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Verify that the virtual machine was not converted from a View Composer linked clone. A virtual
machine that is converted from a linked clone has the clone's internal disk and state information. A
parent virtual machine cannot have state information.
IMPORTANT Linked clones and virtual machines that were converted from linked clones are not
supported as parent virtual machines.
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When you install Horizon Agent on the parent virtual machine, select the View Composer Agent
option. See “Install Horizon Agent on a Remote Desktop Services Host,” on page 99.
To update Horizon Agent in a large environment, you can use standard Windows update mechanisms
such as Altiris, SMS, LanDesk, BMC, or other systems management software. You can also use the
recompose operation to update Horizon Agent.
NOTE Do not change the log on account for the VMware View Composer Guest Agent Server service in
a parent virtual machine. By default, this is the Local System account. If you change this account, the
linked clones created from the parent do not start.
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To deploy Windows machines, configure a volume license key and activate the parent virtual machine's
operating system with volume activation. See “Activating Windows on Instant Clones and View
Composer Linked Clones,” on page 47.
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Familiarize yourself with the procedure for disabling searching Windows Update for device drivers.
See the Microsoft Technet article, "Disable Searching Windows Update for Device Drivers" at
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc730606(v=ws.10).aspx.
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To implement the RDS host load balancing feature, modify the RDS host parent virtual machine as
described in "Configuring Load Balancing for RDS Hosts" in the View Administration document.
Procedure
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Remove the DHCP lease on the parent virtual machine to avoid copying a leased IP address to the
linked clones in the farm.
a On the parent virtual machine, open a command prompt.
b Type the ipconfig /release command.
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Verify that the system disk contains a single volume.
You cannot deploy linked clones from a parent virtual machine that contains more than one volume.
The View Composer service does not support multiple disk partitions. Multiple virtual disks are
supported.
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Verify that the virtual machine does not contain an independent disk.
An independent disk is excluded when you take a snapshot of the virtual machine. Linked clones that
are created or recomposed from the virtual machine will not contain the independent disk.
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Disable the hibernation option to reduce the size of linked-clone OS disks that are created from the
parent virtual machine.
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Before you take a snapshot of the parent virtual machine, disable searching Windows Update for device
drivers.
This Windows feature can interfere with the customization of linked-clone machines. As each linked
clone is customized, Windows might search for the best drivers on the Internet for that clone, resulting
in repeated searches and customization delays.
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In vSphere Client, disable the vApp Options setting on the parent virtual machine.
Chapter 9 Creating Farms
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