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As of version 9.9, User Environment Manager (UEM) was renamed to Dynamic Environment Manager (DEM).
This post applies to all Dynamic Environment Manager (aka User Environment Manager) versions including DEM 2009 (aka 10.1), and DEM 9.9 (ESB).
- Change Log
- Upgrade
- Installation Prerequisites
- Mandatory Profile
- DEM Console Installation
- Configure Dynamic Environment Manager
- Personalization and DEM Templates
- Additional DEM Configuration
- DEM Application Profiler
- DEM Support Tool
đź’ˇ = Recently Updated
Change Log
- 2020 Oct 18 – DEM 2009 new features
- 2020 Oct 17 – updated install instructions for DEM 2009 (aka 10.1)
- 2020 Aug 15 – updated install instructions for DEM 2006 (aka 10.0)
- New Computer Settings section.
- 2020 May 11 – Configure DEM – added link to Bulk convert existing shortcuts to Dynamic Environment Manager – Ivan de Mes
- 2020 Mar 18 – updated install instructions for DEM 9.11
- 2019 Dec 14 – updated install instructions for DEM 9.10
- 2019 Sep 26 – Mandatory profile – added Allow deployment operations in special profiles (source = Chris Koch in the comments).
- 2019 Sep 18 – updated install instructions for DEM 9.9
- Renamed UEM to DEM – replaced most screenshots
- 2019 Jul 4 – Horizon Smart Policies – added info from VMware User Environment Management 9.8 Feature Walk-Through at YouTube
- 2019 Jul 3 – updated install instructions for UEM 9.8
- 2019 Mar 16 – updated install instructions for UEM 9.7
- 2019 Mar 8 – updated install instructions for UEM 9.4.1 (ESB)
- 2018 Dec 15 – updated install instructions for UEM 9.6
- 2018 Sep 10 – Personalization – Download Config Templates from Console Ribbon
- 2018 Sep 9 – updated install instructions for UEM 9.5
- 2018 July 30 – Mandatory Profile – added link to VMware TechZone Creating an Optimized Windows Image for a VMware Horizon Virtual Desktop, and MadeByIpop in the Comments details how to generalize the Shell Folders in the Mandatory profile
- 2018 May 31- Personalization – added Windows 10 Start Menu – Windows 10 1703 and higher
- 2018 May 31 – Privilege Elevation – added YouTube video VMware User Environment Manager 9.4 Argument Based Privilege Elevation Feature Walk-through.
- 2018 May 29 – updated install instructions for UEM 9.4
- 2018 Apr 2 – in Installation Prerequisites section, added link to VMware’s Quick-Start Tutorial for User Environment Manager.
- 2018 Apr 1 – in Additional UEM Config section, added link to Ivan de Mes Export/Import File Type Associations (FTA) successfully using UEM
- 2018 Mar 22 – in Configure UEM section, added link to Nigel Hickey Leveraging VMware UEM to reduce Microsoft GPO usage
- 2018 Jan 7 – in Configure UEM section, added configuration of Outlook OST on App Volumes writable volume.
- 2018 Jan 6 – updated install instructions for UEM 9.3
Upgrade
If you are performing a new installation, skip to the Installation Prerequisites section.
When upgrading an existing installation of DEM or UEM, upgrade the FlexEngine on the Horizon Agents first.
From UEM Upgrade 8.7 to 9.2.1 at VMware Communities: The newest FlexEngine (v9.2.1) can still interpret the INI files from v8.7. After your clients (FlexEngine) have been upgraded, you can upgrade the management console, which allow for new options, like elevated privileges and others, which (when enabled) can now be correctly interpreted by the upgraded clients (FlexEngine). After that update the ADMX files.
Installation Prerequisites
Before performing the procedures detailed on this page, make sure you’ve create the DEM File Shares, imported the DEM GPO ADMX templates, created the GPOs for Horizon, and configured the Horizon GPOs for Dynamic Environment Manager.
VMware Tech Zone Antivirus Considerations in a VMware Horizon Environment: exclusions for Horizon View, App Volumes, User Environment Manager, ThinApp
VMware Workspace Tech Zone has an excellent Quick-Start Tutorial for User Environment Manager. It’s around 130 printed pages.
Mandatory Profile
At user logon, DEM restores profile archives on top of a Windows profile, which is typically a local profile, or a mandatory profile.
- GO-EUC performance testing indicates that Mandatory profiles on Windows 10 don’t perform as well as Local profiles.
