Using VMware View Client for Linux
May 2012
View Client for Linux
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1
Using VMware View Client for Linux 5
Installation and Configuration 6System Requirements for Linux Clients 6 Supported View Desktop Operating Systems 7 Preparing View Connection Server for View Client 7 Install View Client for Linux 7
Configuring Certificate Checking for End Users 8 Enabling FIPS Mode on the Client 9
Configuring the PCoIP Client-Side Image Cache 9 Managing Server Connections and Desktops 10
Log In to a View Desktop for the First Time 11 Certificate Checking Modes for View Client 12 Switch Desktops 13
Log Off or Disconnect from a Desktop 13 Roll Back a Desktop 14
Using a Microsoft Windows Desktop on a Linux System 15 Feature Support Matrix 15
Internationalization 15 Keyboards and Monitors 16 Copying and Pasting Text 16 Troubleshooting View Client 17
Reset a Desktop 17
Uninstalling View Client 17
View Client Command Usage and Configuration Settings 17 View Client Exit Codes 23
Redirecting a USB Device to a Remote Desktop 24
Index 27
Using VMware View Client for Linux
1
This guide, Using VMware View Client for Linux, provides information about installing and using VMware View™ software on a Linux client system to connect to a View desktop in the datacenter.
The information in this document includes system requirements and instructions for installing and using View Client for Linux.
This information is intended for administrators who need to set up a VMware View deployment that includes Linux client systems. The information is written for experienced system administrators who are familiar with virtual machine technology and datacenter operations.
NOTE This document pertains to the View Client for Linux that VMware makes available on Ubuntu. In addition, several VMware partners offer thin client devices for VMware View deployments. The features that are available for each thin client device, and the operating systems supported, are determined by the vendor and model and the configuration that an enterprise chooses to use. For information about the vendors and models for thin client devices, see the VMware Compatibility Guide, available on the VMware Web site.
n Installation and Configuration on page 6
Setting up a View deployment for Linux clients involves meeting the system requirements for Linux clients, downloading and installing View Client for Linux, and configuring security and performance settings on the Linux client systems.
n Managing Server Connections and Desktops on page 10
Use View Client to connect to View Connection Server or a security server and log in to or off of a View desktop. For troubleshooting purposes, you can also reset a View desktop assigned to you and roll back a desktop you checked out.
n Using a Microsoft Windows Desktop on a Linux System on page 15
View Client for Linux supports some of the features included in View Client for Windows.
n Troubleshooting View Client on page 17
You can solve most problems with View Client by resetting the desktop or by reinstalling the VMware View Client.
n View Client Command Usage and Configuration Settings on page 17
You can configure View Client using command-line options or equivalent properties in a configuration file.
Installation and Configuration
Setting up a View deployment for Linux clients involves meeting the system requirements for Linux clients, downloading and installing View Client for Linux, and configuring security and performance settings on the Linux client systems.
n System Requirements for Linux Clients on page 6
You can install View Client for Linux on PCs that use the Ubuntu Linux 10.04 or 10.10 operating system.
n Supported View Desktop Operating Systems on page 7
Administrators create virtual machines with a guest operating system and install View Agent in the guest operating system. End users can log in to these virtual machines from a client device.
n Preparing View Connection Server for View Client on page 7
Administrators must perform specific tasks to enable end users to connect to View desktops.
n Install View Client for Linux on page 7
End users open View Client to connect to virtual desktops from a physical machine. View Client for Linux runs on Ubuntu 10.04 or 10.10 systems, and you install it by using the Synaptic Package Manager.
n Configuring Certificate Checking for End Users on page 8
Administrators can configure the certificate verification mode so that, for example, full verification is always performed.
n Enabling FIPS Mode on the Client on page 9
You can set a configuration property so that the client uses only FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) 140-2 approved cryptographic algorithms and protocols to establish a remote PCoIP connection.
n Configuring the PCoIP Client-Side Image Cache on page 9
PCoIP client-side image caching stores image content on the client to avoid retransmission. This feature is enabled by default to reduce bandwidth usage.
System Requirements for Linux Clients
You can install View Client for Linux on PCs that use the Ubuntu Linux 10.04 or 10.10 operating system. The Linux PC or laptop on which you install View Client, and the peripherals it uses, must meet certain system requirements.
Model Intel-based desktop or laptop computer
Memory At least 2GB of RAM
Operating systems 32-bit Ubuntu Linux 10.04 or 10.10 View Connection Server,
Security Server, and View Agent
4.6.1 or later
If client systems connect from outside the corporate firewall, VMware recommends that you use a security server. With a security server, client systems will not require a VPN connection.
Display protocol for VMware View
PCoIP or RDP Hardware Requirements
n Available RAM above system requirements to support various monitor
setups. Use the following formula as a general guide:
20MB + (24 * (# monitors) * (monitor width) * (monitor height))
As a rough guide, you can use the following calculations:
1 monitor: 1600 x 1200: 64MB 2 monitors: 1600 x 1200: 128MB 3 monitors: 1600 x 1200: 256MB
Hardware Requirements
for RDP n x86-based processor with SSE2 extensions, with a 800MHz or higherprocessor speed.
n 128MB RAM.
Supported View Desktop Operating Systems
Administrators create virtual machines with a guest operating system and install View Agent in the guest operating system. End users can log in to these virtual machines from a client device.
For a list of the supported guest operating systems, see the "Supported Operating Systems for View Agent" topic in the VMware View 4.6.x or 5.x installation documentation.
