VMware Using HTML Access

Using HTML Access

VMware Horizon 4.1

This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs .

EN-002142-00

Using HTML Access

You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at: http://www.vmware.com/support/

The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.

If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to: [email protected]

Copyright

©

2013–2016 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright and trademark information

.

VMware, Inc.

3401 Hillview Ave.

Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com

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Contents

Using HTML Access 5

1

Setup and Installation 7

System Requirements for HTML Access 7

Preparing View Connection Server and Security Servers for HTML Access 9

Firewall Rules for HTML Access 10

Prepare Desktops, Pools, and Farms for HTML Access 11

Configure HTML Access Agents to Use New SSL Certificates 12

Add the Certificate Snap-In to MMC on a View Desktop 13

Import a Certificate for the HTML Access Agent into the Windows Certificate Store 13

Import Root and Intermediate Certificates for the HTML Access Agent 14

Set the Certificate Thumbprint in the Windows Registry 15

Configure HTML Access Agents to Use Specific Cipher Suites 15

Configuring iOS to Use CA-Signed Certificates 16

Upgrading the HTML Access Software 16

Uninstall HTML Access from View Connection Server 16

Data Collected by VMware 17

2

Configuring HTML Access for End Users 19

Configure the VMware Horizon Web Portal Page for End Users 19

Using URIs to Configure HTML Access Web Clients 21

Syntax for Creating URIs for HTML Access 22

Examples of URIs 23

HTML Access Group Policy Settings 24

3

Using a Remote Desktop or Application 25

Feature Support Matrix 25

Internationalization 27

Connect to a Remote Desktop or Application 27

Trust a Self-Signed Root Certificate 28

Shortcut Key Combinations 29

International Keyboards 32

Screen Resolution 32

Using the Sidebar 33

Sound 36

Copying and Pasting Text 36

Use the Copy and Paste Feature 37

Transferring Files between the Client and a Remote Desktop 38

Download Files from a Desktop to the Client 38

Upload Files from the Client to a Desktop 38

Using the Real-Time Audio-Video Feature for Webcams and Microphones 39

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Using HTML Access

Log Off or Disconnect 39

Reset a Remote Desktop or Application 40

Index 43

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Using HTML Access

This guide, Using HTML Access, provides information about installing and using the HTML Access feature of VMware Horizon™ 7 to connect to virtual desktops without having to install any software on a client system.

The information in this document includes system requirements and instructions for installing

HTML Access software on a View server and in a remote desktop virtual machine so that end users can use a Web browser to access remote desktops.

I

MPORTANT

This information is written for administrators who already have some experience using View and VMware vSphere. If you are a novice user of View, you might occasionally need to refer to the step-bystep instructions for basic procedures in the View Installation documentation and the View Administration documentation.

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Using HTML Access

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Setup and Installation

1

Setting up a View deployment for HTML Access involves installing HTML Access on View Connection

Server, opening the required ports, and installing the HTML Access component in the remote desktop virtual machine.

End users can then access their remote desktops by opening a supported browser and entering the URL for

View Connection Server.

This chapter includes the following topics: n

“System Requirements for HTML Access,” on page 7

n n

“Preparing View Connection Server and Security Servers for HTML Access,” on page 9

“Prepare Desktops, Pools, and Farms for HTML Access,” on page 11

n n n n n n

“Configure HTML Access Agents to Use New SSL Certificates,” on page 12

“Configure HTML Access Agents to Use Specific Cipher Suites,” on page 15

“Configuring iOS to Use CA-Signed Certificates,” on page 16

“Upgrading the HTML Access Software,” on page 16

“Uninstall HTML Access from View Connection Server,” on page 16

“Data Collected by VMware,” on page 17

System Requirements for HTML Access

With HTML Access the client system does not require any software other than a supported browser. The

View deployment must meet certain software requirements.

N

OTE

Starting with version 7.0, View Agent is renamed Horizon Agent.

Browser on client systems

Browser Version

Chrome 50, 51

Internet Explorer

Safari

11

8, 9

Safari on mobile device iOS 8, iOS 9

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Using HTML Access

8

Browser

Firefox

Microsoft Edge

Version

45, 46

20, 25

Client operating systems

Remote desktops

Pool settings

View Connection Server

Security Server

Third-party firewalls

Operating System Version

Windows

Windows

Windows

Mac OS X

Mac OS X iOS iOS

Chrome OS

7 SP1 (32- and 64-bit)

8.x (32- and 64-bit)

10 (32- and 64-bit)

10.10.x (Yosemite)

10.11 (El Capitan)

8

9

28.x and later

HTML Access requires Horizon Agent 7.0 or later, and supports all the desktop operating systems that Horizon 7.0 supports. For more information, see the topic "Supported Operating Systems for View Agent" in version 7.0 of

View Installation.

HTML Access requires the following pool settings, in View Administrator: n

The Max resolution of any one monitor setting must be 1920x1200 or higher so that the remote desktop has at least 17.63 MB of video RAM.

If you plan to use 3D applications or if end users will use a Macbook with Retina Display or a Google Chromebook Pixel, see

“Screen

Resolution,” on page 32.

n

The HTML Access setting must be enabled.

Configuration instructions are provided in

“Prepare Desktops, Pools, and

Farms for HTML Access,” on page 11.

View Connection Server with the HTML Access option must be installed on the server.

When you install the HTML Access component, the VMware Horizon View

Connection Server (Blast-In) rule is enabled in the Windows Firewall, so that the firewall is automatically configured to allow inbound traffic to TCP port 8443.

View Security Server: The same version as View Connection Server must be installed on the security server.

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.

N

OTE

A single security server can support up to 800 simultaneous connections to Web clients.

Add rules to allow the following traffic: n

Servers (including security servers, View Connection Server instances, and replica servers): inbound traffic to TCP port 8443.

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Chapter 1 Setup and Installation

Display protocol for

View

n

Remote desktop virtual machines: inbound traffic (from servers) to TCP port 22443.

VMware Blast

When you use a Web browser to access a remote desktop, the VMware Blast protocol is used rather than PCoIP or Microsoft RDP. VMware Blast uses

HTTPS (HTTP over SSL/TLS).

Preparing View Connection Server and Security Servers for

HTML Access

Administrators must perform specific tasks so that end users can connect to remote desktops using a Web browser.

Before end users can connect to View Connection Server or a security server and access a remote desktop, you must install View Connection Server with the HTML Access component and install security servers.

Following is a check list of the tasks you must perform in order to use HTML Access:

1 Install View Connection Server with the HTML Access option on the server or servers that will compose a View Connection Server replicated group.

By default, the HTML Access component is already selected in the installer. For installation instructions, see the View Installation documentation.

N

OTE

To check whether the HTML Access component is installed, you can open the Uninstall a

Program applet in the Windows operating system and look for View HTML Access in the list.

2 If you use security servers, install View Security Server.

For installation instructions, see the View Installation documentation.

I

MPORTANT

The version of View Security Server must match the version of View Connection Server.

3 Verify that each View Connection Server instance or security server has a security certificate that can be fully verified by using the host name that you enter in the browser.

For more information, see the View Installation documentation.

4 To use two-factor authentication, such as RSA SecurID or RADIUS authentication, verify that this feature is enabled on View Connection Server.

For more information, see the topics about two-factor authentication in the View Administration documentation.

5 If you use third-party firewalls, configure rules to allow inbound traffic to TCP port 8443 for all security servers and View Connection Server hosts in a replicated group, and configure a rule to allow inbound traffic (from View servers) to TCP port 22443 on remote desktops in the datacenter. For more

information, see “Firewall Rules for HTML Access,” on page 10.

After the servers are installed, if you look in View Administrator, you will see that the Blast Secure

Gateway setting is enabled on the applicable View Connection Server instances and security servers. Also, the Blast External URL setting is automatically configured to use for the Blast Secure Gateway on the applicable View Connection Server instances and security servers. By default, the URL includes the FQDN

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Using HTML Access of the secure tunnel external URL and the default port number, 8443. The URL must contain the FQDN and port number that a client system can use to reach this View Connection Server host or security server host.

For more information, see "Set the External URLs for a View Connection Server Instance," in the View

Installation documentation.

N

OTE

You can use HTML Access in conjunction with VMware Workspace Portal to allow users to connect to their desktops from an HTML5 browser. For information about installing Workspace Portal and configuring it for use with View Connection Server, see the Workspace Portal documentation. For information about pairing View Connection Server with a SAML Authentication server, see the View

Administration documentation.

Firewall Rules for HTML Access

To allow client Web browsers to use HTML Access to make connections to security servers, View

Connection Server instances, and remote desktops, your firewalls must allow inbound traffic on certain TCP ports.

HTML Access connections must use HTTPS. HTTP connections are not allowed.

By default, when you install a View Connection Server instance or security server, the VMware Horizon

View Connection Server (Blast-In) rule is enabled in the Windows Firewall, so that the firewall is automatically configured to allow inbound traffic to TCP port 8443.

