How to Horizon Desktop without a domain

[ConradR314]

I am trying to figure out how to deploy horizon desktops(linked/instant/full) without adding them to a domain. By adding the domain in Horizon, it seems to force you to pick which domain they should be added to when configuring a pool. The exception to this is to do full clones in which you can pick not to customize the guest, but then it wouldn't name the guest OS.

I am hoping someone here might have some thoughts or suggestions.

Thanks!!!

[sjesse]

Being connected to a domain is a requirement. I'm not sure about this statement "By adding the domain in Horizon, it seems to force you to pick which domain they should be added to when configuring a pool."

[ConradR314]

I just meant that by adding the Instant-Clone Domain account or Composer domain account, the Guest Processing screen of creating a pool requires a domain to be placed there.

Do you think it would work to have a "temp" domain to add the guests to and a post customization script to remove them from AD?

[sjesse]

How are users suppsoed to login? if your having people login and your using connection servers you need them to be able to logon to the connection server and the desktop which you can't do with local accounts. You may be able to away with the horizon direct connect agents, but those need full vms and users need the name for each VM instead of a centralized domain name.

[ConradR314]

Correct. The users would log in to Horizon using their domain account, the desktop client would have SSO disabled via RegKey so Horizon wouldn't automatically log them into the desktop. They would log into the desktop as a local admin, which would be on its own isolated network. i know this is definitely not a common use case.

[sjesse · Accepted solution]

The problem with removing them from the domain once horizon needs the dns name to communicate with them, and when they need to be cleaned up you will run into issues. Your only option is full clones, that part doesn't need a domain like the instant clone or linked clones do. Then if you do what your mentioning it may work, I've had the sso time out and logon using a local account before, just be aware its not supported from what I've been told.

[pari2k3]

Instant Clone cant be but for Linked and Full Clone can be picked the Customspec template from VC for sysprep.  If Customspec template created for workgroup it helps.  Not sure about this scenario but its a tweak.