vCPU 4 vRAM (GB) 8 NIC Size (GB) 1 40 + 200 Location SDS: ds_mgmt To install SQL Server: 1. 2. From the SQL VM, access the SQL setup files (go to file share, copy locally, insert DVD, download, etc.) Run Setup.
13. Set to mixed mode authentication, specify a password for the SA account, an d add domain user(s) or group(s) to be used for SQL administration. 14. On the DataBase Engine Configuration page, click the Data Directories tab. Change the database, log, and temp locations to the corresponding HDDs configured during the SQL VM creation. Unless you want to designate specific folders, the existing paths can be retained with only the drive letter being changed (for example “D:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\
5 Installing VMware View Connection Server Create a virtual machine using the below recommended memory and CPU settings for hosting View Connection Server and install Windows Server 2012 R2 operating system. OS vDisk Role View Connection Server 1. vCPU 4 vRAM (GB) NIC 8 1 Size (GB) Location 40 SDS: ds_mgmt Double-click VMware-viewconnectionserver-x86_64-6.0.0-xxxxxx.exe to start the installer. The installation wizard is displayed.
2. On the Welcome page, click Next.
3. Read and accept the VMware license agreement, and then click Next.
4. By default, the path of the folder where VMware View Connection Server is installed is displayed. To change the location, click Change, and then type the new file folder path. Click Next.
5. Select View Standard Server as the server installation type and click Next. Alternately, you can select the Install HTML Access check box to connect to desktop pools using HTML5 by using a Web browser. This configuration is not required for Dell XC720xd for Desktop Virtualization.
6. Type a password for the data recovery. This is used to recover the View Connection Server AD LDS (ADAM) database backups. Click Next.
7. To configure Windows firewall to allow incoming TCP connections to the View Connection Server, click Configure Windows Firewall automatically, and then click Next.
8. To authorize a domain group that will have management access to the View console, click Authorize a specific domain user or domain group.
9. To not participate in the user-experience improvement program, clear the Participate anonymously in the user experience improvement program check box.
10. To start installation of the View Connection Server, click Install.
11. After the installation process is completed, clear the Show Readme file check box, and then click Finish.
12.
6 Installing a VMware View Composer Instance Create a virtual machine using the below recommended memory and CPU settings for hosting View Composer and install Windows Server 2012 R2 operating system. OS vDisk Role View Composer vCPU 4 vRAM (GB) NIC 8 Size (GB) 1 60 Location SDS: ds_mgmt Before installing a composer, you must create a blank database (BD) on your SQL server. For this installation, a DB was created using all SQL default settings, and “SA” is specified as the owner.
2. Read and accept the VMware license agreement, and then click Next.
3. By default, the path of the folder where VMware View Composer is installed is displayed. To change the location, click Change, and then type the new foder path. Click Next.
4. Type appropriate information about the database to which VMware Horizon View Composer is connected, and then click Next.
5. In the SOAP Port box, type the SOAP port to enable connection to the Composer, and click either: Create default SSL certificate: To create a new, default, SSL certificate for connection purposes. Use an existing SSL certificate: To use an existing SSL certificate Click Next.
6. Click Install. 7. After the installation is completed, click Finish. Figure 87 Successful Installation 8. To complete the View Composer installation, restart the server. Note: Before restarting the server, make sure that it is not in use by you and any other individual.
7 Configuring a VMware View Connection Server The events tab of the Dashboard requires a valid Database to be assigned. For this installation a blank database was created on a MS-SQL server called “ViewEvents” with “SA” as the owner. 1. After you log in to VMware Horizon View Administrator, the Dashboard page is displayed. To configure access to the Virtual Center, in the left pane, click View Configuration.
2. Select the Server’s menu option and select Add.
3. On the Add vCenter Server—vCenter Server Information page, type appropriate data in the boxes, and then click Next. Figure 90 vCenter Server Information Note: It is important to use the FQDN of the vCenter server.
