Limited Availability: Prepare and Install Horizon Agent on a macOS Machine

Before installing Horizon Agent, prepare the macOS machine by completing the steps in this section. Complete the preparation tasks and configure the required macOS privacy permissions. Joining the machine to Active Directory is optional and is not a prerequisite for installing or running Horizon Agent.

Note: Horizon Agent for macOS sessions authenticate against the local user account on the machine where the Mac Agent is configured. Single sign-on (SSO) is not supported. Joining the machine to Active Directory is not required for the agent to function — administrators may still bind the machine to Active Directory for their own management reasons, but it is not a Horizon Mac Agent prerequisite.

(Optional) Join the macOS Machine to Active Directory

This section is optional and is provided for administrators who choose to bind the machine to Active Directory for their own management purposes. Mac Agent sessions authenticate against the local user account, and SSO is not supported.

1. Open Directory Utility (/System/Library/CoreServices/Directory Utility.app).
2. Click the lock icon and enter administrator credentials to unlock changes.
3. Select Services, then double-click Active Directory.
4. Enter the Active Directory domain name and a Computer ID.
5. Enter administrator credentials when prompted, then click Bind.
6. Verify the binding:

   dsconfigad -show
   

The output lists the bound domain and configuration details. A successful bind confirms the machine is joined to Active Directory.

Prepare the macOS Machine

Complete the following preparation tasks before installing Horizon Agent:

1. Ensure that the macOS machine meets all the system requirements.
2. Open a Terminal session on the macOS machine, or connect to it through SSH. SSH is the recommended method for performing Horizon Agent installation, upgrade, and uninstallation procedures on a physical macOS machine.
3. Verify that the machine hostname resolves correctly. Run the following command to confirm DNS resolves the hostname to the machine's IP address:

   hostname
   scutil --dns
   

4. Synchronize the machine clock against a reliable NTP time source. Horizon 8 requires all components to maintain synchronized clocks; clock drift causes authentication failures and connection errors.
5. If you chose to bind the machine to Active Directory (optional), verify that Active Directory binding is confirmed, as described in the Join the macOS Machine to Active Directory section.

Install Horizon Agent on a macOS Machine

This procedure describes how to install Horizon Agent on a physical macOS machine.

Before You Begin

• Complete all preparation steps in the Prepare a Physical macOS Machine for Desktop Deployment section.
• Download the Horizon Agent for macOS installer package (OmnissaHorizonAgent-YYMM-y.y.y-xxxxxxx.dmg) from Omnissa Customer Connect. In the filename, YYMM is the marketing version number, y.y.y is the internal version number, and xxxxxxx is the build number.
• Confirm you have administrator credentials on the macOS machine.
• Open a Terminal window or establish an SSH session on the machine.

Install Horizon Agent using the installer

1. In Finder, navigate to the downloaded .dmg file.
2. Double-click OmnissaHorizonAgent-YYMM-y.y.y-xxxxxxx.dmg to launch the installer.
3. Follow the prompts in the Horizon Agent installation program.
4. Enter the administrator username and password.
5. Review and accept the license agreement.
6. Select the destination disk (the macOS system volume).
7. Select the installation options you require. See the Horizon Agent Installation Options for macOS section for available options.
8. Click Install and complete the installation.
9. When the installation completes, restart the macOS machine.

Install Horizon Agent Silently

To install Horizon Agent without user interaction, use the installer command-line tool:

export HZN_BROKERURL=<broker-fqdn>
export HZN_USERNAME=<admin-username>
export HZN_PASSWORD='<password>'
export HZN_DOMAIN=<domain>

sudo -E bash "/Volumes/Horizon Agent for macOS/InstallHorizonAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/InstallHorizonAgent"

After the installation finishes, confirm the agent service is running:

sudo launchctl list | grep omnissa

Horizon Agent Installation Options for macOS

The following table describes the installation options available for Horizon Agent on macOS.

Option	Description	Default
Blast Extreme	Enables the Horizon Blast Extreme display protocol. Required for all remote sessions.	Installed
Clipboard Redirection	Enables clipboard copy and paste between client and remote desktop.	Installed
Multi-Monitor Support	Enables support for up to 2 monitors in a remote desktop session.	Installed

Note: USB Redirection and Smart Card Redirection are not available options for Horizon Agent for macOS.