If your Horizon Agent machines are single-user, non-persistent that reboot at logoff, then local profiles are essentially the same as mandatory.
If your Horizon Agent machines are multi-user machines (e.g. RDSH) that don’t reboot every day, then you might need a process to delete local profiles when the user logs off. Here are some options:
- Schedule a delprof2.exe script that runs daily.
- Configure mandatory profiles, which are automatically deleted a logoff.
- A more advanced option is to add users to the local Guests group, which causes their profile to be deleted at logoff.
If you choose Mandatory profile, then here are some mandatory profile creation instructions:
- VMware TechZone Creating an Optimized Windows Image for a VMware Horizon Virtual Desktop – includes instructions to create a mandatory profile on Windows 10.
- James Rankin Creating a mandatory profile on Windows 10 1803
- VMware Blog Post VMware User Environment Manager, Part 1: Easier, Faster Windows Logins with Mandatory Profiles
- Microsoft’s Create mandatory user profiles in Windows 10
- MadeByIpop in the Comments details how to generalize the Shell Folders in the Mandatory profile.
- You might have to enable the App Package Deployment GPO setting Allow deployment operations in special profiles, which is located at Computer Configuration | Policies | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | App Package Deployment.
DEM Console Installation
As of version 9.9, User Environment Manager (UEM) was renamed to Dynamic Environment Manager (DEM).
In Horizon 2006 (aka 8.0), DEM is available in all editions of Horizon. There are two editions of DEM, each with different downloads and different DEM capabilities.
- Horizon 2006 Enterprise Edition and Horizon 7.13 Enterprise Edition are entitled to DEM Enterprise Edition, which has all features.
- Horizon 2006 Standard Edition and Horizon 2006 Advanced Edition are entitled to DEM Standard Edition, which is limited primarily to Personalization features. If you are using FSLogix Profile Containers, then you don’t need DEM Standard Edition.
In Horizon 7, DEM is only available for Horizon Enterprise Edition customers. Horizon 7 Enterprise Edition customers can download DEM 2009 Enterprise Edition.
- Download Dynamic Environment Manager 2009 Enterprise Edition, Dynamic Environment Manager 2009 Standard Edition, Dynamic Environment Manager 9.9.0 (ESB).
- If upgrading, don’t upgrade the DEM Console until all of your DEM Agents have been upgraded.
- On your administrator machine, run the downloaded VMware Dynamic Environment Manager 10.1 x64.msi, or VMware Dynamic Environment Manager 9.9 x64.msi.
- In the Welcome to the VMware Dynamic Environment Manager Enterprise Setup Wizard page, click Next.
- In the End-User License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the terms and click Next.
- In the Destination Folder page, click Next.
- In the Choose Setup Type page, click Custom.
- In the Custom Setup page, change the selections so that only the console is selected and then click Next.
- In the Ready to install VMware Dynamic Environment Manager Enterprise page, click Install.
- In the Completed the VMware Dynamic Environment Manager Enterprise Setup Wizard page, click Finish.
Configure Dynamic Environment Manager
Here is a summary of the major Dynamic Environment Manager functionality:
- Personalization (aka import/export user settings) – saves application and Windows settings to a file share. This is the roaming profiles functionality of Dynamic Environment Manager. You configure folders and registry keys that need to be saved. The import/export can happen at logon/logoff or during application launch/exit.
- Pre-configure application settings – configures files and registry keys for specific applications so users don’t have to do it themselves. Some examples: disable splash screen, default folder save location, database server name, etc.
- Self–support tool – users can use this tool to restore their application settings.
- DEM Standard Edition supports all Personalization features.
- User Environment – configures Windows settings like drive mappings, Explorer settings, printer mappings, etc. This is similar to group policy but offers significantly more options for conditional filtering. Dynamic Environment Manager can configure any registry setting defined in an ADMX file.
- DEM Standard Edition only has a limited set of User Environment settings (e.g. drive mappings). Most User Environment features require DEM Enterprise Edition.
- Most settings in DEM are only for users, not computers. DEM 2006 (aka 10.0) and newer support ADMX templates for Computer Settings. In older DEM, use Group Policy to configure Computer Settings.
- Best practice is to not mix Dynamic Environment Manager and user group policy. Pick one tool. If the same setting is configured in both locations then group policy will win.
- UEM 9.6 and newer support Windows Server 2019 as an Operating System condition.
- Horizon Smart Policies – Use Horizon Conditions (e.g. client IP) to control device mappings (e.g. client printing) and PCoIP/Blast Bandwidth Profile.
