Pre-requisites for Using the VMware Horizon Logon Simulator

Before attempting to use the simulator, make sure that the following pre-requisites are fulfilled:

Category Pre-requisites
Logon Simulator Agent / Simulation Endpoint

  • Client Emulation capability should be enabled on the eG license.

  • The logon simulator agent / external agent should be installed on a dedicated virtual machine or a physical server running Windows 2012/2016/2019/2022 or Windows 8/10/11 operating system.

  • The logon simulator agent / external agent should only run an English version of Windows operating system.

    Note:

    If Multilingual User Interface pack is applied on the Windows operating system, then, ensure that the English language is chosen as the System locale.

  • The logon simulator agent / external agent should not be used to monitor any other component in the target environment.

  • Microsoft .Net 4.5 (or above) should pre-exist on the system hosting the logon simulator agent/external agent.
  • The simulator requires a dedicated VMware Horizon user account with rights to launch applications/desktops.

  • The simulator also requires a user account with local administrator rights on the simulation endpoint - i.e., on the system hosting the logon simulator agent. This user should be logged in at all times for the simulator to run continuously.

    Note:

    • The logon simulation will not work if the session is closed.
Environment
  • The simulator will only work with VMware Horizon Connection Server 7.x and above.
  • The simulator will work only when VMware Horizon HTML Access is installed on the VMware Horizon Connection Server. Ensure that the 'Enabled' check box against the Allow HTML Access to Desktops and Applications on this farm field of each desktop/application within a VMware Horizon farm is checked. Similarly, ensure that the 'Enabled' check box against the HTML Access field in the Desktop Pool settings pop up window of each application /desktop within a desktop pool is checked.

  • The VMware Horizon Workspace cannot be used for the simulation.

  • Single Sign-On i.e., True SSO feature should be enabled on the VMware Horizon Connection Server.

  • The eG Enterprise Express Logon Simulator for VMware Horizon can be used to simulate logons to the on-premises VMware installations. Typically, the simulator simulates a user logging into an Access Point (VMware Unified Access Gateway) or VMware Horizon Connection Server through a browser, reviewing the list of applications/desktops accessible, clicking on a selected application or desktop, launching it by initiating a session, and then logging off. Sometimes, the simulator may not be able to cleanly logoff the application/desktop sessions it created. Such sessions may continue to linger on the server in a disconnected state. In simulations that are performed on-premises, where you have control over the target VMware infrastructure, you can avoid such disconnected sessions and ensure clean application/desktop logoffs by deploying the light-weight eG Logoff Helper software. Install the helper software on the VMware Horizon Connection Server.

  • The allocated desktop that is to be launched by simulation should be powered on and also should be a dedicated desktop.

  • If a firewall separates the simulation endpoint from the Access Point (VMware Unified Access Gateway) / VMware Horizon Connection Server, then make sure you configure the firewall to allow two-way communication between the endpoint and Access Point (VMware Unified Access Gateway) / VMware Horizon Connection Server.

  • By default, the Hide domain list in client user interface global setting of the VMware Horizon Connection server is enabled implying that the users logging into the VMware Horizon Connection through the Horizon client can provide the domain credentials along with the user credentials in the User Name text box in the format: domain\username or username@domain. If two-factor authentication is also enabled on the VMware Horizon Connection Server, then, administrators should not enforce Windows user name matching. Enforcing Windows user name matching will prevent users from being able to enter domain information in the User Name text box resulting in login failures.
Browser

Chrome browser v122 (and above) should be available on the dedicated endpoint.

Note:

In some environments where browsers are automatically updated to their latest versions, incompatibility is cited between the browser version and the Chrome drivers. This may sometimes lead to the nonstart of simulation. Therefore, ensure that the Chrome drivers are also updated whenever the browser is updated to the latest version.

Chrome is capable of automatically applying updates and upgrading itself to higher versions. Sometimes, when Chrome auto-upgrades, some drivers that the eG Logon Simulator Agent uses may suddenly be rendered incompatible with Chrome. This can cause problems in simulation. To avoid this, eG Enterprise Logon Simulator for VMware, by default, prevents Chrome upgrades/updates (both automatic and manual) from being applied at the simulation endpoint.

However, whenever a new version of the eG agent with updated drivers is released, you will have to manually upgrade Chrome to ensure continued compatibility. In this case therefore, you will have to make sure that the simulation endpoint allows Chrome upgrades. To achieve this, before manually upgrading Chrome, follow the steps below:

  • Login to the eG agent host.
  • Open the Windows command prompt as Administrator.

  • Switch to the <EG_AGENT_INSTALL_DIR>\lib directory, and issue the following command:

    ChromeUpgradeHandler.exe enable

Note:

To ensure that all the pre-requisites of the VMware Horizon Logon Simulator is fulfilled, you can execute the LogonSimulatorChecks.exe which is available in the <eG_INSTALL_DIR>\lib folder. This executable should be executed by a user with administrator privileges from the command prompt of the target agent host. If any pre-requisite has not been fulfilled, failure will be highlighted in Red (as shown by Figure 1).

Figure 1 : Setup script where a pre-requisite has failed

Use the pointers provided in Figure 1, just below the failed pre-requisite, to know how to fulfill that requirement. Then, rerun the LogonSimulatorChecks.exe to make sure that all pre-requisites are fulfilled, and then proceed.

If all pre-requisites are fulfilled, then Figure 2 will appear.

Figure 2 : All pre-requisites are fulfilled