VCAP-DTA Objective 1.4 – Deploy and Configure View Transfer Server

So we’ve deployed Connection Servers, Security Servers and now it’s the turn of the Transfer Server. Remember this is kind of a Connection Server that has the responsibility of checking local mode desktops in and out. Thinking out loud about how this might turn up the exam, I’m thinking that you’ll probably have to run through the installation of one, but I’m struggling to think that you’ll be asked to check a desktop out simply because of the time it takes. I could be wrong, but three hours is not long to get all of this stuff done!

So again a Transfer Server is stood up by running the Connection Server installation executable. No seperate installer for this component. There are a number of things to bear in mind, which hopefully will be covered below in the skills and abilities section of the exam blueprint.

• Configure storage for View Transfer Server and the repository – OK, so this strictly doesn’t say you’ll be installing a Transfer Server, so do we assume it’s already stood up? Remember from the install and architecture guides :-

  • Must be a virtual machine, for the exam I think that’s a given!
  • Requires Windows 2008 R2 64 Bit, 4Gb RAM, 2 vCPU, 20GB disk space, LSI Logic Parallel or SAS adapter (sounds like something that might come out of a troubleshooting scenario – “Why won’t Transfer Server install?”), 1GB E1000 vNIC (you need bandwidth to check desktops in and out, of course)
  • Must be managed by same vCenter as the desktops you want to check out
  • Must have static IP address and does not need to be domain joined
  • Can’t co-exist with any other View component such as Connection Server, View Client etc
  • The installation of a Transfer Server is essentially a two step process – installing the beast and then configuring it in View Administrator. Don’t forget the second part or your Transfer Server is useless!
  • Run the Connection Server installer, select View Transfer Server and fill in details for Network Domain (somewhere.com), Server Name (FQDN) and Administrator’s e-mail address (a.bloke@acme.com, for example)
  •  Install and off we go.
  • Click Finish when the file copy and installation is complete, then we have to make the necessary changes to View Administrator
  • In View Administrator, go to View Configuration | Servers, Transfer Servers tab. Click Add and select the vCenter server your Transfer Server is managed by. Click Next and select your Transfer Server, click Finish.
  • To complete the install, you also need to create and specify a transfer repository. This can be either a local folder on the Transfer Server, or better yet, a UNC path that can be shared among multiple Transfer Servers.
  • Before you specify a repository path, you need to place your Transfer Server into maintenance mode. To do that, highlight your Transfer Server in View Administrator and click Enter Maintenance Mode.
  • In the Transfer Server Repository section at the bottom of the page, click Edit on the General Tab and select network share path or local path and select OK. Don’t forget to take your Transfer Server out of maintenance mode to complete the task!
• Configure the View Transfer Server firewall – chances are you won’t have to do much here. If Windows Firewall is already enabled, verify that the Connection Server is allowed out over HTTP and HTTPS, paying special attention to the domain, home/work and public scopes, they might try and trip you up on this step. The good news is Transfer Server works over good old ports 80 and 443, so no wacky port numbers to remember here.
• Configure security policies for Local Mode – Again a relatively straightforward step if you know where to look. In View Administrator, open the Policies branch in the left pane and click Global Policies. There is a specific section for Local Mode Policies, so click on Edit Policies and select the appropriate policies for the exam scenario. For example, you may be asked to change the max time without server contact from the default 7 days to say 3 days (be surprised if they ask you to go unlimited). Disks Replicated also strikes me as something you may be asked to change, for example from the default Persistent Disks to OS and Persistent Disks.