Offline upgrades available for Horizon Workspace 1.8

Whether you're running Horizon Workspace 1.5 as a POC, or you restricted it to have internal access by design, admins who deployed Workspace without internet access can rejoice knowing that version 1.8 introduces a method for performing an "offline" upgrade. This option was not previously available when upgrading from 1.0 to 1.5.

The process includes setting up a local web server and using the updatelocal.hzn checkurl command against the web server.

When going through the upgrade guide, you may be wondering where you actually get the mentioned updaterepo.zip files. It's not clearly stated, however, you will need to contact VMware GSS Support in order to obtain those update bits.

http://pubs.vmware.com/horizon-workspace-18/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/horizon-workspace-18-upgrade.pdf

Read More

Horizon Workspace 1.8 is out!

As you may have heard, Horizon Workspace 1.8 became GA yesterday. This release hasn't been publicized too much but is a major improvement over the 1.5 release with many bug fixes. Some of the major changes include:

• Citrix-based Application integration. From the Horizon Workspace User Portal, users can launch Citrix-based applications via XenApp 5.0, 6.0, and 6.5 using single sign-on. Note: Citrix Receiver must be installed on the client.

• VMware ThinApp package delivery to Windows desktops. Horizon Workspace provides delivery of ThinApp 5.0 packages with 32-bit/64-bit applications to all Windows devices. HTTP delivery is supported to non-domain member endpoints on Windows devices.

• Microsoft Office 365. Single sign-on from Workspace to Microsoft Office 365, SharePoint, and Outlook 365 web applications. Browser based and native email clients are supported.

• Horizon Workspace User Portal and App Center. The User Portal has been enhanced to make application resource management easier. The App Center provides users with self-service category filtering, which shows the latest applications added.

• Web application links. IT administrators can now create Web application links that do not require user authentication, allowing administrators to create static Web links.

• Enterprise enhancements, including the following.

• Support for multi-forest Active Directory deployments. You can integrate Horizon Workspace with multiple Active Directory (AD) forests.

• Application access policy. IT administrators can apply access policies and select different authentication methods based on application type.

• Support for enterprise branding of Horizon Workspace.

• VMware Switch enhancements, including the following.

• Support for Android 4.2 (JellyBean) as the workspace operating system.

• Support for Android tablets.

• Enhanced Horizon Mail 1.7x.

You can find the release notes here: http://hrzn.ws/1qwmOVe
And all other documentation here: http://hrzn.ws/1fqnNgO

Remember to join our Horizon Workspace Google+ page to share tips, tricks, and help build the Workspace community!

Read More

What's compatible with Horizon View 5.3?

I'll bet you didn't know this existed!

Have you been wondering what's compatible with Horizon View 5.3 only to find documentation on VMware's website for View 5.2? There's a reason for that...

Horizon View 5.3 was originally supposed to be Horizon View 5.2.1 and was changed to 5.3 last minute. Hence, all the latest available documentation is still on 5.2 because it wasn't supposed to change. That being said, we still feel in the dark when it comes to compatibility with our shiny new 5.3 View Environment.

There's a KB for that...  =)

Compatibility Matrix for Horizon View Components During an Upgrade to Horizon View 5.3: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2069327

Furthermore, the best solution for checking vSphere component compatibility is the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix. Definitely worth bookmarking!

http://partnerweb.vmware.com/comp_guide2/sim/interop_matrix.php?

Read More