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April 16, 2026

System Requirements for Horizon Agent for Linux

To install Horizon Agent for Linux, you must meet certain requirements for the Linux operating system, Linux virtual machine, Horizon 8 system components, and vSphere platform.

Supported Linux Distributions for Horizon Agent

The following table lists the Linux operating systems that have been tested and are supported for Horizon Agent.

Supported Linux Operating Systems for Horizon Agent
Linux DistributionArchitecture
Ubuntu 20.04 and 22.04x64
Debian 10.13, 11.7, and 12.1x64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Workstation 7.9, 8.6, 8.8, 9.0, 9.1, and 9.2x64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Server 7.9, 8.6, 8.8, 9.0, 9.1, and 9.2x64
Rocky Linux 8.8 and 9.2x64
CentOS 7.9x64
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 15 SP4 and 15 SP5x64
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15 SP4 and 15 SP5x64

Note: Horizon Agent has dependency packages on some Linux distributions. See Install Dependency Packages for Horizon Agent for more information.

Some features are supported on a limited subset of Linux operating systems. For more information, see the section of this document that discusses the specific feature.

The install_viewagent.sh installation script provides a --force parameter that forces the installation of Horizon Agent on Linux distributions not listed in the test support matrix. See Command-line Options for Installing Horizon Agent for Linux.

Required Platform and Software Versions

To install and use Horizon Agent for Linux, your deployment must meet certain requirements for the vSphere platform, Horizon Connection Server, and Horizon Client software.

Required Platform Horizon Software Versions
Platform and SoftwareSupported Versions
vSphere platform version
  • vSphere 8.0 or later release
  • vSphere 7.0 or later release
Horizon 8 environment
  • Horizon Connection Server 2309
Horizon Client software
  • Horizon Client for Android 2309
  • Horizon Client for Windows 2309
  • Horizon Client for Linux 2309
  • Horizon Client for Mac 2309
  • Horizon Client for iOS 2309
  • HTML Access 2309 on Chrome and Firefox
  • Zero clients that support the Horizon Blast protocol Note: Teradici PCoIP zero clients are not supported.

Ports Used by Linux Desktops

To enable connection sessions, Linux desktops must support incoming TCP connections from Horizon Client devices, Unified Access Gateway, and Horizon Connection Server.

On Ubuntu and Debian distributions, the iptables firewall is configured by default with an input policy of ACCEPT.

On RHEL, Rocky Linux, and CentOS distributions, where possible, the Horizon Agent installer script configures the iptables firewall with an input policy of ACCEPT. To ensure support of incoming connections, verify that iptables has an input policy of ACCEPT for new connections through the Blast port, 22443.

When you enable Blast Secure Gateway (BSG), client connections are directed from a Horizon Client device through the BSG on the Horizon Connection Server to the Linux desktop. When you do not enable BSG, connections are made directly from the Horizon Client device to the Linux desktop.

For detailed information on the ports used by Horizon Agent on Linux desktops, see the Horizon Security document and the Network Ports in Horizon guide.

Verify the Linux Account Used by Linux Virtual Machines

The following table lists the account name and account type used by Linux virtual machines.

Account Name and Account Type
Account NameAccount TypeUsed By
rootLinux OS built-inJava Standalone Agent, mksvchanserver, shell scripts
Account name containing blastCreated by Linux Agent installerBlastServer
<current login user>Linux OS built-in or AD user or LDAP userPython script

Desktop Environment

Horizon Agent for Linux supports multiple desktop environments on different Linux distributions. The following table lists the default desktop environments for each Linux distribution and the other desktop environments supported by Horizon Agent for Linux.

Supported Desktop Environments
Linux DistributionDefault Desktop EnvironmentDesktop Environments Supported by Horizon Agent for Linux
UbuntuGnomeGnome Ubuntu, K Desktop Environment (KDE), MATE
DebianGnomeGnome, KDE, MATE
RHEL and Rocky Linux 8.x/9.xGnomeGnome
RHEL 7.9GnomeGnome, KDE, MATE
CentOS 7.9GnomeGnome, KDE
SLED/SLESGnomeGnome

Note: When using RHEL/CentOS 7.x and Ubuntu distributions, SSO fails to unlock a locked KDE session. You must manually enter your password to unlock the locked session.