Table 1

‑1. Firewall Rules for HTML Access

Source

Default

Source

Port Protocol Target

Client Web browser

Client Web browser

TCP

Any

TCP

Any

HTTPS

HTTPS

Security server or

View

Connection

Server instance

Blast Secure

Gateway

Blast Secure

Gateway

Client Web browser

TCP

Any

TCP

Any

HTTPS

HTTPS

HTML

Access agent

HTML

Access agent

Default

Target

Port

TCP 443

Notes

To make the initial connection to View, the Web browser on a client device connects to a security server or View Connection

Server instance on TCP port 443.

TCP 8443 After the initial connection to View is made, the Web browser on a client device connects to the Blast Secure Gateway on

TCP port 8443. The Blast Secure Gateway must be enabled on a security server or View Connection Server instance to allow this second connection to take place.

TCP

22443

If the Blast Secure Gateway is enabled, after the user selects a remote desktop, the Blast Secure Gateway connects to the

HTML Access agent on TCP port 22443 on the desktop. This agent component is included when you install View Agent.

TCP

22443

If the Blast Secure Gateway is not enabled, after the user selects a View desktop, the Web browser on a client device makes a direct connection to the HTML Access agent on TCP port 22443 on the desktop. This agent component is included when you install View Agent.

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Prepare Desktops, Pools, and Farms for HTML Access

Before end users can access a remote desktop or application, administrators must configure certain pool and farm settings and install View Agent on remote desktop virtual machines and RDS hosts in the data center.

The HTML Access client is a good alternative when Horizon Client software is not installed on the client system.

N

OTE

The Horizon Client software offers more features and better performance than the HTML Access client. For example, with the HTML Access client, some key combinations do not work in the remote desktop, but these key combinations do work with Horizon Client.

Prerequisites

n

Verify that your vSphere infrastructure and View components meet the system requirements for

HTML Access.

See

“System Requirements for HTML Access,” on page 7.

n

Verify that the HTML Access component is installed with View Connection Server on the host or hosts and that the Windows firewalls on View Connection Server instances and any security servers allow inbound traffic on TCP port 8443.

n n

See

“Preparing View Connection Server and Security Servers for HTML Access,” on page 9.

If you use third-party firewalls, configure a rule to allow inbound traffic from View servers to TCP port

22443 on View desktops in the data center.

Verify that the virtual machine you plan to use as a desktop source or RDS host has the following software installed: a supported operating system and VMware Tools.

For a list of the supported operating systems, see

“System Requirements for HTML Access,” on page 7.

n n n

Familiarize yourself with the procedures for creating pools and farms and entitling users. See the topics about creating pools and farms in Setting Up Desktops and Applications in View.

To verify that the remote desktop or application is accessible to end users, verify that you have

Horizon Client software installed on a client system. You will test the connection by using the

Horizon Client software before attempting to connect from a browser.

For Horizon Client installation instructions, see the Horizon Client documentation site at https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html

.

Verify that you have one of the supported browsers for accessing a remote desktop. See

“System

Requirements for HTML Access,” on page 7.

Procedure

1 For RDS desktops and applications, use View Administrator to create or edit the farm and enable the

Allow HTML Access to desktops and applications on this farm option in the farm settings.

2 For single-session desktop pools, use View Administrator to create or edit the desktop pool so that the pool can be used with HTML Access.

a Enable the HTML Access in the Desktop Pool settings.

The HTML Access setting does not appear in the Add Desktop Pool wizard when you create RDS desktop pools. Instead, you enable the Allow HTML Access to desktops and applications on this

farm option when creating or editing the farm of RDS hosts.

b In the pool settings, verify that the Max resolution of any one monitor setting is 1920x1200 or higher.

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Using HTML Access

3 After the pools are created, recomposed, or upgraded to use View Agent with the HTML Access option, use Horizon Client to log in to a desktop or application.

With this step, before you attempt to use HTML Access, you verify that the pool is working correctly.

4 Open a supported browser and enter a URL that points to your View Connection Server instance.

For example: https://horizon.mycompany.com

Be sure to use

https

in the URL.

5 On the Web page that appears, click VMware Horizon HTML Access and log in as you would with the

Horizon Client software.

6 On the desktop and application selection page that appears, click an icon to connect.

You can now access a remote desktop or application from a Web browser when you are using a client device that does not or cannot have Horizon Client software installed in its operating system.

What to do next

For added security, if your security policies require that the Blast agent on the remote desktop uses an SSL certificate from a certificate authority, see

“Configure HTML Access Agents to Use New SSL Certificates,” on page 12.

Configure HTML Access Agents to Use New SSL Certificates

To comply with industry or security regulations, you can replace the default SSL certificates that are generated by the HTML Access Agent with certificates that are signed by a Certificate Authority (CA).

When you install the HTML Access Agent on View desktops, the HTML Access Agent service creates default, self-signed certificates. The service presents the default certificates to browsers that use

HTML Access to connect to View.

N

OTE

In the guest operating system on the desktop virtual machine, this service is called the VMware Blast service.

To replace the default certificates with signed certificates that you obtain from a CA, you must import a certificate into the Windows local computer certificate store on each View desktop. You must also set a registry value on each desktop that allows the HTML Access Agent to use the new certificate.

If you replace the default HTML Access Agent certificates with CA-signed certificates, VMware recommends that you configure a unique certificate on each desktop. Do not configure a CA-signed certificate on a parent virtual machine or template that you use to create a desktop pool. That approach would result in hundreds or thousands of desktops with identical certificates.

Procedure

1

Add the Certificate Snap-In to MMC on a View Desktop on page 13

Before you can add certificates to the Windows local computer certificate store, you must add the

Certificate snap-in to the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) on the View desktops where the

HTML Access Agent is installed.

2

Import a Certificate for the HTML Access Agent into the Windows Certificate Store on page 13

To replace a default HTML Access Agent certificate with a CA-signed certificate, you must import the

CA-signed certificate into the Windows local computer certificate store. Perform this procedure on each desktop where the HTML Access Agent is installed.

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3

Import Root and Intermediate Certificates for the HTML Access Agent on page 14

If the root certificate and intermediate certificates in the certificate chain are not imported with the SSL certificate that you imported for the HTML Access Agent, you must import these certificates into the

Windows local computer certificate store.

4

Set the Certificate Thumbprint in the Windows Registry on page 15

To allow the HTML Access Agent to use a CA-signed certificate that was imported into the Windows certificate store, you must configure the certificate thumbprint in a Windows registry key. You must take this step on each desktop on which you replace the default certificate with a CA-signed certificate.

Add the Certificate Snap-In to MMC on a View Desktop

Before you can add certificates to the Windows local computer certificate store, you must add the Certificate snap-in to the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) on the View desktops where the HTML Access Agent is installed.

Prerequisites

Verify that the MMC and Certificate snap-in are available on the Windows guest operating system where the HTML Access Agent is installed.

Procedure

1 On the View desktop, click Start and type

mmc.exe

.

2 In the MMC window, go to File > Add/Remove Snap-in.

3 In the Add or Remove Snap-ins window, select Certificates and click Add.

4 In the Certificates snap-in window, select Computer account, click Next, select Local computer, and click Finish.

5 In the Add or Remove snap-in window, click OK.

What to do next

Import the SSL certificate into the Windows local computer certificate store. See

“Import a Certificate for the

HTML Access Agent into the Windows Certificate Store,” on page 13.

Import a Certificate for the HTML Access Agent into the Windows Certificate

Store

To replace a default HTML Access Agent certificate with a CA-signed certificate, you must import the CAsigned certificate into the Windows local computer certificate store. Perform this procedure on each desktop where the HTML Access Agent is installed.

Prerequisites

n

Verify that the HTML Access Agent is installed on the View desktop.

n n

Verify that the CA-signed certificate was copied to the desktop.

Verify that the Certificate snap-in was added to MMC. See “Add the Certificate Snap-In to MMC on a

View Desktop,” on page 13.

Procedure

1 In the MMC window on the View desktop, expand the Certificates (Local Computer) node and select the Personal folder.

2 In the Actions pane, go to More Actions > All Tasks > Import.

3 In the Certificate Import wizard, click Next and browse to the location where the certificate is stored.

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Using HTML Access

4 Select the certificate file and click Open.

To display your certificate file type, you can select its file format from the File name drop-down menu.

5 Type the password for the private key that is included in the certificate file.

6 Select Mark this key as exportable.

7 Select Include all extendable properties.

8 Click Next and click Finish.

The new certificate appears in the Certificates (Local Computer) > Personal > Certificates folder.

9 Verify that the new certificate contains a private key.

a In the Certificates (Local Computer) > Personal > Certificates folder, double-click the new certificate.

b In the General tab of the Certificate Information dialog box, verify that the following statement appears:

You have a private key that corresponds to this certificate

.

