Install Horizon Agent on a Non-vSphere Machine

You must install Horizon Agent on an all non-vSphere machines. Horizon 8 cannot manage a non-vSphere machine unless Horizon Agent is installed.

Note: Starting with Horizon 8 2406 release, you can use Amazon WorkSpaces Core for automated desktop pools. To prepare an Amazon WorkSpaces Core machine for that use case, instead of the steps below, follow the steps in Amazon WorkSpaces Core - Creating and Preparing Sources for Automated Desktop Pools

To install Horizon Agent on multiple Windows physical computers without having to respond to wizard prompts, you can install Horizon Agent silently.

Prerequisites

• Verify that you have prepared Active Directory. See the Horizon 8 Installation and Upgrade document.
• Verify that you have administrative rights on the non-vSphere machine.
• To use a non-vSphere Windows Server machine as a remote desktop rather than as an RDS host, perform the steps described in Prepare Windows Server Operating Systems for Desktop Use.
• Familiarize yourself with the Horizon Agent custom setup options for non-vSphere machines.
• Familiarize yourself with the TCP ports that the Horizon Agent installation program opens on the firewall. See the Horizon Overview and Deployment Planning document for more information.
• Download the Horizon Agent installer file from Omnissa Customer Connect.

Procedure

1. To start the Horizon Agent installation program, double-click the installer file.

   The installer filename contains the pattern Horizon-Agent-x86-YYMM-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe, where YYMM is the marketing version number, y.y.y is the internal version number, and xxxxxx is the build number.

2. Accept the license terms.

3. Select the Internet Protocol (IP) version, IPv4 or IPv6.

   You must install all Horizon components with the same IP version.

4. Select whether to enable or disable FIPS mode.

   This option is available only if FIPS mode is enabled in Windows.

5. Select your custom setup options.

6. Accept or change the destination folder.

7. In the Server text box, type the host name or IP address of a Connection Server host.

   During installation, the installer registers the non-vSphere machine with this Connection Server instance. After registration, the specified Connection Server instance, and any additional instances in the same Connection Server group, can communicate with the non-vSphere machine.

8. Select an authentication method to register the non-vSphere machine with the Connection Server instance.

   Option	Action
   Authenticate as the currently logged in user	The Username and Password text boxes are disabled and you are logged in to the Connection Server instance with your current username and password.
   Specify administrator credentials	You must provide the username and password of a Connection Server administrator in the Username and Password text boxes.
   Auto-discover Connection Server	The Discover the Connection Server automatically. The machine must be pre-registered in Horizon Console. No credentials are required.
   Enter the pod name	Specify the pod name in a Cloud Pod Architecture environment. The machine must be pre-registered in Horizon Console. No credentials are required.

   Provide the username in the following format: Domain\User.

   The user account must be a domain user with access to Horizon Directory on the Connection Server instance. A local user does not work.

9. Follow the prompts in the Horizon Agent installation program and finish the installation.

10. If you selected the USB redirection option, restart the non-vSphere machine to enable USB support.

    In addition, the Found New Hardware wizard might start. Follow the prompts in the wizard to configure the hardware before you restart the non-vSphere machine.

Example - Silent Install of Horizon Agent on an unmanaged computer with credentials

The following command-line example installs Horizon Agent on an unmanaged computer and registers the desktop with the specified Connection Server, cs1.companydomain.com. In addition, the installer installs the Core, Horizon Blast, PCoIP, Unity Touch, PSG, Integrated Printing, and USB redirection components.

agent-installer.exe /s /v "/qn VDM_VC_MANAGED_AGENT=0 VDM_SERVER_NAME=cs1.companydomain.com VDM_SERVER_USERNAME=admin.companydomain.com VDM_SERVER_PASSWORD=secret ADDLOCAL=Core,PrintRedir,USB"

Example - Silent Install of Horizon Agent on an unmanaged computer without credentials

The following example installs Horizon Agent on an unmanaged computer. Also, the installer installs the Core, Horizon Blast, PCoIP, Unity Touch, PSG, Integrated Printing, and USB redirection components. Complete the the installation on the Register with Horizon Connection Server screen based on one of the following pairing/registration modes.

1. Enter the name of a Horizon Connection Server and Credentials: In the dialog box, enter the CS hostname and HzE administrator credentials.

   • Silent install option: VDM_PAIRING_MECHANISM=1

2. Auto-discover the Horizon Connection Server: Select to auto-discover and continue to the Ready to install screen.

   • Silent install option: VDM_PAIRING_MECHANISM=2

3. Enter the name of the pod: Type the name of the pod that the computer will be connected to. Continue to the Ready to install screen.

   • Silent install option: VDM_PAIRING_MECHANISM=3 VDM_POD_NAME=<POD name>

Installation Result

When you complete the preceding steps, the Horizon Agent service is started on the non-vSphere machine and the machine is registered with Horizon 8.

What to do next

Use the registered non-vSphere machine to create a manual desktop pool. See Create a Manual Desktop Pool.

After the pool is created, you can edit the pool.

Note: When you reconfigure a pool setting that affects a registered machine, it can take up to 10 minutes for the new setting to take effect. For example, if you change the Automatically logoff after disconnect setting for a pool, Horizon 8 might take up to 10 minutes to reconfigure the affected machines.