Horizon® 8: Install, Configure and Manage

Intermediate to advanced practitioners that design, install, manage, optimize, and troubleshoot enterprise desktops and applications in their environment.

By the end of this session, attendees should be able to:

• Understand the course scope, structure, and role-based outcomes for Horizon 8 installation, configuration, and management.
• Explain Horizon 8 architecture, components, and connection workflows used to deliver virtual desktops and applications.
• Install and configure Horizon Connection Servers to authenticate users and broker desktops and applications.
• Create and manage Horizon desktop pools to deliver consistent and scalable virtual desktops.
• Install and configure Horizon Client to provide secure end-user access to desktops and applications.
• Install and configure the Horizon Agent on Windows systems to enable desktop and application delivery features.
• Build and optimize Windows gold images for standardized Horizon desktop deployment.
• Configure RDS server farms and published applications to deliver shared desktops and apps.
• Prepare and deploy Linux virtual desktops using Horizon 8.
• Deploy and configure Unified Access Gateway to enable secure external access to Horizon resources.
• Monitor Horizon environments and support users using built-in helpdesk and troubleshooting tools.
• Configure content and device redirection to balance security and user experience.
• Design and scale Horizon pods to support growth and performance requirements.
• Implement multi-pod and multi-site Horizon architectures for global availability and resiliency.
• Plan and perform Horizon backups, recovery, and upgrades to maintain operational stability.
• Integrate additional Horizon authentication options to strengthen access security.

Recommended:

• Understand fundamental Networking / Storage and Infrastructure concepts
• A working knowledge of Horizon 8
• A background in End-User Computing

1 Course introduction

• Introductions and course logistics
• Course objectives

2 Horizon 8 overview and architecture

• Introduction to Horizon 8
• Horizon 8 components and architecture
• How an internal connection works
• How an external connection works

3 Horizon Connection Server

• Planning and prerequisites
• Connection Server overview and installation
• Initial configuration of the Connection Server
• Register resource capacity
• Additional recommended configuration

4 Horizon desktop pools

• About desktop pools
• Provisioning desktop pools
• Customizing clones
• Creating desktop pools
• User entitlements
• Updating desktop pools

5 Horizon Client

• Horizon clients and their features
• Installing the Horizon Client
• Configuring the Horizon Client
• Upgrading the Horizon Client

6 Horizon Agent for Windows

• Features of the Horizon Agent for Windows
• Installing and Configuring the Horizon Agent for Windows
• Applying policies to the Horizon Agent
• Horizon Integrated Printing
• Upgrading the Horizon Agent

7 Building a golden image for Horizon

• Outlining the role of a golden image in VDI
• Implementing optimizations in a Windows image
• Building a Windows golden image

8 Horizon 8 server farms and published apps

• Explain Horizon 8 farms
• Provision server farms
• Walkthrough of farm wizard
• Deploy and configure Horizon published applications
• Deploy and configure published apps on demand

9 Linux on Horizon 8

• Explain and summarize the features of the Horizon Agent for Linux
• Install and configure the Horizon Agent for Linux
• Apply policies to the Horizon Agent for Linux
• Configure printing for Linux
• Perform upgrades of Horizon Agent for Linux
• Build a Linux golden image

10 Unified Access Gateway for Horizon deployments

• What is Unified Access Gateway?
• Deploying Unified Access Gateway
• Configure two-factor authentication

11 Monitor Horizon 8 and use the Helpdesk

• Monitor the infrastructure with the Horizon 8 console
• Manage and troubleshoot user sessions
• Collect Horizon log files

12 Content and device redirection with Horizon 8

• Redirection functions and benefits
• Device redirection
• Client drive redirection
• Web content redirection

13 Horizon 8 pod scaling, redundancy, and load balancing

• Recognize the design principles and best practices for scaling a Horizon 8 pod
• Implement multiple Connection Servers for scale and resilience
• Implement multiple Unified Access Gateways for scale and resilience

14 Multiple Horizon 8 pods and multiple sites

• Configure Cloud Pod Architecture

15 Backup, recovery, and upgrading Horizon 8

• Implement backup and recovery for Connection Servers
• Perform an upgrade of a Horizon 8 pod
• Perform an upgrade of Unified Access Gateways

16 Additional authentication options with Horizon 8

• User authentication options on Connection Servers
• Configuring integration with Omnissa Access
• True SSO