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Objects - Gold Master

Go to Objects > Gold Master for managing of all the gold master images in HyLabs deployment.

Gold Master is a template VM from dedicated session provider that is used in HyLabs as source for cloning multiple reserved VMs for classes. A Gold Master VM will have all the configurations and applications installed required by participants.

Following management options are provided on Gold Master page:

View Gold Master VMs and UI Operations

On navigating to Gold Master page, reservation admin user can view the list of already added Gold Master VMs with the following details:

Column Name Description Sortable Searchable
Gold Master Name Name of Gold Master VM as fetched from dedicated session provider Yes Yes
OS Operating System of Gold Master VM as fetched from dedicated session provider Yes Yes
HDD (GB) Hard disk size in GB Yes No
CPU Number of vCPUs allocated to Gold Master VM No No
Memory Memory in MB allocated to Gold Master VM No No
Active/ Maximum Total VMs Currently running or Active VMs from Gold Master Vs Maximum number of VMs to be created from this Gold Master VM No No
Active/ Concurrent Connection Limit Total active connections to VMs from Gold Master vs Concurrent Connection Limit for Gold Master No No
Deployed VMs Total number of VMs deployed using this gold master No No
Power State Power state of Gold Master VM No Yes
Assigned HyLabs object to which Gold Master VM is assigned (Possible value: Course, Course Default, Incharge, Self-study) Yes No
In Use If Gold Master is having any active reservation No Yes
Lock Status Gold Master is locked during replica creation. Lock status will be shown with Locked icon Gold Master is currently being cloned and in use.
If cloning from replica is in progress, it will be shown as Unlocked icon.		 No No
Agent status Agent version and agent status is shown. Possible statuses are Responding, Not Available, Not responding No No

Add a new Gold Master VM

A new Gold Master can be added into HyLabs. Gold master can be connected and managed for reservations by the authorized users. A Gold Master can be assigned to following objects:

  1. Assign to a course: While creating course reservations assigned Gold Master will be used for cloning. Gold Master assigned to a course can be accessed by reservation admins, incharges and assistants of courses.

  2. Assign to Self-study: For self-study reservation, assigned Gold Master will be used for cloning for Self-study reservations. Only reservation admins will have access to self-study Gold Master.

  3. Assign to Incharge: Incharge will be able to connect, manage (Power operations) and configure the assigned Gold Master and create course reservations using assigned Gold Master. Gold Master assigned to Incharge will be accessible to reservation admins and assigned incharge.

  4. Course Default Gold Master: A course default gold master can be used for any course reservation. The type of gold master is useful, where all courses can use the same gold master for reservations. By default, course default Gold Master is accessible to incharges, assistants and reservation admins, but it can be configured to be restricted to admin only.

While adding Gold Master, administrator can also choose Snapshot to be used for creating reservations. Following types of snapshot configurations can be made:

  • Current state: select to create reservation from current state of the Gold Master.

  • Specific Snapshot: Select to make reservations from snapshot of the Gold Master.

HyLabs is also having Snapshot Management capabilities available for administrators.

Prerequisites for Gold Master VM

Before importing a Gold Master VM into HyLabs; for effective and error free usage of Gold Master in HyLabs, following prerequisites must be fulfilled:

  1. Gold Master VM must not be a pre-cloned VM and must be a fresh installed OS

  2. Latest version of Hypervisor Tools must be installed on Gold Image

  3. Gold Master image must not have static IP configured

  4. Latest HyWorks DVM Tools must be installed on Gold Master

  5. Windows Firewall is disabled and NLA (Network level authentication) is turned off

  6. Sleep/Display Off settings should be disabled

    1. For Windows Gold Master: Control Panel > Power Options

      1. Set Turn Off the display to Never

      2. Set Put the computer to sleep to Never

      3. Advanced Settings > Set Turn off hard disk after to 0 (Never)

  7. Audio and Video Redirection is enabled from group policies

    1. Group Policy Location:

      Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Device and Resource Redirection

    2. Group Policies to be enabled:

      1. Allow audio and video playback redirection -> Enabled

      2. Allow audio recording redirection -> Enabled

      3. Limit audio playback quality -> Enabled - Dynamic

  8. Windows 10 Specific Configurations:

    1. No additionally installed/removed Microsoft Store Apps

      1. Sysprep fails after you remove or update Microsoft Store apps that include built-in Windows images (please refer KB article from Microsoft on the same topic.