- Privilege Elevation (UEM 9.2 and newer) Â – allow apps to run as administrator even though user is not an administrator. Installers can also be elevated.
Links:
- YouTube video User Environment Manager 9.6 What’s New Overview
- Dynamic Environment Manager documentation can be found at VMware Docs.
- VMware User Environment Manager 9.2 Technical Deep Dive – VMware Blog Post
- VMware has posted several User Environment Manager videos at YouTube.
- Fabian Lenz Let’s troubleshoot User Environment Manager (#UEM) 9.X: How to avoid errors during the installation
Initial Configuration (Easy Start)
To perform an initial configuration of Dynamic Environment Manager, do the following:
- Launch the DEM Management Console from the Start Menu.
- Enter the path to the DEMConfig share, and click OK.
- These Settings checkboxes define what is displayed in the management console. Leave it set to the defaults, and click OK.
- In the Personalization ribbon, on the far right, click Easy Start.
- Select your version of Office, and click OK. Office 2019 and Office 2016 are essentially the same.
- Click OK when prompted that configuration items have been successfully installed.
- Review the pre-configured settings to make sure they are acceptable. For example, on the ribbon named User Environment, under Shortcuts, Dynamic Environment Manager might create a Wordpad shortcut that says (created by VMware UEM). You can either Disable this item, or delete it.
- Go to the ribbon name User Environment. On the left, expand Windows Settings and click Policy Settings. On the right, if there is a setting to Remove Common Program Groups, then click Edit.
- Consider adding a condition so it doesn’t apply to administrators.
- Consider adding a condition so it doesn’t apply to administrators.
Common Configurations
- To roam the Start Menu in Windows 10 1703 and newer, see VMware 2150422 How to roam Windows 10 Start Menu layout.
- Go to the ribbon named Personalization, click a folder, and click Create Config File.
- Select Use a Windows Common Setting and click Next.
- Select Windows 10 Start Menu – Windows 10 Version 1703 and higher. This option is only available in newer versions of DEM. It should work with Windows Server 2019, but it doesn’t apply to Windows Server 2016, which is actually version 1607.
- Enter a file name. DEM will create a .zip file for each user with this name. Click Finish when done.
- Go to the ribbon named Personalization, click a folder, and click Create Config File.
- You can run Triggered Tasks when a session is reconnected, or workstation is unlocked. This is useful for re-evaluating Smart Policies, as detailed below.
- UEM 9.4 and newer have a new Trigger for All AppStacks Attached.
- UEM 9.4 and newer have a new Trigger for All AppStacks Attached.
- UEM 9.3 and newer have a setting to store Outlook OST file on App Volumes writable volumes. Go to the ribbon named User Environment. Right-click App Volumes and create a setting. Check the box next to Store Offline Outlook Data File (.ost) on writable volume. Configure other fields as desired. Note: this setting only applies to new Outlook profiles. More info in the YouTube video VMware User Environment Manager Outlook OST on App Volumes User Writable Volume Feature Walkthrough.
Links:
- Nigel Hickey Leveraging VMware UEM to reduce Microsoft GPO usage: Configure ADMX settings in UEM.
- VMware 2151201 Windows 10 1703 Start Menu causes the COM Surrogate process to use 100% CPU in UEM with DirectFlex enabled – add dllhost.exe to the DirectFlex blacklist
Horizon Smart Policies
Horizon Smart Policies let you control (e.g. disable) Horizon functionality for external users or other conditions.
- In UEM 9.0 and newer, go to User Environment >Â Horizon Smart Policies, and create a policy.
- DEM 9.11 has an expanded list of settings configurable using Smart Policies.
- UEM 9.8 adds several new Smart Policy Settings, including Drag and drop. See VMware User Environment Management 9.8 Feature Walk-Through at YouTube.
- On the Conditions tab, you can use any of the available conditions, including the Horizon Client Property conditions. Note: UEM 9.2 has more conditions (e.g. Active Directory Site Name) than prior versions.
- To detect external users, select Horizon Client Property > Client Location = External. UAG and Security Server set the session’s location to External.
- To detect external users, select Horizon Client Property > Client Location = External. UAG and Security Server set the session’s location to External.
- You can also enter a Horizon Client Property condition that corresponds to the ViewClient_ registry keys. In the Property field, type in a property name (remove ViewClient_ from the property name). See VMware Blog Post Enhancing Your VMware Horizon 7 Implementation with Smart Policies. And the 28-page PDF Reviewer’s Guide for View in Horizon 7: Smart Policies, VMware Horizon 7.
