User data not being redirected to correct disk

[heathadams]

Hi everyone,

     I'm having an issue with an automated pool of persistent linked clones.  User data is being written to C:\Documents and Settings\ and not to the drive specified during pool creation which in my case would be U.  The drive is mapped when I look at the vms and contains a Documents and Settings\All Users and All Users.bak folder.  When I look at the pool settings in View I have it set to redirect user data to a separate disk, however I don't have the box checked next to "Use different datastores for user data disks and OS disks".  Maybe this is my problem?  I also have an error under the Status tab when looking at the vms under Desktop Sources in View.  It is "View Composer agent initialization state error (6): Unknown failure (waited 0 seconds)."  Is this possibly related?  I'm running 4.0.1.  Sorry if this question had been asked before.  I searched around a bit and saw some similar issues but not one addressing my problem specifically.  Thanks in advance for all the help.

[kgsivan]

>> however I don't have the box checked next to "Use different datastores  for user data disks and OS disks".  Maybe this is my problem?

No, this is not an issue at all.

>> "View Composer agent initialization state error  (6): Unknown failure (waited 0 seconds)."  Is this possibly related?

Mostly this can be the issue. restart the View composer service and see whther it restarts sucessfully or not. There might be database related / or permission related issue. For more details refer Common errors with SVI Pools and View Composer

Please note that, if the same user was logged in the parent VM , then the profile will not be redirected as the profile directory had been created already. During provisioning View composer will change the registry settings of ProfileList , You can verify this too in the agent VM's registry settings. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList (Here the 'Default' and 'Profiledirectory' string values should refer a path to the persistent disks)

[eeg3]

Was the profile for the user in question created on the Master Image? If it was, it won't be moved to the user data disk after provisioning. Make sure there are no user profiles on the master image.

[heathadams]

Thanks for the reply.  So I'm looking at both my View server and the linked clones and I don't see the View Composer service.  The closest thing I have is the View Composer Guest Agent on the linked clones.  What do I need to do to get this installed?

[mittim12]

The View Composer service would be located on your vCenter server. 

[heathadams]

I restarted the Composer service on the vcenter server and it restarted with no problem. I used an admin sign on when setting up the parent vm. This is the only user account on that machine. I signed on to the new spawned vm using a different account and it’s creating the user data folder under C: still. Under the ProfileList key in the registry on the spawned vm I have a ProfilesDirectory value with %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings. Do I need to edit this on the parent vm or should this be changed automatically when the new vm is created?

[heathadams]

No, the only profile on the master image is an admin user I used to set the machine up. I’m using a different sign on when signing on to the spawned vm.

[kgsivan]

This means the customization of the linked clones is not complete.

Which type of guest customization that you have selected ? (sysprep or quick prep)

In the parent VM, have you installed VMware tools and all default components of View agent (Including View composer) ?

[heathadams]

I’m using Quick Prep. Vmware tools and the View agent with all options except offline desktop components are installed.

[MoffattThomas]

It sounds like your virtual machine is running Windows XP.  Is it running Windows XP or Windows 7?

On Windows 7

VMware is supposed to dynamically change the "Default" Profile Directory" and "public" keys in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

On Windows XP

VMware is supposed to dynamically change similar keys (i.e. "ProfilesDirectory") in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList (and possibly also "allusersprofile" and "defaultuserprofile"

If these keys are not changing, it is usually because the profile already existed on the gold image.  You have clearly indicated this is not the case.

For further testing I would recommend logging in with a different user and see if the registry keys change for that user.  You might also try manually fixing the keys for the existing user to see if they work properly (add an icon to the desktop then refresh the virtual desktop to see if the icon remains.  You might also try deleting the existing user profile on the machine then relogin with the user to generate a new profile.

[heathadams]

Thanks for the reply. I went in and created a whole new test user account on the network and logged in using that and I got the same result. User folder still being created in C:\Documents and Settings. As a workaround, can I modify the registry key on the golden image to point to the correct disk? I know this doesn’t fix the actual problem but will at least get me past this point.

[MoffattThomas]

For testing purposes, I don't think there would be any problem with manually altering the registry keys. However, I would not leave that as a permanent solution. Unfortunately, I am brand new to VMWare View and don't know much about it (currently just beginning a proof of concept review). As you can see from my related post (http://communities.vmware.com/thread/305601?tstart=0) I am not sure what else is supposed to be redirected. The ProfileList keys may not be the only ones (although it sounds like they might be). If you manually modify them you may miss other redirection.