    2. Following group policy configurations should be enabled and configured to set to Negotiate

      Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Security > Require Use of Specific Security Layer for Remote (RDP) Connections

    3. DVM Tools has integrated HyPrep module which can be used for faster customization of Windows Desktops and all Sysprep related failures can be avoided. Please check section Enabled HyPrep on Gold Master for detailed instructions.

  9. Ubuntu Specific Configurations

    1. For VMware Provider: As per VMware recommendations, latest Open VM tools should be installed

    2. All Gold Master Ubuntu VMs should be configured with different hostname correctly – sometimes having the same hostname create issues with console or remote access

    3. Domain joining on Gold Master must be done manually (Please refer Linux VDI Configuration document for detailed information)

      1.Click DHCP configuration must support appropriate IP distribution to Linux VMs (In some cases it has been observed that newly cloned machines are unable to get IPs from DHCP server or taking time.)

Preparing Gold Master

Preparing gold master for HyLabs is same as for preparing it in HyWorks. Refer HyWorks Knowledge Center > Getting Started section. Assuming the virtual machines are available with appropriate configurations and prerequisites. Please follow the links below for preparing gold master images:

Step by Step process to add a new Gold Master

Considering that all prerequisites are configured on target Gold Master, then following steps can be used to import the Gold Master into HyLabs: 1. Login into HyLabs Console in HyLabs Admin mode with appropriate user credentials having reservation admin rights

  1. Go to Objects > Gold Master and click Add Gold Master to open wizard

  2. Usage tab which defines the purpose of adding Gold Master into HyLabs

  3. Respective entitlement tab will be enabled dynamically based on selection of option Assign To in Usage tab.

    1. Set Assign To – Course will enable Select Course tab

    2. Set Assign To – Incharge will enable Select Incharge tab

    3. Set Assign To – Self-study or Course default will not enable any new tab.

Add Gold Master for Course

Prerequisite: Course is already created with appropriate participants, assistants and incharges.

Process:

  1. Invoke Add Gold Master wizard

  2. In Usage tab, fill the following details:

    1. Select option Course in Assign To dropdown list

    2. Provide Description for Gold Master

    3. Provide appropriate number for Gold Master limits:

      1. Maximum Total VMs: Total number of VMs to be deployed from gold master. Specify 0 for unlimited number of VMs.

      2. Maximum Active VMs: Total number of VMs which can run in parallel in one or multiple reservations. Specify 0 for unlimited number of VMs.

      3. Concurrent Connection Limit: Total number of allowed connections to reserved VMs deployed from gold master. The feature implementation requires controller polling mode as hybrid which means DVM Push services must be active.

      4. Remote Desktop Connection Port: Default is 3389. It will be used for connection via endpoint to desktop VMs from the reservations of this gold master.

  3. Click Next to navigate to Session Provider tab. In Session Provider tab, select the session provider from the dropdown list

    1. For VMware: It will show complete vCenter hierarchy

      1. Select the Provisioning Profile to associate with Gold Master (Provisioning profile is mandatory for any gold master and defines the whole deployment of reservations to be created using this master.)

      2. Added session provider’s datacenter will displayed in tree view. Click “+” icon to expand the tree

      3. Click the resource pool or object under which the intended Gold Master is residing. All the VMs in the selected, resource pool or VMware object will be listed on the right side.

      4. Once desired VM is listed, it can be selected

    2. For Azure: It will list all the resource groups in the subscription configured in HyWorks.

      1. Click resource group to list the virtual machines from the resource group and select the gold master from the list displayed and Click Next to proceed.

    3. For AWS: Resource groups to be created and virtual machines should be tagged with resource groups. On selecting AWS as provider, resource groups will be listed.

      1. Click resource group to list the virtual machines from the resource group and select the gold master from the list displayed and Click Next to proceed.

