1. Introduction
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) provides IT the ability to securely deliver desktops, applications, and data to any user on any device. In the shift to the modern hyper-converged infrastructure, VDI has been re-architected to take advantage of hyper-converged infrastructure and the cloud. The result enables IT, generalists, to transform IT operations by deploying and scaling VDI in minutes while simultaneously reducing the demands on IT to manage VDI operations.
Scale Computing has validated this joint solution with Workspot's cloud control plane to deliver VDI desktops on an HC3 cluster. Designed with simplicity, availability, and scalability in mind, this hybrid cloud-hyper-converged architecture automates all aspects of the VDI deployment, enabling IT to provision VDI to 100 users on a 3-node HC3 cluster in as little as 60 minutes, start to finish. Scaling up to more users is as simple as adding another HC3 node. In other words, Scale Computing is re-inventing enterprise-class VDI with SMB simplicity for the on-demand agile business environment.
1.1 Target audience
This document covers the step by step procedure to deploy Workspot VDI on Scale Computing's HC3 platform and is intended for IT professionals who use, manage, and deploy VDI technologies on Scale Computing's HC3 platform. The reader should have a solid understanding of Scale Computing's HC3 platform and Windows Server technologies, as well as a working knowledge of end user computing and VDI.
1.2 Prerequisites
Before starting, please have the following hardware and software components ready.
Scale Computing HC3 cluster installed and configured with network
Ensure DHCP is enabled on the network to lease IP addresses to provisioned VDI desktops. The number of free IPs should equal to the number of VDI desktops you plan to provision.
HC3 cluster can reach the Workspot cloud over port 443 (HTTPs)
Workspot Control https://control.workspot.com, https://control.us.workspot.com:443, and https://control.eu.workspot.com:443
Amazon S3 https://s3.amazonaws.com
Also examine the full list of firewall requirements at Internet Firewalls and Workspot.
Windows Server VM for Enterprise Connector installation
Windows Server 2012 or higher
Member of the Windows domain
Minimum of 4 GB of memory (Workspot Enterprise Connector will use %
of the available free memory or 1 GB, which is less).
250 MB of free disk space for installation and runtime usage.
It is not recommended to install the EC on the domain controller.
Windows 10 desktop OS for Windows Desktop template
2. Installing the Workspot Enterprise Connector on the HC3
The first step is to associate the Scale Computing HC3 cluster to the Workspot cloud. This is accomplished by installing the Workspot Enterprise Connector either on a VM on the HC3 cluster or on a server with access to the LAN IP of the Scale Computing HC3 cluster nodes. The Workspot Enterprise Connector is a lightweight client service that is installed on a Windows Server machine in the Datacenter that associates the HC3 cluster to Workspot Control (control plane).
2.1 Enterprise Connector requirements
From the Azul website: Azul Zulu OpenJDK 8 download and install the Azul Zulu OpenJDK 8.
Windows PowerShell 2.0 or above (available by default with Windows Server).
2.2 Installing Enterprise Connector
A domain account with admin privileges to install the Enterprise Connector. The installer will ask for admin privileges, if run as non-admin. This domain account will also be used to create the service account necessary to run the Enterprise Connector.
Create a service account in Active Directory and add the user account to the local administrator group of the Windows Server machine.
To configure and install the Workspot Enterprise Connector, log into the Windows Server and sign into Workspot Control using a browser.
Create a datacenter configuration, go to Setup > Datacenter > Add Datacenter. Enter a name for the Datacenter.
Once the Datacenter configuration is created, click on the Datacenter name to the Manage Datacenter page. Click on Add Connector and take note of the Integration Key for Connector configuration, which will be used later during the Connector installation. Next click on Download Connector for Connector executable.
Login into the Windows Server machine as domain admin and from the Downloads folder, run the Enterprise Connector executable, then click Next to install.
Paste the Integration Key, then enter the Workspot Service account info: Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) and user credentials. Click Next. Complete installation.
In Workspot Control, refresh the Datacenter page to check the connector status. If installed and configured correctly, the status will show Connected as shown below.
3. Add Scale Configuration in Workspot Control
3.1 Scale integration requirements
A LAN IP from the Scale Computing HC3 cluster node (HC3 web interface IP)
Scale Computing HC3 web interface admin credentials for the cluster
Once Enterprise Connector is installed and connected, click on Configs tab then Add Configuration.
Configure the Datacenter Configuration for Scale Computing as appropriate. Enter the Scale Computing web interface admin credentials in the fields Username (i.e. admin) and Password.
4. Creating a Windows Desktop Template
Creating a Windows Desktop template prepares the template from which each desktopwill be cloned.
The eight steps to create template/golden image are:
Create AD Security Group for Workspot users, then add Workspot users' AD user accounts as members of the Group.
Create OU in Active Directory for VDI desktops and create a Group Policy (GPO) to add the Workspot AD Security Group to the Remote Desktop Users local group.
Create Scale Computing HC3 VM in HC3 web interface. Mark the VM as a template in the VM name or description, so the VM isn't powered on by accident. Install appropriate Windows Desktop OS (Windows 10 or 8.1). Apply latest updates.
Enable Remote Desktop Connections: Allow connections from computers running Remote Desktop
Disable Windows Firewall or allow Remote Desktop Connection (RDP port 3389) on firewall.
