VMware Virtual Desktop Manager (VDM) 2 Release Notes

Features | Documentation | Knowledge Base | VDI Community | VDM Community

Notes on VMware VDM 2.1.2, Build 686

Build 686 is a release build of VMware VDM 2.1.2.

The release notes contain the following:

• New in VDM 2.1.2
• Before You Begin
• Troubleshooting VDM
• Resolved Issues
• Known Issues and Restrictions in VDM 2.1.2

New in VDM 2.1.2

VDM 2.1.2 includes the following improvements:

• Allows automatic backup of the ADAM database used by all VDM Connection Servers in your environment. By default, the ADAM backup tool is configured to take backups at midnight, and stores 10 such backup files. You can configure automatic backup to modify the time and frequency of backups using ADAM tools. See KB 1010285 for details.
• Allows the VirtualCenter connectivity timeout period from the VDM Connection Server to be configured. In previous versions of VDM, slow network connectivity between the VDM connection server and the VirtualCenter Server led to a timeout error if the response time was more than 2 seconds. Now you can configure the timeout period (in milliseconds) in the VC.properties file by changing the value of the service.timeout parameter as follows:
  
  1. Stop the VDM service.
  2. Open vdm-admin.jar from C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware VDM\Server\broker\webapps\admin\WEB-INF\lib by using WinRAR or a similar archive tool.
  3. Extract and edit VC.properties from the .jar file.
  4. Add the timeout value as service.timeout=xx, where xx is the timeout in milliseconds.
  5. Add the edited VC.properties file to the .jar file (replace the original).
  6. Restart the VDM service.

• Enables a modified external URL to work without having to restart the VDM connection server.

Before You Begin

Before you begin with installation and configuration of VMware VDM, see the following guidelines.

General Installation Guidelines

The following guidelines apply to all installations types (new installations and upgrades).

• Synchronize time - Make sure that you have synchronized time across VDM Connection Server and desktop virtual machines.  By default, virtual machines pick up the time from the ESX host at boot, and you might have to synchronize time on the ESX hosts through the ntpd service.
• Validate your Internet Explorer settings - VDM Client uses Microsoft Internet Explorer internet settings, including proxy settings, when connecting to VDM Connection Server. Ensure that your Internet Explorer settings are accurate and that you can access the VDM Connection Server URL through Internet Explorer.
• Before creating an automatically provisioned desktop pool, do the following:
  • Validate the VirtualCenter guest customization specification if you intend to use one - Make sure that the guest customization specification in VirtualCenter is accurate. You should use VirtualCenter to deploy and customize a virtual machine from your template using that customization specification and fully test the resulting virtual machine (in other words, DHCP, authentication) before using that customization specification in VDM Administrator.
  • Validate network ports on ESX - Make sure you have a sufficient number of ports on the virtual switch which is used for the guest virtual machines. The default value for ESX is 24; it may not be sufficient when creating a large pool of desktop virtual machines.
• Install required Microsoft Windows patches - For Windows XP desktop virtual machines, make sure you have RDP patches referenced by Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) articles 323497 and 884020.  Failure to do this may result in a Windows Sockets failed error message on the client.  You can find these KB articles at the following URLs:
  • http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323497
  • http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884020
• Upgrade VDM Client machines to use Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) 6.0 - This recommendation applies to machines running Windows XP and Windows XPe. Windows 2000 does not support RDC 6.0.Windows Vista comes with RDC 6.0 installed.

  You can download RDC 6.0 from the following Microsoft download site: Microsoft downloads

• VDM does not support using link-local (169.254.x.x) addresses for desktop virtual machines - Configure desktop virtual machines to use DHCP or static IP addresses.

