Configuring 2X VirtualDesktopServer to use Microsoft Virtual Server Guests

You have two ways to add servers to the farm. You can either automatically search for available VDI Hosts within your domain by clicking the ‘Find...’ button or you can click on the ‘Add...’ button to manually add the VDI Hosts.

NOTE: The checkbox next to the server name indicates the particular server is available to users on this farm. To disable a server temporarily, uncheck this checkbox.

Click the ‘Find...’ button to automatically search for available Virtual Hosts.

All Virtual Hosts within your domain will appear on the list of available servers to your farm, also identifying the host type. To add a server to the farm, enable the checkbox in front of the server name. Click the ‘OK’ button to commit changes.

It will be necessary to install 2X VDI Agent on all Virtual Hosts before they can successfully participate in a load-balanced farm.

To manually add a Host to your farm click the ‘Add...’ button and then choose a ‘VDI Type’ and enter the Host name or IP address in the ‘VDI Host:’ field as shown in the figure below.

The 'VDI Agent' property will point to the 'VDI Host' since the 'VDI Agent' will be running on the same machine as the virtualization technology.

Click ‘Next’ to continue.

2X VirtualDesktopServer will check whether 2X VDI Agent is installed. Check the status and if the status states that the Agent did not reply or the service is not installed, click the ‘Install...’ button to install 2X VDI Agent. Click ‘Add’ if the status states that the Agent is already installed.

Select the OS on which 2X VDI Agent will be installed.

Click ‘Install’ after you’ve checked and possibly entered the administrative credentials. Click ‘Done’ after the installation is complete. Once setup is complete, 2X VirtualDesktopServer will confirm that the latest 2X VDI Agent is installed.

Click ‘Add’ to continue adding the Virtual Host to the Farm.

Make sure that 2X VDI Agent is installed on each Virtual Desktop Host added to the farm. 2X VDI Agent collects the information required by 2X Publishing Agent to be able to load balance each session according to available resources.

NOTE: If you need more information on how to install 2X VDI Agent manually please consult the 2X VirtualDesktopServer Manual

To enable this host in the farm, make sure that the ‘Enable Host in farm’ checkbox is checked.

Select the VDI provider of the host from the ‘VDI Type’ field and the version that you are using from the ‘VDI Version’ field. To change the Host name or IP address of a particular VDI host, use the ‘VDI Host’ field.

The 'VDI Agent' property will point to the 'VDI Host' since the 'VDI Agent' will be running on the same machine as the virtualization technology.

To start using the new host, please enter the username and password of the host. Click on ‘Check Credentials’ if you would like to test the username and password before clicking ‘OK’.

You can configure the direct address by checking the ‘Change Direct Address’ checkbox and type a new direct address. This address is used in Direct Connection mode only (this is an internal or external IP address) depending on where the clients will be. If external, the IP addresses must be assigned at your firewall to your servers).

A ‘Description’ can be given to the host which can be used to easily identify different server from one another.

Next you can type the maximum number of powered-on guests you want this host to accept.

To start publishing the applications, select ‘Publishing’ from the Navigation bar and click the ‘Add...’ button from the Publishing tools.

To publish a virtual desktop with the wizard, click on ‘Publishing’ in the Navigation bar and click ‘Add...’. From the ‘Select Type’ dialog choose ‘Virtual Desktop’ (Publish a Virtual Desktop).

NOTE: If only one server is listed in the Virtual Desktops Hosts list, the wizard will skip the ‘Publish From’ dialog and continue with the ‘Application Settings’ dialog.

In the ‘Publish From’ dialog as seen in the below figure you can choose from which Virtual Desktop Host/s you want to publish the virtual desktop. You can choose to publish the virtual desktop from ‘All Server in Farm’ , from Server Groups or from Individual Hosts.

In this dialog you can type the Desktop Name and a Description for the published desktop. From this dialog you may also change the icon for the published desktop.

There are 3 different properties which can be used by the Virtual Desktop. ‘Connect to any guest’ will load any virtual desktop published to any user that logs in. ‘Connect to specific guest’ will load the virtual desktop selected to every user. ‘Connect to a guest where name equals’ will loads the virtual desktop to users who’s user name is the same as that of the virtual desktop or to users which are using a machine that has an IP address equal to the virtual desktop’s name.

Choose, from the drop down list, the resolution you would like to use. Choose ‘Custom’ to be able to enter your own resolution.

Click ‘Finish’ to finalize the wizard, and the application you’ve just configured will be generated in the ‘Published Applications Explorer’ area. Now you can re-configure the options by using the tabs in the Published Applications Properties’ area.