zPortal, supports shared hosted desktop deliveries from a load balanced team of session host servers and creating a shared hosted desktop pool will require following requisites to be preconfigured in zPortal

Shared Hosted Desktop Pools Pre-Requisites

For creating a Desktop Pool following pre-requisites must be configured:

• • Reachable Shared Session Provider (i.e. zPortal Session Host Server) is configured
  • Authorization/Authentication Server is configured (If User based pool need to be created) and post pool creation for authenticating the user session
  • Registered Devices in zPortal Controller (If Device based pool needs to be created): As shown in image below the devices are registered, renamed for better identification

Once above pre-requisites are configured in zPortal Controller, administrator can proceed with Desktop Pool creation.

Shared Hosted Desktop Pool Creation Process

Considering that all session host servers are configured in appropriate session teams, following steps can be followed to create a shared hosted desktop pool:

Launch Add Desktop Pool Wizard

To launch Add Desktop Pool wizard, follow the below steps:

1. Login to zPortal Controller Management Console using appropriate admin credentials
2. Go to Workspace -> Desktop Pools tab
3. In Desktop Pools screen, click on Add New Pool button
   <zportal-add-shared-pool1.png>
4. Add Desktop Pool wizard will be launched and General screen will be displayed by default
5. Now Add Desktop Pool wizard is invoked, next step is to configure General Configurations of Desktop Pool.

General Screen of Desktop Pool Wizard

Add Desktop Pool wizard displays General Screen by default. General screen provides the most generic options for Desktop Pool, based on the selection of different options, further screens of desktop pools are enabled or disabled. The configurations available in General screen can be kept in two categories:

1. Common Configurations: Settings applicable for all type of desktop pools
2. Deciding Configuration: Factors which affects the further configurations of desktop pools

Common Configurations in General Screen

Following configurations in General screen are common for all types of desktop pools:

1. Name: Mandatory field* for providing logical name for Desktop Pool which will be used to identify Desktop Pool.
   1. Two desktop pools with same name cannot exist in zPortal organization).
   2. Only following special characters are supported: _ SPACE () {} # @ : –
2. Description: Optional field for logical description for desktop pool, can be used by administrator to define Desktop Pool’s purpose and associated details.
3. Entitlement Type: Defines the type of the clients to be configured and given access of desktop session. A Desktop in zPortal deployment can be associated with a device or a user and thus Desktop Pools in zPortal can be of two types:
   1. 1. Device Based: Desktop Pools in which Desktops are assigned to devices and thus any valid user login from the device always gets the session of same Desktop which is assigned to the device from where user is logging-in.
      2. User Based: Desktop Pools in which Desktops are assigned to users and thus a valid user logging-in from any device or location gets the session of same Desktop which is assigned to this user.

   Entitlement Type selection in General screen will also enables the corresponding client type screen in Desktop Pool wizard, e.g. Selecting Entitlement Type as Device based will enable Devices screen, where as selecting Entitlement Type as User based will enable Users screen (For configuring users as clients) (Refer below image)
   <zportal-add-shared-pool2.png>

4. Connection Profiles: Connection profiles dropdown field can be used to use specific connection profile for this pool.  Administrator can opt to leave the connection profile as None as well, leaving Connection Profile Fall model to decide applicable connection profile.
   <zportal-add-shared-pool3.png>
5. Active/ Inactive Pools: A Desktop Pool can be made active/ inactive from Add/Edit Desktop Pool wizard. When user logs-in, only active pools are searched for assignments, inactive pools are ignored while providing Desktops to clients (devices or users).
   <zportal-add-shared-pool4.png>
   To make a pool active, keep Active checkbox as selected in General screen of Desktop Pool wizard, uncheck Active checkbox for making a pool inactive.

Deciding Configuration of General Screen

Following configurations in General screen decides the flow and configurations of Desktop Pool wizard:

1. Desktop Virtualization Type: Desktop Virtualization Type field describes the kind of desktops to be delivered to the clients. zPortal supports Dedicated Virtual Desktops (From VMWare ESXi/vCenter or Microsoft Hyper-V/SCVMM) and Shared Virtual Desktops (From Microsoft RDS Servers installed with AmZetta zPortal Session Host).Selection of Desktop Virtualization Type enables other configurations in General screen in following manner:
   1. Choosing Desktop Virtualization Type as Shared Virtual Desktop enables option Select Server Team to choose the session host team, from where shared desktop session will be given. Server team (Session Host Team) is collection of load balanced session host servers.

<zportal-add-shared-pool5.png>

For creating a shared hosted desktop pool, Desktop Virtualization Type should be selected as Shared Virtual Desktop, followed by selection appropriate Session Team. This will complete the General screen configurations of a Shared Hosted Desktop pool.

Configure Clients in Desktop Pool

In current flow of sequence, the selected virtualization type is Shared Virtual Desktop and thus all other screens will be skipped, and client configuration screen will be displayed.

