5.2

VMware Horizon View Integration
52 VMware, Inc.
By default, the virtual machines in a desktop pool inherit the network interface card (NIC), and its associated
network label, that are on the parent virtual machine or template. (Some parent virtual machines or templates
might have multiple NICs with their associated network labels.) Typically, the subnet mask of a VLAN defined
by a network label has a limited range of available IP addresses. For example, a subnet mask might have a
maximum of 254 IP addresses that can be assigned to the desktop virtual machines.
In View 5.2 and later releases, View PowerCLI cmdlets let you assign network labels that are available in the
vCenter Server resource pool where the desktop pool is being deployed. Specifically, you take the following
steps:
 Select network labels from those that are defined for the ESXi cluster in vCenter Server
 Associate the labels with the NICs that are inherited from the parent virtual machine or template
 Specify a maximum number of IP addresses that can be assigned to virtual machines from each network
label
 Save the preceding information in a network label configuration file
 Use the configuration file with a View PowerCLI cmdlet that creates a desktop pool
You can assign multiple network labels to automated full clone pools or linked clone pools.
The network labels are distributed among the virtual machines in the entire desktop pool. When View
provisions desktops, network labels are assigned in alphabetical order. When the maximum number of virtual
machines are provisioned with IP addresses using the first network label, View starts assigning the second
label, and so on.
To assign and manage multiple network labels in a pool, perform the following tasks:
 “Obtain NIC and Network Label Information in a Configuration File” on page 52
 “Edit the Network Label Configuration File” on page 54
 “Deploy a Desktop Pool with Network Label Assignments” on page 55
 “Display the Network Label Assignments for an Existing Pool or Desktop” on page 56
 “Disable Automatic Network Label Assigments” on page 58
Obtain NIC and Network Label Information in a Configuration File
Before you can assign multiple network labels to a pool, you must obtain information about the NICs
configured on the template or parent virtual machine and the available network labels configured on the ESXi
hosts in the cluster on which the desktop pool will be deployed. This information is saved in a configuration
file that you use when you create the pool.
Use the
Export-NetworkLabelSpecForLinkedClone cmdlet to obtain the NICs on a parent virtual
machine and snapshot used to create a linked-clone pool.
Use the
Export-NetworkLabelSpecForFullClone cmdlet to obtain the NICs on a template used to
create a full clone pool.
These commands also perform the following operations:
 Obtain the network labels configured in vCenter Server for all the ESXi hosts in a specified cluster
 Set a specified maximum number of virtual machines that can be provisioned with IP addresses from each
network label
 Export the list of NICs and network labels to a specified configuration file
Example of Obtaining NIC and Network Label Information
The following example obtains NICs from the Win7-Parent virtual machine and Snapshot1, and
network label information from
Cluster1. A maximum of 239 virtual machines can be provisioned with IP
addresses from each network label. The information is exported to the configuration file
C:/label.txt.