- UEM 9.1 and newer has Endpoint Platform as a policy condition. Create a Policy, go to the Conditions tab, and select the Endpoint Platform condition. UEM 9.8 adds Chrome to the Platform list.
- UEM 9.8 adds Matches Regex to some of the conditions (e.g. Endpoint name and Horizon Client Property > Pool name).
- To reapply Horizon Policies when users reconnect to an existing session, go to User Environment > Triggered Tasks, and click Create. Or you can edit one of the existing Triggered Tasks settings.
- Change the Trigger to Session Reconnected.
- Change the Action to User Environment refresh. Select Horizon Smart Policies, and click Save.
Application Blocking
- UEM 9.0 adds an Application Blocking feature. To enable it, go to User Environment > Application Blocking, and click the Global Configuration button.
- Check the box to Enable Application Blocking. Specify Conditions where, if true, then App Blocking is enabled. These are the same conditions available in other policies and settings. Click OK.
- Then you can create an Application Blocking setting to designate the folders that users can run executables from, or what file hashes are allowed.
- You can add folders that allow or block apps. Any executable in these paths will be allowed or blocked. By default, executables in Windows and Program Files (including x86) are allowed.
- UEM 9.1 and newer allows File Hashes in addition to File Paths. Set the Type to Hash-based, click Add, browse to an executable, UEM will compute the hash, and add it to the list.
- UEM 9.2 and newer supports Publisher-based allow. Set the Type to Publisher-based, click Add, browse to an executable, UEM will read the certificate, and add it to the list. Note: A challenge with hash-bashed and publisher-based rules is that the policy might have to be updated whenever the app is updated.
Privilege Elevation
- UEM 9.2 adds a Privilege Elevation feature, which allows executables to run as administrator even if users are not administrators. To enable it, go to User Environment > Privilege Elevation, and click the Global Configuration button.
- Check the box to Enable Privilege Elevation. Specify Conditions where, if true, then Privilege Elevation is enabled. These are the same conditions available in other policies and settings.
- If you allow installers to be elevated, elevate the installer’s child processes too, check the box. This checkbox only applies to installers. Child processes of elevated applications is enabled when creating a Privilege Elevation configuration setting.
- When an application is elevated, the user can be asked to allow it. This prompt is intended to inform the user that the application has more permissions than it should, and thus be careful with this application. Click OK.
- Then you can create a Privilege Elevation setting to designate the applications that should be elevated. The applications can be specified by a path, a hash, or a publisher certificate. These are essentially the same options as Application Blocking.
- Path-based user-installed application lets you elevate installers. The other three options elevate applications, but not installers.
- The child processes checkbox applies to applications.
- UEM 9.4 adds Argument-based elevated application, which lets you elevate specific scripts and/or Control Panel applets. For details, see the YouTube video VMware User Environment Manager 9.4 Argument Based Privilege Elevation Feature Walk-through.
- DEM Group Policy settings can be enabled to log both Application Blocking and Privilege Elevation to Event Viewer
Computer Settings
DEM Enterprise Edition 2006 and newer can deploy computer-based ADMX settings.
DEM 2006 and newer Agents (FlexEngines) must be configured in the registry to enable computer settings. Group Policy Preferences can push these registry keys to the Horizon Agent machines. Or you can manually modify the registry in your master images. For the list of registry values, see FlexEngine Configuration for Computer Environment Settings at VMware Docs.
Domain Computers must have Read permission to the DEM Config file share.
- In the DEM Management Console, at the right side of any ribbon, click Configure.
- At the bottom of the General tab, check the box next to Computer Environment.
- A new Computer Environment ribbon is added. DEM 2009 and newer have Startup Tasks and Shutdown Tasks.
- With ADMX-based Settings highlighted on the left, click Manage Templates in the ribbon.
- At the bottom of the window, click Add Folder.
- If you have PolicyDefinitions in your SYSVOL, then browse to that. Or you can point it to C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions. Click OK.
- Click OK after import is successful. DEM copied the .admx files into the DEM Config share. You can run this again any time to update templates.
- With ADMX-based Settings selected on the left, click Create in the ribbon.
- At the bottom, click Select Categories.
- Select a category where your setting is located and click OK.
- At the top of the window click Edit Policies.
- Only the settings for your chosen categories are shown. Configure these settings the same way you would configure them in group policy. Then close the window.
