VMware

VMware View Manager 3.0.1 Release Notes

View Manager Version 3.0.1 | 29 JAN 2009 | Build 142034 (View Manager), 126338 (View Composer)

Last Document Update: 26 MAR 2009

Check frequently for additions and updates to these release notes.
These release notes cover the following topics:

What's New in View Manager 3.0.1

View Manager 3.0.1 includes the following enhancements:

  • Integrates the ThinPrint Virtual Channel Gateway module so that View deployments can communicate with ThinPrint server.
    Important: VMware View 3.0.1 must be installed before installing ThinPrint's .print Engine for VMware View.
    Print jobs originating from VMware View virtual machines are subject to different licensing criteria on ThinPrint server. In order to provide the print server with information about the origin of a print request, View uses the TPVCGateway module.
  • Provides the capability for the Windows View Client to pass the machine name of the client device to the guest virtual machine.
    On the guest virtual machine, ViewClient_Machine_Name environment variable is set to represent the client machine name at initial login. It is also updated when the client reconnects to the guest virtual machine. In order to assist with third-party integration, a mechanism is provided to allow scripts to be executed on login and reconnect. The details of the scripts are held in a Windows registry key that can be set manually or by using a Group Policy Object (GPO). View Manager 3.0.1 provides an update to the vdm_agent.adm template to include this definition. The registry keys are
    HKLM\Software\Policies\VMware, Inc.\VMware VDM\Agent\Configuration\CommandsToRunOnConnect and  
    HKLM\Software\Policies\VMware, Inc.\VMware VDM\Agent\Configuration\CommandsToRunOnReconnect
     
    The commands to be run are defined as name=value pairs where the value is the command that is executed.  For example, to specify multiple commands, you can enter:
    Command1 = CMD /C c:\script1.vbs
    Command2 = CMD /C c:\script2.vbs
     
    Note: Other applications might have set the CLIENTNAME variable in some circumstances. In order to avoid collisions, this variable is not modified or updated.
  • Contains bug fixes described in Resolved Issues.

View Manager 3.0.1 retains the following features and improvements that were introduced in View Manager 3.0.

  • View Composer – Dramatically reduces the amount of storage consumed. Images can be provisioned in a few seconds in a fully automated manner by the VMware View Manager for rapid rollouts or as an immediate response to everyday support issues.
  • Unified Access – View Manager brokers connections to physical PCs, terminal servers, and blade PCs in addition to virtual desktops hosted on VMware Infrastructure 3.
  • Virtual Printing – Provides end users the ability to print to any local or network printer. Virtual Printing includes a universal print driver, compression for print jobs, and auto detection of local printers from the View Client.
  • Enhanced User Experience – Extends multi-media redirection (MMR) to all Microsoft Windows XP and Windows XPe based clients. Provides increased support for the critical codecs MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4 part2, WMV 7/8/9, WMA, AC3, and MP3. Provides granular policies for USB redirection.
  • Offline Desktop (Experimental) – Provides the flexibility to intelligently and securely move virtual desktops between the datacenter and local resources. Users can check out their virtual desktops onto physical clients, use the virtual desktops locally, and then check them back in.

Important: View Manager 3.0.1 is a replacement for View Manager 3.0. There is no separate download for 3.0.

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Before You Begin

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

General Installation Guidelines

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

  • View Client with Offline Desktop cannot be installed on the same machine as VMware Workstation, VMware ACE, VMware Player, or VMware Server.
  • View Client, the View Client with Offline Desktop, and View Agent cannot be installed on the same machine.
  • Install VMware Infrastructure 3 Version 3.5 update 3 – Install VMware Infrastructure 3 Version 3.5 update 3 if you want to use the Desktop Composer and Offline Desktop features. While upgrading, strictly follow the recommendations in the VMware VirtualCenter Upgrade Guide.
  • Synchronize time – Make sure that you have synchronized time across View 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 – View Client uses Microsoft Internet Explorer internet settings, including proxy settings, when connecting to View Connection Server. Ensure that your Internet Explorer settings are accurate and that you can access the View 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 View 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 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323497) and 884020 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884020).  Failure to do this might result in a Windows Sockets failed error message on the client. 
  • Upgrade View Client machines to use Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) 6.x – This recommendation applies to machines running Windows XP and Windows XPe. Windows 2000 does not support RDC 6.x.Windows Vista comes with RDC 6.x installed. RDC 6.x can be downloaded at the following Microsoft download site: Microsoft downloads
  • View does not support using link-local (169.254.x.x) addresses for virtual desktops – Configure virtual desktops to use DHCP or static IP addresses.
  • Install the VMware View Client with Offline Desktop if you are going to use Offline Desktop.
  • VMware View provides Common Access Card (CAC) support for customers who use Actividentity or Gemalto smart cards. View does not currently offer SSO support which enables single sign on from a client device to a virtual desktop without requiring a user to re-enter a pin.

Backing Up Configuration Data (VDM 2.1 and later)

For information about backing up configuration data, see the VMware technical note at http://www.vmware.com/pdf/viewmanager_data_exp_imp.pdf

Upgrading VMware View

VMware View supports upgrading to the released build of VMware View 3.0.1. Keep in mind the following issues when upgrading VMware View:

Resolved Issues

The following issues are resolved in this release.

  • Delay in accessing View Portal page through View security server
    View security server maintains a set of connections for communication with the View connection server. If you deploy network infrastructure between the security server and the View 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 View Portal 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 View Manager 3.0.1. The fix provides for setting a flag on an active connection to indicate it should not be dropped even when not in use. 

  • Performance issues with View Portal access when HTTPS port is queried on a regular basis
    Sending a non-SSL probe on the SSL port of connection server might cause the Connection Server to slow down. This might result in the following issues:

    • Slow web access to View Portal page
    • Native clients and WYSE terminals perform poorly

    The following error might be logged every thirty seconds in the View connection server logs:

    WARN <Thread-81> [Processor] Problem setting up HTTP connection: java.net.SocketException: Connection reset

    This issue is fixed in View Manager 3.0.1.

  • Time zone is not displayed in Windows Vista virtual machines launched from View Client
    If you launch a Windows Vista virtual machine from View 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 View Manager 3.0.1. The fix provides for display of additional time zone information of the client, in Windows Vista and Windows 2008 operating systems.
  • Dynamic drive redirection does not work through remote session
    You might need to disconnect or reconnect View Client for new drives/USB drives to be displayed in the virtual machine.

    This issue is fixed in View Manager 3.0.1. The fix enables dynamic drive changes to be reflected in the remote session and correctly handles device change notifications, and allows dynamic updates if redirection has been enabled.
  • Windows Vista User Account Control (UAC) fails with VMware View installation
    If you use View Client to log in as a non-admin user on a Windows Vista virtual machine that has VMware View Agent installed and UAC enabled, and 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 View Manager 3.0.1.

Known Issues

The Known Issues are grouped as follows:

General

General Issues include the following categories:

View Administrator

View Client

Installer

Common Access Card

General - Miscellaneous

Unified Access

Offline Desktop

View Composer