End-User-Computing Technical Marketing is excited to announce the release of the much-anticipated VMware App Volumes Reviewer’s Guide. The Reviewer’s Guide has something for everyone. Use it to familiarize yourself with VMware App Volumes, learn more about the architecture and workings of the product, or explore the functionality through the exercises. This guide applies to App Volumes 2.11.
If you are not familiar with Reviewer’s Guides, they consist of three main sections: Introduction, Architecture and Components, and Hands-On Evaluation Exercises.
- Introduction – Includes a high-level overview of App Volumes and the VMware End-User-Computing vision, key benefits, and packaging and licensing.
- Architecture and Components – Delves deeper into the architecture, main components and terminology, and latest features.
- Hands-On Evaluation Exercises – Provides detailed steps for most of the use cases and functionality of App Volumes 2.11, including installation and configuration.
App Volumes delivers applications to users and desktops in seconds and simplifies the life cycle and image management of applications. Not only does App Volumes integrate with existing Horizon 7 components and products, such as View, VMware ThinApp, VMware User Environment Manager, and Microsoft Remote Desktop Session Host (RDSH) environments, but also the benefits of App Volumes extend to other application and desktop solutions, such as Citrix XenApp and Citrix XenDesktop.
The guide contains a section dedicated to App Volumes with Microsoft RDSH applications. The exercises discuss creating an RDSH AppStack and demonstrate how to assign an RDSH AppStack and access it from a View application pool.
A high-level overview of the steps for creating, assigning, and accessing an RDSH AppStack follows. For greater detail about each of these steps, refer to the App Volumes Deployment with RDSH Applications section of the VMware App Volumes Reviewers Guide.
1. Create an AppStack for use with an RDSH server.
From the App Volumes Manager console, you create an AppStack and install the required applications the same way you would for a desktop OS. A few considerations:
- Use a dedicated AppStack—you cannot reuse an AppStack already created for a desktop OS.
- Install the apps on the same OS version as is present on the deployment RDSH server.
- Before installing applications on the AppStack, switch the RDSH server to the special installation mode called RD-Install.
2. Connect the AppStack to the RDSH server.
Next, you assign the AppStack to the RDSH server, as shown in the following screenshot. After you complete Step 2, the AppStack attaches to the RDSH server and makes the applications available for users to access. You can attach this same AppStack to multiple RDSH servers, which allows rapid deployment of a complete farm.
Figure 1: Assigning the AppStack to the RDSH Server
3. Connect to a remote desktop and confirm application availability.
Now test the application’s availability from a remote desktop—this involves starting Horizon Client on a virtual machine and connecting to a remote desktop. After the remote desktop loads, you will see the applications that are part of the AppStack.
4. Create a View application pool.
To access the RDSH applications from View, you need to create a View application pool. Add the AppStack applications to the View application pool and then entitle users or groups of users to this pool. These steps are performed on the View Administrator console, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Adding the AppStack Applications to the View Application Pool
5. Log in to the RDSH server from View and confirm application availability.
Finally, you can test application availability from View. Similar to Step 3, start Horizon Client on a virtual machine, but, this time, select the RDSH server and log in. Instead of showing applications on a desktop, Horizon Client displays shortcuts for the applications, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Shortcuts for the Applications as Provided by Horizon Client
Ready to get started? For more detailed information, download the new VMware App Volumes Reviewer’s Guide now.
