Skip to content

How To Connect To Hypervisor Console

In HyWorks v3.3-GA Hot-fix1, a feature was introduced to provide console access of VMs running on VMware vSphere server. Support for providing console access for VMs running on HyperV provider was already there.

An example use case for this feature could be users using a full tunnel VPN client running on their respective virtual machines. In such cases, when a user runs a VPN client, the virtual machine will lose connection with local network and then users will also lose remote connection to the virtual machine.

In such cases, users can try connecting to console of VMs on hypervisors, which will keep their connection intact even if local network goes down

In this article information will be provided on:

  • How to use this feature

  • Limitations of connecting to console of VMs

Ports Used

To understand what ports are being used for console connect refer to the section Important ports used in Accops

Software Versions and Platform Support

Server and Client Versions To use this feature, following versions are must to have:

  • HyWorks Controller: v3.3-GA (v3.3.0.12803) + Hot-fix1 or later

  • HyWorks Windows Client: v328184 or later

Hypervisor Support Console connections are currently supported with following hypervisors in HyWorks:

  • VMware vSphere Servers or vCenter Servers (Support added in patch hot-fix1)

  • Microsoft Hyper-V (supported from v3.2-SP2 release)

Client OS

  • Windows 7 SP1 or later (Having support for HyWorks Client installation and dot net 4.5)

How to Connect to Console of VMs

To connect to console of VMs, following high-level steps need to be done:

  1. Configure HyWorks desktop pools for console sessions

  2. Install appropriate version of Windows Client

How to enable console connect on HyWorks Controller

To enable console connect on HyWorks Controller, follow below steps:

Assumption:

  • HyWorks v3.3-GA Hot-fix1 patch is already applied on HyWorks Controller and Management Console servers

Steps:

  1. Login into HyWorks Controller Management Console with administrator user

  2. Add/ Edit desktop pool (from VMware ESXi or vCenter Server or Microsoft Hyper-V)

  3. In Add/ Edit Desktop Pool wizard, in Advance screen

    1. Set Virtual Desktop Connection Method as Hypervisor Console

    2. Based on dedicated session provider, following fields will get enabled:

      1. Username: User having appropriate privileges on hypervisor for console connection

        • For VMware it can be specified in following format usename@domain-name e.g. admin@vsphere.local
        • For Hyper-V, separate fields username and domain name are available

      2. Password: Password of user being used for console access

      3. Domain: (Only for Hyper-V) Domain name to which Hyper-V server belongs

      4. Port: Port number on which console access to be initiated

        • Only applicable for Microsoft Hyper-V

  4. Save desktop pool

HyWorks Client Requirements

To enable HyWorks Client to connect hypervisor console, below configurations need to be done:

  • Console connect prerequisite for VMware VMs Console

    1. It is assumed that user's desktop machine is already installed and configured with VMRC client. If not, refer to the section Installing Console Connect Prerequisites

    2. Microsoft Dot Net framework 4.5

    3. Access to required ports, see section Ports Used

  • Console connect prerequisite for Hyper-V VMs Console

    1. Microsoft Dot Net framework 4.5

    2. Access to required ports, see section Ports Used

To connect to hypervisor console, no additional steps are required:

  1. Assuming above prerequisites are met

  2. Login with appropriate user credentials into HyWorks Client

  3. Once desktop menu is displayed click on desktop icon

  4. Based on desktop pool configuration, console connection or remote connection will be initiated.

Limitations of Console Connections

  1. Local resource (Camera, USB, drives, clipboard, printers etc) redirection will not work.

  2. Console sessions can not be extended over multiple monitors

  3. Some DVM agent functionalities will not be applied

    1. Adding user to remote desktop group

    2. Making user local administrator will not work.

    3. Session timeouts

  4. VMware VMs Console Connect feature is supported with only Windows Clients

Installing Console Connect Prerequisites

For Hyper-V VMs console connect, additional configurations are not required.

Follow below steps to install and configure prerequisites for console connect of VMware VMs:

  • Dot net 4.5: Download and install Microsoft Dot Net 4.5 on client machine

    Official Microsoft Download Link for .Net Framework 4.5

  • HyWorks Client v328184: Download and install HyWorks client v328184 or later. Please check HyWorks v3.3-GA-HF1 release article.

  • VMware VMs Console Connect

    • Make sure to have internet enabled on client desktop system

    • Powershell command for VMwareCLI: To Install VMwareCLI run below mentioned command in power shell.

      • [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12

      • Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -MinimumVersion 2.8.5.201 -Force

      • Install-Module -Name VMware.PowerCLI

    • Download and install VMRC client v12.0

Troubleshooting

  1. Error while configuring TLS 1.2 on Windows 7-SP1 Powershell

    While running command

    command

    [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12

    if following error is shown:

    Error

    Exception setting "SecurityProtocol": "Cannot convert null to type "System.Net. SecurityProtocolType" due to invalid enumeration values. Specify one of the following enumeration values and try again. The possible enumeration values are "Ssl3, Tls"."

    Resolution:

    • TLS1.2 will require a newer PowerShell framework to be installed. Install Windows Management Framework 5.1 or later as supported by client operating system.

    • Refer to the below download link to download Windows Management Framework 5.1

  2. Error: There is no program associated to perform the required action.

    When a user tries to connect to console of VMware VMs and below error comes:

    Error

    There is no program associated to perform the requested action. Please install program or, if one is already installed, create an association in Default Programs control panel.

    Resolution:

    • Client side prerequisites are not installed and configured correctly. Please install all needed programs as specified in section HyWorks Client Requirements