Horizon 7 upgrade to 8 Queston - Linked Clones to Instant Clones

[BarryUWSEFS]

I am planning our upgrade to Horizon 8. We are currently on 7.11 Standard License. We already have UAG and FSLogix, so the biggest challenge will be moving from linked clones to instant clones. After reading the VMware documentation I could use some clarification on the possible co-existence of linked clone and instant clone pools during the upgrade and for testing. Here is where it gets confusing:

1. The documentation states that in the current version of 8, Composer and linked clones are deprecated, but the components are still there.

2. The documentation states that when you upgrade to 8 you must first removed Composer and linked clone pools. If this is true then what is the point of 1.?

3. The documentation suggests that you should convert to Instant Clone pools before upgrading to 8, however we have the standard license, so we do not have access to instant clones until we upgrade to 8.

So this leaves me with the question, do I really have to remove Composer and all the linked clone pools before upgrading to 8, literally bringing production down? Or can I upgrade to 8, create and test Instant clone pools, and then remove Composer and all linked clones?

Thanks!

[nburton935]

They are deprecated- not removed. The pools will still exist and are usable, but you will not be able to manage them (recompose, etc.) - so do not upgrade until you are ready to migrate.

Here is a good article describing the caveats, migration process, etc.:

https://techzone.vmware.com/resource/modernizing-vdi-new-horizon

[a_p_ · Accepted solution]

>>> however we have the standard license, so we do not have access to instant clones until we upgrade to 8.
Not exactly. VMware enabled Instant Clones in version 7.13 to allow for a smooth transition.

From the Horizon 7.13 Release Notes

~snip~
Instant clones are available with Standard and Advanced licenses.
~snip~

André

[Mickeybyte2 · Accepted solution]

@BarryUWSEFS 

The recommended way would be to upgrade your current environment to version 7.13 which still fully supports linked clones. In this version, you'll see that you will be able to use instant clones with your current standard license key, which was not possible with any previous 7.x version.

You can then migrate your linked clone pools to instant clone pools and once all linked clones pools are gone, you can upgrade to any Horizon 8 version in the future. Horizon 8 2006 (8.0) still includes linked clones, but any next version won't anymore. 

Regards,

Michiel

[BarryUWSEFS]

Thank you, yes that is the primary document I was reading, but still left me with the question I posted. Thanks for the clarification.

[BarryUWSEFS]

Thank you everyone, this is all excellent information that I did not find after lengthy research! I mean when VMware tells me that instant clones will not be available for a standard license until v. 8 I was silly enough to believe them!