To change the default desktop environment used on one of the supported Linux distributions, you must use the following steps and commands appropriate for your Linux desktop.

  1. Install the supported Linux distribution's operating system with the default desktop environment setting.

  2. Run the appropriate commands described in the following table for your specific Linux distribution.

    Commands to Install Desktop Environments
    Linux DistributionNew Default Desktop EnvironmentCommands to Change the Default Desktop Environment
    RHEL/CentOS 7.9KDE 
    yum groupinstall "KDE Plasma Workspaces"
    RHEL 7.9MATE
    rpm -ivh https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/7/x86_64/Packages/e/epel-release-7-14.noarch.rpm



    yum groupinstall -y "MATE Desktop"
    UbuntuKDE 
    apt install plasma-desktop
    UbuntuMATE 
    apt install ubuntu-mate-desktop

    1. To begin using the new default desktop environment, restart the desktop.

    If you enabled SSO on a Linux desktop that has multiple desktop environments installed, use the following information to select the desktop environment to use in an SSO session.

    • For Ubuntu, use the information in the following table to set the SSODesktopType option in the viewagent-custom.conf file to specify the desktop environment to use with SSO.

      SSODesktopType Option

      SSODesktopType Option
      Desktop TypeSSODesktopType Option Setting
      MATESSODesktopType=UseMATE
      GnomeUbuntuSSODesktopType=UseGnomeUbuntu
      GnomeFlashbackSSODesktopType=UseGnomeFlashback
      KDESSODesktopType=UseKdePlasma
      GnomeClassicSSODesktopType=UseGnomeClassic

    • For RHEL and Rocky Linux 9.x/8.x, for the SSO login session to use Gnome Classic, remove all the desktop startup files, except for the Gnome Classic startup file, from the /usr/share/xsession directory. For example, run the following set of commands as the root user:

      cd /usr/share/xsessions
mkdir backup
mv *.desktop backup
mv backup/gnome-classic.desktop ./

      After the initial setup, the end user must log out or reboot their Linux desktop to use Gnome Classic as the default desktop in their next SSO session.

    If you deactivated SSO on a Linux desktop that has multiple desktop environments installed, you do not need to perform any of the previously described steps. The end users have to select their desired desktop environment when they log in to that Linux desktop.

    Network Requirements

    Horizon Blast Extreme supports both User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). Network conditions affect the performances of UDP and TCP. To receive the best user experience, select UDP or TCP based on the network condition.

    • Select TCP if the network condition is good, such as in a local area network (LAN) environment.
    • Select UDP if the network condition is poor, such as in a wide area network (WAN) environment with packet loss and time delay.

    Use a network analyzer tool, such as Wireshark, to determine whether Horizon Blast Extreme is using TCP or UDP. Use the following set of steps, which use Wireshark, as a reference example.

    1. Download and install Wireshark on your Linux VM.

      For RHEL/CentOS and Rocky Linux:

      sudo yum install wireshark

      For Ubuntu:

      sudo apt install tshark

    2. Connect to the Linux desktop using Horizon Client.

    3. Open a terminal window and run the following command, which displays the TCP package or UDP package used by Horizon Blast Extreme.

      sudo tshark -i any | grep 22443

    USB Redirection and Client Drive Redirection (CDR) features are sensitive to network conditions. If the network condition is bad, such as a limited bandwidth with time delay and packet loss, the user experience becomes poor. In such condition, the end user might experience one of the following.

    • Copying remote files can be slow. In this situation, transmit smaller sized files instead.
    • USB device does not appear in the remote Linux desktop.
    • USB data does not transfer completely. For example, if you copy a large file, you might get a file smaller in size than the original file.

