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April 14, 2026

Use the Easy Setup Tool to Prepare a Linux Machine

This page describes the Easy Setup Tool (easyinstall_viewagent.sh) for Linux machines. This tool performs all the installations and system configurations required to make a Linux machine available for use in a Horizon 8 deployment.

Overview of the Easy Setup Tool

The Easy Setup Tool is a guided installer that performs the following operations on the Linux machine.

  • System pre-check

    Validates that the machine meets the following requirements:

    The tool displays a notification if the machine fails to meet a certain requirement.

  • System configurations

    Performs the following system configurations:

    • Configures DNS.

    • Configures NTP and hostname settings and joins the machine to a specified Active Directory domain.

      Note: This release of the Easy Setup Tool performs only the System Security Services Daemon (SSSD) Authentication method of domain join.

  • Horizon Agent installation

    Performs the following operations on the machine:

    • Builds the following kernel modules to support certain features of Linux desktops:
      • V4L2Loopback driver, which supports Real-Time Audio-Video (RTAV)
      • USB VHCI driver, which supports USB redirection
    • Installs the mandatory agent dependencies, as listed in Install Linux Dependency Packages for Horizon Agent.
    • Installs Horizon Agent for Linux, with specified installation options.

Note: For information on how to specify installation parameters such as the Active Directory domain, agent installation options, and the level of installer prompts, see "Configuration Parameters for the Easy Setup Tool".

Download and Run the Easy Setup Tool

  1. Download the Horizon Agent for Linux installer package from Omnissa Customer Connect.

    Navigate to the download page for the current release of Horizon 8 and then to the download page for Horizon for 64-bit Linux.

    Download the Horizon Agent installer tarball with filename containing the pattern Omnissa-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.

  2. Unpack the tarball for your Linux distribution. The following command uses agent-installer to refer to installer tarball.

    tar -xvzf *Omnissa-horizonagent-linux-x86\_64-YYMM-y.y.y-xxxxxxx.tar.gz*
    
  3. Navigate to the tarball folder and run the easyinstall.viewagent.sh script as a root user. Append the command-line parameters for any installation options you want to include.

    For detailed information, see "Command-line Parameters for the Easy Setup Tool" below.

    Use the following command examples for reference:

    #Run the Easy Setup Tool with default prompts and installation options
    ./easyinstall_viewagent.sh
    
    #Run the tool in silent mode with installation options specified in easyinstall.conf
    ./easyinstall_viewagent.sh -s -f ./easyinstall.conf
    
  4. Allow the Easy Setup Tool to proceed without interruption, and respond to any installer prompts as needed.

  5. After the installation process is complete, restart the Linux machine to make the changes take effect.

  6. Verify that the viewagent service is started by running the following command.

    sudo service viewagent status
    

Command-line Parameters for the Easy Setup Tool

The following table describes the command-line parameters that you can append to the ./easyinstall_viewagent.sh run command to specify installation options and prompt levels.

OptionDescription
-s, --silent Runs the Easy Setup Tool in silent mode bypassing all installer prompts. Required installation options are retrieved from the configuration file specified by the -f parameter. For more details, see the section "Configuration Parameters for the Easy Setup Tool" in this topic. Command example:

./easyinstall_viewagent.sh -s -f ./easyinstall.conf
-l, --prompt-level Specifies the level of user interaction based on the level of installer prompts. Settings for each prompt level are retrieved from the configuration file specified by the -f parameter. For more details, see "Configuration Parameters for the Easy Setup Tool". Allowed values:
  • default - Displays only the prompts for basic installation options. When the -l parameter is not included or not configured, this default prompt level is used.
  • advanced - In addition to default prompts, displays prompts for advanced installation options such as whether to install remote experience features.
  • expert - In addition to default and advanced prompts, displays prompts for expert installation options such as whether to install FIPS support.
Command example:

./easyinstall_viewagent.sh -l advanced -f ./easyinstall.conf
-f, --config-file Reads configurations from the specified configuration file. For more information, see Configuration Parameters for the Easy Setup Tool. Command example:

./easyinstall_viewagent.sh -s -f ./easyinstall.conf
-p, --pre-check-only Only performs the pre-check operations described in the overview. Does not perform system configurations or Horizon Agent installation. Command example:

./easyinstall_viewagent.sh -p
-c, --configure-only Only performs the system configurations described in the overview. Does not perform pre-check operations or Horizon Agent installation. Command example:

./easyinstall_viewagent.sh -c
-i, --install-agent-only Only installs Horizon Agent, as described in the overview. Does not perform pre-check operations or system configurations. Command example:

./easyinstall_viewagent.sh -i
-h, --help Displays help information for the Easy Setup Tool, and exits the tool. Command example:

./easyinstall_viewagent.sh -h

Configuration Parameters for the Easy Setup Tool

You can specify configuration parameters for the Easy Setup Tool by writing the parameters into a configuration file and then retrieving the file with the -f command-line parameter.

For example, the following command runs the tools with advanced installer prompts as specified in the easyinstall.conf configuration file.


./easyinstall_viewagent.sh -l advanced -f ./easyinstall.conf

Observe the following rules and conventions when writing a configuration file:

  • Refer to the configuration template easyinstall.conf.template, located in the same tarball folder that contains the easyinstall_viewagent.sh script.