What to do next

If necessary, import the root certificate and intermediate certificates into the Windows certificate store. See

“Import Root and Intermediate Certificates for the HTML Access Agent,” on page 14.

Configure the appropriate registry key with the certificate thumbprint. See “Set the Certificate Thumbprint in the Windows Registry,” on page 15.

Import Root and Intermediate Certificates for the HTML Access Agent

If the root certificate and intermediate certificates in the certificate chain are not imported with the SSL certificate that you imported for the HTML Access Agent, you must import these certificates into the

Windows local computer certificate store.

Procedure

1 In the MMC console on the View desktop, expand the Certificates (Local Computer) node and go to the

Trusted Root Certification Authorities > Certificates folder.

n n

If your root certificate is in this folder, and there are no intermediate certificates in your certificate chain, skip this procedure.

If your root certificate is not in this folder, proceed to step 2.

2 Right-click the Trusted Root Certification Authorities > Certificates folder and click All Tasks >

Import.

3 In the Certificate Import wizard, click Next and browse to the location where the root CA certificate is stored.

4 Select the root CA certificate file and click Open.

5 Click Next, click Next, and click Finish.

6 If your server certificate was signed by an intermediate CA, import all intermediate certificates in the certificate chain into the Windows local computer certificate store.

a Go to the Certificates (Local Computer) > Intermediate Certification Authorities > Certificates folder.

b Repeat steps 3 through 6 for each intermediate certificate that must be imported.

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What to do next

Configure the appropriate registry key with the certificate thumbprint. See “Set the Certificate Thumbprint in the Windows Registry,” on page 15.

Set the Certificate Thumbprint in the Windows Registry

To allow the HTML Access Agent to use a CA-signed certificate that was imported into the Windows certificate store, you must configure the certificate thumbprint in a Windows registry key. You must take this step on each desktop on which you replace the default certificate with a CA-signed certificate.

Prerequisites

Verify that the CA-signed certificate is imported into the Windows certificate store. See

“Import a Certificate for the HTML Access Agent into the Windows Certificate Store,” on page 13.

Procedure

1 In the MMC window on the View desktop where the HTML Access Agent is installed, navigate to the

Certificates (Local Computer) > Personal > Certificates folder.

2 Double-click the CA-signed certificate that you imported into the Windows certificate store.

3 In the Certificates dialog box, click the Details tab, scroll down, and select the Thumbprint icon.

4 Copy the selected thumbprint to a text file.

For example:

31 2a 32 50 1a 0b 34 b1 65 46 13 a8 0a 5e f7 43 6e a9 2c 3e

N

OTE

When you copy the thumbprint, do not to include the leading space. If you inadvertently paste the leading space with the thumbprint into the registry key (in Step 7), the certificate might not be configured successfully. This problem can occur even though the leading space is not displayed in the registry value text box.

5 Start the Windows Registry Editor on the desktop where the HTML Access Agent is installed.

6 Navigate to the

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.\VMware Blast\Config

registry key.

7 Modify the

SslHash

value and paste the certificate thumbprint into the text box.

8 Reboot Windows.

When a user connects to a desktop through HTML Access, the HTML Access Agent presents the CA-signed certificate to the user's browser.

Configure HTML Access Agents to Use Specific Cipher Suites

You can configure the HTML Access Agent to use specific cipher suites instead of the default set of ciphers.

By default, the HTML Access Agent requires incoming SSL connections to use encryption based on certain ciphers that provide strong protection against network eavesdropping and forgery. You can configure an alternative list of ciphers for the HTML Access Agent to use. The set of acceptable ciphers is expressed in the

OpenSSL format. which is described at https://www.openssl.org/docs/apps/ciphers.html

.

Procedure

1 Start the Windows Registry Editor on the desktop where the HTML Access Agent is installed.

2 Navigate to the

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.\VMware Blast\Config

registry key.

3 Add a new String (REG_SZ) value,

SslCiphers

, and paste the cipher list in the OpenSSL format into the text box.

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4 Restart the VMware Blast service to make your changes take effect.

In the Windows guest operating system, the service for the HTML Access Agent is called VMware

Blast.

To revert to using the default cipher list, delete the

SslCiphers

value and restart the VMware Blast service.

Do not simply delete the data part of the value because the HTML Access Agent will then treat all ciphers as unacceptable, in accordance with the OpenSSL cipher list format definition.

When the HTML Access Agent starts, it writes the cipher definition in the VMware Blast service's log file.

You can discover the current default cipher list by inspecting the logs when the VMware Blast service starts with no

SslCiphers

value configured in the Windows Registry.

The HTML Access Agent's default cipher definition might change from one release to the next to provide improved security.

Configuring iOS to Use CA-Signed Certificates

To use HTML Access on iOS devices, you need to install SSL certificates that are signed by a Certificate

Authority (CA) instead of the default SSL certificates that are generated by the View Connection Server or the HTML Access Agent.

For instructions, see "Configure Horizon Client for iOS to Trust Root and Intermediate Certificates" in the

View Installation document.

Upgrading the HTML Access Software

For most versions of HTML Access, upgrading involves simply upgrading Connection Servers and View

Agent.

When you upgrade HTML Access, make sure that the corresponding version of View Connection Server is installed on all the instances in a replicated group.

When you upgrade Connection Server, HTML Access is automatically installed or upgraded.

N

OTE

To check whether the HTML Access component is installed, you can open the Uninstall a Program applet in the Windows operating system and look for HTML Access in the list.

Uninstall HTML Access from View Connection Server

You can remove HTML Access by using the same method you use to remove other Windows software.

Procedure

1 On the View Connection Server hosts where HTML Access is installed, open the Uninstall a Program applet provided by the Windows Control Panel.

2 Select the program VMware Horizon 7 HTML Access and click Uninstall.

3 (Optional) In the Windows Firewall for that host, verify that TCP port 8443 no longer allows inbound traffic.

What to do next

Disallow inbound traffic to TCP port 8443 on the Windows Firewall of any paired security servers. If applicable, on third-party firewalls, change the rules to disallow inbound traffic to TCP port 8443 for all paired security servers and this View Connection Server host.

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Data Collected by VMware

If your company participates in the customer experience improvement program, VMware collects data from certain client fields. Fields containing sensitive information are made anonymous.

VMware collects data on the clients to prioritize hardware and software compatibility. If a View administrator has opted to participate in the customer experience improvement program, VMware collects anonymous data about your deployment to improve VMware's response to customer requirements. No data that identifies your organization is collected. Client information is sent first to View Connection Server and then on to VMware, along with data from servers, desktop pools, and remote desktops.

To participate in the VMware customer experience improvement program, the administrator who installs

View Connection Server can opt in while running the View Connection Server installation wizard, or an administrator can set an option in View Administrator after the installation.

Table 1

‑2. Client Data Collected for the Customer Experience Improvement Program

Description Field name

Is This Field

Made

Anonymous

?

Example Value

<client-vendor>

No VMware Company that produced the application

Product name

Client product version

Client binary architecture

Native architecture of the browser

Browser user agent string

Browser's internal version string

<client-product>

<client-version>

<client-arch>

<browser-arch>

<browser-user-agent>

No

<browser-version>

No

No

No

No

No

VMware Horizon HTML Access

4.1.0-build_number

Examples include the following values: n n browser arm

Examples include the following values: n n

Win32

Win64 n n

MacIntel iPad

Examples include the following values: n

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1;

WOW64) n n n n

AppleWebKit/703.00 (KHTML, like Gecko)

Chrome/3.0.1750

Safari/703.00

Edge/13.10586

Examples include the following values: n n n

7.0.3 (for Safari),

44.0 (for Firefox)

13.10586 (for Edge)

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Using HTML Access

Table 1

‑2. Client Data Collected for the Customer Experience Improvement Program (Continued)

Description

Browser's core implementation

Whether the browser is running on a handheld device

Field name

<browser-core>

<browser-ishandheld>

Is This Field

Made

Anonymous

?

No

No

Example Value

Examples include the following values: n n

Chrome

Safari n n n

Firefox

Internet Explorer

Edge true

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Configuring HTML Access for End

Users

2

You can change the appearance of the Web page that end users see when they enter the URL for

HTML Access. You can also set group policies that control the image quality, the ports used, and other settings.


“Configure the VMware Horizon Web Portal Page for End Users,” on page 19

n n

“Using URIs to Configure HTML Access Web Clients,” on page 21

“HTML Access Group Policy Settings,” on page 24

Configure the VMware Horizon Web Portal Page for End Users

You can configure this Web page to show or hide the icon for downloading Horizon Client or the icon for connecting to a remote desktop through HTML Access. You can also configure other links on this page.

By default, the portal page shows both an icon for downloading and installing the native Horizon Client and an icon for connecting through HTML Access. In some cases, however, you might want to have the links point to an internal Web server, or you might want to make specific client versions available on your own server. You can reconfigure the page to point to a different URL.