    VHCI Driver for USB Redirection

    Note: To determine the correct installation sequence for the VHCI driver, use the following guidelines:

    • If you intend to install Horizon Agent using the .tar.gz tarball installer, you must first download and unpack the tarball installer, then install the VHCI driver, and then install Horizon Agent with the installation parameter for the USB redirection feature.
    • If you intend to install Horizon Agent using the .rpm RPM installer, you must first install Horizon Agent, then install the VHCI driver, and then add the USB redirection feature to the Horizon Agent configuration.

    For more information, see Install Horizon Agent on a Linux Machine.

    The USB redirection feature has a dependency on the USB Virtual Host Controller Interface (VHCI) kernel driver. To support USB 3.0 and the USB redirection feature, you must install the VHCI driver by performing the following steps:

    1. Download the USB VHCI source code from https://sourceforge.net/projects/usb-vhci/files/linux%20kernel%20module/.

    2. Identify the full path to the VHCI patch file, depending on the Horizon Agent installer format.

    • Tarball installer: The tarball's name contains the string horizonagent-linux-x86_64-YYMM-y.y.y-xxxxxxx.tar.gz, where YYMM is the marketing version number, y.y.y is the internal version number, and xxxxxxx is the build number.

    • RPM installer: The RPM package's name contains the string horizonagent-linux-YYMM-y.y.y-xxxxxxx.el8.x86_64, where YYMM is the marketing version number, y.y.y is the internal version number, and xxxxxxx is the build number.

    In the following examples, we use agent-installer-filename to represent the long string horizonagent-linux-x86_64-YYMM-y.y.y-xxxxxxx from the actual file name.

    For guidelines, see the following examples.

    • (Tarball installer) If you download and unpack the tarball installer under the /install_tmp/ directory, the full-path_to_patch-file is /install_tmp/agent-installer-filename/resources/vhci/patch/vhci.patch.
    • (RPM installer) If you download the RPM installer and use it to install Horizon Agent, locate the patch file in vhci.patch within the /usr structure and use the path to the patch file as the full-path_to_patch-file in the following commands involving the file path.

    1. To compile the VHCI driver source code and install the resulting binary on your Linux system, use the commands listed in the following table. Replace full-path_to_patch-file in the commands with the file path that you identified in the previous step.

      For example, if the file path is /install_tmp/agent-installer-filename/resources/vhci/patch/vhci.patch, the patch command becomes:

      patch -p1 < /install_tmp/agent-installer-filename/resources/vhci/patch/vhci.patch
    Compile and Install the USB VHCI Driver
    Linux DistributionSteps to Compile and Install USB VHCI Driver
    Ubuntu
    1. Install the dependency packages. 
      sudo apt-get install make
sudo apt-get install gcc
sudo apt-get install libelf-dev
    2. (Ubuntu 22.04) Install the kernel header files. 
      sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)
    3. Compile and install the VHCI driver. 
      tar -xzvf vhci-hcd-1.15.tar.gz
cd vhci-hcd-1.15
patch -p1 < full-path_to_patch-file
make clean && make && sudo make install
    4. If you have enabled the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) and UEFI Secure Boot on the virtual machine, configure signing settings for the VHCI driver.
      1. Create an SSL key pair for the VHCI driver. 
        openssl req -new -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout MOK.priv -outform DER -out MOK.der -nodes -days 36500 -subj "/CN=Descriptive name/" -addext extendedKeyUsage=1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.3
      2. Sign the VHCI driver. 
        sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./MOK.priv ./MOK.der /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/usb/host/usb-vhci-iocifc.ko

        sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./MOK.priv ./MOK.der /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/usb/host/usb-vhci-hcd.ko

      3. Register the key for UEFI Secure Boot. 
        sudo mokutil --import MOK.der

        Note: This command issues a request to set a Machine Owner Key (MOK) password for UEFI Secure Boot.

