Connect to a Remote Desktop or Application

To connect a remote desktop or application, you must provide the name of a server and supply credentials for your user account.

Prerequisites

Obtain the following information from your system administrator:

■	Instructions about whether to turn on a VPN (virtual private network) connection.
■	Server name to use for connecting to the server.
■	If the port is not 443, the port number to use for connecting to the server.
■	Credentials to log in, such as an Active Directory user name and password, RSA SecurID user name and passcode, RADIUS authentication user name and passcode, or smart card personal identification number (PIN).
■	Domain name for logging in.
■	Instructions about whether you can use Touch ID authentication.

If your administrator instructs you to configure the certificate checking mode, see Setting the Certificate Checking Mode in Horizon Client.

You can configure a preference that always hides the VMware Horizon Client window after you connect to a remote desktop or application. See Hide the VMware Horizon Client Window.

If you use smart card authentication, you can configure Horizon Client to automatically use a local certificate or the certificate on your smart card. See Configure Horizon Client to Select a Smart Card Certificate.

Procedure

If a VPN connection is required, turn on the VPN.

In the Applications folder, double-click VMware Horizon Client.

Click Continue to start remote desktop USB and printing services, or click Cancel to use Horizon Client without remote desktop USB and printing services.

If you click Continue, you must provide system credentials. If you click Cancel, you can enable remote desktop USB and printing services later.

Note

The prompt to start remote desktop USB and printing services appears the first time you start Horizon Client. It does not appear again, regardless of whether you click Cancel or Continue.

Connect to a server.

Option	Description
Connect to a new server	Click the New Server icon on the Horizon Client Home window, enter the server name and port number (if necessary), and click Connect. An example using a non-default port is view.company.com:1443.
Connect to an existing server	Double-click the server shortcut on the Horizon Client Home window.

If you are prompted for RSA SecurID credentials or RADIUS authentication credentials, type the user name and passcode and click Login.

If you are prompted for a user name and password, supply Active Directory credentials.

a	Type the user name and password of a user who is entitled to use at least one desktop or application pool.
b	Select a domain. If the Domain drop-down menu is hidden, you must type the user name as `username@domain` or `domain\username`.
c	(Optional) Select the Remember this password check box if your administrator has enabled this feature and if the server certificate can be fully verified.
d	(Optional) Select the Enable Touch ID check box to enable Touch ID authentication. If Touch ID is enabled and you are logging in for the first time, your Active Directory credentials are stored securely on your Mac for future use.
e	Click Login. You might see a message that you must confirm before the login dialog box appears.

If the desktop security indicator turns red and a warning message appears, respond to the prompt.

Usually, this warning means that Connection Server did not send a certificate thumbprint to the client. The thumbprint is a hash of the certificate public key and is used as an abbreviation of the public key.

If you are prompted for Touch ID authentication, place your finger on the Touch ID sensor.

(Optional) If multiple display protocols are configured for a remote desktop or application, select the protocol to use.

VMware Blast provides better battery life and is the best protocol for high-end 3D and mobile device users.

Option

Description

Select a display protocol for a remote desktop

Select the remote desktop name, press Control-click, and select the display protocol from the context menu.

Alternatively, you can select Settings from the context menu and select the display protocol from the Connect Via drop-down menu in the Settings dialog box.

Select a display protocol for a remote application

Select the remote application name, press Control-click, select Settings from the context menu, and select the display protocol from the Preferred protocol drop-down menu in the Settings dialog box.

Double-click a remote desktop or application to connect.

If you are connecting to a session-based remote desktop, which is hosted on a Microsoft RDS host, and if the desktop is already set to use a different display protocol, you cannot connect immediately. You are prompted to either use the protocol that is set or have the system log you off the remote operating system so that a connection can be made with the protocol you selected.

Note

If you are entitled to only one remote desktop on the server, Horizon Client automatically connects you to that desktop.

After you are connected, the client window appears.

If a Horizon administrator has enabled the client drive redirection feature, the Sharing dialog box might appear. From the Sharing dialog box, you can allow or deny access to files on your local system. For more information, see Share Access to Local Folders and Drives with Client Drive Redirection.

If a Horizon administrator has configured the URL Content Redirection feature on the server, you might need to respond to certain prompts. For more information, see Clicking URL Links That Open Outside of Horizon Client.