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batfink
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Cannot add desktop in CS inventory

Hi, so I've got most of the way there in implementing VDM, situation is now as follows:

ESX3.5 hosting a few VMs. Only one is currently switched on. XP Pro SP2 with VDM agent installed and started, and 'certificate' regkey removed as per MS KB323497.

VirtualCenter on a physical box

VDM Connection Server on another physical box, and licensed with eval key

VDM Client on my admin workstation

Here's the problem: In ConnectionServer webUI, on Inventory - desktops, I click Add, but when I get to virtual machine selection, there are no VMs listed. Can anyone tell me how this list is populated?

All machines are members of a freshly-created AD domain, I'm logging onto everything with domain admin rights.

Thanks for any help.

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Troy_Clavell
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If you do not have a template set up, you will not be able to deploy any pools. All you will be able to do is set up individual desktops and point it to your VC server. You do have VM's in VC, right?

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brekus
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It depends what kind of pool you are creating. If you are creating a individual connection you can choose a VM to connect to. If you are doing a pool it will create the VM's for you from the template.

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Troy_Clavell
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That is correct you first have to create an indivudual destop or a Desktop pool (persistant or non). When you create and individual desktop you can chose existing VM's from VC. If you create a pool, VDM will deploy those VMs. Only when you have VM's in VDM will you be able to see vm's in the Virtual Machines tab.

batfink
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Thanks for the quick reply. This is for an individual connection, but there are no VMs listed for me to choose from.

I realise that the CS is made aware of the VC, and that the VI client on the VC server is aware of the ESX server and it's VMs, but I do not seem to recall pointing the CS at the ESX server directly at any point. Is the CS supposed to get a list of VMs from the VC, or something else? Am I missing something?

Thanks.

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brekus
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Have you tried turning the VM off then restarting the individual pool creation?

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batfink
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Just tried that but no change. There is also another VM that represents the sysprepped master, but that is not in the list either.

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brekus
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Hmm interesting, when I do the same thing in my console, It gives me the options for 2 VM's only, one already has an individual connection setup for it and the other is already in another pool. Weird.

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Troy_Clavell
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In your VDM Administrator under Virtual Center Servers, you have a name listed there? Have you tried to deploy a pool of a couple VM's to see if it works?

Also, is your VDM in the same domain as you VC?

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batfink
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Hmm, seems to bring us both back to the original question - 'how is that list populated?'

As an aside, the advice to delete the certificate reg value in KB 323497 (mentioned in original post) results in it being recreated on startup. I realise this is probably correct/irrelevant anyway, but worth mentioning.

Thanks.

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batfink
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Yep, see below. I have a VC, a license, permissions, and the VDM server itself.

Everything is in the same domain (it's a closed test network, so very little in the way of enterprise-scale challenges such as multi-domains)

I haven't got as far as deploying a pool, so not sure how to do that yet. If I click on pooled instead of individual, it asks for a template, but I haven't created any.

Is this the part where you tell me that this is where I have gone wrong, and to go away and RTFM?! Smiley Happy

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Troy_Clavell
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If you do not have a template set up, you will not be able to deploy any pools. All you will be able to do is set up individual desktops and point it to your VC server. You do have VM's in VC, right?

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Troy_Clavell
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any luck?

if this or any other response in this thread was helpful, please consider awarding points

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brekus
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Does the account your using to connect to virtual center have administrator rights in virtual center?

miveli
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I have the exact same issue with VDI. I am trying to put a proof of concept environment together for my company using eval versions of ESX, VC and VDI.

I have all of these machines in a test vlan. DHCP is being provided by the firewall. I can cannot to the VM desktop using RDP. I have cloned the VM and then sysprep'd one image and used the customization options for the other and then made templates from the machines. When i try to add them the Persistant Pool desktops i get the location page in the VDM and there is nothing to select. All accounts that are being used are administrative with rights to all sections of the VI system. What am i missing......

Any help is greatly appreciated.

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batfink
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Hi, thanks for the help so far. I'm off work today, so am not in front of my test kit right now. I'll be back in tomorrow, and will catch up with this then and post progress.

Once again, I appreciate the assistance provided so far.

Dan.

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miveli
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Batfink,

I think that i have cracked it. I have strip the Hosts and Clusters view back and started again. This included removing and recreating the desktop VM and template. Through the intial works i guess that i had played around with groups and perms and screwed up who had access to what. After i recreated the datacenter and added my hosts i am able to get the template in my VDM.

My next challenge is to get the guest to auto connect to the network.

Just out of interest, we are looking at VDI for remote users to connect to the network. Management are a bit put off by the cost of re-licensing the desktops. How has everyone else faced/overcame this challenge? If this doesn't fly then Citrix will most likely be used and i don't want to miss out of other virtualisation opportunities just because of the MS Licensing......

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batfink
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Ok, I'm back in work now. I don't currently have a template set up, and was intending to do that after trying an individual desktop. If I login to the VI Client on the physical machine running VC I can see 3 VMs, but if I login to the VC web UI, I cannot see any VMs. So VC isn't aware of the machines created on the ESX box. I am beginning to suspect that increasingly-awkward-but-really-should-not-be subject - licensing.

I will now proceed to wrestle with my pet hate for the next hour or so and will come back to this when I am back on track. 😠

Thanks for your patience.

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batfink
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Ah. I didn't have sufficient funding/licenses to use VC before so didn't have any experience with it - turns out it was simply a case of adding the host to the VC, which I did on Thursday. Sorry to have wasted your time!

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