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BBittner
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Horizon Client (4.7): Forcing settings by GPO

Hello,

I'm trying to set some settings in the Horizon-Client by GPO, but for some unknown reasons, they are not enforced (but some are).

Elements not working:

In the GPO I've enabled the "H264 High Color Accuracy" and the "H264" option

As stated in the documentation, I see the entries under "HKLM\Software\Policies\VMware, Inc.\VMware Blast\config" on the Client, so the GPO itself is applied to the system.

But when I start the Horizon-Client and open the Blast settings, they are not active nor are they forced, so the normal user can change it.

So, do I misinterpret the GPO/Documentation, and these settings are not for the Horizon Client?

How can I enforce these settings on the Clients?

Thanks for your help!

Ben

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cbaptiste
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Thanks you. I eventually figured it out last night. When I read your comment I was looking for "Color-Settings" in the prefs file as you suggested which does not exist.

I ended up writing a logon script to solve the problem until VMware fixes it. The script will override the blast settings for users with an existing prefs.txt file without overriding the remaining settings. If the file does not exist, it will create it with the blast settings already enabled.

matthiasFF​ I hope that helps you proceed with your deployment

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pdudas76
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I also have this problem.

I have set H.264 and High Color accuracy initially on the client, The checkbox does not check and adhere to the registry settings.

I have also added it to the registry for the agent. It still does not connect automatically with High Color Accuracy.

The only way for me to tell it to do that is manually clicking the checkbox in the client.

I think it would be helpful to also have a document on what settings are required to be put against the Client and what should be put against the agent.

matthiasFF
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The color quality is horrendous without the "high color accuracy" option, you cannot expect every user in an organisation to set this themselves!!!

How is this still not "fixed" in Horizon Client 5.0 and Horizon 7.8 ADMX Templates?

I opened a ticket with VMware and apparently there is not even a workaround (registry key, configuration file etc...)!! Is this option saved to the cloud?

This is stopping us from using blast company wide.

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BBittner
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I've sort of solved it via pushing the prefs.txt file in the roaming folder.

There you can set the color-setting in there.

Location:

C:\Users\%user-name%\AppData\Roaming\VMware\VMware Horizon View Client\prefs.txt

It's not really documented, but when you manually set it by yourselves you can see it in the file after closing Horizon Client.

cbaptiste
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Do you mind sharing a sample of that prefs.txt file? We are currently in the same boat. But I do not see the color section in my configuration even when I check the box.

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BBittner
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Of course, now problem.

Here is my actual config. There are also other options set, which you might not need in your environment, but the one you're looking for is "allowClientH264YUV444".

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<Root>

  <RecentServer serverName="vcs.example.com" serverType="view" mruUsername="" hasValidCert="true" lastLogInAsCurrentUser="false" localIMEEnable="false" appScaledModeEnabled="false" serverCacheDir="">

    <FileRedirection/>

    <ShortCuts/>

    <ShadowSettings FitToViewer="true"/>

  </RecentServer>

  <LastLoginAsCurrentUser loginAsCurrentUser="false"/>

  <GlobalDefaultServer serverName="vcs.example.com"/>

  <BrokerJumpList/>

  <DesktopJumpList/>

  <sharingList showPromptDlg="true" shareHomeDirectory="false" allowAccessRemovable="false"/>

  <BlastSettings allowClientH264YUV444="true" ConnectionUserMode="TCP-only"/>

</Root>

cbaptiste
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Thanks you. I eventually figured it out last night. When I read your comment I was looking for "Color-Settings" in the prefs file as you suggested which does not exist.

I ended up writing a logon script to solve the problem until VMware fixes it. The script will override the blast settings for users with an existing prefs.txt file without overriding the remaining settings. If the file does not exist, it will create it with the blast settings already enabled.

matthiasFF​ I hope that helps you proceed with your deployment

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cbaptiste
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I deploy the script through GPO and moved forward with my deployment.
Here's the latest reply from VMware on this topic. :smileylaugh::smileylaugh::smileylaugh:

I wanted to follow up regarding the Support Request we have open for High Color Accuracy settings not taking place when set via Group Policy / Registry. After looking this over with our development team the behavior you are seeing is by design. The agent by default is set to support 444 if the client requests it, while the client by default will not request 444 due to the expensive nature of using 444 over 420. Setting the GPO to true on the agent results in no change in default agent behavior. There is currently no client side GPO to force 444.

   

    As next steps I would recommend opening a feature request with your TAM/SAM to get this on the road map so this setting can be applied as a Client GPO to all users if necessary.

   

In theory, they have a policy that does absolutely nothing. :smileyconfused:

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