Today's post comes from Ratnesh Yadav from the Windows MultiPoint Server team.
This blog is in continuation of the “WMS 2012 - Creating Virtual Desktop Stations - Part 1” blog, where we talked about creating virtual desktop templates & virtual desktop stations in WMS 2012. In this blog we will walk through the process of customizing the virtual desktop template.
Customization is the process by which administrator can install windows updates, add applications, configure settings, etc. on a master virtual desktop template and then recreate the virtual desktop stations so that all stations inherit all of the changes made to the master. Let’s go through the process.
Tip: We recommend performing the steps of this process from a remote computer connected to the WMS host using the Windows Remote Desktop Connection client.
Step 1: Prepare the System for Virtual Desktop Template Customization
If the virtual desktop template that you want to customize is already in use by virtual desktop stations that have been created from the template, you will need to prepare the WMS system before customization can be completed. We recommend switching the WMS system to console mode and shutting down all virtual desktop stations before starting the process. An administrator can switch to console mode by opening MultiPoint Manager, going to the Home tab and clicking on Switch to console mode. Once WMS is in console mode, the administrator must shut down all the virtual desktop stations by going to the Virtual Desktops tab and, for each running virtual desktop station, select the station and then select Shut down.
Step 2: Start the Customize Template task
After the system is in console mode and all virtual desktop stations are turned off, you are ready to start customizing the template. Open MultiPoint Manager, go to the Virtual Desktops tab, select the virtual desktop template you want to customize and then select the Customize virtual desktop template task as shown below.
Next, you will see following dialog box.
Clicking OK will start the customization process.
Step 3: Read the Customize Template Information Dialog Box
Once the above task is complete will see following information dialog box.
This dialog box explains the process of completing the customization and gives some helpful hints. Here is some important information from the dialog box.
- WMS will start the virtual desktop template in a virtual machine and a Virtual Machine Connection window will be launched.
- The template will be configured to auto logon using the built in administrator account. Optionally, you can add a domain user to the local administrators group and log in as that user to help when accessing domain resources.
- Once done with customization, the administrator should double click on the CompleteCustomization icon on the desktop. This will “sysprep” & shutdown the virtual machine to create a new template for the virtual desktop stations.
Additionally, if the template was created on a domain joined system, we recommend that you always create a local administer account in the template.
Step 4: Customize the Template
Now you will be connected to the running virtual desktop template using a Virtual Machine Connect window. The administrator can now perform customizations on the template like installing Windows updates, adding software applications, configuring Windows settings, etc. The Template can be restarted during the customization process if a reboot is required. IMPORTANT: The administrator should make sure there are no pending Reboots before going to the next step.
The administrator can shutdown, start or reboot the virtual machine by using Virtual Machine Connection menu (Action -> Turn off, Shutdown, Start, Save etc.)
Step 5: Complete Customization
After the administrator has completed all the desired customizations, click on the CompleteCustomization icon on the desktop to complete the process. Again, make sure there are no pending Reboots before clicking the “CompleteCustomization” icon.
Clicking on the CompleteCustomization icon will start the sysprep process on the template. After sysprep is complete the template will shut down.
Step 6: Re-create Virtual Desktop Stations
Once the virtual desktop template is customized, the final step is to re-create the virtual desktop stations using the template. Before creating the virtual desktop stations, switch the WMS system to station mode. Once the WMS system has been restarted in station mode, open MultiPoint Manager, go to the Virtual Desktops tab, select the virtual desktop template and click on Create virtual desktop stations.
Click Ok on the information dialog box, and you will see the following progress bar dialog.
Once the task is complete you can see the new virtual desktop stations in MultiPoint Manager.
Each local MultiPoint station will be connected to a virtual desktop based on the virtual desktop template that was customized in the proceeding steps. Users will now have a full, customized Windows client experience at their MultiPoint stations.
In Part 3, we will explain how to distribute a customized master template to other MultiPoint system.