Backing Up Configuration Data (VDM 2.1 and later)

VMware recommends that you back up configuration data. For information about backing up configuration data, see the VMware technical note at the following URL:

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vdm_config_data_export_import.pdf

Upgrading VDM

VDM supports upgrading from VDM 2.0 to 2.1.2 and from VDM 2.1 to 2.1.2. Keep in mind the following issues when upgrading VDM Clients:

• During the upgrade, the administrator can define a default VDM Connection Server for new users. Existing users still maintain their most recently used list which may not include this server. (1005355)
  
  The following issues are not applicable for compatibility between VDM 2.1 and VDM 2.1.2:
  
• HTTPS redirection does not occur when connecting a VDM 2.0 Client to a VDM 2.1 Connection Server or when connecting a VDM 2.1 Client to a VDM 2.0 Connection Server. (1005370)
• The error message, "HTTP redirect request must be confirmed by the user" is displayed when HTTPS redirection fails when connecting a VDM Client running 2.0 to a VDM Connection Server running 2.1. (1005374)
• If the disclaimer is configured and a connection is made from a VDM Client running VDM 2.0 to a VDM Connection Server running VDM 2.1, the connection is refused with an error message until the client is upgraded. (1005372)

Troubleshooting VDM

The following URLs for VMware KB articles contain troubleshooting information for VDM. The KB articles are continually updated with new troubleshooting information.

• End user connection issues: http://www.vmware.com/info?id=342
• Pooling issues: http://www.vmware.com/info?id=343
• USB issues: http://www.vmware.com/info?id=346
• VirtualCenter upgrade issue: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007128

Resolved Issues

These are the resolved issues in VDM 2.1.2.

• Performance issues with VDM when HTTPS port is queried on a regular basis
  Sending a non-SSL probe on the SSL port of the Connection Server might cause the Connection Server to slow down. This might result in the following issues:
  • Web Access page loads slowly
  • Connection Server stops accepting new connections at random
  • Native clients and WYSE terminals perform poorly
  The following error might be logged every thirty seconds in the VDM connection server logs:
  WARN <Thread-81> [Processor] Problem setting up HTTP connection: java.net.SocketException: Connection reset
  This issue is fixed in this release.


• Delay in accessing Web Access page through VDM security server
  VDM security server maintains a set of connections for communication with the VDM Connection Server. If you deploy network infrastructure between the security server and the VDM connection server, the network infrastructure might break an established connection when it is not used for a period of time. The security server does not detect the break in connectivity until an attempt to reuse the connection is made and the TCP/IP stack times out. This might result in a delay of approximately 3 minutes for the VDM Web Access page to load. This issue might occur only in environments where network infrastructure elements are configured to drop idle connections.
  This issue is fixed in this release. The fix provides for setting a flag on an active connection to indicate it should not be dropped even when not in use.


• Time zone is not displayed in Windows Vista virtual machines launched from VDM Client
  If you launch a Windows Vista virtual machine from VDM Client, the time zone entry for the registry key TimeZoneKeyName might not be displayed at the following location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation
  This issue is fixed in this release.


• Windows Vista User Account Control (UAC) fails with VDM installation
  If you use VDM client to log in as a non-administrative user on a Windows Vista virtual machine that has VDM Agent installed and UAC enabled, and then perform operations that require administrator privileges, the virtual machine might stop or fail. The following error might be written in the event log:
  Faulting application consent.exe, version 6.0.6001.18000, time stamp 0x47918d7b, faulting module wscredf.dll_unloaded, version 0.0.0.0, time stamp 0x490bbd79, exception code 0xc0000005, fault offset 0x100847c8, process id 0xc94, application start time 0x01c94405135a2147
  This issue is fixed in this release.


• Dynamic drive redirection does not work through remote session
  You might need to disconnect or reconnect VDM Client for new drives/USB drives to be displayed in the virtual machine.
  This issue is fixed in this release. The fix enables dynamic drive changes to be reflected in the remote session, correctly handles device change notifications, and allows dynamic updates if redirection is enabled.
  


