VMware

VMware Virtual Desktop Manager (VDM) 2
System Requirements & Prerequisites

VDM 2 System Requirements

The following sections describe the hardware requirements for the VDM connection server and supported operating systems for the VDM Connection Server, the VDM Client, and the VDM Agent.

VDM Connection Server

The VDM Connection Server requires the following hardware and software.

Connection Server Hardware Requirements

The VDM Connection Server requires the following hardware:

  • Dedicated physical or virtual server with the following specifications for running VDM.
    • As a minimum, a Pentium IV 2.0Ghz processor. Dual processors are recommended.
    • As a minimum, 2GB RAM. 3GB RAM is recommended for deployments of 50 or more desktops.
    • A minimum of one 10/100Mbps NIC. 1Gbps NIC is recommended.

VDM Connection Server can be installed on either 32‐bit or 64‐bit hardware.

For DMZ deployments, VDM requires an additional dedicated physical or virtual server with similar specifications. For more information about DMZ deployments, refer to topic “VDM DMZ Deployment” in the VDM 2.1 Installation and Administration Guide.

For high availability deployments, each VDM Connection Server requires a dedicated physical or virtual server with similar specifications.

NOTE: VDM Connection Server is not supported on servers that have the Windows Terminal Server role installed. Remove the Windows Terminal Server role from any server on which you will be installing VDM Connection Server.

Connection Server Supported Operating Systems

The VDM Connection Server supports the following operating systems:

  • Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition with SP2 (English, Japanese, German)
  • Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition with SP2 (English, Japanese, German)
  • Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition with SP2 (English, Japanese, German)
  • Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition with SP2 (English, Japanese, German)

VDM Client

The VDM Client supports the following operating systems and devices.

VDM Client Supported Operating Systems

The VDM Client supports the following operating systems:

  • Windows 2000 Professional with SP4 (English, Japanese)
  • Windows XP Professional with SP2 (English, Japanese, German)
  • Windows XP Professional with SP3 (English only)
  • Windows XP Home with SP2 (English, Japanese, German)
  • Windows XP Home with SP3 (English only)
  • Windows Vista Home (English, Japanese, German)
  • Windows Vista Home Premium (English, Japanese, German)
  • Windows Vista Business (English, Japanese, German)
  • Windows Vista Ultimate (English, Japanese, German)

Windows XP Client support for MMR

Windows XP Client is the only client operating system that supports multimedia redirection (MMR). MMR supports the following media formats:

  • MPEG-1
  • MPEG-2
  • MPEG-4-part2
  • WMV 7/8/9
  • WMA
  • AC3
  • AC3

VDM Web Access

VDM Web Access supports the following operating systems:

  • Windows XP Professional with SP2 which requires IE6 SP1 or higher (English, Japanese, German)
  • Windows XP Professional with SP3 which requires IE6 SP1 or higher (English only)
  • Windows XP Home with SP2 which requires IE6 SP2 or higher (English, Japanese, German)
  • Windows XP Home with SP3 which requires IE6 SP2 or higher (English only)
  • Windows Vista Home which requires IE7 (English, Japanese, German)
  • Windows Vista Home Premium which requires IE7 (English, Japanese, German)
  • Windows Vista Business which requires IE7 (English, Japanese, German)
  • Windows Vista Ultimate which requires IE7 (English, Japanese, German)
  • RHEL 5.0, Update 1 which requires Java JRE 1.5.0 or 1.6.0 and Firefox 1.5 or 2.0 (English only)
  • SLES 10 with SP1 which requires Java JRE 1.5.0 or 1.6.0 and Firefox 1.5 or 2.0 (English only)
  • Ubuntu 7.10 which requires Java JRE 1.5.0 or 1.6.0 and Firefox 2.0 (English only)
  • Mac OS/X 10.4 Tiger (experimental) which requires Java JRE 1.5.0, RDC 1.0, and Safari (English only)
  • Mac OS/X 10.5 Leopard (experimental) which requires Java JRE 1.5.0, RDC 1.0, and Safari (English only)

VDM Agent Virtual Desktop

The VDM Agent supports the following operating systems (32-bit) for virtual desktops:

  • Windows XP Professional with SP2 (English, Japanese, German)
  • Windows XP Professional with SP3 (English only)
  • Windows Vista Business Edition (English, Japanese, German)
  • Windows Business Ultimate Edition (English, Japanese, German)

VDM 2 Prerequisites

VDM Connection Server has the following prerequisites:

  • VMware Infrastructure
    VMware Infrastructure 3.5 (current versions of ESX Server and Virtual Center) with at least one ESX host and one VirtualCenter instance is recommended. VMware Infrastructure 3.02 is supported.
  • Servers running VDM Connection Server standard or replica instances that are joined to an Active Directory domain
    NOTE: VDM Connection Server does not make nor require any schema or configuration updates to Active Directory.
  • Microsoft Sysprep tools installed on your VC Server
  • A customization specification that permits cloned virtual machines to join the AD domain (optional)
  • A valid license key for VDM

The VDM Agent, VDM Client, and VDM Web Access have the following prerequisites:

  • For Windows guest desktops and Windows clients, you must have administrative
    privileges to install the VDM Client and the VDM Agent.
  • The use of ActiveX controls and Internet Explorer 6 or above are required for Windows client users who access their desktops using VDM Web Access.
  • Web Access using Linux or Mac OS X requires Java JRE version 1.5.0 or 1.6.0
  • Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection 6.0 recommended (not required)

    It is recommended that you upgrade VDM Client machines to use Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) 6.0. This recommendation applies to machines running Windows XP and Windows XPe. Windows 2000 does not support RDC 6.0. Windows Vista comes with RDC 6.0 installed. Download RDC 6.0 here.

  • If connecting to a Windows Vista desktop using a Linux client, you must install the rdesktop remote desktop protocol client version 1.5.0, which you can download from the following URL:

    After you download rdesktop, follow the instructions in the readme file.

  • VDM Web Access requires that you install the full VDM Client to use the USB redirection feature.
  • If using USB redirection, make sure you install the USB redirection feature when you install the VDM Client.