You can make installer links for specific client operating systems. For example, if you browse to the portal page from a Mac OS X system, the link for the native Mac OS X installer appears. For Windows clients, you can make separate links for 32-bit and 64-bit installers.

I

MPORTANT

If you upgraded from View Connection Server 5.x or an earlier release and did not have the

HTML Access component installed, and if you previously edited the portal page to point to your own server for downloading Horizon Client, those customizations might be hidden after you install View Connection

Server 6.0 or later. With Horizon 6 or later, the HTML Access component is automatically installed during an upgrade of View Connection Server.

If you already installed the HTML Access component separately for View 5.x, any customizations you made to the Web page are preserved. If you did not have the HTML Access component installed, any customizations you had made are hidden. The customizations for earlier releases reside in the portallinks.properties

file, which is no longer used.

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Using HTML Access

Procedure

1 On the View Connection Server host, open the portal-links-html-access.properties

file with a text editor.

The location of this file is

CommonAppDataFolder\VMware\VDM\portal\portal-links-htmlaccess.properties

. For Windows Server 2008 operating systems, the CommonAppDataFolder directory is

C:\ProgramData

. To display the

C:\ProgramData

folder in Windows Explorer, you must use the Folder

Options dialog box to show hidden folders.

N

OTE

Customizations for View 5.x and earlier releases resided in the portal-links.properties

file, which is located in the same

CommonAppDataFolder\VMware\VDM\portal\

directory as the portal-linkshtml-access.properties

file.

2 Edit the configuration properties to set them appropriately.

By default, both the installer icon and the HTML Access icon are enabled and a link points to the client download page on the VMware Web site. To disable an icon, which removes the icon from the Web page, set the property to false

.

Option Property Setting

Disable HTML Access

enable.webclient=false

If this option is set to false but the enable.download option is set to true, the user is taken to a Web page for downloading the native Horizon Client installer. If both options are set to false, the user sees the following message: "Contact your local administrator for instructions on accessing this Connection Server."

Disable downloading Horizon Client

enable.download=false

If this option is set to false but the enable.webclient option is set to true, the user is taken to the HTML Access login Web page. If both options are set to false, the user sees the following message: "Contact your local administrator for instructions on accessing this Connection

Server."

Change the URL of the Web page for downloading Horizon Client

link.download=https://

url-of-web-server

Use this property if you plan to create your own Web page.

20 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 2 Configuring HTML Access for End Users

Option

Create links for specific installers

Property Setting

The following examples show full URLs, but you can use relative URLs if you place the installer files in the downloads directory, which is under the

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware View\Server\broker\webapps\ directory on View Connection Server, as described in the next step.

n

32-bit Windows installer: n n link.win32=https://server/downloads/VMware-Horizon-

Client.exe

64-bit Windows installer: link.win64=https://server/downloads/VMware-Horizon-

Client.exe

Linux installer: n n n n link.linux=https://server/downloads/VMware-Horizon-

Client.tar.gz

Mac OS X installer: link.mac=https://server/downloads/VMware-Horizon-

Client.dmg

iOS installer: link.ios=https://server/downloads/VMware-Horizon-ClientiPhoneOS.zip

Android installer: link.android=https://server/downloads/VMware-Horizon-

Client-AndroidOS.apk

Installer for an unknown OS (for example, you could use this property for the Chrome client installer): link.unknown=https://server/downloads/VMware-Horizon-

Client-AndroidOS-arm-ARC.apk

Change the URL for the Help link in the login page

link.help

By default, this link points to a help system hosted on the VMware Web site. The Help link appears at the bottom of the login page.

3 To have users download installers from a location other than the VMware Web site, place the installer files on the HTTP server where the installer files will reside.

This location must correspond to the URLs you specified in the portal-links-html-access.properties

file from the previous step. For example, to place the files in a downloads

directory on the View

Connection Server host, use the following path:

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware View\Server\broker\webapps\downloads

The links to the installer files could then use relative URLs with the format

/downloads/client-

installer-file-name

.

4 Restart the View Web Component service.

Using URIs to Configure HTML Access Web Clients

Using uniform resource identifiers (URIs), you can create a Web page or an email with links that end users click to launch the HTML Access Web client, connect to View Connection Server, and launch a specific desktop or application with specific configuration options.

You can simplify the process of connecting to a remote desktop or application by creating Web or email links for end users. You create these links by constructing URIs that provide some or all of the following information, so that your end users do not need to supply it: n n

View Connection Server address

Port number for View Connection Server

VMware, Inc. 21

Using HTML Access n n n n n

Active Directory user name

RADIUS or RSA SecurID user name, if different from Active Directory user name

Domain name

Desktop or application display name

Actions including browse, reset, log off, and start session

Syntax for Creating URIs for HTML Access

Syntax includes a path part to specify the server, and, optionally, a query to specify a user, desktop or application, and actions or configuration options.

URI Specification

Use the following syntax to create URIs for launching HTML Access Web clients: https://authority-part[/?query-part]

authority-part query-part

Specifies the server address and, optionally, a non-default port number.

Server names must conform to DNS syntax.

To specify a port number, use the following syntax:

server-address:port-number

Specifies the configuration options to use or the actions to perform. Queries are not case-sensitive. To use multiple queries, use an ampersand (&) between the queries. If queries conflict with each other, the last query in the list is used. Use the following syntax:

query1=value1[&query2=value2...]

Observe the following guidelines when creating the query-part: n

If you do not use at least one of the supported queries, the default

VMware Horizon Web portal page is displayed.

n

In the query part, some special characters are not supported, and you must use the URL encoding format for them, as follows: For the pound symbol (#) use

%23

, for the percent sign (%) use

%25

, for the ampersand

(&) use

%26

, for the at sign (@) use

%40

, and for the backslash (\) use

%5C

.

For more information about URL encoding, go to http://www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_urlencode.asp

.

n

In the query part, non-ASCII characters must first be encoded according to UTF-8 [STD63], and then each octet of the corresponding UTF-8 sequence must be percent-encoded to be represented as URI characters.

For information about encoding for ASCII characters, see the URL encoding reference at http://www.utf8-chartable.de/ .

22 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 2 Configuring HTML Access for End Users

Supported Queries

This topic lists the queries that are supported for the HTML Access Web client. If you are creating URIs for multiple types of clients, such as desktop clients and mobile clients, see the Using VMware Horizon Client guide for each type of client system.

domainName userName tokenUserName desktopId applicationId

The NETBIOS domain name associated with the user who is connecting to the remote desktop or application. For example, you would use mycompany rather than mycompany.com

.

The Active Directory user who is connecting to the remote desktop or application.

The RSA or RADIUS user name. Use this query only if the RSA or RADIUS user name is different from the Active Directory user name. If you do not specify this query and RSA or RADIUS authentication is required, the

Windows user name is used.

The desktop display name. This name is the one specified in View

Administrator when the desktop pool was created. If the display name has a space in it, the browser will automatically use

%20

to represent the space.

The application display name. This name is the one specified in View

Administrator when the application pool was created. If the display name has a space in it, the browser will automatically use

%20

to represent the space.

action

Table 2

‑1. Values That Can Be Used with the action Query

Value Description

browse

Displays a list of available desktops and applications hosted on the specified server. You are not required to specify a desktop or application when using this action.

start-session

Launches the specified desktop or application. If no action query is provided and the desktop or application name is provided, start-session

is the default action.

reset logoff

Shuts down and restarts the specified desktop. Unsaved data is lost. Resetting a remote desktop is the equivalent of pressing the

Reset button on a physical PC. This action is not valid for an application.

Logs the user out of the guest operating system in the remote desktop. This action is not valid for an application.

Examples of URIs

You can create hypertext links or buttons with a URI and include these links in email or on a Web page.

Your end users can click these links to, for example, launch a particular remote desktop or application with the startup options you specify.

URI Syntax Examples

Each URI example is followed by a description of what the end user sees after clicking the URI link. Note that queries are not case-sensitive. For example, you can use

domainName

or

domainname

.

1 https://view.mycompany.com/?domainName=finance&userName=fred

VMware, Inc. 23

Using HTML Access

The HTML Access Web client is launched and connects to the view.mycompany.com

server. In the login box, the User name text box is populated with the name fred, and the Domain text box is populated with finance. The user must supply only a password.

2 https://view.mycompany.com/?desktopId=Primary%20Desktop&action=start-session


server. The login box prompts the user for a user name, domain name, and password. After a successful login, the client connects to the desktop whose display name is displayed as Primary Desktop, and the user is logged in to the guest operating system.

3 https://view.mycompany.com/?applicationId=Notepad&action=start-session


server. The login box prompts the user for a user name, domain name, and password. After a successful login, the Notepad application is launched.

4 https://view.mycompany.com:7555/?desktopId=Primary%20Desktop

This URI has the same effect as the previous example, except that it uses the nondefault port of 7555 for

View Connection Server. (The default port is 443.) Because a desktop identifier is provided, the desktop is launched even though the start-session

action is not included in the URI.

