You must install Horizon Agent on a Windows machine so that Horizon Connection Server can communicate with and manage it. Install Horizon Agent on all virtual machines that you use as templates for full-clone desktop pools and golden images, and on physical or virtual machines that are not managed through a capacity provider integration (these are registered directly with Connection Server as unmanaged machines).
This procedure describes an interactive installation. To install Horizon Agent on many Windows virtual machines or physical computers without responding to wizard prompts, install Horizon Agent silently. See Installing Omnissa Horizon Agent for Windows Silently.
Horizon Agent cannot coexist with Connection server but can coexist with Horizon Client for nested sessions.
Prerequisites
- Verify that the machine meets the requirements described in System Requirements for Horizon Agent for Windows.
- Verify that you have prepared Active Directory. See the Horizon 8 Installation and Upgrade document.
- Prepare the guest operating system for remote desktop deployment. See Prepare a Guest Operating System for Remote Desktop Deployment.
- To use a Windows Server virtual machine as a single-session virtual desktop (rather than as an RDS host), perform the steps described in Prepare Windows Server Operating Systems for Desktop Use. To use a Windows Server virtual machine as an RDS host, see Prepare Windows Server Operating Systems for Remote Desktop Services (RDS) Host Use.
- Download the Horizon Agent installer file from Omnissa Customer Connect.
- Verify that you have administrative rights on the machine.
- Familiarize yourself with the Horizon Agent custom setup options. See Custom Setup Options for Horizon Agent for Windows.
- Familiarize yourself with the TCP ports that the Horizon Agent installation program opens on the firewall. See Firewall Rules for Horizon Agent.
Procedure
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To start the Horizon Agent installation program, double-click the installer file.
The installer filename has 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. -
Accept the license terms.
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If you install Horizon Agent on a Windows Server machine on which the Remote Desktop Session Host (RDSH) role is not installed, the Horizon Agent installer prompts you to install Horizon Agent in RDS mode or Desktop mode. If the RDSH role is already installed on the system, by default the Horizon Agent installer will install Horizon Agent in RDS mode.
- If you select RDS mode, the installer will install the Remote Desktop Session Host (RDSH) role and/or the Desktop Experience role and prompt you to restart the system. After the roles are installed and the system is restarted, launch the installer again to continue installing Horizon Agent in RDS mode.
- If you select Desktop mode, the installer will install Horizon Agent as a single-user virtual desktop where published desktop features will not be available.
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Select the Internet Protocol (IP) version, IPv4 or IPv6.
You must install all Horizon 8 components with the same IP version.
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Select whether to enable or disable FIPS mode.
This option is available only if FIPS mode is enabled in Windows.
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Select your custom setup options.
By default, Horizon Provisioning and Customization Agent (formerly named Instant Clone Agent) is enabled.
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Accept or change the destination folder.
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Follow the prompts in the Horizon Agent installation program and finish the installation.
Physical machines and virtual machines that are not managed through a capacity provider integration are installed as unmanaged machines. Refer to the following additional information:
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If you are installing Horizon Agent on a machine that will be registered directly with Connection Server rather than managed through a capacity provider integration, verify that you have the host name or IP address of a Connection Server host, and the credentials or pod name needed for registration.
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If the machine will be managed through a capacity provider integration (such as vCenter Server), the installer does not prompt you for Connection Server details. Registration happens automatically through that integration, and you can skip to Step 9.
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If the machine will be registered directly with Connection Server as an unmanaged machine, including physical machines and virtual machines that are not managed through a capacity provider integration, the installer will prompt you to type the host name or IP address of a Connection Server host or to select an authentication method to register the machine with the Connection Server instance.
Note: If you did not enable Remote Desktop support during guest operating system preparation, the Horizon Agent installation program prompts you to enable it. If you do not enable Remote Desktop support during Horizon Agent installation, you must enable it manually after the installation is finished.
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If you selected the USB redirection option, restart the 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 machine.
Installation Result
When you complete the installation steps, the Horizon Agent service starts on the machine. If you registered the machine directly with Connection Server as an unmanaged machine, the machine is also registered with Horizon 8.
What to do next
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If you registered an unmanaged machine directly with Connection Server, use it to create a manual desktop pool. See Create a Manual Desktop Pool.
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If the machine has multiple NICs, configure the subnet that Horizon Agent uses. See Configure a Virtual Machine with Multiple NICs for Horizon Agent.
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