Preparing View Connection Server for View Client
Administrators must perform specific tasks to enable end users to connect to View desktops.
Before end users can connect to View Connection Server or a security server and access a View desktop, you must configure certain pool settings and security settings:
n If you are using a security server, as VMware recommends, verify that you are using View Connection
Server 4.6.1 and View Security Server 4.6.1 or later. See the VMware View Installation documentation for View 4.6 or later.
n If you plan to use a secure connection for client devices and if the secure connection is configured with a
DNS host name for View Connection Server or a security server, verify that the client device can resolve this DNS name.
To enable or disable the secure tunnel, in View Administrator, go to the Edit View Connection Server Settings dialog box and use the check box called Use secure tunnel connection to desktop.
n Verify that a virtual desktop pool has been created and that the user account you plan to use is entitled to
access this View desktop. See the topics about creating desktop pools in the VMware View Administration documentation.
n To use two-factor authentication with View Client, such as RSA SecurID or RADIUS authentication, you
must enable this feature on View Connection Server. RADIUS authentication is available with View 5.1 or later View Connection Server. For more information, see the topics about two-factor authentication in the VMware View Administration documentation.
Install View Client for Linux
End users open View Client to connect to virtual desktops from a physical machine. View Client for Linux runs on Ubuntu 10.04 or 10.10 systems, and you install it by using the Synaptic Package Manager.
Prerequisites
n Verify that the client system uses a supported operating system. See “System Requirements for Linux
n Verify that you can log in as an administrator on the client system.
n If you plan to use the RDP display protocol to connect to a View desktop, verify that you have the
appropriate RDP client installed. See “System Requirements for Linux Clients,” on page 6. Procedure
1 On your Linux laptop or PC, enable Canonical Partners.
a From the Ubuntu menu bar, select System > Administration > Update Manager. b Click the Settings button and supply the password for performing administrative tasks.
c In the Software Sources dialog box, click the Other Software tab and select the Canonical Partners check box to select the archive for software that Canonical packages for their partners.
d Click Close and follow the instructions to update the package list.
2 From the Ubuntu menu bar, select System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager. 3 Click Search and search for vmware.
4 In the list of packages returned, select the check box next to vmware-view-client and select Mark for Installation.
Do not select the check box for the open client. 5 Click Apply in the toolbar.
VMware View Client for Linux is installed.
6 To determine that installation succeeded, verify that the VMware View application icon appears in the Applications > Internet menu.
What to do next
Start View Client and verify that you can log in to the correct virtual desktop. See “Log In to a View Desktop for the First Time,” on page 11.
Configuring Certificate Checking for End Users
Administrators can configure the certificate verification mode so that, for example, full verification is always performed.
Certificate checking occurs for SSL connections between View Connection Server and View Client. Administrators can configure the verification mode to use one of the following strategies:
n End users are allowed to choose the verification mode. The rest of this list describes the three verification
modes.
n (No verification) No certificate checks are performed.
n (Warn) End users are warned if a self-signed certificate is being presented by the server. Users can choose
whether or not to allow this type of connection.
n (Full security) Full verification is performed and connections that do not pass full verification are rejected.
For details about the types of verification checks performed, see “Certificate Checking Modes for View Client,” on page 12.
Use the view.sslVerificationMode property to set the default verification mode: n 1 implements Full Verification.
n 2 implements Warn If the Connection May Be Insecure. n 3 implements No Verification Performed.
To configure the mode so that end users cannot change the mode, set the view.allowSslVerificationMode
property to "False" in the /etc/vmware/view-mandatory-config file on the client system. See “View Client
Command Usage and Configuration Settings,” on page 17.
Enabling FIPS Mode on the Client
You can set a configuration property so that the client uses only FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) 140-2 approved cryptographic algorithms and protocols to establish a remote PCoIP connection.
This setting applies to both server and client. You can configure either endpoint or both endpoints to operate in FIPS mode. Configuring a single endpoint to operate in FIPS mode limits the encryption algorithms that are available for session negotiation.
IMPORTANT If you enable FIPS mode on one endpoint but the other endpoint does not support cryptographic algorithms that are approved by FIPS 140-2, the connection will fail.
When this setting is disabled or not configured, FIPS mode is not used.
Setting the Configuration Property
To enable or disable FIPS mode, you can set the pcoip.enable_fips_mode property. Setting the property to
1 turns on FIPS mode, and setting the property to 0 turns off FIPS mode. For example, the following setting
turns on FIPS mode:
pcoip.enable_fips_mode = 1
Use a space before and after the equals (=) sign.
You can set this property in any of several files. When View Client starts up, the setting is processed from various locations in the following order:
1 /etc/teradici/pcoip_admin_defaults.conf
2 ~/.pcoip.rc
3 /etc/teradici/pcoip_admin.conf
If a setting is defined in multiple locations, the value that is used is the value from the last file read.
Configuring the PCoIP Client-Side Image Cache
PCoIP client-side image caching stores image content on the client to avoid retransmission. This feature is enabled by default to reduce bandwidth usage.
IMPORTANT This feature is available only when the version of View Agent and View Connection Server is View 5.0 or later.
The PCoIP image cache captures spatial, as well as temporal, redundancy. For example, when you scroll down through a PDF document, new content appears from the bottom of the window and the oldest content disappears from the top of the window. All the other content remains constant and moves upward. The PCoIP image cache is capable of detecting this spatial and temporal redundancy.
