Exercise C2: Customizing the Windows VM

You can customize the Windows operating system of the new golden image VM, set wallpapers, and install applications to provide to your end users. If you enabled a public IP address for the golden image VM, you can connect to the VM by using the IP address displayed in the Imported VMs window in an RDP client like Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection.

1. RDP to a Public IP

Depending on your configuration, you can use either a private or public IP address to RDP to the new golden image VM.

  1. Use the IP address of the golden image VM to connect to the RDS-enabled Windows Server operating system.
    • Public IP address: RDP into it using that IP address.
    • Private IP address: RDP into it by one of these two methods:
      • Use another VM in your Microsoft Azure subscription that does have a public IP address, and do an outbound RDP into the golden image VM.
      • Use your VPN and RDP into the golden image VM over your corporate network.
  2. Log in to the RDS-enabled Windows Server operating system using the credentials that you set up when creating the golden image VM, and enter the username as \username.
  3. Copy the IP address.

2. Log in with a Local Administrator Account

  1. When the login window is displayed, you can log in to Horizon Client.
  2. Once you are connected, you can add end-user applications and video GPU drivers, and any other required configurations to the VM.
  3. Install the third-party applications and drivers that you want available to run in the multi-user RDS desktop environment.
    • In the Windows Server operating system, right-click the Start button and click Command Prompt (Admin) to open a command prompt as an administrator.
    • In the command prompt, use the following command to determine the install mode of the server:
      change user /query
    • The server is in RD-Execute mode if you receive the following response:
      Application EXECUTE mode is enabled
    • In the command prompt, use the following command to switch the server into RD-Install mode, a special mode to install applications so they can run in a multi-user environment:
      change user /install
    • Install the third-party user applications you want to provide to your end users in their RDS desktops or as remote applications.
    • Return to the command prompt, and issue the following command to switch the server back into RD-Execute mode:
      change user /execute
  4. In the operating system, install any custom drivers you want in the RDS desktops, such as GPU-backed VMs that leverage NVIDIA GPUs.
  5. Make any customizations or configurations you want to the RDS desktops, such as adding custom wallpaper, setting default fonts or colors or themes, adjusting the taskbar default settings, and so on.
  6. When you finish, sign out of the operating system. Note: Do not shut down the Windows operating system, but instead, use Sign Out.

For more information, see VMware Horizon Cloud Service on Microsoft Azure Administration Guide, and search the guide for Customize the Guest Windows Operating System of the Master Image Virtual Machine.

After you finish customizing the golden image VM, proceed to the next exercise to convert the golden image VM to an assignable image.

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