5 https://view.mycompany.com/?applicationId=Primary%20Application&desktopId=Primary%20Desktop

This URI specifies both an application and a desktop. When you specify both an application and a desktop, only the desktop is launched.

6 https://view.mycompany.com/?desktopId=Primary%20Desktop&action=reset


server. The login box prompts the user for a user name, domain name, and password. After a successful login, the client displays a dialog box that prompts the user to confirm the reset operation for Primary Desktop.

N

OTE

This action is available only if the View administrator has allowed end users to reset their machines.

HTML Code Examples

You can use URIs to make hypertext links and buttons to include in emails or on Web pages. The following examples show how to use the URI from the first URI example to code a hypertext link that says, Test Link, and a button that says, TestButton.

<html>

<body>

<a href="https://view.mycompany.com/?domainName=finance&userName=fred">Test Link</a><br>

<form><input type="button" value="TestButton" onClick="window.location.href=

'https://view.mycompany.com/?domainName=finance&userName=fred'"></form> <br>

</body>

</html>

HTML Access Group Policy Settings

HTML Access uses the VMware Blast protocol. You configure group policies for HTML Access by configuring group policies for the VMware Blast protocol.

For more information, see "Configuring Policies for Desktop and Application Pools" and "VMware Blast

Policy Settings" in the Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View document.

24 VMware, Inc.

Using a Remote Desktop or

Application

3

The client provides a navigation sidebar with toolbar buttons so that you can easily disconnect from a remote desktop or application or use a button click to send the equivalent of the Ctrl+Alt+Delete key combination.


“Feature Support Matrix,” on page 25

n n n n

“Internationalization,” on page 27

“Connect to a Remote Desktop or Application,” on page 27

“Shortcut Key Combinations,” on page 29

“International Keyboards,” on page 32

n n n n n n n n

“Screen Resolution,” on page 32

“Using the Sidebar,” on page 33

“Sound,” on page 36

“Copying and Pasting Text,” on page 36

“Transferring Files between the Client and a Remote Desktop,” on page 38

“Using the Real-Time Audio-Video Feature for Webcams and Microphones,” on page 39

“Log Off or Disconnect,” on page 39

“Reset a Remote Desktop or Application,” on page 40

Feature Support Matrix

When you access a remote desktop or application from the browser-based HTML Access client, some features are not available.

Feature Support for Single-User Virtual Machine Desktops

Table 3

‑1. Features Supported Through HTML Access

Feature

RSA SecurID or RADIUS

Single sign-on

RDP display protocol

X

X

Windows 7

Desktop

X

X

Windows 8.x

Desktop

X

X

Windows 10

Desktop

X

X

Windows

Server 2008

R2 Desktop

X

X

Windows

Server 2012 R2

Desktop

VMware, Inc. 25

Using HTML Access

Table 3

‑1. Features Supported Through HTML Access (Continued)

Feature

PCoIP display protocol

VMware Blast display protocol

USB redirection

Real-time audio-video (RTAV)

Wyse MMR

Windows Media MMR

Virtual printing

Location-based printing

Smart cards

Multiple monitors

Windows 7

Desktop

X

X

X

Windows 8.x

Desktop

Windows 10

Desktop

X

X

X

X

X

X

Windows

Server 2008

R2 Desktop

X

X

X

Windows

Server 2012 R2

Desktop

X

X

X

For descriptions of these features and their limitations, see the View Architecture Planning document.

Feature Support for Session-Based Desktops and Hosted Applications on RDS

Hosts

RDS hosts are server computers that have Windows Remote Desktop Services and View Agent installed.

Multiple users can have desktop and application sessions on an RDS host simultaneously.

The following table describes which features are available from RDS hosts if you use HTML Access.

Additional features are available if you use natively installed Horizon Client, such as Horizon Client for

Windows.

Table 3

‑2. Features Supported for HTML Access to RDS Hosts with View Agent 6.1.1 or Later Installed

Feature

Windows Server

2008 R2 RDS Host on a Physical

Machine

Windows Server

2008 R2 RDS Host on a Virtual

Machine

Windows Server

2012 or 2012 R2

RDS Host on a

Physical Machine

Windows Server

2012 or 2012 R2 RDS

Host on a Virtual

Machine

X X X X RSA SecurID or

RADIUS

Single sign-on

VMware Blast display protocol

Virtual printing

Location-based printing

Multiple monitors

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

N

OTE

The RDS host can be a virtual or a physical machine.

For information about which editions of each guest operating system are supported, or which service packs, see the "Supported Operating Systems for Horizon Agent" topic in the View Installation document.

26 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 3 Using a Remote Desktop or Application

Internationalization

The user interface and documentation are available in English, Japanese, French, German, Simplified

Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean.

For information about which language packs you must use in the client system, browser, and remote

desktop, see “International Keyboards,” on page 32.

Connect to a Remote Desktop or Application

Use your Active Directory credentials to connect to the remote desktops and applications that you are authorized to use.

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 NETBIOS domain name for logging in. For example, you would use mycompany

rather than mycompany.com

.

Procedure

1 Open a browser and enter the URL for the View Connection Server instance.

In the URL, use

https

and use the fully qualified domain name; for example: https://view.company.com

.

Connections to View Connection Server always use SSL. The default port for SSL connections is 443. If

View Connection Server is not configured to use the default port, use the format shown in this example:

view.company.com:1443

.

The VMware Horizon Web portal appears. By default, this page shows both an icon for downloading and installing the native Horizon Client and an icon for connecting through HTML Access.

2 Click the VMware Horizon HTML Access icon.

3 In the Login dialog box, if you are prompted for RSA SecurID credentials or RADIUS authentication credentials, enter the user name and passcode and click Login.

The passcode might include both a PIN and the generated number on the token.

4 If you are prompted a second time for RSA SecurID credentials or RADIUS authentication credentials, enter the next generated number on the token.

Do not enter your PIN and do not enter the same generated number entered previously. If necessary, wait until a new number is generated.

If this step is required, it is required only when you mistype the first passcode or when configuration settings in the RSA server change.

5 In the Login dialog box, enter your Active Directory user name and password, select a domain name, and click Login.

6 (Optional) On the desktop and application selection screen, before you select the item you want to access, to mark a remote desktop or application as a favorite, click the gray star inside the icon for the desktop or application.

The star icon turns from gray to yellow. The next time you log in, you can click the star icon in the upper-right part of the browser window to display only favorites.

VMware, Inc. 27

Using HTML Access

7 Click the icon for the remote desktop or application that you want to access.

The remote desktop or application is displayed in your browser. A navigation sidebar is also available.

You can click the tab at the left side of the browser window to display the sidebar. You can use the sidebar to access other remote desktops or applications, display the Settings window, copy and paste text, and more.

What to do next

If, soon after connecting to a desktop or application, you get disconnected and see a prompt asking you to click a link to accept the security certificate, you can select whether to trust the certificate. See

“Trust a Self-

Signed Root Certificate,” on page 28.

Trust a Self-Signed Root Certificate

In some cases, when connecting to a remote desktop or application for the first time, you might be prompted by the browser to accept the self-signed certificate used by the remote machine. You must trust the certificate before the connection can be made to the remote desktop or application.

Most browsers will give you the option to permanently trust the self-signed certificate. If you do not choose to permanently trust the certificate, you must verify the certificate every time you restart your browser. If you are using a Safari browser, you must permanently trust the security certificate in order to establish the connection.

Procedure

1 If your browser presents an untrusted certificate warning or a warning that your connection is not private, examine the certificate to verify that it matches the certificate that is used by your company.

You might need to contact your View administrator for assistance. For example, in a Chrome browser, you might use the following procedure.

a Click the lock icon in the address bar.

b Click the Certificate information link.

c Verify that the certificate matches the certificate that is used by your company.

You might need to contact your View administrator for assistance.

2 Accept the security certificate.

Each browser has its own browser-specific prompts for accepting or always trusting a certificate. For example, in a Chrome browser, you can click the Advanced link on the browser page, and click Proceed

to server-name (unsafe).

In a Safari browser, use the following procedure to permanently trust the certificate.

a Click the Show Certificate button when the untrusted certificate dialog box appears.

b Select the Always Trust check box and click Continue.

c When prompted, provide your password and click Update Settings.

The remote desktop or application is launched.

28 VMware, Inc.


Shortcut Key Combinations

Regardless of the language used, some key combinations cannot be sent to the to a remote desktop or application.

Web browsers allow some key presses and key combinations to be sent to both the client and the destination system. For other keys and key combinations, the input is processed only locally and is not sent to the destination system. The key combinations that work on your system depend on the browser software, the client operating system, and the language settings.