  • Save your configuration file in the same tarball folder.

  • Configuration parameters are grouped into sets corresponding to the three installer prompt levels: default, advanced, and expert.

  • To bypass a prompt, comment out the configuration parameter for that prompt in the configuration file.

  • In the following tables, entries labeled "Optional" correspond to prompts that accept optional input. Users can skip an optional prompt without entering any input.

  • For prompts that accept "y" or "n" input, the capitalized setting represents the default setting.

    For example, the EASYINSTALL_AGENT_MANAGED parameter takes "Y" as its default setting, meaning that Horizon Agent is installed in managed mode by default. The default setting takes effect when bypassing a prompt or running the Easy Setup Tool in silent mode.

Parameters for Default Prompt Level

Configuration ParameterDescription
EASYINSTALL_HOSTNAMESpecify the hostname for the host (Optional).
EASYINSTALL_DNS_LISTSpecify the DNS for the host (Optional).
EASYINSTALL_DOMAIN_FQDNSpecify the FQDN of the Active Directory domain to join.
EASYINSTALL_DOMAIN_JOIN_USERSpecify the user account to use for domain join.
EASYINSTALL_DOMAIN_JOIN_PASSWORDSpecify the password to use for domain join.
EASYINSTALL_PROXYSpecify the proxy server to use during the configuration process (Optional).
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_ACCEPT_GENERAL_TERMS Specify whether to accept the General Terms agreement [Y/n]. You must accept the General Terms to proceed with the Easy Setup Tool.

Parameters for Advanced Prompt Level

Configuration NameDescription
EASYINSTALL_NTPEnter the IP address of the NTP server (Optional).
EASYINSTALL_DOMAIN_JOINSpecify whether to join the Active Directory domain [Y/n].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_MANAGEDSpecify whether to install Horizon Agent in managed mode [Y/n].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_MULTIPLE_SESSIONSpecify whether to install support for multiple sessions [Y/n].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_WEBCAMSpecify whether to install the webcam redirection feature [y/N].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_AUDIO_INSpecify whether to install support for audio input redirection [y/N].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_USB_REDIRECTIONSpecify whether to install the USB redirection feature [y/N].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_CLIENT_DRIVE_REDIRECTIONSpecify whether to install the client drive redirection feature [Y/n].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_CLIPBOARD_REDIRECTIONSpecify whether to install the clipboard redirection feature [Y/n].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_PRINTER_REDIRECTIONSpecify whether to install the printer redirection feature [Y/n].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_SKIP_BUILD_MODULESSpecify whether to skip building required modules [y/N].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_SINGLE_SIGN_ONSpecify whether to install support for single sign-on [Y/n].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_RESTART_AFTER_INSTALLATIONSpecify whether to restart the machine automatically after the installation [y/N].
EASYINSTALL_HORIZON_CONNECTION_SERVER_ADDRESSEnter the FQDN or IP address of the Connection Server (for unmanaged mode only).
EASYINSTALL_HORIZON_ADMIN_DOMAINEnter the administrator domain name of the Connection Server (for unmanaged mode only).
EASYINSTALL_HORIZON_ADMIN_USEREnter the administrator name of the Connection Server (for unmanaged mode only).
EASYINSTALL_HORIZON_ADMIN_PASSWORDEnter the administrator password of the Connection Server (for unmanaged mode only).

Parameters for Expert Prompt Level

Configuration NameDescription
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_FIPSSpecify whether to install support for FIPS mode [y/N].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_IPV6Specify whether to install support for IPv6 networking [y/N].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_NO_HOSTED_APPSpecify whether to disallow single-session application pools [y/N].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_DISABLE_HZNGREETERSpecify whether to deactivate the Horizon greeter, which supports the True SSO and smart card SSO features [y/N].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_SMARTCARD_REDIRECTIONSpecify whether to install the smartcard redirection feature [y/N].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_TRUE_SSOSpecify whether to install the True SSO feature [y/N].
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_SELF_SIGNED_CERT_SUBJECT_DNEnter the Subject DN of the preferred self-signed certificate (Optional).
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_JMS_SSL_KEYSTORE_PASSWORDEnter the preferred JMS SSL keystore password (Optional).
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_VHCI_SOURCE_DOWNLOAD_PATHSpecify the file path of the VHCI source package (Optional).
EASYINSTALL_AGENT_V4L2LOOPBACK_SOURCE_DOWNLOAD_PATHSpecify the file path of the V4L2Loopback source package (Optional).
EASYINSTALL_HORIZON_ADMIN_KDCSpecify the Kerberos Key Distribution Center (KDC) for the Horizon 8 administrator domain (Optional, for unmanaged mode only).
EASYINSTALL_HORIZON_CONNECTION_SERVER_KDCSpecify the KDC for the Connection Server domain (Optional, for unmanaged mode only).
EASYINSTALL_HORIZON_CONNECTION_SERVER_DOMAINEnter the domain name of the Connection Server (Optional, for unmanaged mode only).

Feature Considerations for the Easy Setup Tool

The following considerations and limitations apply to the Easy Setup Tool.

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