- DEM shows the configured settings.
- On the Conditions tab, you can add conditions. Obviously the user-based conditions will not be available for computer-based settings.
Personalization and DEM Templates
VMware has provided a list of Personalization Templates to simplify your configuration.
- To save user settings at logoff and restore at logon, you must specify the settings to save. Â Easy Start created a bunch of configurations on the Personalization ribbon. Note: DEM 9.11 adds a Find box to this ribbon.
- You can see what settings these save. On the tab named Import / Export, on the top right, click Manage, and then click Expand.
- Click Yes to expand it.
- After reviewing the config, click a different Personalization setting, and then click No to not save your changes.
- Click Yes to expand it.
- To save more profile settings at logoff, on the ribbon named Personalization, select a folder (or create a new folder), and then click Create Config File.
- A wizard appears. You can use one of the built-in Windows Common Setting or Application Templates. Or you can create your own.
- DEM 9.10 and newer have a Windows Common Setting named Default applications – File type associations and protocols. For details, see Ivan de Mes at Managing File Type Associations (FTA) natively using Dynamic Environment Manager. đź’ˇ
- Also enable the GPO setting Do not show the ‘new application installed’ notification at Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer.
- Also enable the GPO setting Do not show the ‘new application installed’ notification at Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer.
- UEM 9.4 and newer have a Windows Common Setting for Windows 10 Start Menu – Windows 10 1703 and higher
- DEM 9.10 and newer have a Windows Common Setting named Default applications – File type associations and protocols. For details, see Ivan de Mes at Managing File Type Associations (FTA) natively using Dynamic Environment Manager. đź’ˇ
- In UEM 9.5 and newer, the DEM Console has a button in the ribbon to Download Config Templates. You will need a My VMware account to access it. See Ivan de Mes VMware UEM 9.5 introduces the VMware Marketplace for templates.
- The Browse button on top lets you choose where in the tree you want to save the new Config File.
- DEM 9.11 and newer have a Find box.
- For older versions of UEM, download a template, and import it.
- In the DEM Console, on the Personalization tab, click the Configure button to locate your DEM Configuration file share.
- Extract the downloaded templates to the General\Applications folder in the DEM Config Share.
- The downloaded template should then show up in the Personalization tab under the Applications folder. If you don’t see it, click the Refresh Tree icon.
- In the DEM Console, on the Personalization tab, click the Configure button to locate your DEM Configuration file share.
- DirectFlex – to speed up logins, enable DirectFlex whenever possible. Instead of restoring the files during logon and thus delaying the login, DirectFlex restores the settings on-demand when the user launches the application. DirectFlex can be enabled on most application configurations. However, Windows settings (e.g. Start Menu) should be loaded during login rather than on-demand after login.
Additional DEM Configuration
- VMware Blog Post VMware User Environment Manager, Part 2: Complementing Mandatory Profiles with VMware User Environment Manager details the following:
- Personalization Settings (what settings are roamed)
- Predefined App Settings
- User Environment Settings (shortcuts, drive mappings, and so on)
- Active Directory Attribute References – DEM 2009 and newer support Active Directory Attribute References like %{AD$extensionAttribute8}%\%username%\Archives. See VMware Communities.
- ViewClient Property References – DEM 2009 and newer support ViewClient Property References in the %{ViewClient_propertyName}% format. See VMware Communities.
- BGInfo – VMware Communities has a configuration guide for BGInfo using User Environment Manager.
- File Type Associations – Ivan de Mes Export/Import File Type Associations (FTA) successfully using UEM uses GetUserFTA.exe and SetUserFTA.exe to backup and save file type associations at logoff and logon.
- Start Menu – Customize Windows 10 Start Menu Layout via UEM and App Volumes.
- Cookies – VMware 2146418 UEM settings in a mixed environment with Windows 7 and Windows 10 cookies do not transfer. You will need to create a new custom configuration for cookies for Windows 10. On Import/Export tab add the following:
- Predefined settings – Fabian Lenz has a series of articles on Predefined settings in UEM:
- Predefined settings (Basic concepts)Â explains the four types of Predefined Settings.
- Predefined settings – Deep how-to (Internet Explorer) explains how to use Application Profiler, or a regular user DEM profile archive, to create Predefined Settings.
- Predefined settings – Dynamic Placeholder explains how to use environment variables in Predefined Settings.
- Predefined settings (Basic concepts)Â explains the four types of Predefined Settings.