4. If using a View Composer, on the Add vCenter Server—View Composer page, type or select appropriate information for installing the Composer. Click Standalone View Composer Server because a vCenter Appliance was used to manage the ESXi hosts and View desktop farm (Use the FQDN name of the server you have installed composer on). Figure 91 View Composer Settings For more information about composer configuration and installation, see the earlier section for this guide. 5.
Figure 92 View Composer Domains 6. Select Storage options, if available, and then click Next.
7. Click Finish to complete the Wizard. Figure 94 Complete Wizard 8. To provide your VMware View License, in the left pane, click Product Licensing and Usage, and then click Edit License in the working pane. Type your license key by following the on-screen instructions.
9. In the left pane, click Global Settings, and then configure the global security settings as per your security policy requirements. Figure 96 Global Settings 10. In the left pane, click the Event Configuration tab, and then click Edit. Make sure that you have created a View Event database on the vSphere SQL VM.
11. In the Edit Event Database dialog box, type or select appropriate information about the relevant database, and then click OK to complete the configuration process.
8 Installing Remote Desktop Services Role on Windows Server 2012 R2 RDS hosts are server computers that have Windows Remote Desktop Services and View Agent installed. These servers host desktop sessions that users can access remotely. Within View, RDS desktop pools provide users with desktop sessions on RDS hosts. When you create an RDS desktop pool you must specify a farm. The RDS hosts in the farm provide the desktop sessions. It is assumed you are familiar with installing Windows Server 2012.
1. Log in to the VM as a domain account with permissions to add the required roles. Start the Server Manager application. Click Add roles and features and click Next.
2. Click Next.
3. Click Remote Desktop Services installation selected, and then click Next.
4. Click Standard Deployment and click Next.
5. Because you have to install a session-based solution, click Session-based desktop deployment, and then click Next.
6. On the Review role Services page, click Next.
7. Click Next.
8. For this deployment, all services are being deployed on a single RDSH host. These roles can be broken out across multiple servers as this is best practice in an Enterprise environment. Click Next. Under the Server Pool section, select the local host or a dedicated web access server, and then click Next.
9. Select the session host from the available servers and click Next.
10. Select the Restart the destination server automatically if required check box, and then click Next. Figure 109 Confirm Selections 11. When the roles are installed and configured, the server is automatically restarted.
9 Adding RDSH Servers to a VMWare View Farm Farms simplify the task of managing RDSH hosts, RDS desktops, and applications in an enterprise. RDSH session host servers must be added to a Farm before they can be used by a desktop pool to provide RDS desktop sessions to end users. 1. To creare an RDS Farm in VMware Horizon View Administrator, click the Resources menu, click Farms, and then click Add.
2. Type the Farm an ID and description, select an Access Group, and then click Next.
3. Select the RDS host servers to be included in the Farm and click Next.
4. Review the settings and click Finish.
5. The newly created Farm will show up in the list of RDS Farms and should be enabled automatically. Figure 115 RDS Farm Note: For users to connect to an RDS desktop session, an RDS Desktop Pool must be created using VMware Horizon View Administrator and an RDS Farm must be specified during the pool creation process.
10 Deploying Virtual Desktop Master Image 10.1 Creating Template VM Suggested on the basis of user types used by Dell. NOTE: Solution is provided on the basis of using full clones for persistence (Standard provisioning) and recommended disk format is VMDK. Ensure Master image is placed in the same container as the Desktop pool for faster deployment Provision a Gold image by doing the following: Machine Creation Services - Master Image 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
The administrator accounts cannot change the services because the services (idle time check and automatic check) run as a SYSTEM. You must get SYSTEM rights to disable services. You can still run the checks manually even if the services are disabled. You must have psexec.exe (sysinternals) on the Master Image VM to fix this issue. The following are the three scheduled tasks that must be disabled on your desktop template. o psexec \\SERVERNAME -s schtasks /change /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\TaskScheduler\