N

OTE

If you are using a Mac, you can map the Command key to the Windows Ctrl key when using the key combinations to select, copy, and paste text. To enable this feature, you can click the Open Settings Window toolbar button in the sidebar and turn on Enable Command-A, Command-C, Command-V, and Command-

X. (This option appears in the Settings window only if you are using a Mac.)

The following keys and keyboard combinations often do not work in remote desktops: n

Ctrl+T n n

Ctrl+W

Ctrl+N n n n

Command key

Alt+Enter

Ctrl+Alt+any_key

I

MPORTANT

To input Ctrl+Alt+Del, use the Send Ctrl+Alt+Delete toolbar button located at the top of the sidebar.

n n

Caps Lock+modifier_key (such as Alt or Shift)

Function keys, if you are using a Chromebook n

Windows key combinations

The following Windows key combinations do work in remote desktops if you enable the Windows key for desktops. To enable this key, you can click the Open Settings Window toolbar button in the sidebar and turn on Enable Windows Key for Desktops.

I

MPORTANT

After you turn on Enable Windows Key for Desktops, you must press Ctrl+Win (on Windows systems), Ctrl+Command (on Macs), or Ctrl+Search (on Chromebooks) to simulate pressing the Windows key.

These key combinations do not work for remote applications provided by RDS hosts. They do work as listed for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 R2 single-user desktops and session-based desktops provided by an RDS host.

Some key combinations that work in remote desktops with a Windows 8.x or Windows Server 2012 R2 operating system do not work in remote desktops with a Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows

10 operating system.

Table 3

‑3. Windows Key Shortcuts for Windows 10 Remote Desktops

Keys Action

Win

Win+A

Win+E

Open or close Start.

Open Action center.

Open File Explorer.

Limitations

VMware, Inc. 29

Using HTML Access

Table 3

‑3. Windows Key Shortcuts for Windows 10 Remote Desktops (Continued)

Keys

Win+G

Win+H

Win+I

Win+K

Win+M

Win+R

Win+S

Win+X

Win+, (comma)

Win+Pause

Win+Shift+M

Win+Alt+Num

Win+Enter

Action

Open game bar when a game is open.

Open the Share charm.

Open the Settings charm.

Open the Connection quick action.

Minimize all windows.

Open the Run dialog box.

Open Search.

Open the Quick Link menu.

Temporarily peek at the desktop.

Display the System Properties dialog box.

Restore minimized windows on the desktop.

Open the desktop and open the jump list for the app pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.

Open Narrator.

Limitations

There is no Pause key on

Chromebooks or Macs.

Does not work in Safari browsers.

Does not work on a Chromebook.

Win+E

Win+H

Win+I

Win+K

Win+M

Win+Q

Table 3

‑4. Windows Key Shortcuts for Windows 8.x and Windows Server 2012 R2 Remote Desktops

Keys Action Limitations


Win+F1

Win

Win+B

Win+C

Win+D

Open Windows Help and Support.

Show or hide the Start screen.

Set focus on the notification area.

Open the Charms panel.

Display and hide the desktop.


Workaround: Press Command-D on Macs.

Win+R

Win+S

Win+X

Win+Z

Win+, (comma)

Win+Pause

Open File Explorer.

Open the Share charm.

Open the Settings charm.

Open the Devices charm.


Open the Search charm to search everywhere or within the open app, if the app supports app search.


Open the Search charm to search Windows and the Web.

Open the Quick Link menu.

Show the commands available in the app.

Temporarily display the desktop, as long as you continue pressing the keys.


N

OTE

Does not work on

Windows 2012 R2 operating systems.



30 VMware, Inc.


Table 3

‑4. Windows Key Shortcuts for Windows 8.x and Windows Server 2012 R2 Remote Desktops

(Continued)

Keys

Win+Shift+M

Action

Restore minimized windows on the desktop.

Limitations




Win+Alt+Num

Win+Up Arrow

Win+Down Arrow Remove current app from the screen or minimize the desktop window.

Win+Left Arrow Maximize the app or desktop window to the left side of the screen.

Win+Right Arrow Maximize the app or desktop window to the right side of the screen.

Win+Home

Open the desktop and open the jump list for the app pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.

Maximize the window.

Win+Shift+Up

Arrow

Win+Shift+Down

Arrow

Minimize all but the active desktop window (restores all windows when you press Win+Home a second time).

Stretch the desktop window to the top and bottom of the screen.

Restore the desktop window vertically, while maintaining width, after pressing Win+Shift+Up to stretch the window, or minimize active desktop window.

Win+Enter Open Narrator.








Table 3

‑5. Windows Key Shortcuts for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktops

Keys

Win

Win+Pause

Win+D

Action

Open or close the Start menu.


Display and hide the desktop.

Limitations





Win+M

Win+E

Win+R

Win+Up Arrow


Open the Computer folder.


Maximize the window.

Win+Down Arrow Minimize the window.

Win+Left Arrow Maximize the app or desktop window to the left side of the screen.

Win+Right Arrow Maximize the app or desktop window to the right side of the screen.

Win+Home Minimize all but the active desktop window.

Win+Shift+Up

Arrow

Stretch the desktop window to the top and bottom of the screen.

Win+G

Win+U

Cycle through running desktop gadgets.

Open the Ease of Access Center.







VMware, Inc. 31

Using HTML Access

International Keyboards

When using non-English keyboards and locales, you must use certain settings in your client system, browser, and remote desktop. Some languages require you to use an IME (input method editor) on the remote desktop.

With the correct local settings and input methods installed, you can input characters for the following languages: English, Japanese, French, German, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, and Korean.

Table 3

‑6. Required Input Language Settings

Language

Input Language on the Local Client

System

IME Required on the Local Client

System?

Browser and Input

Language on the

Remote Desktop

English

French

German

English

French

German

No

No

No

English

French

German

Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified) English Input Mode Chinese (Simplified)

Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional) English Input Mode Chinese (Traditional)

Japanese

Korean

Japanese

Korean

English Input Mode

English Input Mode

Japanese

Korean

IME Required on the Remote

Desktop?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

Screen Resolution

If the View Administrator configures a remote desktop with the correct amount of video RAM, the Web client can resize a remote desktop to match the size of the browser window. The default configuration is

36MB of video RAM, which is comfortably more than minimum requirement of 16MB if you are not using

3D applications.

If you use a browser or Chrome device that has a high pixel density resolution, such as a Macbook with

Retina Display or a Google Chromebook Pixel, you can set the remote desktop or application to use that resolution. Turn on the High Resolution Mode option in the Settings window, which is available from the sidebar. (This option appears in the Settings window only if you are using a high-resolution display.)

To use the 3D rendering feature, you must allocate sufficient VRAM for each remote desktop.

n n

The software-accelerated graphics feature, available with vSphere 5.0 or later, allows you to use 3D applications such as Windows Aero themes or Google Earth. This features requires 64MB to 128MB of

VRAM.

The shared hardware-accelerated graphics feature (vSGA), available with vSphere 5.1 or later, allows you to use 3D applications for design, modeling, and multimedia. This feature requires 64MB to 512MB of VRAM. The default is 96MB.

n

The dedicated hardware-accelerated graphics feature (vDGA), available with vSphere 5.5 or later, dedicates a single physical GPU (graphical processing unit) on an ESXi host to a single virtual machine.

Use this feature if you require high-end, hardware-accelerated workstation graphics. This feature requires 64MB to 512MB of VRAM. The default is 96MB.

When 3D rendering is enabled, the maximum number of monitors is 1 and the maximum resolution is 3840 x 2160.

32 VMware, Inc.


Similarly, if you use a browser on a device that has a high pixel density resolution, such as a Macbook with

Retina Display or a Google Chromebook Pixel, you must allocate sufficient VRAM for each remote desktop.

I

MPORTANT

Estimating the amount of VRAM you need for the VMware Blast display protocol is similar to estimating how much VRAM is required for the PCoIP display protocol. For guidelines, see the section

"RAM Sizing for Specific Monitor Configurations When Using PCoIP" of the topic "Estimating Memory

Requirements for Virtual Desktops," in the View Architecture Planning document.

Using the Sidebar

After you connect to a remote desktop or hosted application, you can use the sidebar to launch other applications and desktops, switch between running desktops and applications, and perform other actions.

When you access a remote application or desktop, the sidebar appears on the left side of the screen. Click the sidebar tab to display or hide the sidebar. You can also slide the tab up and down.

VMware, Inc. 33

Using HTML Access

Figure 3

‑1. Sidebar That Appears When You Launch a Remote Desktop or Application

34 VMware, Inc.


Click the expander arrow next to a running application to see the list of documents opened from that application. Note, however, that if you have, for example, two Excel documents open from separate Excel programs hosted on two different servers, the Excel application will be listed twice in Running list in the sidebar.

From the sidebar, you can perform several actions.