It’s important to understand that the client in Desktop Pools can be either a device or user and this is determined by Entitlement Type attribute in General Settings of Add Desktop Pool wizard.

If administrator is deploying zPortal for users, then Entitlement Type should be selected as User based and if administrator is willing to serve desktop to devices then Entitlement Type should be selected as Device based.

Devices Screen to Configure Devices in Desktop Pool

Assuming administrator has selected Pool Type as Device based, which will now enable Devices screen in Add Desktop Pool wizard. Device screen provides following options to administrator:

• • Add: To add Devices into this pool
  • Remove: Remove added Devices
  • Search: To search any already added Devices
  • Refresh: To refresh the list of already added Devices

<zportal-add-shared-pool6.png>

1. 1. Add Devices to Pool
      For adding devices to Desktop Pool, click on Add Device button. This will invoke Available Device Dialog
      • • Available Devices Dialog
          Displays list of all registered devices in zPortal Controller (except devices which are already added in this pool). The behavior of Available Devices and Available Desktops is little different in a manner that Available Devices dialog lists those devices as well which are used in other Desktop Pools also, due to the design that a device can be assigned with multiple Desktops using multiple Desktop Pools. In Available Devices dialog, administrator has the following options
          • View list of available device
            • Displaying the currently assigned Desktop and Pool information as well to avoid same device being used in different pools
          • Refresh the list of Devices to get a fresh list of Devices registered with zPortal Controller
          • Search: Any specific Device
          • Select Single, Multiple or Select All devices using respective checkboxes
            <zportal-add-shared-pool7.png>
            • Add Devices from Available Devices Dialog: In Available Devices dialog, select all required devices and click on OK button to add them in Desktop Pool. Administrator will be navigated back to Device screen with displaying all selected devices as added.

<zportal-add-shared-pool8.png>

1. Remove Devices from Desktop Pool
   To remove added Devices from pool, select the devices from Devices screen and click on Remove button. Selected devices will be removed from devices screen and will be available in Available devices list now.
   <zportal-add-shared-pool9.png> 
2. Refresh List of Added Devices
   To refresh already added devices in Devices screen, click on Refresh button.
3. Search any Device in Added Devices list
   For searching any specific device(s) in added devices list, enter any appropriate search text in Search text box and press Enter key or click on Search icon displayed.The devices matching the search criteria will now be highlighted and be displayed first.
   <zportal-add-shared-pool10.png>

Users Screen to Configure Users as Clients in Desktop Pool

Assuming administrator has selected Entitlement Type as User based, which will now enable Users screen in Add Desktop Pool wizard. User screen provides following options to administrator:

• • Add: To add Users into this pool
  • Remove: Remove added Users
  • Search: To search any already added Users
  • Refresh: To refresh the list of already added Users

<zportal-add-shared-pool11.png>

1. 1. Add Users to Pool
      For adding users to Desktop Pool, click on Add button. This will invoke Available Client Dialog
      • • Available Client Dialog
          Displays list of all available groups, OUs and users from configured authorization server except clients (groups, OUs or users) which are already added in this pool.In Available Clients dialog, administrator has the following options
          • Search: Any users, groups or OUs based on multiple filters.
          • Refresh the list of Users to get a fresh list of users available in Authentication server
          • Select Single, Multiple or Select All users using respective checkboxes
            <zportal-add-shared-pool12.png>

            Note: Groups or OUs are not supported with Workgroup and LDAP/Novell eDirectory type authentication servers and thus if configured authentication server is either of Workgroup or Novell eDirectory then Available Clients dialog will not display any group or OUs in respective tabs.

      Using Available Clients dialog to performing multiple operations:

      • • Search, Select and Add Clients in Added Users list
          By default, no users, groups or OUS are listed and administrator must initiate explicit search for adding the users.Available Clients dialog provides advance search options to list down users, groups or OUs. These advanced options are:
          • Client Type Selection: Option to specify, the type of client to be searched, this could be user, group or OU
          • Search by Attribute: Administrator can specify what search attribute to be used for searching the client e.g. for Microsoft Active Directory this search attribute could be SAM Account Name, Name or Display Name
          • Search Option: Administrator can also specify the search option as Starts with, End With, Contains or Equals to narrow down the searches

          For searching any specific user(s) in added users list, enter any appropriate search text in Search text box and press Enter key or click on Search icon displayed. The users, groups or OUs matching the search criteria will be displayed.
          <zportal-add-shared-pool13.png>

      The screenshot above displays user search operation, similarly administrator can change Client Type to Group or OU and initiate search for respective objects in configured authorization server.

      In Available Users dialog, select all required users and click on OK button to add them in Desktop Pool. Administrator will be navigated back to User screen with displaying all selected users as added.
      <zportal-add-shared-pool14.png>

2. Remove Users from Pool
   To remove added Users from pool, select the users from Users screen and click on Remove button. Selected users will be removed from Users screen and will be available in Available Users list now.
   <zportal-add-shared-pool15.png>
3. Refresh List of Added Users
   To refresh already added users in Users screen, click on Refresh button.