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Table Of Contents
Customizing Desktops in Maintenance Mode
Maintenance mode prevents users from accessing their desktops. If you start desktops in maintenance mode,
View Manager places each desktop in maintenance mode when the desktop is created.
In a dedicated-assignment pool, you can use maintenance mode to log in to a desktop without having to
reassign ownership to your own administrator account. When you finish the customization, you do not have
to return ownership to the user assigned to the desktop.
In a floating-assignment pool, you can test desktops in maintenance mode before you let users log in.
To perform the same customization on all desktops in an automated pool, customize the virtual machine you
prepare as a template or parent. View Manager deploys your customization to all the desktops. When you
create the pool, you can also use a Sysprep customization specification to configure all the desktops with
licensing, domain attachment, DHCP settings, and other computer properties.
NOTE You can start desktops in maintenance mode if you manually specify desktop names for the pool, not
if you name desktops by providing a naming pattern.
Customize Individual Desktops
You can customize individual desktops after a pool is created by starting the desktops in maintenance mode.
Procedure
1 In View Administrator, begin creating an automated desktop pool by starting the Add Pool wizard.
2 On the Provisioning Settings page, select Specify names manually.
3 Select Start desktops in maintenance mode.
4 Complete the Add Pool wizard to finish creating the desktop pool.
5 In vCenter Server, log in, customize, and test the individual desktop virtual machines.
You can customize the desktops manually or by using standard Windows systems-management software
such as Altiris, SMS, LanDesk, or BMC.
6 In View Administrator, select the desktop pool.
7 Click Select all or use the filter tool to select specific desktops to release to your users.
8 Click More Commands > Exit Maintenance Mode.
What to do next
Notify your users that they can log in to their desktops.
Chapter 5 Creating Desktop Pools
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