Install applications you want to deliver to end users (i.e. Microsoft Office 2013, Adobe Acrobat, etc.).
Workspot Agent Installation and template registration to Workspot Control.
Prepping template for provisioning.
4.1 Creating the Workspot AD Security Group
To provide Workspot users access to the VDI desktop, they are added to the local Remote Desktop Users group of the VDI desktop. In order to simplify this, create an AD Security Group which will be added to the Remote Desktop Users group.
Note: This is an optional step for trial/PoC testing since we can add Domain User group to the VDI desktop. However, this is recommended in a production environment.
Create AD Security Group for Workspot users
Add Workspot users as appropriate to AD Security group.
Create OU and GPO for Remote Desktop Users local group
1. Create OU in Active Directory for newly provisioned VDI desktops.
Create Group Policy for the new OU and configure Remote Desktops Users local group adding the Workspot AD Group as a member.
Computer Configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Restricted Groups > Add Group > Type in Remote Desktop Users.
In the Members of this group section, add the Workspot AD Security Group.
4.2 Create Scale VM
See the user’s guide for your version of Scale HC3.
4.3 Enable Remote Desktop Connection
Workspot leverages Remote Desktop Connection to connect to VDI desktops.
Go to Control Panel > System > Remote settings
Select either Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop or Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication radio button.
4.4 Windows Firewall
Workspot leverages Remote Desktop Connection on port 3389 to connect to VDI desktops. Disable Windows Firewall to prevent issues connecting or allow port 3389 in firewall. Example below disables Windows Firewall. Note: Verify Domain Profile is disabled.
Open Control Panel > Windows Firewall > System and Security > Windows Firewall > Advanced settings
Verify all profiles are disabled. If not, click on Properties to disable.
4.5 Install applications you want to deliver to end users
Install any applications on the virtual machine such as Office, Adobe, etc.
4.6 Workspot Agent installation
Before running the Workspot Agent installation, shut down the template VM. Run the HC3 clone functionality on the template then boot into the new clone. The Workspot agent will register the template to Workspot Control using the MAC address of the VM so once the template is registered and sysprep, no changes can be made. For changes or updates, use the original template VM and clone again.
Download the Workspot Agent install from: http://download.workspot.com/WorkspotAgentSetup64.exe
Run the Workspot Agent installer and use your Workspot admin credentials to register the template.
4.7 Prepping template for provisioning
Review Workspot Agent prep guide for Sysprep and Quickprep instructions: https://workspot.helpdocsonline.com/workspot-agent-2.4-and-2.5-installation-for-templates
5. Provisioning Desktops
VDI desktops can be provisioned automatically within Workspot Control.
1. Navigate to Workspot Control > Resources > VDI > Add Pool.
2. Enter data into the following fields:
Desktop Pool Type: Select VDI deployment type, Persistent and Non-persistent.
Desktop Pool Name: Name of desktop shown on End User's workspace.
Select Datacenter: Select the datacenter where VDI desktops should be hosted in.
Select a Config: Select the Scale Computing HC3 cluster you want to provision VDI desktops on.
Select Template: This will search for VMs on the Scale Computing HC3 cluster selected above. Select the VDI template created in previous steps.
Number of Desktops: Enter the number of desktops Workspot Control will provision.
Naming Prefix: Enter the naming prefix that will uniquely identify the VM in the HC3 web interface.
Suffix Length: Workspot Control will automatically add a dash (-) and numerals to VDI names. Select 1 digit for small VDI pools of 1-10 desktops, 2 digits for medium size pools of 11-100 and 3 digits for large size pools of 101 -1000 desktops.
Auto Create on Delete Desktop: Workspot Control will auto-provision VDI desktops to replace any deleted VDI desktops to match the configured pool size if this checkbox is checked.
Route through VPN: For Call Center or internal network use cases (such as thin clients), select No. For all others, if there is a scenario where a user is outside the internal network, select Yes.
Pool Icon: Select a predefined icon or upload PNG/JPG for VDI desktop icon.
Login Type: If VDI desktop is configured to join the AD domain, select Single Sign On using domain\username and password, otherwise select Single Sign On using username and password.
3. Click on Create and start VDI provisioning.
Clicking Create will kick off the VDI provisioning on the Scale Computing HC3 cluster which will clone the template VM and power it on. Once the VMs are powered on, Workspot Control will show them being Online. It will take a few minutes for the sysprep to complete and for the Workspot agent to report back the Desktop Address.
At this point, the VDI desktops are now ready to be assigned.
6. Assigning Desktops to Users
This section outlines how to test the assignment of a single user before assigning the whole VDI pool of desktops to all users.
Test the assignment to a single user. To test VDI desktop connection, navigate to User Details page for the test user by searching in the upper right search box or from the Users page. Scroll down and click on Assign Desktops button.
Search for VDI pool name in textbox and click Save.
Successful assignment:
Test user access. With a PC, Mac, iOS, or Android device, go to http://www.workspot.com/download and follow in the instructions to download the Workspot Client and connect to the first desktop. Once Workspot client is on-boarded, click on VDI desktop to connect.
Assign the remaining desktops in the VDI pool. Once you have successfully connected the first user to the desktop, use AD integration to configure VDI pool for a User Group.