    4. For Nutanix: It will display the Cluster names and clicking on a cluster will list out all VMs hosted in the cluster.

      1. Click cluster name to list the virtual machines from the cluster and select the gold master from the displayed list. Alternatively, administrator can search the gold master using its name.

  4. Click Next to navigate to Select Course tab. In Select Course tab,

    1. Click Add Course

    2. Search with appropriate search text to list down the available courses

    3. Select and add intended course(s) (one or multiple)

  5. Click Next to move to Snapshot tab and set appropriate Snapshot configurations for Gold Master. In Snapshots tab, following settings can be done:

    1. Set snapshot configurations as Current State or Choose a Snapshot

    2. Selecting option Choose a snapshot enables option to browse snapshot, which will list down all available snapshots of Gold Master. HyLabs supports creation and management of Gold Master snapshots. Refer section Snapshot management for more details.

  6. Click Next to move to Access Policy tab, which can be used to restrict reservation connections from specific endpoints (called as Client Groups) only. Selected client groups at Gold Master level can be removed at reservation level to restrict its usage further, but new client groups cannot be added to allow usage from client groups other than Gold Master defined.

  7. In Access Policy tab,

    1. Select option Unrestricted access if all reservations from this Gold master should allow access from anywhere

    2. Select option From Specific Classification Rules only to select classification rules from which reservations will be accessible

  8. Click Save to close wizard and save the configuration

  9. Gold Master will be added to HyLabs and will be synced for its status and associated data.

  10. Reservation Admin or incharges of selected courses can now use this Gold Master for scheduling the reservation.

Add Gold Master for Self-study

A Gold Master can also be imported for self-study of the participants. Once imported into HyLabs, participants will be able to request for self-study reservation of this Gold Master.

Process:

  1. Invoke Add Gold Master wizard

  2. In Usage tab, fill the following details:

    1. Select option Self-study in Assign To dropdown list

    2. Provide Description for Gold Master

    3. Provide the number of Maximum Active VMs to be created. At a given point of time, HyLabs will allow maximum self-study reservations up to Maximum Active VMs count.

    4. Remote Desktop Connection Port: Port to be used for remote session of reservations from this gold master. Default is 3389. It does not change the port configurations on gold master or reserved VMs but must be configured as per the RDP port configuration on gold master.

    5. Max Duration Allowed: The maximum duration of a single self-study. End-user will not create self-study reservation for more than configure number of hours. Default value is 3 hours.

    6. Max Self-Studies Allowed: Number of self-studies allowed in a day for an end-user. Default is 1. An end-user will be able to do only 1 self-study as per configured number. If a reservation extends between two calendar days, it will be counted in day one.

  3. Click Next to navigate to the Session provider tab. In Session Provider tab,

    1. Select the session provider from the dropdown list

    2. Select the Provisioning Profile to associate with Gold Master

    3. Select the VM from the list to be imported as Gold Master into HyLabs. Detailed process for selecting Gold Master is already provided in section Add Gold Master for Course.

  4. Click Next to move to Snapshot tab and set appropriate Snapshot configurations for Gold Master.

  5. Click Next to move to Access Policy tab, which can be used to restrict reservation connections from specific endpoints only. Set appropriate access policies as per requirements. Refer section Restrict Reservation Usage using Classification Rules for more details.

  6. Click Save to close the wizard and save configuration.

  7. Gold Master will be added to HyLabs and will be synced for its status and associated data.

  8. Participants will now be able to schedule self-study reservations using this Gold Master VM.

Add Gold Master for Incharge

A Gold Master can also be assigned to an incharge, so that incharge can make appropriate changes on the Gold VM and then later user Gold Master VM to create reservations of its courses.

Prerequisites:

  • Authentication domain is configured with appropriate authentication and authorization server

Process:

  1. Invoke Add Gold Master wizard

  2. In Usage tab, fill the following details:

    1. Select option Incharge in Assign To dropdown list

    2. Provide Description for Gold Master

    3. Provide appropriate number for Gold Master limits:

      1. Maximum Total VMs: Total number of VMs to be deployed from gold master. Specify 0 for unlimited number of VMs.

      2. Maximum Active VMs: Total number of VMs which can run in parallel in one or multiple reservations. Specify 0 for unlimited number of VMs.