- ThinApp – To integrate ThinApp with UEM, configure DEM to save the application’s setting (e.g. AppData, HKCU registry key). You can use Application Profiler to identify these settings locations. Then configure ThinApp with Merged Isolation Mode for those locations. Also enable DirectFlex.
- Run Once – VMware 2146336 Run Once option behave differently in combination with a Local User Profile: The Run Once option for DEM configurations, such as shortcuts, has no effect when a Local User Profile is used. As a result, the UEM configuration runs at each login. To workaround, set the
RunOnceSpecial
attribute in DEM XML configuration files.
User Environment Manager 8.7 and newer has a UEMResult feature that lets you see what settings were applied to the user. The .xml file is only updated at logoff. To enable for a particular user, go to the user’s Logs folder and create a folder named UEMResult. At logoff, DEM will put an .xml file in this folder. More information at VMware Docs.
From VMware 2113514 Enabling debug logging for a single user in VMware User Environment Manager: To configure FlexEngine to log at debug level for a single user, create an empty FlexDebug.txt file in the same folder as the standard log file for this user. This triggers FlexEngine to switch to debug logging for this particular user.
DEM Application Profiler
This tool cannot be installed on a machine that has FlexEngine (aka DEM Agent) installed:
- .NET Framework 3.5 is required.
- In the Dynamic Environment Manager files, in the Optional Components folder, run VMware DEM Application Profiler 9.9 x64.msi or VMware UEM Application Profiler 9.4 x64.msi (ESB).
- In the Welcome to the VMware DEM Application Profiler Setup Wizard page, click Next.
- In the End-User License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the terms and click Next.
- In the Custom Setup page, click Next.
- In the Ready to install VMware DEM Application Profiler page, click Install.
- In the Completed the VMware DEM Application Profiler Setup Wizard page, click Finish.
You may now use the tool to determine where applications store their settings and export a default application configuration that can be pushed out using Dynamic Environment Manager.
- See VMware Docs for details.
- vDelboy VMware User Environment Manager Application Profiler has an overview of the process.
- VMware Blog Post VMware User Environment Manager and Application Profile Settings details how to use Application Profiler to determine where Chrome settings are stored and upload that configuration to User Environment Manager.
DEM Support Tool
vDelboy – VMware UEM Helpdesk Support Tool
Do the following to configure the environment for the support tool:
- In the Dynamic Environment Manager Console, click the star icon on the top left, and click Configure Helpdesk Support Tool.
- Click Add.
- In the Profile archive path field, enter the user folder share (the same one configured in Dynamic Environment Manager GPO). At the end of the path, enter \[UserFolder]\Archives.
- Check the other two boxes. The paths should be filled in automatically. Make sure they match what you configured in the Dynamic Environment Manager group policy object. Click OK.
- Click Save.
- VMware recommends creating a new GPO for the Support Tool. This GPO should apply only to the support personnel.
- On the Scope tab, change the filtering so it applies to DEM Support and DEM Admins. If this GPO applies to machines with group policy loopback processing enabled, then also add Domain Computers.
- Edit the GPO.
- Go to User Configuration | Policies | Administrative Templates | VMware UEM | Helpdesk Support Tool.
- Double-click the setting DEM configuration share.
- Enable the setting, and enter the path to the DEMConfig share. Click OK.
- Consider enabling the remaining GPO settings. Read the Explain text or refer to the documentation.
Do the following to install the support tool.
- .NET Framework 3.5 is required.
- Some support tool functions require the FlexEngine (aka DEM Agent) to be installed on the help desk machine.
- In the extracted Dynamic Environment Manager files is an Optional Components folder. From inside that folder run VMware DEM Helpdesk Support Tool 9.9 x64.msi or VMware UEM Helpdesk Support Tool 9.4 x64.msi (ESB).
- In the Welcome to the VMware DEM Helpdesk Support Tool Setup Wizard page, click Next.
- In the End-User License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the terms and click Next.
- In the Destination Folder page, click Next.
- In the Ready to install VMware DEM Helpdesk Support Tool page, click Install.
- In the Completed the VMware DEM Helpdesk Support Tool Setup Wizard page, click Finish.
Once the Helpdesk Support Tool is installed, you can launch it from the Start Menu, search for users, and then perform operations on the archives.
Related Pages
- Back to VMware Horizon 7
Hello,
Thank you for your great work, very useful !
I have a question about DEM, in particular the “Import/export” part in “Personalization”
A path like…
[IncludeFolderTrees]
\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment
…doesn’t work !
i need to roam some data from the LocalLow folder and subfolder.
but after logoff, this mentionned data isn’t roamed in the same path than the original path ! but it’s present in the archive folder !
