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Shadow a VMware View Desktop Session

In VMware View there is no central way shadow a desktop session such as for example in Citrix XenApp. It would be nice if in the future it is possible to shadow a desktop from for example the VMware View Connection server. This is a frequently asked question by customers where VMware View is implemented.

The following steps must be taken to shadow a PCoIP session from the vSphere Console by using a GPO:

Use VMware vSphere 5 and VMware View 5 or greater (in vSphere 4 there is a registry hack available)
For Windows 7 be sure to use Hardware Version 8. For Windows XP or Vista you can use any hardware version
Create a new Group Policy Object (GPO)
Add the “pcoip.adm” file to the Computer Configuration. The ADM file can be found on the VMware View Connection server in the “C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware View\Server\extras\GroupPolicyFiles” folder
Enable the “Enable access to PCoIP session from a vSphere console” in the Computer Configuration settings.
pcoip1

Link the GPO to the OU were the VMware View Windows 7 desktop resides
Sync Domain Controllers
Restart the VMware View desktop
After configuring this, it is possible to shadow a PCoIP session from the vSphere Console. The user doesn’t need to approve the shadow session so this could be security and privacy issue. The keyboard and mouse movements are displayed on the two screens synchronously, although, there is a bit of a delay.

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