      4. To set up UEFI Secure Boot in the vSphere console, reboot the system. For more information, see https://sourceware.org/systemtap/wiki/SecureBoot.
    Debian
    1. Install the dependency packages. 
      sudo  apt install -y  patch g++ make linux-headers-$(uname -r)
    2. Compile and install the VHCI driver. 
      tar -xzvf vhci-hcd-1.15.tar.gz
cd vhci-hcd-1.15
patch -p1 < full-path_to_patch-file
mkdir -p linux/$(echo $(uname -r) | cut -d '-' -f 1)/drivers/usb/core
cp /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/source/include/linux/usb/hcd.h linux/$(echo $(uname -r) | cut -d '-' -f 1)/drivers/usb/core

      make clean && make && sudo make install

    RHEL/CentOS 7.x RHEL 8.x/9.x Rocky Linux 8.x/9.x
    1. Install the dependency packages. 
      sudo yum install gcc-c++
sudo yum install kernel-devel-$(uname -r)
sudo yum install kernel-headers-$(uname -r)
sudo yum install patch
sudo yum install elfutils-libelf-devel
    2. Compile and install the VHCI driver. 
      tar -xzvf vhci-hcd-1.15.tar.gz
cd vhci-hcd-1.15
patch -p1 < full-path_to_patch-file
make clean && make && sudo make install
    3. (RHEL and Rocky Linux 9.x/8.x) To ensure that the VHCI driver works properly with USB redirection, configure signing settings for the driver.
      1. Create an SSL key pair for the VHCI driver. 
        openssl req -new -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout MOK.priv -outform DER -out MOK.der -nodes -days 36500 -subj "/CN=Descriptive name/" -addext extendedKeyUsage=1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.3
      2. Sign the VHCI driver. 
        sudo /usr/src/kernels/$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./MOK.priv ./MOK.der /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/usb/host/usb-vhci-iocifc.ko
sudo /usr/src/kernels/$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./MOK.priv ./MOK.der /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/usb/host/usb-vhci-hcd.ko
      3. Register the key for UEFI Secure Boot. 
        sudo mokutil --import MOK.der
        Note: This command issues a request to set a Machine Owner Key (MOK) password for UEFI Secure Boot.
      4. To set up UEFI Secure Boot in the vSphere console, reboot the system. For more information, see https://sourceware.org/systemtap/wiki/SecureBoot.
    SLED/SLES
    1. Find the version of the current kernel package. 
      rpm -qa | grep kernel-default-$(echo $(uname -r) | cut -d '-' -f 1,2)
      The output is the name of the kernel package currently installed. If, for example, the package name is kernel-default-3.0.101-63.1, then the current kernel package version is 3.0.101-63.1.
    2. Install the kernel-devel, kernel-default-devel, kernel-macros, and the patch packages. 
      sudo zypper install --oldpackage kernel-devel-<kernel-package-version> \
kernel-default-devel-<kernel-package-version> kernel-macros-<kernel-package-version> patch

      For example:

      sudo zypper install --oldpackage kernel-devel-4.4.21-90.1 kernel-default-devel-4.4.21-90.1 kernel-macros-4.4.21-90.1 patch
    3. Compile and install the VHCI driver. 
      tar -xzvf vhci-hcd-1.15.tar.gz
cd vhci-hcd-1.15
patch -p1 < full-path_to_patch-file
mkdir -p linux/$(echo $(uname -r) | cut -d '-' -f 1)/drivers/usb/core
cp /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/source/include/linux/usb/hcd.h linux/$(echo $(uname -r) | cut -d '-' -f 1)/drivers/usb/core
make clean && make && sudo make install
    4. To ensure that the VHCI driver works properly with USB redirection, configure signing settings for the driver.
      1. Create an SSL key pair for the VHCI driver. 
        openssl req -new -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout MOK.priv -outform DER -out MOK.der -nodes -days 36500 -subj "/CN=Descriptive name/" -addext extendedKeyUsage=1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.3
      2. Find the path to the signing file for the VHCI driver. 
        sudo find / -name sign-file

        This command returns the paths to all the signing files located on the system. The signing file path for the VHCI driver resembles the following example.