Because during scrolling, the display information sent to the client device is primarily a sequence of cache indices, using the image cache saves a significant amount of bandwidth. This efficient scrolling has benefits both on the LAN and over the WAN.
n On the LAN, where bandwidth is relatively unconstrained, using client-side image caching delivers
n Over the WAN, to stay within the available bandwidth constraints, scrolling performance is often
degraded unless client-side caching is used. In this situation, client-side caching can save bandwidth and ensure a smooth, highly responsive scrolling experience.
By default this feature is enabled, so that the client stores portions of the display that were previously transmitted. The default cache size is 250MB. You can configure the client image cache size, from a minimum of 50MB to a maximum of 300MB. A larger cache size reduces bandwidth usage but requires more memory on the client. A smaller cache size requires more bandwidth usage. For example, a thin client with little memory requires a smaller cache size.
Setting the Configuration Property
To configure the cache size, you can set the pcoip.image_cache_size_mb property. For example, the following setting configures the cache size to be 50MB:
pcoip.image_cache_size_mb = 50
Use a space before and after the equals (=) sign. If you specify a number less than 50, the number is converted to 50. If you specify a number larger than 300, the number is converted to 300.
You can set this property in any of several files. When View Client starts up, the setting is processed from various locations in the following order:
1 /etc/teradici/pcoip_admin_defaults.conf
2 ~/.pcoip.rc
3 /etc/teradici/pcoip_admin.conf
If a setting is defined in multiple locations, the value that is used is the value from the last file read. NOTE You can set the following property to display a visual indication that the image cache is working:
pcoip.show_image_cache_hits = 1
With this configuration, for every tile (32 x 32 pixels) in an image that comes from the image cache, you can see a rectangle around the tile.
Managing Server Connections and Desktops
Use View Client to connect to View Connection Server or a security server and log in to or off of a View desktop. For troubleshooting purposes, you can also reset a View desktop assigned to you and roll back a desktop you checked out.
Depending on how the administrator configures policies for View desktops, end users might be able to perform many operations on their desktops.
n Log In to a View Desktop for the First Time on page 11
Before you have end users access their virtual desktops, test that you can log in to a virtual desktop from the client system.
n Certificate Checking Modes for View Client on page 12
Administrators and sometimes end users can configure whether client connections are rejected if any or some server certificate checks fail.
n Switch Desktops on page 13
If you are connected to a desktop, you can switch to another desktop.
n Log Off or Disconnect from a Desktop on page 13
n Roll Back a Desktop on page 14
Rolling back discards changes made to a virtual desktop that you checked out for use in local mode on a Windows PC or laptop.
Log In to a View Desktop for the First Time
Before you have end users access their virtual desktops, test that you can log in to a virtual desktop from the client system.
Prerequisites
n Obtain the credentials that you need to log in, such as Active Directory user name and password, RSA
SecurID user name and passcode, or RADIUS authentication user name and passcode.
n Obtain the domain name for logging in.
n Perform the administrative tasks described in “Preparing View Connection Server for View Client,” on
page 7.
n If you are outside the corporate network and are not using a security server to access the virtual desktop,
verify that your client device is set up to use a VPN connection and turn that connection on. IMPORTANT VMware recommends using a security server rather than a VPN.
n Verify that you have the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the server that provides access to the
virtual desktop. You also need the port number if the port is not 443.
n If you plan to use the RDP display protocol to connect to a View desktop, verify that the AllowDirectRDP
View Agent group policy setting is enabled.
n If your administrator has allowed it, you can configure the certificate checking mode for the SSL certificate
that the View server presents. See “Certificate Checking Modes for View Client,” on page 12. Procedure
1 Either open a terminal window and enter vmware-view or select Applications > Internet > VMware View
Client from the Ubuntu menu bar.
2 Enter the server name and a port number if required, and click Continue. An example using a nondefault port is view.company.com:1443.
3 If you are prompted for RSA SecurID credentials or RADIUS authentication credentials, enter the user name and passcode and click Continue.
4 Enter your user name and password, select a domain, and click OK.
You might see a message that you must confirm before the login dialog box appears.
5 If the desktop security indicator turns red and a warning message appears, respond to the prompt. Usually, this warning means that View Connection Server did not send a certificate thumbprint to the client. The thumbprint is a hash of the certificate public key and is used as an abbreviation of the public key. View Connection Server 4.6.1, 5.0.1 and later versions send thumbprint information, but earlier versions do not.
6 (Optional) Select the display protocol and window size to use.
Option Description
Display protocol The default is PCoIP. To use Microsoft RDP instead, click PCoIP under the desktop name to toggle and select Microsoft RDP.
Window size The default is All Monitors. To choose another window size, click one of the other options under the desktop name, such as Large Screen or Custom
Size.
7 Double-click a View desktop shortcut to connect.
After you are connected, the client window appears. If View Client cannot connect to the desktop, perform the following tasks:
n Determine whether View Connection Server is configured not to use SSL. View Client requires SSL
connections. Check whether the global setting in View Administrator for the Use SSL for client
connections check box is deselected. If so, you must either select the check box, so that SSL is used, or set up your environment so that clients can connect to an HTTPS enabled load balancer or other intermediate device that is configured to make an HTTP connection to View Connection Server.
n Verify that the security certificate for View Connection Server is working properly. If it is not, in View
Administrator, you might also see that the View Agent on desktops is unreachable.
n Verify that the tags set on the View Connection Server instance allow connections from this user. See the
VMware View Administration document.
n Verify that the user is entitled to access this desktop. See the VMware View Administration document. n If you are using the RDP display protocol to connect to a View desktop, verify that the client computer
allows remote desktop connections.