Table 3

‑7. Sidebar Actions

Action

Show the sidebar

Hide the sidebar

Launch a remote application or desktop

Search for a remote application or desktop

Create a list of favorite applications and desktops

Switch between applications or desktops

Open the Copy & Paste panel

Procedure

When you have a remote application or desktop open, click the sidebar tab. When the sidebar is open, you can still perform actions in the application or desktop window.

Click the sidebar tab.

Click the name of an application or desktop under Available in the sidebar. The desktops are listed first.

n n n

Click in the Search box and begin typing the name of the application or desktop.

To launch an application or desktop, click the name of the application or desktop in the search results.

To return to the home view of the sidebar, tap the X in the search box.

Click the gray star next to the name of the desktop or application in the Available list in the sidebar. You can then click the Show Favorites toolbar button (star icon) next to Available to display a list of only favorites.

Click the application file name or desktop name in the Running list in the sidebar.

Open the File Transfer window

Enable Command-A, Command-C,

Command-V, and Command-X

Close a running desktop

Close a running application

Reset a desktop

Click the Copy & Paste button at the top of the sidebar. Use this button for copying text to and from applications on your local client system. For more

information, see “Copying and Pasting Text,” on page 36. On iOS Safari, this

button is not available because the copy and paste feature is not supported.

Click the File Transfer button at the top of the sidebar to download files from, or upload files to, the remote desktop. For more information, see

“Download Files from a Desktop to the Client,” on page 38 and “Upload Files from the Client to a

Desktop,” on page 38.

This option appears in the Settings window only if you are using a Mac. Click the

Open Menu toolbar button at the top of the sidebar and then click Settings. When this feature is enabled, The Command key on the Mac is mapped to the Ctrl key on the remote Windows desktop or application. For example, pressing Command-

A on a Mac keyboard will have the effect of pressing Ctrl+A on the remote

Windows desktop or application.

Click the Open Menu button next to the desktop name in the Running list in the sidebar and select the action you want: n n

Select Close to disconnect from the desktop without logging off from its operating system. Note, however, that your View administrator can configure your desktop to automatically log off when disconnected. In that case, unsaved changes in open applications will be lost.

Select Log off to log off from the operating system and disconnect from the desktop. Any unsaved changes in open applications will be lost.

Click the X next to the file name under the application name in the Running list in the sidebar. Click the X next to the application name to quit the application and close all open files for that application.

You are prompted to save changes made to the files.

Click the Open Menu button next to the desktop name in the Running list in the sidebar and select Reset. Any files that are open on the remote desktop will be closed without being saved first. You can reset a desktop only if your administrator has enabled this feature.

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Using HTML Access

Table 3

‑7. Sidebar Actions (Continued)

Action

Reset all running applications

Use key combinations that include the Windows key

Procedure

Click the Open Menu toolbar button at the top of the sidebar, click Settings, and click Reset. All unsaved changes are lost.

Click the Open Menu toolbar button at the top of the sidebar, click Settings, and turn on Enable Windows Key for Desktops. For more information, see

“Shortcut

Key Combinations,” on page 29.

Click the Send Ctrl+Alt+Del toolbar button at the top of the sidebar.

Send Ctrl+Alt+Del to current work area

Disconnect from the server

Use high-resolution mode on machines with a high-resolution display (such as Retina Macbook

Pro)

Call out or dismiss the soft keyboard

Display help topics

Display the About VMware Horizon box

Click the Open Menu toolbar button at the top of the sidebar, or else click the

Horizon logo at the top of the sidebar, and click Log off.

Click the Open Menu toolbar button at the top of the sidebar, click Settings, and turn on High Resolution Mode. (This option appears in the Settings window only if you are using a high-resolution display.)

(iOS Safari only) Click the keyboard icon at the top of the sidebar. You can also call out or dismiss the soft keyboard by tapping the screen with three fingers.


Horizon logo at the top of the sidebar, and click Help.


Horizon logo at the top of the sidebar, and click About.

Sound

You can play sound in your remote desktops and applications, but some limitations apply.

By default, sound playback is enabled for remote desktops and applications, although your View administrator can set a policy to disable sound playback.

Take into account the following guidelines: n n n

To turn up the volume, use the sound control on your client system, not the sound control in the remote desktop or application.

Occasionally, the sound might go out of sync with the video.

In conditions of heavy network traffic, or if the browser is performing a lot of tasks (I/O), sound quality might be reduced. Some browsers work better than others in this regard.

Copying and Pasting Text

It is possible to copy text to and from remote desktops and applications. Your View administrator can set this feature so that copy and paste operations are allowed only from your client system to a remote desktop or application, or only from a remote desktop or application 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 or Horizon Agent in remote desktops. For more information, see

“HTML Access Group Policy

Settings,” on page 24.

You can copy up to 1MB of text, including any Unicode non-ASCII characters. You can copy text from your client system to a remote desktop or application, 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 remote desktop and the file system on your client computer.

N

OTE

The copy and paste feature is not supported on iOS Safari.

36 VMware, Inc.


Use the Copy and Paste Feature

To copy and paste text, you must use the Copy & Paste button located at the top of the sidebar.

This procedure describes how to use the Copy & Paste window to copy text from your local client system to a remote application or how to copy text from a remote application to your local client system. If, however, you are copying and pasting text between remote applications and desktops, you can simply copy and paste as you normally would, and there is no need to use the Copy & Paste window.

The Copy & Paste window, which you can open from the button at the top of the HTML Access sidebar, is required only for synchronizing the Clipboard on your local system with the Clipboard in the remote machine.

The text in the Copy & Paste window displays one of the following messages to indicate in which direction the user can copy and paste content.

n Use this panel to copy & paste content between your local client and remote desktop/application.

n Use the panel to copy & paste content from your local client to remote desktop/application.

n Use the panel to copy & paste content from your remote desktop/application to local client.

Prerequisites

If you are using a Mac, verify that you have enabled the setting for mapping the Command key to the

Windows Ctrl key when using the key combinations to select, copy, and paste text. Click the Open Settings

Window toolbar button in the sidebar and turn on Enable Command-A, Command-C, Command-V, and

Command-X. (This option appears in the Settings window only if you are using a Mac.)

The View administrator must either leave the default policy in effect, which allows users to copy from client systems and paste into their remote desktops and applications, or else the administrator must configure

another policy that allows copying and pasting. For more information, see “HTML Access Group Policy

Settings,” on page 24.

Procedure

n

To copy text from your client system to the remote desktop or application: a Copy the text in local client application.

b In your browser, click the HTML Access sidebar tab to open the sidebar, and click Copy & Paste at the top of the sidebar.

n

The Copy & Paste window appears. If previously copied text already appears in the window, that text will be replaced when you paste in the newly copied text.

c Press Ctrl+V (or Command-V on Macs) to paste the text into the Copy & Paste window.

The following message appears briefly:

"Remote Clipboard Synced." d Click in the remote application where you want to past the text and press Ctrl+V.

The text is pasted into the remote application.

To copy text from your remote desktop or application to your client system: a Copy the text in your remote application.

b In your browser, click the HTML Access sidebar tab to open the sidebar, and click Copy & Paste at the top of the sidebar.

The Copy & Paste window appears with the text already pasted in it. The following message appears briefly:

"Remote Clipboard Synced."

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Using HTML Access c Click in the Copy & Paste window and press Ctrl+C (or Command-C on Macs) to copy again.

The text will not be selected when you do this action, and you cannot select the text. The following message appears briefly:

"Copied from Clipboard Panel." d On your client system, click where you want to paste the text and press Ctrl+V.

The text is pasted into the application on your client system.

Transferring Files between the Client and a Remote Desktop

With the file transfer feature, you can transfer (upload and download) files between the client and a remote desktop. File transfer to or from applications is not supported.

The Horizon administrator can configure the ability to allow, disallow, or allow in one direction only, the transfer of files by modifying GPO (group policy object) settings for the VMware Blast protocol. For more

information, see “HTML Access Group Policy Settings,” on page 24. The default is upload only.

You can download a file up to 500 MB in size, and upload a file up to 2 GB in size. For 32-bit Internet

Explorer 11, downloading a file larger than 300 MB might not work. To resolve the issue, run Internet

Explorer 11 in 64-bit mode.

You cannot download or upload folders, or files that have a size of zero.

Safari on iOS and Safari 8 do not support upload or download. Safari 9 does not support download.

If file transfer is in progress in a desktop session and the user opens a connection to a second desktop, and if a security warning is displayed (this can happen if no valid certificate was installed, for example), ignoring the warning and continuing to connect to the second desktop will cause the file transfer in the first desktop session to abort. This is expected behavior.

N

OTE

The ability to download is affected by the group policy setting for clipboard redirection. If clipboard redirection is disabled from the server to the client, then file download is also disabled.

Download Files from a Desktop to the Client

With Horizon Client you can download files from a remote desktop to the client machine.

Procedure

1 Click the file transfer icon at the top of the sidebar.

The Transfer Files window opens.