        /usr/src/linux-5.3.18-24.9-obj/x86_64/default/scripts/
      3. Sign the VHCI driver. In the following commands, <sign-file-path> is the path to the signing file that you found earlier in step 4b. 
        sudo /<sign-file-path>/sign-file sha256 ./MOK.priv ./MOK.der /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/usb/host/usb-vhci-iocifc.ko
sudo /<sign-file-path>/src/kernels/$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./MOK.priv ./MOK.der /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/usb/host/usb-vhci-hcd.ko
      4. Register the key for UEFI Secure Boot. 
        sudo mokutil --import MOK.der
        Note: This command issues a request to set a Machine Owner Key (MOK) password for UEFI Secure Boot.
      5. To set up UEFI Secure Boot in the vSphere console, reboot the system. For more information, see https://sourceware.org/systemtap/wiki/SecureBoot.

    In addition, follow these guidelines:

    • If your Linux kernel changes to a new version, you must recompile and reinstall the VHCI driver, but you do not need to reinstall Horizon Agent for Linux.
    • You can also add Dynamic Kernel Module Support (DKMS) to the VHCI driver using steps similar to the following example for an Ubuntu system.

      1. Install the kernel headers.

        sudo apt install linux-headers-`uname -r`

      2. Install dkms using the following command.

        sudo apt install dkms

      3. Extract and patch the VHCI TAR file.

        tar xzvf vhci-hcd-1.15.tar.gz
cd vhci-hcd-1.15
patch -p1 *<full-path_to_patch-file>*
cd ..

      4. Copy the extracted VHCI source files to the /usr/src directory.

        sudo cp -r vhci-hcd-1.15 /usr/src/usb-vhci-hcd-1.15

      5. Create a file named dkms.conf and place it in the /usr/src/usb-vhci-hcd-1.15 directory.

        sudo touch /usr/src/usb-vhci-hcd-1.15/dkms.conf

      6. Add the following contents to the dkms.conf file.

        PACKAGE_NAME="usb-vhci-hcd"
PACKAGE_VERSION=1.15
MAKE_CMD_TMPL="make KVERSION=$kernelver"

CLEAN="$MAKE_CMD_TMPL clean"

BUILT_MODULE_NAME[0]="usb-vhci-iocifc"
DEST_MODULE_LOCATION[0]="/kernel/drivers/usb/host"
MAKE[0]="$MAKE_CMD_TMPL"

BUILT_MODULE_NAME[1]="usb-vhci-hcd"
DEST_MODULE_LOCATION[1]="/kernel/drivers/usb/host"
MAKE[1]="$MAKE_CMD_TMPL"

AUTOINSTALL="YES"

      7. Add this VHCI driver in dkms.

        sudo dkms add usb-vhci-hcd/1.15

      8. Build the VHCI driver.

        sudo dkms build usb-vhci-hcd/1.15

      9. Install the VHCI driver.

        sudo dkms install usb-vhci-hcd/1.15

    Virtual Machine Settings for 2D Graphics

    When you create certain Linux virtual machines for a Horizon 8 deployment, you must change the vCPU and virtual memory settings for performance requirements.

    Virtual machines that are configured to use NVIDIA GRID vGPU use the NVIDIA virtual graphics card, which is based on the NVIDIA physical graphics accelerator. You do not need to change the vCPU and virtual memory settings for these virtual machines.

    Virtual machines that are configured to use 2D graphics use the machine's basic virtual graphics card, and you must change vCPU and virtual memory settings to improve the desktop performance. Use the following guidelines:

    • For improved performance of a 2D desktop, set more vCPUs and virtual memory for the Linux virtual machine. For example, set 2 vCPUs and 2 GB of virtual memory.
    • For the large screen display of multiple monitors, such as four monitors, set 4 vCPUs and 4 GB of virtual memory for the virtual machine.
    • For improved video playback in a 2D desktop, set 4 vCPUs and 4 GB of virtual memory for the virtual machine.

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