Certificate Checking Modes for View Client
Administrators and sometimes end users can configure whether client connections are rejected if any or some server certificate checks fail.
Certificate checking occurs for SSL connections between View Connection Server and View Client. Certificate verification includes the following checks:
n Is the certificate intended for a purpose other than verifying the identity of the sender and encrypting
server communications? That is, is it the correct type of certificate?
n Has the certificate expired, or is it valid only in the future? That is, is the certificate valid according to the
computer clock?
n Does the common name on the certificate match the host name of the server that sends it? A mismatch
can occur if a load balancer redirects View Client to a server with a certificate that does not match the host name entered in View Client. Another reason a mismatch can occur is if you enter an IP address rather than a host name in the client.
n Is the certificate signed by an unknown or untrusted certificate authority (CA)? Self-signed certificates are
one type of untrusted CA.
To pass this check, the certificate's chain of trust must be rooted in the device's local certificate store. NOTE For instructions on distributing a self-signed root certificate that users can install on their Linux client systems, see the Ubuntu documentation.
View Client uses the PEM-formatted certificates stored in the /etc/ssl/certs directory on the client system.
For instructions on importing a root certificate stored in this location, see the procedure called "Importing a Certificate into the System-Wide Certificate Authority Database" in the document at
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/OpenSSL.
In addition to presenting a server certificate, View Connection Server 4.6.1, 5.0.1 and later versions also send a certificate thumbprint to View Client. The thumbprint is a hash of the certificate public key and is used as an abbreviation of the public key. If the View server does not send a thumbprint, you see a warning that the connection is untrusted.
If your administrator has allowed it, you can set the certificate checking mode. Select File > Preferences from the VMware View Client menu bar or the View desktop menu bar. You have three choices:
n Never connect to untrusted servers. If any of the certificate checks fails, the client cannot connect to the
server. An error message lists the checks that failed.
n Warn before connecting to untrusted servers. If a certificate check fails because the server uses a
self-signed certificate, you can click Continue to ignore the warning. For self-self-signed certificates, the certificate name is not required to match the View Connection Server name you entered in View Client.
n Do not verify server identity certificates. This setting means that View does not perform any certificate
checking.
Switch Desktops
If you are connected to a desktop, you can switch to another desktop. Procedure
u Select a View desktop from the same server or a different server.
Option Action
Choose a different View desktop on
the same server Select Desktop > Disconnect from the menu bar. Choose a View desktop on a different
server Select File > Choose another server from the menu bar.
Log Off or Disconnect from a Desktop
If you disconnect from a View desktop without logging off, applications remain open.
If you are not connected to a View desktop, you can log off without having to connect first. Using this feature has the same result as sending Ctrl+Alt+Del to the desktop and then clicking Log Off.
NOTE The Windows key combination Ctrl+Alt+Del is not supported in View desktops. To use the equivalent of pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del, select Desktop > Send Ctrl+Alt+Del from the menu bar.
Procedure
n Disconnect without logging off.
Option Action
Also quit View Client Click the Close button in the corner of the window or select File > Quit from the menu bar.
Choose a different View desktop on
the same server Select Desktop > Disconnect from the menu bar. Choose a View desktop on a different
server
Select File > Choose another server from the menu bar.
NOTE Your View administrator can configure your desktop to automatically log off when disconnected. In that case, any open programs in your desktop are stopped.
n Log off and disconnect.
Option Action
From within the desktop OS Use the Windows Start menu to log off.
From the menu bar Select Desktop > Disconnect and Log off.
If you use this procedure, files that are open on the View desktop will be closed without being saved first.
n Log off when you are not connected to a View desktop.
a From the Home screen with desktop shortcuts, select the desktop and select Desktop > Log off from the menu bar.
b If prompted, supply credentials for accessing the View desktop.
If you use this procedure, files that are open on the View desktop will be closed without being saved first.
Roll Back a Desktop
Rolling back discards changes made to a virtual desktop that you checked out for use in local mode on a Windows PC or laptop.
You can roll back a View desktop only if your View administrator has enabled this feature and only if you checked out the desktop.
CAUTION If changes were made to the local mode desktop and those changes were not replicated back to the View server before rolling back, the changes are lost.
Prerequisites
n Obtain the credentials that you need to log in, such as Active Directory user name and password, RSA
SecurID user name and passcode, or RADIUS authentication user name and passcode.
n Back up the desktop to the server to preserve data or files.
You can use View Administrator to replicate data to the server, or, if the policy is set to allow it, you can use View Client with Local Mode on the Windows client where the desktop is currently checked out.
Procedure
1 If the View Client Home screen displays the View Connection Server prompt, supply the server name and click Continue.
a If you are prompted for RSA SecurID credentials or RADIUS authentication credentials, enter the user name and passcode and click Continue.
b Enter your user name and password in the login dialog box.
2 On the View Client Home screen that displays View desktop shortcuts, select the desktop and select Desktop > Rollback Desktop from the menu bar.
After the View desktop is rolled back, you can log in to it from the Linux client.
Using a Microsoft Windows Desktop on a Linux System
View Client for Linux supports some of the features included in View Client for Windows.
Feature Support Matrix
View Client for Linux supports a subset of the features available on other clients, such as the View Client for Windows desktops and laptops.
