You can include specific properties when you silently install Horizon Agent for Windows from the command line. You must use a PROPERTY=value format so that Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) can interpret the properties and values. A silent upgrade uses the same install commands. You can also modify already installed Horizon Agent components silently.
The following table shows the Horizon Agent silent installation properties that you can use at the command-line.
Note: The steps below use the name agent-installer.exe to refer to the installer file.
MSI Properties for Silently Installing Horizon Agent
| MSI Property | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| ENABLE_UNC_REDIRECTION | Specifies whether the UNC Path Redirection feature is installed. A value of 1 installs the feature. You must use group policy settings to configure which UNCs to redirect. See "Configuring UNC Path Redirection" in the Horizon Remote Desktop Features and GPOs document. This MSI property is optional. | 0 |
| HORIZON_MONITOR_ENABLED | Specifies whether to enable or disable Horizon monitoring mode. This flag works only if you have Horizon Cloud Service - next-gen installed in your environment. A value of 1 enables Horizon monitoring mode. A value of 0 disables Horizon monitoring. | 0 |
| IGNORE_DOTNET_CHECK | Determines whether the installer checks for a minimum .NET version. By default, when Horizon Performance Tracker is selected, the installer performs a pre-check to confirm that .NET 4.6.2 or later is installed, and stops the install process if it is not. A value of 1 cancels this pre-check. A value of 0 allows the pre-check to proceed. | 0 |
| INSTALLDIR | Path and folder in which the Horizon Agent software is installed. For example:
INSTALLDIR=""D:\abc\my folder""
The sets of two double quotes that enclose the path permit the MSI installer to ignore the space in the path.
This MSI property is optional. | %ProgramFiles%\Omnissa\Horizon\Agent |
| RDP_CHOICE | Determines whether to enable Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) on the desktop. A value of 1 enables RDP. A value of 0 leaves the RDP setting deactivated. This MSI property is optional. | 1 |
| SUPPRESS_RUNONCE_CHECK | Ignores pending Windows Update tasks scheduled at the next operating system reboot in the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce and RunOnceEx keys. Using this flag allows concurrent installation but does not guarantee the installation outcome when the system updates affect Horizon Agent run-time dependencies.
This MSI property is optional.A value of 1 skips the check for RunOnce registry keys. The default value is 0, if it is not set on the command line. | 0 (if it is not set on the command line) |
| URL_FILTERING_ENABLED | Specifies whether the URL Content Redirection feature is installed. A value of 1 installs the feature. You must use group policy settings to configure which URLs to redirect. See "Configuring URL Content Redirection" in the Horizon Remote Desktop Features and GPOs document. This MSI property is optional. | 0 |
| VDM_SKIP_BROKER_REGISTRATION | A value of 1 skips unmanaged desktops. | None |
| VDM_VC_MANAGED_AGENT | Determines whether vCenter Server manages the virtual machine on which Horizon Agent is installed.
A value of 1 configures the desktop as a vCenter Server-managed virtual machine.
A value of 0 configures the desktop as physical machines and machines that are not managed by vSphere.
This MSI property is required.
Note: The installer repair option is not supported for an unmanaged installation. Repairing such an installation results in an installation of a managed Horizon Agent. | None |
| VDM_REINSTALL | Specifies a list of already installed features delimited by commas that are to be reinstalled, applicable only in silent mode. | None |
| VDM_REINSTALLMODE | A string containing letters that specifies the type of reinstall to perform, applicable only in silent mode. See https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/msi/reinstallmode for details on which options to use. | None |
| VDM_SERVER_NAME | Host name or IP address of the Connection Server instance on which the Horizon Agent installer registers an unmanaged desktop. This MSI property only applies to unmanaged desktops.
For example: VDM_SERVER_NAME=10.123.01.01
Do not use this MSI property for virtual desktops that are managed by vCenter Server. Reminder: This page is describing parameters for installing the Horizon Agent into a Windows machine, and VDM_SERVER_NAME is the correct parameter name for this use case of installing the Horizon Agent and specifying the Connection Server instance. This is different from the use case where you're trying to install the Horizon Client into a Windows machine. That client-related use case has a similar but different parameter name to specify the Connection Server for the Horizon Client installation. If you're studying the Horizon Client for Windows installation use case, refer instead to the Omnissa Horizon Client for Windows Guide and its page about installing the Horizon Client for Windows using the command line. | None |
| VDM_SERVER_USERNAME | User name of the administrator on the Connection Server instance. This MSI property only applies to unmanaged desktops.
For example: VDM_SERVER_USERNAME=domain\username
Do not use this MSI property for virtual desktops managed by vCenter Server. | None |
| VDM_SERVER_PASSWORD | Connection Server administrator user password. This MSI property only applies to unmanaged desktops.