The common windows settings like:
“Taskbar” or “Start menu” in the “import/export” works very well, i find roaming data in the userprofile.
In the FlexEngine.log everythings seems to be ok, apparently no error.
Import status flag indicates success, so performing export
2021-01-07 12:07:15.563 [DEBUG] Clearing import status flag for next import
2021-01-07 12:07:15.586 [INFO ] Exporting profile using config file ‘EDV-roamAppdata.INI’ (\\LesRP.ch\vdi\UEM-config-EDV\general\EDV-roamAppdata.INI)
2021-01-07 12:07:15.589 [INFO ] Exporting file information
2021-01-07 12:07:15.589 [DEBUG] ExportFiles: Recursively processing folder ‘\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment’
2021-01-07 12:07:33.771 [DEBUG] ExportFiles: Processing file ‘\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment\deployment.properties’
2021-01-07 12:07:33.771 [INFO ] Exported file information successfully
I open a case to Vmware, but no idea for this moment
Any idea
Thank you
Daniel
Try adding <UserProfile> before the folder paths.
Hello,
Yes i already tried, but doesn’t work
Sorry in my first post i write “\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment” it’s a mistake
but i meant…
[IncludeFolderTrees]
\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment
[IncludeFiles]
\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment\deployment.properties
These two paths doesn’t work !
and for example, below these paths works !
[IncludeFolderTrees]
\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
ok strange !
disapear in our exchange in these posts !
I think WordPress treats the < and > as HTML tags. You can change the < to
& lt;
(without the space) to preserve them.Sorry Carl,
When i write you, the begining of the path (Userprofile) disappear in my reply
Hi Carl,
I have configured a DFS-N share for DEM Profile and Config files (Mesh Topology). I am not using DFS-R, since it only be used for the configuration share, and – if used – must be configured in hub and spoke topology.
The storage for DFS-N is being replicated using the storage array at the backend on hourly basis (NetApp). I have two Windows files servers one at each site.
Do you think I am missing anything? thanks for all the help
Do you have two active sites? Or is this just for DR?
For DEM Config, you can simply robocopy the files between file servers in each site.
For DEM profiles, I prefer to pin users to specific sites and have their data only in that one site. If that site dies, then have a VM backup/restore method to restore that site’s file servers in a different site. No DFS needed.
I have two active sites behind GLSB with a plan to deploy one DFS-N server per site. Storage is being replicated in the backend (NetApp) between the sites.
Are you doing “home sites”, which is recommended? If so, then configure the Horizon Agent machines in each site to use a file server in the local site. Then backup/replicate/restore the individual file servers instead of using DFS Replication.
Wow, the plan was to have configurations done on one site replicated to the other site as active/Active.
In this case, it looks like we have to go the HUB and Spoke model, but am new to this so still try to figure things out, and confused as DFS-R is not supported in certain DEM configurations.
For DEM configurations, just use robocopy to copy them to a file server in each site. This lets you avoid DFS Replication.
For DEM user settings, it’s important that you never allow the files to be updateable on two file servers at the same time and expect them to merge the settings. Only one file server should be writable. An easy way to ensure this is to only have one file server and rely on VM backup/replication/restore instead of DFS merge replication.
After going through techzone, it appears that I need to setup a hub and spoke (Centralized configuration share) DFS.
Then have the namespace link to only one active server. failover will be manual in case of an outage
https://techzone.vmware.com/resource/dynamic-environment-manager-architecture#configuration-share
Hi Carl,
how can we prevent that DEM is working on Administrator account? In the NO-AD Mode you can configure it in the .xml file. Is there a way to do it in GPO mode?
You could put conditions on all items.
Or try FlexDisable.txt. https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2138928
Or just target your DEM GPO in such a way that it does not apply to admins? In my understanding (but I’m a developer and not an IT pro 🙂 that’s pretty common, no?
I keep forgetting that DEM Settings are in the user-half of the GPO. 🙂
Hi Carl,
We are using VMware Horizon 7.12 and DEM 9.11 with dedicated linked clones. We also have Microsoft FSLogix. We are seeing a strange issue where DEM does not apply any settings after a desktop is restarted. It does not create any logs as well. After a login, if we logoff from the desktop (not a reboot), it start working from the next logon onwards (it also starts creating logs). Again if we reboot, it worn’t work just after the reboot until we logoff again.