Table 1-1. Features Supported on Windows Desktops for Linux Clients
Feature Windows 7 View Desktop
Windows Vista View
Desktop Windows XP View Desktop
RSA SecurID or RADIUS X X X
Single sign-on X X X
RDP display protocol X X X
PCoIP display protocol X X X
USB access Wyse MMR Virtual printing Location-based printing X X X Smart cards Multiple monitors X X X Local mode
For descriptions of these features and their limitations, see the View Architecture Planning document. NOTE This feature support matrix applies to the View Client for Linux that VMware makes available on Ubuntu. In addition, several VMware partners offer thin client devices for VMware View deployments. The features that are available for each thin client device are determined by the vendor and model and the configuration that an enterprise chooses to use. For information about the vendors and models for thin client devices, see the VMware Compatibility Guide, available on the VMware Web site.
Internationalization
The user interface and documentation for View Client are available in English, Japanese, French, German, simplified Chinese, and Korean.
If you are using a Ubuntu 10.4 Linux client system and you want to display the View Client user interface in a language other than English, you must set the client system to use a locale that uses UTF-8 encoding.
Keyboards and Monitors
You can use multiple monitors and all types of keyboards with a View desktop. Certain settings ensure the best possible user experience.
Best Practices for Using Multiple Monitors
Following are recommendations for successfully using multiple monitors with a View desktop:
n With PCoIP, you can use up to four monitors if you have enough video RAM.
To use more than two monitors to display your View desktop on a Ubuntu client system, you must configure the kernel.xhmmax setting correctly. Use the following formula:
max horizontal resolution X max vertical resolution X max number of monitors X 4
For example, manually setting kernel.shmmax to 65536000 allows you to use four monitors with a screen
resolution of 2560x1600.
n With RDP, the display can only be shown in span mode. To use span mode to stretch the display across
multiple monitors correctly, the monitors must be the same height.
Screen Resolution
Consider the following guidelines when setting screen resolutions:
n If you open a View desktop on a secondary monitor and then change the screen resolution on that monitor,
the View desktop moves to the primary monitor.
n With PCoIP, if you have multiple monitors, you can adjust the resolution for each monitor separately,
with a resolution of up to 2560x1600 per display.
n With RDP, if you have multiple monitors, you cannot adjust the resolution for each monitor separately,
and the display is stretched across the monitors if the monitors are all the same height.
Keyboard Limitations
For the most part, keyboards work as well with a View desktop as they do with a physical computer. Following is a list of the limitations you might encounter, depending on the type of peripherals and software on your client system:
n Some multimedia keys on a multimedia keyboard might not work. For example, the Music key and My
Computer key might not work.
n If you connect to a desktop using RDP and if you have the Fluxbox window manager, if a screen saver is
running in the View desktop, after a period of inactivity, the keyboard might stop working.
Regardless of which window manager you use, VMware recommends turning off the screen saver in a View desktop and not specifying a sleep timer.
Copying and Pasting Text
You can copy and paste text from you client system to a remote View desktop. If your administrator enables the feature, you can also copy and paste text from a View desktop to your client system or between two View desktops. Some restrictions apply.
If you use the PCoIP display protocol and you are using a View 5.x or later View desktop, your View administrator can set this feature so that copy and paste operations are allowed only from your client system to a View desktop, or only from a View desktop to your client system, or both, or neither.
Administrators configure the ability to copy and paste by using group policy objects (GPOs) that pertain to View Agent in View desktops. For more information, see the topic about View PCoIP general session variables in the VMware View Administration document, in the chapter about configuring policies.
You can copy plain text or formatted text from View Client to a View desktop, or the reverse, but the pasted text is plain text.
You cannot copy and paste graphics. You also cannot copy and paste files between a View desktop and the file system on your client computer.
Troubleshooting View Client
You can solve most problems with View Client by resetting the desktop or by reinstalling the VMware View Client.
Reset a Desktop
Resetting shuts down and restarts the desktop. Unsaved data is lost.
You might need to reset a desktop if the desktop operating system stops responding.
Resetting a View desktop is the equivalent of pressing the Reset button on a physical PC to force the PC to restart. Any files that are open on the View desktop will be closed without being saved first.
You can reset the desktop only if your View administrator has enabled this feature. Procedure
u Use the Reset Desktop command.
Option Action
From within the desktop OS Select Desktop > Reset Desktop from the menu bar.
From Home screen with desktop
shortcuts Select the desktop and select Desktop > Reset Desktop from the menu bar.
The operating system in the View desktop is rebooted. View Client disconnects from the desktop. What to do next
Wait an appropriate amount of time for system startup before attempting to connect to the View desktop.
Uninstalling View Client
You can sometimes resolve problems with View Client by uninstalling and reinstalling the VMware View Client application.
You uninstall View Client using the same method you usually use for uninstalling any other application. For example, select Applications > Ubuntu Software Center, and in the Installed Software section, select vmware-view-client and click Remove.
After uninstalling is complete, you can reinstall the application. See “Install View Client for Linux,” on page 7.
View Client Command Usage and Configuration Settings
You can configure View Client using command-line options or equivalent properties in a configuration file. You can use the vmware-view command-line interface or set properties in configuration files to define default
Processing Order for Configuration Settings
When View Client starts up, configuration settings are processed from various locations in the following order: 1 /etc/vmware/view-default-config
2 ~/.vmware/view-preferences
3 Command-line arguments
4 /etc/vmware/view-mandatory-config
If a setting is defined in multiple locations, the value that is used is the value from the last file or command-line option read. For example, to specify settings that override users' preferences, set properties in
the /etc/vmware/view-mandatory-config file.
To set default values that users can change, use the /etc/vmware/view-default-config file. After users change
a setting, when they exit View Client, any changed settings are saved in the ~/.vmware/view-preferences file.