      3. Concurrent Connection Limit: Total number of allowed connections to reserved VMs deployed from gold master. The feature implementation requires controller polling mode as hybrid which means DVM Push services must be active.

      4. Remote Desktop Connection Port: Port to be used for remote session of reservations from this gold master. Default is 3389. It does not change the port configurations on gold master or reserved VMs but must be configured as per the RDP port configuration on gold master.

  3. Click Next to navigate to Session Provider tab. In Session Provider tab,

    1. Select the session provider from the dropdown list

    2. Select the Provisioning Profile to associate with Gold Master

    3. Select the VM from the list to be imported as Gold Master into HyLabs. Detailed process for selecting Gold Master is already provided in section Add Gold Master for Course.

  4. Click Next to navigate to Select Incharge tab. In Select Incharge tab,

    1. Click Add Incharge to invoke Incharge dialog, which can be used to search with appropriate search string to list users from authorization server already added as incharge in HyLabs

    2. Select one or multiple incharges for the selected Gold Master

  5. Click Next to move to Snapshot tab and set appropriate Snapshot configurations for Gold Master. In Snapshots tab, following settings can be done:

    1. Set snapshot configurations as Current State or Choose a Snapshot

    2. Selecting option Choose a snapshot enables option to browse snapshot, which will list down all available snapshots of Gold Master. HyLabs supports creation and management of Gold Master snapshots. Refer section Snapshot management for more details.

  6. Click Next to move to Access Policy tab, which can be used to restrict reservation connections from specific endpoints only. Refer section Restrict Reservation Usage using Classification Rules for more details. In Access Policy tab,

    1. Select option Unrestricted access if all reservations from this Gold master should allow access from anywhere

    2. Select option From Specific Classification Rules only to select Client Groups from which reservations will be accessible

  7. Click Save to close the wizard and save configuration

  8. Gold Master will be added to HyLabs and selected incharge user on logon to HyLabs portal will be able to see the assigned Gold Master.

Add Course Default Gold Master

To add course default gold master, follow the below steps:

  1. Invoke Add Gold Master wizard

  2. In Usage tab, fill the following details:

    1. Select option Course Default in Assign To dropdown list

    2. Provide Description for Gold Master

    3. Provide appropriate number for Gold Master limits:

      1. Maximum Total VMs: Total number of VMs to be deployed from gold master. Specify 0 for unlimited number of VMs.

      2. Maximum Active VMs: Total number of VMs which can run in parallel in one or multiple reservations. Specify 0 for unlimited number of VMs.

      3. Concurrent Connection Limit: Total number of allowed connections to reserved VMs deployed from gold master. The feature implementation requires controller polling mode as hybrid which means DVM Push services must be active.

      4. Remote Desktop Connection Port: Port to be used for remote session of reservations from this gold master. Default is 3389. It does not change the port configurations on gold master or reserved VMs but must be configured as per the RDP port configuration on gold master.

    4. Enable option Only Admin Access if the gold master should be managed by reservation admin only. (Unchecking the option will make it accessible to incharge and assistants also)

  3. Click Next to navigate to Session Provider tab. In Session Provider tab,

    1. Select the session provider from the dropdown list

    2. Select the Provisioning Profile to associate with Gold Master

    3. Select the VM from the list to be imported as Gold Master into HyLabs. Detailed process for selecting Gold Master is already provided in section Add Gold Master for Course.

  4. Click Next to move to Snapshot tab and set appropriate Snapshot configurations for Gold Master. In Snapshots tab, following settings can be done:

    1. Set snapshot configurations as Current State or Choose a Snapshot

    2. Selecting option Choose a snapshot enables option to browse snapshot, which will list down all available snapshots of Gold Master. HyLabs supports creation and management of Gold Master snapshots. Refer section Snapshot management for more details.

  5. Click Next to move to Access Policy tab, which can be used to restrict reservation connections from specific endpoints only. Set appropriate access policies as per requirements. Refer section Restrict Reservation Usage using Classification Rules for more details.

  6. Click Save. Course default type gold master will be added into HyLabs and now while creating reservation the Gold Master will be available for reservation.