Manually updating the VMware Horizon Agent
This page covers how to upgrade the Horizon DaaS Agents on your VDI manually without the assistance of Hosted Network
If your VDI are running Horizon Agent v20.3.1 or newer please configure the automatic download of the Horizon Agent, this will allow you to push the update via the Horizon DaaS Admin Portal instead of manually via the process below.
Overview
This guide covers how to upgrade the Horizon DaaS Agents on your VDI to keep them in-line with the latest supported version for the Hosted Network DaaS platform.
This involves running an installer, making adjustments to the default settings and requires access to the VDI NOT via the Horizon Client (e.g. RDP or Console Access).
Carrying out the upgrade whilst connected to the VDI via the Horizon Client is NOT supported and may result in your VDI going offline for an extended period of time. Please ensure you use the Console function in the Admin portal or use a remote access tool to carry out the upgrade (e.g. RDP, TeamViewer, Splashtop, etc).
Please ensure you follow the guide below thoroughly to avoid unexpected issues and potential stability problems with your VDI. If you are not comfortable with doing this yourself please reach out to our support team so that they can book in a time to assist you with the upgrade.
Download Links
Below are the required download links for this guide.
Horizon DaaS v9.0 (Agent v20.3.1) - LINK (Server 2012 R2 and below)
Horizon DaaS v9.1 (Agent v21.3.0) - LINK (Server 2016 and above)
Horizon DaaS v9.1.4 (Agent v22.3.0) - LINK (For Non-Windows 10 or 11 Operating System)
Make sure you install the agent that is supported by your Guest OS, failure to do this can result in issues with the Video drivers not working as expected.
Process
To successfully upgrade the agent installed on your VDI follow the steps below.
Step 1. Remote access
Connect to the VDI via either the console in the Horizon Admin portal (See this KB on how to do this: LINK ) or connect to it with a remote access tool like TeamViewer, RDP, Splashtop, etc. When connecting to the VDI ensure you use the Local Administrator account or an account that is added to the local group "DaaS Direct-Connection Users" to avoid being kicked out by the built-in protections. If you are unsure what the Local Administrator password is please reach out to our team as we may have it documented from the initial setup.
Step 2. Download the required files
In the "Download Links" section, download the latest version of the Horizon DaaS agent to the VDI. Save it to anywhere on the C: drive that the Administrator or user account you're using has access to.
Step 3. Run the installer as Admin and change installed features
Right-click on the .exe file you downloaded and run it as Administrator. When it loads select the upgrade option on the right called "Horizon Cloud Endpoint Desktop".
On the next screen change the below options then click the arrow pointing right in the bottom right of the window:
Enable: VMware Integrated Printing
Disable: Virtual Printing
Disable: vRealize Operations Desktop Agents
Disable: Horizon 7 Persona Management
Enable: USB Redirection
Enable: VMware Virtualization Pack for S4B
Enable: Scanner Redirection
Enable: Geolocation Redirection
Other features can be enabled/disabled as needed, however keep in mind that they may not be supported 100% by our platform, or are known to cause stability issues in the past.
Please reach out to our support team before enabling anything not listed above so we can provide you with more information and guidance to avoid unexpected issues.
Now simply click "Proceed with Installation" to start the process, this will uninstall the existing agents and install the new agents onto the VDI then re-pair it to the DaaS appliances.
Once the process completes you will need to reboot the VDI
Step 4. Check the Agent status and version
Once the agent installer has completed and the VDI has been rebooted log back into the Horizon DaaS Admin portal.
Navigate back to the list of desktops, and you should see that the agent version has changed to the new version.
If the agent is showing as unknown or offline please tick the box to the left of the VDI and click the "More" menu option above the table. Then select "Reset Agent Pairing" from the dropdown, this process can take up to 5 minutes to complete, but once done the agent should now say active.
If it does not change to active please contact support.
FAQ and Common Issues
Below is a list of commonly encountered issues and how to work around them or fix the underlying problem.
The VDI takes a long time to re-pair to the appliances and the admin portal says it is having issues communicating with the VDI - If this happens the VDI may have failed to reconnect to the appliances, simply go to the list of VDI and select the VDI with agent issues. Then in the dropdown menu above the table select "Reset Agent Pairing" then wait 3-4 minutes, the VDI should reconnect without an issue.
Can I upgrade the agent whilst the user is connected? - No, the process will kick any and all users connected via the Horizon Client off of the VDI or may prevent you from running the upgrade at all. We recommend ensuring all users are logged out of the VM and giving it a reboot prior to completing the upgrade to ensure no sessions are stuck on the VDI.
I am worried about the upgrade failing and causing an inconsistent VDI - In situations like this if you have concerns about the upgrade failing please reach out to our support team and we can take a snapshot of the VDI for you to make rolling back much easier.
Can I just upgrade the agent in the Gold Image and redeploy all of my VDI? - Yes, this is fully supported however can be quite time consuming if you have a large number of static desktops. However it may make it a good opportunity to upgrade the base OS to a newer version. - Dynamic VDI can be easily upgraded via this method as well.
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