7. VMware Horizon Connection Server installation and configuration

As we discussed in blog 4 regarding the components that makes up Horizon VDI, first and foremost of them is the Horizon Connection server which is considered as the heart of horizon as it acts as broker between desktops and the users, it authorizes users and assigns desktops they are entitled too.

Connection Server console lets us create pools, create desktops,assign desktops to users etc. To summarize in one word it is an all in all and one stop service for Horizon VDI

VM specifications to install Horizon Connection Server :

OS - Windows Server 2016 and above (Recommended)

vCPU - 2 for Lab and 4 for Production environment

Memory - 4GB for Lab and 11GB for Production environment

HDD - 90GB for Lab and 150 or more for Production environment

Make sure to add DNS record, add the VM to domain and login to VM using an domain account to begin installation.

We are going with below version of Connection Server which is 2011

"VMware-Horizon-Connection-Server-x86_64-8.3.0-18294467"

Make sure to select Horizon standard server and enable HTML access

Allow to choose configure windows firewall automatically

Make sure to create domain account and the same has to be inputted which we later use to login to the console

Select general in the drop down as we are install the connection server locally in our lab

Make sure following services are installed and up and running.

Once the installation is completed and up and running you should be able to login to the console using the IP or FQDN of the server.

Below is how the console looks like when you login for the first time, you can avoid warning and errors if any as this is the first time login. We will work on resolving them in the coming blogs

Once logged in under servers tab, make sure to add vcenter credentials and submit. Once it is successful you should be able to see vCenter under servers tab