Properties That Prevent Users from Changing Defaults
For each property, you can set a corresponding view.allow property that controls whether users are allowed to change the setting. For example, if you set the view.allowDefaultBroker property to "FALSE" in the /etc/vmware/view-mandatory-config file, users will not be able to change the name in the Server Name
field when they use View Client.
Syntax for Using the Command-Line Interface
Use the following form of the vmware-view command from a terminal window. vmware-view [command-line-option [argument]] ...
By default, the vmware-view command is located in the /usr/bin directory.
You can use either the short form or the long form of the option name, although not all options have a short form. For example, to specify the domain you can use either -d (short form) or --domainName= (long form). You might choose to use the long form to make a script more human-readable.
You can use the --help option to get a list of command-line options and usage information. IMPORTANT If you need to use a proxy, use the following syntax:
http_proxy=proxy_server_URL:port https_proxy=proxy_server_URL:port vmware-view options
This workaround is required because you must clear the environment variables that were previously set for the proxy. If you do not perform this action, the proxy exception setting does not take effect in View Client. You configure a proxy exception for the View Connection Server instance.
View Client Configuration Settings
For your convenience, almost all configuration settings have both a key=value property and a corresponding command-line option name. For a few settings, there is a command-line option but no corresponding property you can set in a configuration file. For a few other settings, you must set a property because no command-line option is available.
IMPORTANT Some command-line options and configuration keys, such as the ones for USB redirection and MMR, are available only with the version of View Client provided by third-party vendors. For more information about these partners, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.
Table 1-2. View Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys
Configuration Key Command-Line Option Description
view.allowDefaultBroker -l, --lockServer Example:
--lockServer -s view.company.com
Using this command-line option, or setting the property to "FALSE", disables the Server Name field unless the client has never connected to any server, and no server address is provided in the command line or the preferences file. view.autoConnectBroker None Automatically connects to the last View
server used unless the
view.defaultBroker configuration property is set or unless the
--serverURL= command-line option is used.
Specify "TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE".
Setting this property and the
view.autoConnectDesktop property to "TRUE" is the equivalent of setting the view.nonInteractive property to "TRUE".
view.autoConnectDesktop None Automatically connects to the last View desktop used unless the
view.defaultDesktop configuration property is set or unless the
--desktopName= command-line option is used.
Specify "TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE".
Setting this property and the
view.autoConnectBroker property to "TRUE" is the equivalent of setting the view.nonInteractive property to "TRUE". view.defaultBroker -s, --serverURL= Examples: --serverURL=https://view.company.com -s view.company.com --serverURL=view.company.com:1443
Adds the name that you specify to the
Server Name field in View Client. Specify
a fully qualified domain name. You can also specify a port number if you do not use the default 443.
Default is the most recently used value. view.defaultDesktop -n, --desktopName= Specifies which desktop to use when
autoConnectDesktop is set to "TRUE" and the user has access to multiple desktops.
This is the name you would see in the Select Desktop dialog box. The name is usually the pool name.
view.defaultDesktopHeight None Specifies the default height of the window for the View desktop, in pixels.
Table 1-2. View Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys (Continued)
Configuration Key Command-Line Option Description
view.defaultDesktopSize --desktopSize= Examples:
--desktopSize="1280x800" --desktopSize="all"
Sets the default size of the window for the View desktop:
n To use all monitors, set the property to
"1" or use the command-line
argument "all".
n To use full screen mode on one monitor, set the property to "2" or use the command-line argument "full".
n To use a large window, set the property to "3" or use the command-line argument "large".
n To use a small window, set the property to "4" or use the command-line argument "small".
n To set a custom size, set the property
to "5"and then also set the view.defaultDesktopWidth and view.defaultDesktopHeight properties. Alternatively, specify the width by height, in pixels, at the command-line as "widthxheight". view.defaultDesktopWidth None Specifies the default width of the window
for the View desktop, in pixels. view.defaultDomain -d, --domainName= Sets the domain name that View Client
uses for all connections and adds the domain name that you specify to the
Domain Name field in View Client
authentication dialog box.
view.defaultPassword -p "-", --password="-" Always specify "-" to read the password from stdin.
Sets the password that View Client uses for all connections and adds the password to the Password field in View Client authentication dialog box if View Connection Server accepts password authentication.
NOTE You cannot use a blank password.
That is, you cannot specify --password="" view.defaultProtocol --protocol= Specifies which display protocol to use.
Specify "PCOIP" or "RDP". These values are case-sensitive. For example, if you enter rdp the protocol used will be the default. Default is the setting specified in View Administrator, under pool settings for the pool.
view.defaultUser -u, --userName= Sets the user name that View Client uses for all connections and adds the user name that you specify to the User Name field in View Client authentication dialog box. For kiosk mode, the account name can be based on the client's MAC address, or it can begin with a recognized prefix string, such as custom-.
Table 1-2. View Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys (Continued)
Configuration Key Command-Line Option Description
view.fullScreen --fullscreen Hides the host operating system and opens the View Client user interface in full screen mode. This option does not affect the screen mode of the desktop session. If you are setting the configuration key, specify "TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE".
view.kbdLayout -k, --kbdLayout= Examples:
--kbdLayout="en-us" -k "fr"
Specifies which locale to use for the keyboard layout, by language code.
view.kioskLogin --kioskLogin
Example: See “Example: Kiosk Mode Example,” on page 23.
