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Ubuntu OVA for Horizon

Summary

Requirements

Instructions

Changelog

Comments 39

Bugs 0

Ubuntu Desktop is the perfect Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) alternative to Windows for VDI Admins who are looking to move away from a Windows-centric desktop delivery. With an infrastructure utilizing VMware Horizon 7, this pre-packaged OVA aims to ease the setup and configuration of a Ubuntu Template VM, especially for Windows Admins that aren’t familiar with a Linux desktop.

Check out the project on GitHub: https://github.com/thatvirtualboy/horizon-linux-vm

Ubuntu Gnome in the Horizon Client (recommended)

Ubuntu + Plasma Desktop in the Horizon Client

Ubuntu + MATE Desktop in the Horizon Client

Preconfigured Ubuntu OVA

  • Base image is Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS x64 built from mini.iso for minimal footprint
  • VMware HW v14 (requires vSphere 6.7+)
  • Configured for 2D Graphics Settings
  • Default username/password is viewadmin/viewadmin
  • The VM includes the optimize.sh script which configures VM to Best Practices per Horizon
  • Documentation & joins the domain
  • The VM includes the linux-agent-install.sh script to install the Horizon Agent and configure USB 3.0 Redirection
  • Additional system tweaks and applications may be necessary for your needs.
  • Due to licensing limitations, the Horizon Agent is NOT included in this OVA. It must be downloaded manually after completing the optimization script.
  • Optional Developer Desktop Package

Requirements for 1.2

  • User permissions to deploy OVA/OVF
  • Optimization script requires VM to have network access
  • VM must be able to resolve https://raw.githubusercontent.com
  • Domain Admin privileges (if joining to the domain)
  • vSphere 6.7 or later
  • Horizon Connection Server 7.11 or later
  • Horizon Client 5.3 or later
  • Comprehensive list of System Requirements for Horizon 7 for Linux here

Instructions for v1.2

Please visit this GitHub page for deployment instructions.

v1.2

  • Special thanks to Robert Guske for testing & feedback
  • Support for Horizon 7.11 and later
  • Support for vSphere 6.7+
  • Updated OVA base image to Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS
  • Updated Virtual Hardware to v14
  • Added option to configure static networking
  • Added support for USB 3.0 and USB Redirection (via linux-agent-installer.sh)
  • Added KDE Desktop Environment Option
  • Added Gnome Desktop Environment Option (recommended)
  • Developer Desktop Package option
  • Added Keyboard Layout Option
  • Added option to enable SSH
  • Removed runlevel 5 setting
  • Fixed MOTD prompt code
  • Disabled auto software updates
  • Removed greeter modifications to support SSO
  • Numerous improvements to script
  • Script renamed to 'optimize.sh'

v1.1.0

  • MATE Only Release
  • Increased vRAM to 128 MB instead of Automatic
  • Removed Audio Device
  • Updated default network device to VMXNET3
  • Updated repository for open-vm-tools to Ubuntu repo
  • Added Horizon 7.1 Agent Dependencies
  • Updated Dependency packages for Ubuntu 16.04 on Horizon 7.1
  • Agent installer script updated with Horizon 7.1 links
  • Updated Media Codec packages for Ubuntu 16.04
  • Updated MATE packages to Xenial
  • More reliable domain join
  • Password update optional
  • Timezone update optional
  • Option to change hostname
  • Desktop addons optional
  • Added retry attempts for failed wgets of smb and krb5 configuration files
  • Renamed ‘horizon-linux-installer.sh’ to ‘linux-agent-installer.sh