Horizon View Licensing Usage Test

By tracking the number and type of sessions to the VMware Horizon Connection broker, administrators can not only understand the load on their VMware Horizon Connection Server, but can also determine how their VMware Horizon licenses are being utilized. Such useful insights on load and license usage are provided by the Horizon View Licensing Usage test. This test reports the total number of sessions on the VMware Horizon Connection Server, and also reveals the number of sessions of each type currently active on the server. In addition, the test also highlights the maximum number of concurrent sessions of each type that were launched on the server. Based on these inputs, administrators can understand current license usage and can also plan future license requirements. The test also promptly alerts administrators to the impending expiry of the View license.

Target of the test : A VMware Horizon Connection server

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the VMware Horizon Connection server being monitoredVMware Horizon Connection server being monitored

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed
Host	The host for which the test is to be configured
Port	Refers to the port used by VMware Horizon Connection Server. The default port number is NULL.
Connection Server name	Specify the name of the target VMware Horizon Connection Server that is to be monitored.
User name	By default, eG Enterprise uses a dual approach i.e., uses VMware PowerCLI and LDAP queries to collect metrics from the target VMware Horizon Connection Server 7 (or above). This dual approach ensures that the metrics are collected more faster than the LDAP query-only approach used for the prior versions of the VMware Horizon Connection Server. Administrators need to install the VMware PowerCLI on the target VMware Horizon Connection server and configure the eG agent to communicate with that CLI to pull the metrics. PowerCLI is a command-line and scripting tool built on Windows PowerShell, which enables easy management, configuration, and automation of vSphere and vCloud environments. With the help of this CLI, the eG agent collects metrics from the target server more quickly than the LDAP approach that was used to collect metrics from VMware Horizon Connection Server version 6 and below. In order to collect metrics using VMware PowerCLI, administrators need to specify the name of the user possessing read-only administrator role in the VMware Horizon Management Console.
Password	Specify the password corresponding to the user here.
Confirm Password	Confirm the password by retyping it here.
Domain Name	Specify the name of the domain to which the VMware Horizon Connection Server belongs to. If the target VMware Horizon Connection Server does not belong to any domain, specify none here.

Measurements made by the test

Measurement

Description

Measurement Unit

Interpretation

All sessions

The number of View sessions currently active.

Number

This is a good indicator of the current session load on View.

Checkedout VM sessions

Indicates the current number of sessions in which VMs are checked out for use as local desktops.

Number

This measure will not be available from VMware Horizon View 6.0 onwards, as the ’Local Mode’ feature has been deprecated from this version.

Compare the value of this measure with that of the Linked clone sessions measure to know what type of sessions are contributing to the current session load on the View server – full VM sessions? or linked-clone sessions?

Full VM sessions

Indicates the current number of active full VM sessions.

Number

Linked clone sessions

Indicates the current number of active linked clone View sessions.

Number

A linked clone is a copy of a virtual machine that shares virtual disks with the parent virtual machine in an ongoing manner. This conserves disk space, and allows multiple virtual machines to use the same software installation.

Compare the value of this measure with that of the Full VM sessions measure to know what type of sessions are contributing to the current session load on the View server – full VM sessions? or linked-clone sessions?

PCoIP gateway sessions

Indicates the current number of PCoIP gateway sessions.

Number

In the event of a session overload, you can compare the value of these measures to know the type of sessions that is causing the overload.

Secure gateway sessions

Indicates the current number of Secure gateway sessions.

Number

Sessions from other sources

Indicates the current number of active View sessions from other sources.

Number

Application sessions

Indicates the current number of active View application sessions.

Number

In the event of a session overload, you can compare the value of these measures to know the reason for the overload – is it because too many sessions are launching applications? Or is it many sessions are accessing desktops?

Desktop sessions

Indicates the current number of active View desktop sessions.

Number

Highest all sessions

Indicates the highest recorded number of concurrent View sessions.

Number

This is a good indicator of the maximum concurrent session load that the View server can handle. By observing the variations to this measure over time, you can understand the server capacity and accordingly plan its future resource requirements. The measure also indicates how concurrent licenses were utilized, and helps you determine whether/not more licenses will be required in the future.

Highest full VM sessions

Indicates the highest recorded number of concurrent full VM sessions.

Number

If concurrent session load/usage of concurrent licenses is abnormally high, you can compare the value of this measure with that of the Highest linked-clone sessions to know the type of sessions that may have contributed the most to the erratic usage.

Highest linked clone sessions

Indicates the highest recorded number of concurrent linked-clone sessions.

Number

If the value of the Highest all sessions measure is abnormally high, you can compare the value of this measure with that of the Highest full VM sessions to know the type of sessions that may have contributed the most to the erratic usage.

Highest PCoIP gateway sessions

Indicates the highest recorded number of concurrent PCoIP gateway sessions.

Number

If the value of the Highest all sessions measure is abnormally high, you can compare the value of these three measures to know the type of sessions that may have contributed the most to the erratic usage.

Highest secure gateway sessions

Indicates the highest recorded number of concurrent secure gateway sessions.

Number

Highest sessions from other sources

Indicates the highest recorded number of concurrent sessions from other sources.

Number

Highest application sessions

Indicates the highest recorded number of concurrent application sessions.

Number

If the value of the Highest all sessions measure is abnormally high, you can compare the value of these two measures to know the type of sessions that may have contributed the most to the erratic usage.

Highest desktop sessions

Indicates the highest recorded number of concurrent desktop sessions.

Number

Expiry Date (Days)

Indicates the number of days left for the VMware Horizon View license to expire.

Number

If an evaluation license is in use, this measure will report the number of days left for the license to expire. On the other hand, if a permanent license is obtained, a value Unlimited will be displayed indicating that the license will not expire at all.

Local desktop enabled

Indicates whether the local mode license is enabled or not.

Number

This measure will not be available from VMware Horizon View 6.0 onwards, as the ’Local Mode’ feature has been deprecated from this version.

The idea behind Local Mode is to let VMware Horizon View users run virtual desktops while offline, giving them portability and the ability to run applications even when they are not connected to enterprise servers. That is ideal for supporting employees who travel with laptops, work with multiple PCs at different locations or do not have persistent access to a broadband connection.

This measure reports either Enabled or Disabled while indicating the status of the local mode license. The numeric values that correspond to the above-mentioned states are as follows:

State	Numeric Value
Enabled	1
Disabled	0

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-mentioned states while indicating the status of the local mode license. However, the graph of this measure will be represented using the corresponding numeric equivalents of the states as mentioned in the table above.

View composer enabled

Indicates whether the View Composer license is enabled or not.

Number

This measure reports either Enabled or Disabled while indicating the status of the View Composer license. The numeric values that correspond to the above-mentioned states are as follows:

State	Numeric Value
Enabled	1
Disabled	0

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-mentioned states while indicating the status of the View Composer license. However, the graph of this measure will be represented using the corresponding numeric equivalents of the states as mentioned in the table above.