Overview of VMware Horizon’s Remote Applications


Using the “VMware Horizon Client”, you can access programs remotely. Although the programs are running on a remote computer, the virtual applications behave as if they are running on your local computer. Each remote application (i.e. SPSS, SAS, or StataIC) has its own entry in the application dock. You have the capability to resize, minimize, and/or maximize the program window.

Downloading and Installing the VMware Horizon Client

NOTE: If the VMware Horizon Client is already installed on your mac, skip to Step 10 under “Accessing Remote Applications Using the Horizon Client”


1. Navigate to vdesktops.atu.edu using any browser of your choosing (i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc.)

2. Click the “Download the Horizon Client for Mac OS X” link at the bottom of your screen.



3. You will be re-directed to VMware’s landing page for downloads. From here, click the dropdown arrow next to “VMware Horizon Client for Mac”. Click the “Go to Downloads” button as shown in the example below. The link will redirect you to the latest application build for Mac.



4. After you are redirected, click the “Download” button to download the latest VMware Horizon Client for MacOS. A dialog box will appear. Choose a destination folder to save this installer and click “Save”.


5. Navigate to the location where you saved the installer. Double click on the installer to launch the Horizon Client wizard.

6. A “User Access Control” dialog box may appear. Click “Open” to launch the application.



7. Before installing the product, you must agree to the terms and conditions. Click “Agree” to proceed to the wizard.




8. VMware will install the necessary components for the Horizon Client. This may take a few minutes.

9. Once completed, you should see the following dialog box explaining how to install the VMware Horizon Client. You must click the Horizon Client application, hold, and drag the application to the Application folder. Example below:




Accessing Remote Applications Using the Horizon Client

 

10. The application should appear in your “Launchpad”. Click to launch all applications. Example below:



11. Click the “VMware Horizon Client” application icon to launch the Horizon Client.



12. The application will launch. Next, you will need to connect to a new server. Click the “+” button and a dialog box will appear asking for the connection server address. Type in “vdesktops.atu.edu” and click “Connect”.




13. The Login page will then appear. Enter in your Tech username and password into the boxes provided. When finished, click “Login”.



14. Once logged in, remote applications will be displayed. Depending on what applications you have access to will determine what applications are available in the Horizon Client. To access a remote application, double click any application of your choosing. In the example below, IBMSPSS Modeler 16.0 is selected.



15. The remote application will launch. Click “Allow” if a separate dialog box appears asking for storage redirection. This will allow remote applications to access your external storage devices (i.e. Flash Drives or External Hard Drives). If you do not wish to redirect external storage devices, click “Deny”.


16. In the Horizon Client, you can launch more than one application at a time. In order to launch another application, click the minimize button in the top right hand corner of your application. Like applications running on your desktop, the remote application will minimize to your application dock. If you have more than one monitor, you can also move it to a different screen. In the example below, SPSS Modeler 16 is minimized.




17. The VMware Horizon Client should still be displayed. To launch a different application, repeat step 14. In the example below, SAS 9.3 will be launched side-by-side with SPSS Modeler 16.0.



Adding an Application to Favorites

 

18. To add an application to your “Favorites”, hold down the control button and left click on the application you wish to add to your “Favorites”. Then click “Mark as Favorite”. A star will appear on the top right of the application’s icon.



19. Removing an application works the same way. Hold down the control button and left click on the application you wish to remove from your favorites. A checkmark will appear beside the application. Click “Mark as Favorite”. By clicking this, you are unselecting this option.



20. To view only your favorited applications, click the “Favorites” button at the top right of the Horizon Client.



21. To display all applications, click the “Favorites” button again.



Logging out of vDesktops


22. To log off or disconnect from the vDesktops server, click the disconnect icon at the top left hand corner of the Horizon Client.



23. A dialog box will appear asking for confirmation. Click “Disconnect” to confirm.