2 Click Download.

3 Select one or more files on the remote desktop.

4 Press Ctrl+c to start the download.

5 After the download is complete, click the download icon to save the files on the client machine.

Upload Files from the Client to a Desktop

With Horizon Client you can upload files from the client machine to a remote desktop.

Procedure

1 Click the file transfer icon at the top of the sidebar.

The Transfer Files window opens.

2 Click Upload.

38 VMware, Inc.


3 Drag and drop files into the Transfer Files window or click Choose Files to select files.

The selected files are uploaded to the

My Documents

folder.

With Internet Explorer 11 and Chrome on ChromeBook, if you drag and drop folders, files of zero size, or files larger than 2 GB, you get an error message as expected. After you dismiss the error message, you can no longer drag and drop files that can be transferred.

Using the Real-Time Audio-Video Feature for Webcams and

Microphones

With the Real-Time Audio-Video (RTAV) feature, you can use your client machine's webcam or microphone on your remote desktop. Real-Time Audio-Video is compatible with standard conferencing applications and browser-based video applications, and supports standard webcams, audio USB devices, and analog audio input.

RTAV is supported on Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox only. The default video resolution is 320 x 240.

The default RTAV settings work well with most webcam and audio applications. For information on how to change RTAV settings, see "Configuring Real-Time Audio-Video Group Policy Settings" in the Setting Up

Desktop and Application Pools in View document.

When the remote desktop is connected to the client machine's webcam or microphone, an icon for each appears at the top of the sidebar. Before the desktop can connect to the webcam or microphone, the browser might ask for permission. Different browsers behave differently.

n n n

Microsoft Edge asks for permission every time and you cannot change this behavior. For more information, see https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2015/05/13/announcing-media-capturefunctionality-in-microsoft-edge .

Firefox asks for permission every time but you can change this behavior. For more information, see https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/permissions-manager-give-ability-store-passwords-set-cookiesmore?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=how-do-i-manage-website-permissions .

Chrome asks for permission the first time and if you allow the device to be used, will not ask again.

If RTAV is being used in a desktop session and the user opens a connection to a second desktop, and if a security warning is displayed (this can happen if no valid certificate was installed, for example), ignoring the warning and continuing to connect to the second desktop will cause RTAV to stop working in the first desktop session. This is expected behavior.

Log Off or Disconnect

With some configurations, if you disconnect from a remote desktop without logging off, applications in the desktop can remain open. You can also disconnect from a server and leave remote applications running.

Procedure

n

Log out of the View server and disconnect from (but do not log out from) the desktop or quit the hosted application.

Option

From the desktop and application selector screen, before connecting to a remote desktop or application

From the sidebar when connected to a remote desktop or application

Action

Click the Log Out toolbar button in the upper-right corner of the screen.

Click the Log out toolbar button at the top of the sidebar.

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Using HTML Access n

Close a remote application.

n

Option Action

From within the application

From the sidebar

Quit the application in the usual manner, for example, click the X (Close) button in the corner of the application window.

Click the X next to the application file name in the Running list in the sidebar.

Log off or disconnect from a remote desktop.

Option

From within the desktop OS

From the sidebar

Action

To log off, use the Windows Start menu to log off.

To log off and disconnect, click the Open Menu toolbar button next to the desktop name in the Running list in the sidebar and select Log Off. Files that are open on the remote desktop will be closed without being saved first.

To disconnect without logging off, click the Open Menu toolbar button next to the desktop name in the Running list and select Close.

N

OTE

Your View administrator can configure your desktop to automatically log off when disconnected. In that case, any open applications in your desktop are closed.

To log off, use the URI https://ConnectionServerFQDN?

desktopId=desktop_name&action=logoff

.

Using an URI

Reset a Remote Desktop or Application

You might need to reset a desktop or application if the application or desktop operating system stops responding. Resetting a remote desktop shuts down and restarts the desktop. Resetting your remote applications quits the applications. Unsaved data is lost.

Resetting a remote 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 remote desktop will be closed without being saved first.

Resetting applications is the equivalent of quitting all remote applications without saving any unsaved data.

All open applications are closed, even if the applications come from different RDS server farms.

You can reset a remote desktop only if your administrator has enabled this feature.

Procedure

u

Use the Reset command.

Option Action

Reset applications from the application selector screen

Reset a desktop from the sidebar

From the desktop and application selector screen, before connecting to a remote desktop or application, to reset all running applications, click the

Settings toolbar button in the upper-right corner of the screen, anc click

Reset.

When connected to a remote desktop, click the Open Menu toolbar button next to the desktop name in the Running list in the sidebar and select

Reset.

Reset applications from the sidebar

To reset all running applications, click the Open Settings Window toolbar button at the top of the sidebar, and click Reset.

Reset a desktop using an URI

To reset a desktop, use the URI https://ConnectionServerFQDN?

desktopId=desktop_name&action=reset

.

For a remote desktop, the operating system in the remote desktop is rebooted. The client disconnects from the desktop. For remote applications, the applications are quit.

40 VMware, Inc.


What to do next

Wait an appropriate amount of time for system startup before attempting to connect to the remote desktop.

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Using HTML Access

42 VMware, Inc.

Index

B

Blast Agent 11

C

certificates, setting the thumbprint in the

Windows registry 15

cipher suites, configuring for HTML Access

Agents 15

configuration settings 19

copy text 37

copying text 36

Ctrl+Alt+Delete 29

customer experience program, desktop pool

data 17

D

desktop

log off from 39

reset 40

disconnecting from a remote desktop 39

download files from a desktop to the client 38 downloading files 38

F

feature support matrix 25

firewall rules, HTML Access 10

H

Horizon Client, disconnect from a desktop 39

Horizon View HTML Access 5

HTML Access

configuring group policies 24

installing Horizon Client on 7

upgrading 16

HTML Access Agent

configuring cipher suites 15

configuring SSL certificates 12

importing a certificate 13

HTML Access page 19

HTML Access Web client 5

I

IME (input method editor) 32

installation 7

intermediate certificates, importing into the

Windows store 14

VMware, Inc. iOS, configuring to use CA-signed

certificates 16

K

keyboards 32

L

log off 39

logging in 27

M

MMC, adding the Certificate snap-in 13

monitors 32

P

paste text 37

pasting text 36

R

real-time audio-video 39

remote desktop 25

reset desktop 40

root certificate, importing into the Windows

store 14

S

screen resolution 32

security servers 9

self-signed security certificates 28

Send Ctrl+Alt+Del menu command 29

setup 7

shortcut key combinations 29

sidebar 33

sound playback 36

SSL certificates, configuring for HTML Access

Agents 12

system requirements, for HTML Access 7

T

TCP ports, HTML Access 10

text, copying 36

transferring files 38

U

uninstall HTML Access 16

upload files from a desktop to the client 38

43

Using HTML Access

uploading files 38

URI examples 23

URI syntax for HTML Access web clients 22

URIs (uniform resource identifiers) 21

V

video RAM 32

View Connection Server 9

W

Web client, system requirements for HTML

Access 7

Web Portal 19

webcam 39

Windows Certificate Store, importing a certificate

for the HTML Access Agent 13

44 VMware, Inc.

VMware Using HTML Access

Using HTML Access

This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs .

Contents

Using HTML Access

Setup and Installation

System Requirements for HTML Access

Preparing View Connection Server and Security Servers for

HTML Access

Firewall Rules for HTML Access

Prepare Desktops, Pools, and Farms for HTML Access

Configure HTML Access Agents to Use New SSL Certificates

Add the Certificate Snap-In to MMC on a View Desktop

Import a Certificate for the HTML Access Agent into the Windows Certificate

Store

Import Root and Intermediate Certificates for the HTML Access Agent

Set the Certificate Thumbprint in the Windows Registry

Configure HTML Access Agents to Use Specific Cipher Suites

Configuring iOS to Use CA-Signed Certificates

Upgrading the HTML Access Software

Uninstall HTML Access from View Connection Server

Data Collected by VMware

Configuring HTML Access for End

Users

Configure the VMware Horizon Web Portal Page for End Users

Using URIs to Configure HTML Access Web Clients

Syntax for Creating URIs for HTML Access

Examples of URIs

HTML Access Group Policy Settings

Using a Remote Desktop or

Application

Feature Support Matrix

Feature Support for Single-User Virtual Machine Desktops

Feature Support for Session-Based Desktops and Hosted Applications on RDS

Hosts

Internationalization

Connect to a Remote Desktop or Application

Trust a Self-Signed Root Certificate

Shortcut Key Combinations

International Keyboards

Screen Resolution

Using the Sidebar

Sound

Copying and Pasting Text

Use the Copy and Paste Feature

Transferring Files between the Client and a Remote Desktop

Download Files from a Desktop to the Client

Upload Files from the Client to a Desktop

Using the Real-Time Audio-Video Feature for Webcams and

Microphones

Log Off or Disconnect

Reset a Remote Desktop or Application

Index

Related manuals

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