For example: VDM_SERVER_PASSWORD=secret
Do not use this MSI property for virtual desktops that are managed by vCenter Server. | None |
| VDM_IP_PROTOCOL_USAGE | Specifies the IP version that Horizon Agent uses. Valid values are IPv4 and IPv6. | IPv4 |
| VDM_FIPS_ENABLED | Specifies whether to enable or disable FIPS mode. A value of 1 enables FIPS mode. A value of 0 disables FIPS mode. If this property is set to 1 and Windows is not in FIPS mode, the installer will stop. | 0 |
| VDM_FORCE_DESKTOP_AGENT | If you install Horizon Agent on a Windows Server machine and configure it as a single-user Horizon desktop rather than as an RDS host, set the value to 1. This requirement applies to machines managed by vCenter Server and unmanaged machines. For non-server Windows guests that host application sessions, set the value to 0. This MSI property is optional. | 0 |
| VDM_PAIRING_MECHANISM | Specifies the pairing method. The following values are allowed:
1 = Specify Connection Server host name (default). Requires VDM_SERVER_NAME, VDM_SERVER_USERNAME, and VDM_SERVER_PASSWORD. 2 = Auto-discover Connection Server. No credentials required. 3 = Specify pod name. Requires VDM_POD_NAME. No credentials required. Note: The machine must be registred in Horizon Console before agent installation to use values 2 and 3. | 1 |
| VDM_POD_NAME | Specifies the pod name. For example: VDM_POD_NAME=HorizonPodName Required when VDM_PAIRING_MECHANISM=3. | None |
In a silent installation command, you can use the ADDLOCAL property to specify options that the Horizon Agent installer configures.
The following table shows the Horizon Agent options that you can enter at the command line. These options have corresponding setup options that you can deselect or select during an interactive installation.
When you do not use the ADDLOCAL property at the command line, Horizon Agent installs all of the options that are installed by default during an interactive installation, if they are supported on the guest operating system. When you use ADDLOCAL=ALL, Horizon Agent installs all of the following options, both on-by-default and off-by-default, if they are supported on the guest operating system.
For more information, see the ADDLOCAL table entry in Microsoft Windows Installer Command-Line Options.
If you use ADDLOCAL to specify features individually (you do not specify ADDLOCAL=ALL), you must always specify Core.
You can modify features by using the ADDLOCAL and REMOVE MSI properties. Use the following PowerShell command to query the registry of installed components on the system where Horizon Agent is installed for the ModifyPath base command line:
Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* |
Select-Object DisplayName, ModifyPath | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like '*Horizon Agent*'} | Format-Table –AutoSize
The output:
DisplayName ModifyPath
Omnissa Horizon Agent MsiExec.exe /I{A17DD662-DFB3-4997-9C0F-4E687A300111}
Note: In the following examples, the name agent-installer means the name of the Horizon Agent for Windows installer file. Substitute your actual file name.
The following example modifies and removes the USB component from an existing installation: agent-installer.exe /s /v"/qn REMOVE=USB"
The following example modifies the agent installation by replacing Horizon Performance Tracker with the Horizon Help Desk Tool: agent-installer.exe /s /v"/qn ADDLOCAL=HelpDesk REMOVE=PerfTracker”
The following example modifies the agent installation by adding serial port and scanner redirection: agent-installer.exe /s /v"/qn ADDLOCAL=SerialPortRedirection,ScannerRedirection”
Horizon Agent Silent Installation Options and Interactive Custom Setup Options
| Silent Installation Option | Custom Setup Option in an Interactive Installation | Installed by Default Interactively or When ADDLOCAL Is Not Used |
|---|---|---|
| Core | The core Horizon Agent functions. If you specify ADDLOCAL=ALL, the Core features are installed. | Yes |
| USB | USB Redirection | No |
| NGVC | Instant Clone Agent | No |
| RTAV | Real-Time Audio-Video | Yes |
| ClientDriveRedirection | Client Drive Redirection | Yes |
| SerialPortRedirection | Serial Port Redirection | No |
| ScannerRedirection | Scanner Redirection | No |
| GEOREDIR | Geolocation Redirection | No |
| Deprecated: V4V | The V4V option is deprecated starting with Horizon 8 2412 release, and is no longer included in the installer. | No |
| SmartCard | The SmartCard installer option is not applicable for RDSH. | SmartCard functionality will be installed as part of Core on RDSH VMs. |
| HznVaudio | Audio (virtual audio driver) | Yes |
| HznVidd, HznVidd2 | Indirect Display Driver | Yes
These are hidden, non-optional components that are always installed.
Note: HznVidd is installed and marked as Local in the registry only if:
|
| TSMMR | Windows Media Multimedia Redirection (MMR) | Yes |
| RDP | Enables RDP in the registry if you use the RDP_CHOICE=1 property on the command line or select RDP as the default display protocol when you create or edit a desktop pool. This feature is hidden during interactive installations. | Yes |
| RDSH3D | 3D rendering on RDS hosts | No |
| BlastUDP | UDP Transport support for Blast | Yes |
| SdoSensor | SDO Sensor Redirection | No |
| PerfTracker | Horizon Performance Tracker | No |
| HelpDesk | Horizon Help Desk Tool | Yes |
| PrintRedir | Integrated Printing | Yes |
| PSG | This feature sets a registry entry that tells Connection Server whether Horizon Agent is using IPv4 or IPv6. | Yes |
| StorageDriveRedir | Storage Drive Redirection | No |
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