• Delay in logging out of the Connection Broker
  It might take a minimum of 10 seconds to log out of the Connection Broker when the Direct Connect option is enabled in the Admin UI.
  This issue is fixed in this release.

Known Issues and Restrictions in VDM 2.1.2

The following are known issues and restrictions for VMware VDM 2.1.2. The items listed in this section are links to Knowledge Base articles.

VDM Administrator

• When you remove a user's entitlement, the user will not automatically be logged off. Make sure they have no connections remaining to that pool. (1005403)
• In a non-persistent desktop pool, when decreasing pool size, it may take longer than expected to delete virtual machines. (1005433)
• The error message "insufficient disk space" may mean that there is a network connectivity problem and not a lack of disk space. (1005385)
• A "General fault caused by file" error message is generated when a "Insufficient space for provisioning operation" error message should be generated. (1005564)
• In VirtualCenter, deleting a virtual machine that is in the cloning state does not remove the VDM configuration entry. No new attempt to clone the virtual machine will be initiated. (1005371)

VDM Connection Server

• VDM Connection Server must be installed in directories with ASCII characters only. (1005352)
• If your external URL is not configured correctly, you may see one of the following exception: java.io.IOException:readToken:Premature EOF in the log file. (1005377)
• When using a thin client and manually entering a domain name, the name must be entered in upper case letters for SSO to function. (1005381)
• When setting the default desktop on the command prompt, you must enter both domain name and username. (1005382)
• The name of a VDM Server in a Japanese domain cannot be resolved by a Windows Vista VDM Client. (1005393)
• When an ESX host and associated virtual machines are removed from VirtualCenter, VDM removes those virtual machines that are powered off or suspended from the VDM directory. (1005484)
• Broker cannot distinguish between original and cloned virtual machines (1003785)
  

VDM Web Access

• Support for VDM Web Access with Mac OS is experimental (1003769)
• Linux Web Access usernames cannot cannot begin with a hyphen (1003771)
• When closing your browser or browser session while using VDM Web Access it can take up to two minutes for the session to reset. (1005438)
• User names with more than 20 characters are not supported by VDM Web Access. (1005449)
• Web Access on Windows does not support accessing VDM servers with localized domain names. (1005452)

VDM Client

• VDM client fails to connect to virtual desktop after upgrading to VDM 2.1 or 2.1.1. (1007341)
• After acknowledging the pre-login message, leaving the client on the login screen without any activity for several minutes causes the login process to stall. (1005386)
• A Windows Security Alert message may be issued by the firewall the first time VDM Client or VDM Web Access on Windows is used (1003773)
• Session timeout produces unexpected behavior when the Direct Connect to Virtual Desktop option is enabled(1003774)
• MMR requires overlay support. (105560)

USB Redirection

The USB redirection feature of VDM Client provides generic support for redirecting locally attached USB devices to the desktop virtual machine. The feature has been successfully tested with a range of devices, including printers, scanners, mass storage devices, phones, and PDAs. See the KB article at http://www.vmware.com/info?id=346 for details about known issues with redirecting specific USB devices in VDM.

• Some Human Interface Devices may appear in the VDM Client Devices menu. Devices that are required for local usage (such as keyboards and mice) should not be shared to the Guest virtual machine. (1005451)
• USB Redirection Administrative Privileges (1003776)
• Webcams have known issues with USB redirection and are not supported. (1003777)
• Some composite (multi-function devices) will appear in the device list as more than one device (1003778)
• In general, Bluetooth devices are shareable to the VMware VDM session and devices attached via the Bluetooth adapter are usable in the guest (1003779)
• USB Printer redirection can be confusing if RDP redirection is Enabled. (1003781)
• For USB audio devices shared by the VDM Client to function, audio redirection must be set to “Play in VM (needed for VoIP USB support)” (1003782)
• Blackberry devices should not be shared when in use locally (1003783)
• USB devices sometimes stop functioning and need to be unplugged and reattached to resume operation. (1005565)