This is the exact issue mentioned in the comments of the thread Let’s troubleshoot User Environment Manager (#UEM) 9.X: How to avoid errors during the installation – vLenzker by TJ Derrick. He resolved it by setting the GPO “System\Logon\Wait for network” but we have installed DEM in NoAD mode, so I don’t this this setting will make any difference.
Any thoughts on why this strange behaviour?
Hi Carl,
Thank you for your great article !
I have a little problem with DEM 2006, in the DEM console i can’t see the “ADMX-based setings” feature in the USER ENVIRONNEMENT tab
Any idea
Thank you
Daniel
Which edition of DEM?
Hi Carl,
Vmware techzone article removed the mandatory profile recommendation that they had earlier so do you have any recommendation on how profiles should be configured now ? Also, since we started using local profiles login times became went from 40 seconds to 3 minutes when login through horizon client but the weird part is when I tried to login using vsphere client it was still around 40 seconds. Not sure why such a huge difference. I couldn’t find anything like that on online blogs so I am wondering if you ever encountered something like this. Thanks.
My preference is FSLogix for Profiles. Assuming you have the disk space for it.
Thanks Carl. Do you have any ideas about why would horizon client take longer time than vsphere client ?
First time login seems to always takes a few minutes. Your faster login might be because the profile was already created on the machine and it didn’t revert (go away) at reboot.
We are about to deploy DEM in our second data center. How can we sync DEM between both sites?
They’re just files. You can copy the folders/files to the other data center, share it, and point DEM console to the new path.
In DEM Console, click the star icon to configure environments and switch environments. Many screens have an Import button where you can import a config from a different environment.
Hi Carl
thanks for the post ,
I run into situation in our VDI environment , where user save settings on Office 2016 application , part of the setting are saved on the DEM-USER share appdata folder and some of them are saved on the local hard drive of the VDI machine (therefor erased upon logout since it an instant clone pool)
where in the DEM manager can it be fixed
Did you add Office to the Personalization tab in DEM Console?
Hi Carl,
I am new to DEM. I using VDI environment. I log into my VDI and map my network printer. But when I log out and log back in the printer disappeared. I have to remap the printer again everytime. I am using Horizon 7.12.
In DEM > Personalization ribbon, did you add a configuration file that saves Network Printers? If you Create a Config File, select Windows Common Setting, and Printers is an option.
Hi Carl,
Great articles, we have recently implemented Horizon 7 in our environment, most things seem to be working fine but I find that users appdata or profile for Chrome and Outlook does not save after users log out and log back in. It keeps on resetting the profile data (i.e. Outlook and Chrome would need to run initial setup / welcome page and never saves anything including bookmarks created each time you log back in). Is there a way to fix this in DEM or fslogix will need to be setup?
Thanks!
DEM requires per-app configurations of what to save at logout. It takes time to configure it, test it and fix it. There are templates in the VMware Communities for common applications.
If you think it’s configured correctly, then enable debug logging using the FlexDebug.txt file to see if DEM is properly saving and restoring the .zip files.
FSLogix is “set and forget” since it captures the entire profile. There’s no need to configure it for each application like you do in DEM. However, FSLogix has difficulty with concurrent access to a single profile.
Hi Carl,
We are trying to implement office 365 on windows 10 1909 with DEM. Can you help us with the sample DEM configuration by which we can activate Office 365 and also able to persist outlook profile. Thanks.
DEM Personalization has built-in templates for Office. Have you tried them?
Otherwise, I usually prefer FSLogix for roaming profiles. You can do full Profile Container, or just the Office Container. See https://www.carlstalhood.com/group-policy-objects-vda-computer-settings/#fslogix
Thanks Carl, But is it the recommended way to provision Office 365 to Horizon instant clones ?We are trying to install office 365 base components on the master image and appstack Viso and Project so we can assign them only to the users who need them. Thanks.
I usually put all Office components on the base image to avoid licensing issues. You can use NTFS permissions to control access. Or FSLogix App Masking can hide applications.
Hi Carl,I have a legacy application which requires details of VDI client session hostname to function.The application requires an ini file updated in VDI session with vdi client host machine hostname every-time I switch host machines. For example if open vdi session on “thinclient01”, C:\app.ini is updated with {hostname = thinclient01}, if I move to another office on “thinclient99”, c:\app.ini is updated with {hostname=thinclient99}. The user does not logout. Can this be archieved using DEM.
DEM has Triggered Tasks where you can run a script at reconnect.