Specifies that View client is going to authenticate using a kiosk mode account. If you are setting the configuration key, specify "TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE".
view.mmrPath -m, --mmrPath= Example:
--mmrPath="/usr/lib/altmmr"
(Available only with distributions from third-party vendors) Specifies the path to the directory that contains the Wyse MMR (multimedia redirection) libraries.
view.nomenubar --nomenubar Suppresses the View Client menu bar
when View Client is in full screen mode, so that users cannot access menu options to log off of, reset, or disconnect from a View desktop. Use this option when configuring kiosk mode.
If you are setting the configuration key, specify "TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE". view.nonInteractive -q, --nonInteractive Example: --nonInteractive --serverURL="https://view.company.com" --userName="user1" --password="-" --domainName="xyz" --desktopName="Windows 7"
Hides unnecessary UI steps from end users by skipping the screens that are specified in the command line or configuration properties.
If you are setting the configuration key, specify "TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE".
Setting this property to "TRUE" is the equivalent of setting the
view.autoConnectBroker and view.autoConnectDesktop properties to "TRUE".
Table 1-2. View Client Command-Line Options and Configuration File Keys (Continued)
Configuration Key Command-Line Option Description
view.once --once Specifies that you do not want View Client
to retry connecting in the case of an error occurring.
Use --once if you want to obtain a similar workflow to the View 4.6 client. This option will force the View client to exit after the user disconnects or logs off from a desktop.
You should usually specify this option if you use kiosk mode, and use the exit code to handle the error. Otherwise, you might find it difficult to kill the vmware-view process remotely.
If you are setting the configuration key, specify "TRUE" or "FALSE". Default is "FALSE".
view.rdesktopOptions --rdesktopOptions= Example:
--rdesktopOptions="-f -m"
(Available if you use the Microsoft RDP display protocol) Specifies command-line options to forward to the rdesktop application. For information about rdesktop options, see the rdesktop documentation.
None -r, --redirect=
Example:
--redirect="sound:off"
(Available if you use the Microsoft RDP display protocol) Specifies a local device that you want rdesktop to redirect to the View desktop.
Specify the device information that you want to pass to the -r option of rdesktop. You can set multiple device options in a single command.
view.sslVerificationMode None Sets the server certificate verification mode.
Specify "1" to reject connections when the certificate fails any of the verification checks, "2" to warn but allow connections that use a self-signed certificate, or "3" to allow unverifiable connections. If you specify "3" no verification checks are performed. Default is "2".
None --printEnvironmentInfo
Example:
--printEnvironmentInfo -s view.company.com
Displays information about the
environment of a client device, including its IP address, MAC address, machine name, and domain name.
For kiosk mode, you can create an account for the client based on the MAC address. To display the MAC address, you must use this option with the -s option.
None --usb= (Available only with distributions from
third-party vendors) Specifies which options to use for USB redirection. See“Redirecting a USB Device to a Remote Desktop,” on page 24.
None --version Displays version information about View
Example: Kiosk Mode Example
Kiosk users might include customers at airline check-in stations, students in classrooms or libraries, medical personnel at medical data entry workstations, or customers at self-service points. Accounts are associated with client devices rather than users because users do not need to log in to use the client device or the View desktop. Users can still be required to provide authentication credentials for some applications.
To set up kiosk mode, you must use the vdmadmin command-line interface on the View Connection Server
instance and perform several procedures documented in the chapter about kiosk mode in the VMware View
Administration document. After you set up kiosk mode, you can use the vmware-view command on a Linux
client to connect to a View desktop in kiosk mode.
To connect to View desktops from Linux clients in kiosk mode, you must, at a minimum, include the following configuration keys or command-line options.
Configuration Key Equivalent Command-line Options
view.kioskLogin --kioskLogin view.nonInteractive -q, --nonInteractive view.fullScreen --fullscreen view.nomenubar --nomenubar view.defaultBroker -s, --serverURL=
Omitting any of these configuration settings is not supported for kiosk mode. If View Connection Server is set up to require a non-default kiosk user name, you must also set the view.defaultUser property or use the -u or --userName= command-line option. If a non-default user name is not required and you do not specify a user name, View Client can derive and use the default kiosk user name.
NOTE If you set the view.sslVerificationMode configuration key, be sure to set it in the /etc/vmware/view-mandatory-config file. When the client runs in kiosk mode, the client does not look in the view-preferences
file.
The command shown in this example runs View Client on a Linux client system and has the following characteristics:
n The user account name is based on the client's MAC address.
n View Client runs in full screen mode without a View Client menu bar.
n Users are automatically connected to the specified View Connection Server instance and View desktop
and are not prompted for login credentials.
n If a connection error occurs, depending on the error code returned, a script might run or a kiosk monitoring
program might handle the error. As a result, for example, the client system might display an out-of-order screen or might wait a certain amount of time before attempting to connect to View Connection Server again.
./vmware-view --kioskLogin --nonInteractive --once --fullscreen --nomenubar
--serverURL="server.mycomany.com" --userName="CM-00:11:22:33:44:55:66:77" --password="mypassword"
View Client Exit Codes
The command-line interface for View Client can return exit codes to indicate the nature of any error that View Client encounters.
Table 1-3 shows the exit codes that the vmware-view command can return. Some codes pertain only to View
Table 1-3. View Client Exit Codes
Exit
Code Description
-1 Fatal error in kiosk mode. 0 Success.
1 Connection failed. 2 Login failed.
3 Desktop failed to start. 4 RDP failed to start. 5 RDP operation failed. 6 Tunnel connection lost. 7 Local desktop transfer failure. 8 Local desktop check-in failure. 9 Local desktop check-out failure. 10 Local desktop rollback failure.
