5.0

Manually Downloading a Local Desktop to a Location with Poor Network
Connections
For users on a network that has extremely low bandwidth, checking out a desktop can be prohibitive because
you must download several gigabytes of data. To serve these users, you can download the desktop files
manually and copy the files to the client computers.
For example, a user might work at home in a rural location with a dial-up network connection. The user might
never go to the main office, where the desktop could be checked out to the user's laptop over the LAN.
In this case, you can manually download the desktop files to a portable device such as a USB device or DVD.
After you deliver the device to the user, the user can copy the files onto a specified directory on the client
computer and check out the desktop from the View datacenter.
You can take this approach only with View Composer linked-clone desktops.
n
You manually download the View Composer base-image files.
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When the user checks out the desktop, the linked-clone OS-disk and persistent-disk files still must be
downloaded over the network.
However, the base image contains the largest files. For example, a Windows 7 base image might be 6-10GB.
The OS disk and persistent disk are a fraction of that size.
1 Copy the Base Image from the Transfer Server Repository on page 275
To download a desktop manually to a client computer to use in local mode, you must copy the View
Composer base image to a portable device. The base image is published as a package in the Transfer
Server repository.
2 Copy the Base-Image Files to the Client Computer on page 276
To download a desktop manually to a client computer to use in local mode, you must copy the base-
image package files from a portable device to the client computer.
3 Set Permissions to Allow View to Use the Copied Package Files on page 276
To allow check-out operations to proceed for local mode, you must set permissions on the base-image
package files that were copied to the check-out directory on the client computer.
4 Check Out a Desktop After Manually Copying the Base Image on page 277
After you manually copy the base image to the client computer and set permissions on the package files,
you must direct the user to check out a desktop.
Copy the Base Image from the Transfer Server Repository
To download a desktop manually to a client computer to use in local mode, you must copy the View Composer
base image to a portable device. The base image is published as a package in the Transfer Server repository.
Prerequisites
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Verify that you configured View Manager to deploy local desktops. See “Overview of Setting Up a Local
Desktop Deployment,” on page 243.
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Verify that you created a linked-clone desktop pool and published a package to the Transfer Server
repository. See “Publish Package Files in the Transfer Server Repository,” on page 254.
Procedure
1 In View Administrator, click View Configuration > Transfer Server Repository.
2 In the Contents pane, select the package that is associated with desktop pool from which you will check
out a desktop and click Details.
Chapter 14 Managing Local Desktops
VMware, Inc. 275