VMware App Volumes is an optional component of VMware Horizon Enterprise Edition that extends two additional capabilities to virtual desktops:
- It delivers natively installed applications on demand, independent of the desktop image, using shared App Volumes AppStacks.
- It seamlessly roams user-installed applications between Horizon client sessions, even in non-persistent desktop environments using App Volumes Writable Volumes.
App Volumes uses vSphere VMDK files to enable transparent, on-demand, application portability without making any permanent changes to the virtual desktop. Applications are delivered and maintained using the App Volumes function and appear as if they were natively installed, because technically speaking they were. When used in combination with the software described in Chapter 12, Implementing User Environment Manager, you have the ability to provide a persistent desktop experience using non-persistent desktops, without having to buy any third-party software to do so.
This chapter will discuss the installation, configuration, backup, and recovery of the App Volumes manager servers and their associated AppStacks and user Writable Volumes.
By the end of this chapter, we will have covered the following:
- An overview of VMware App Volumes AppStacks, Writable Volumes, and the App Volumes Manager server
- App Volumes prerequisites
- How to install and configure an App Volumes Manager server
- How to add additional App Volumes Manager servers
- How to install the App Volumes Agent
- How to create and assign an AppStack to users
- How to update an AppStack
- How to assign Writable Volumes to users
- How to delete Writable Volumes
- Additional App Volumes resources for review