11 Unknown result received during authentication. 12 Authentication error.
13 Received request to use an unknown authentication method. 14 Invalid server response.
15 Desktop was disconnected. 16 Tunnel was disconnected. 17 Reserved for future development. 18 Reserved for future development. 19 Unsupported kiosk operation.
20 Remote mouse, keyboard, or screen (RMKS) connection error. 21 PIN error.
22 PIN mismatch. 23 Password mismatch.
24 View Connection Server error. 25 Desktop was not available.
Redirecting a USB Device to a Remote Desktop
You use the --usb= command-line option of the vmnware-view command to configure which USB devices can
be redirected to a View desktop. Note that the USB component is available only with the version of View Client for Linux provided by third-party vendors.
The arguments to --usb= option are sent to the USB redirection command vmware-view-usb.
The following example turns on trace-level logging:
You can specify multiple instances of the --usb option for each vmware-view-usb option that you want to set. The following example turns on debug-level logging and excludes a device that is specified by its ID:
vmware-view --usb=log:debug --usb=exid:vid0012pid0034
The following table lists the arguments you can use with the --usb option . Table 1-4. USB Redirection Options
Option Description
disable-boot-fwd Disables detection and filtering of the boot device by the View USB client. Specifying this option results in all USB devices being forwarded, including the one from which the client system booted.
ex:device1[,device2]... Excludes a list of named devices from being forwarded. For example: vmware-view
--usb=ex:"flash 1"
exfa:device-family1[,device-family2]... Excludes a list of named device families from being forwarded. For example: vmware-view
--usb=exfa:storage
exid:device-ID1[,device-ID2]... Excludes a list of devices from being forwarded, where the devices are specified by the hexadecimal values of their vendor and product IDs using the format vidxxxxpidxxxx . For example:
vmware-view
--usb=exid:vid1e2fpid5a1e
expt:device-path1[,device-path2]... Excludes a list of devices from being forwarded where the devices are specified by the decimal values of their bus and port values using the format busnportn. For example:
vmware-view --usb=expt:bus1port4,bus5port3 in:device1[,device2]... Includes a list of named devices to be forwarded. For example:
vmware-view --usb=in:"flash 1"
infa:device-family1[,device-family2]... Includes a list of named device families to be forwarded. For example: vmware-view
--usb=infa:storage
inid:device-ID1[,device-ID2]... Includes a list of devices to be forwarded, where the devices are specified by the hexadecimal values of their vendor and product IDs using the format vidxxxxpidxxxx . For example:
vmware-view
--usb=inid:vid27f8pid2a1b
inpt:device-path1[,device-path2]... Includes a list of devices to be forwarded, where the devices are specified by the decimal values of their bus and port values using the format
busnportn. For example:
vmware-view
--usb=inpt:bus3port1,bus4port2
log:{debug|error|info|trace} Specifies the logging level for vmware-view-usb:trace, debug, info (default), or error , in order of decreasing detail. The log file
(backendLog.txt) is written to /tmp/vmware-username/vmware-view-usb-pid.log. For example:
vmware-view --usb=log:error
The order of precedence for including or excluding devices is as follows, from highest to lowest precedence: 1 expt (excludes devices identified by bus and port)
2 inpt (includes devices identified by bus and port) 3 ex (excludes a list of named devices)
4 in (includes a list of named devices)
5 exid (excludes devices identified by vendor and product ID) 6 inid (includes devices identified by vendor and product ID) 7 exfa (excludes a list of named device families)
8 infa (includes a list of named device families)
The following example excludes all storage family devices apart from one device that is specified by its ID:
vmware-view --usb=exfa:storage --usb=inid:vid1812pid1492
Following is a list of the USB device family classes you can use with the infa and exfa options.
audio printer bluetooth security comm smart-card hid storage hid-bootable unknown hub vendor imaging video other wireless pda wusb physical
C
caching, client-side image 9 Canonical 7
certificates, ignoring problems 8, 12 client image cache 9
command-line interface 17 configuration properties 17 copying text 16 Ctrl+Alt+Delete 13
D
desktoplog off from 13 reset 17 roll back 14 switch 13 devices, USB 24
disconnecting from a View desktop 13
F
feature support matrix, for Linux 15 FIPS mode 9
forwarding USB devices 24
H
hardware requirements, for Linux systems 6
I
image cache, client 9 installation instructions 7
K
keyboards 16
L
Linux, installing View Client on 6 log off 13
logging, for USB devices 24 logging in to a View desktop 11
M
monitors 16
O
operating systems, supported on View Agent 7
P
pasting text 16
PCoIP client image cache 9 prerequisites for client devices 7 proxy settings 17
R
redirection, USB 24 reset desktop 17
roll back a View desktop 14
S
screen resolution 16 security servers 7
Send Ctrl+Alt+Del menu command 13 server certificate verification 8 server connections 10 SSL certificates, verifying 8 switch desktops 13
system requirements, for Linux 6
T
text, copying 16
U
Ubuntu 7
uninstalling View Client 17 UPNs, View Client 11 USB redirection 24
V
verification modes for certificate checking 8 View Agent, installation requirements 7 View Client
disconnect from a desktop 13 setup for Linux clients 6 starting 11
system requirements for Linux 6 troubleshooting 17
View Client for Linux, installing 7 View Connection Server 7 View desktop, roll back 14
vmware-view command-line interface 17
