Overview

The purpose is to explain a process for getting USB Hardware related device drivers working in a Unidesk Layer in conjunction with software application that may require peripheral device support.

Tested Devices

This document utilize these kinds of devices in our testing: Dell USB Laser Printer, Cannon Multifunction printer, Teradici Audio Driver (build17470), Logitech USB Mic, Creative InPerson webcam, Apple FaceTime webcam, CCID USB card reader, and Logitech G930 headset. Native audio redirection was handled by the Horizon View 5.2 Agent service that was configured as a separate Application Layer. If utilizing Analog Audio from a zero client port, check with Teradici for the latest instructions and consideration for this configuration.

Licensing Considerations

There are no licensing considerations with Microsoft. Some vendor software require hardware dongles to enable licensing components of their software. In these situations utilizing a serial or parallel to USB adapter will allow for these kinds of devices to be recognized, however we recommend that you check with the vendor of your application on their own specific recommendations for utilizing their software in a virtual desktop environment.

Layering Naming and Versioning

Unidesk recommends including the OS Type and OS bit level in the name, for Example ‘USB Drivers Win7x32’. For versions remember that when choosing a layer you can see the version name but not the version description. Use naming that will allow you to differentiate versions.

Installation Steps

USB device drivers will need to install into several steps.

1. ​Create the USB Layer. You may do this as a version of the operating system or as an application layer.
   Note: If you do this as an application layer you will want to select your Horizon View Agent Application Layer as a pre-requisite layer. The image shows the required View Agent installation choices.
   
2. Use an existing persistent Horizon View Pool or create a new pool and add your Install-Machine to that pool.
   Note: Your OS layer does not have to be part of your active directory domain. You can login with your domain account to your zero or soft client, which will bring you to the windows login screen where you can enter in your local administrative account information. Ensure you have entitlement access to the pool or desktop level with the account you want to use. You can join your Install Machine edited layer to the domain, however this will need to be removed from the domain later on prior to finalizing your layer.
3. Access your Install-Machine environment by logging into a Horizon View Software Client or Zero Client device.
4. Run your setup program for installing the USB device. Many times software is provided by the manufacture that requires that you run their setup program before plugging in your USB device in order to achieve proper operation. Please check your technical documentation for the USB hardware to insure proper sequence for proper installation.
5. When prompted by the USB setup program software, plug in your USB device into the zero client or your workstation. If using the Horizon View Software client on a workstation you will need to “attach” the device to your Install-Machine session. This assumes that you already have installed the USB driver on the parent workstation that you are initialing the Horizon View Software Client on.
6. If you are prompted for a reboot, allow the Install-Machine to restart and access the environment again.
7. Once the USB setup program from your vendor has completed running or has completed restarting the Install-Machine, open the Windows Device Manager to verify that the USB device is indeed functional with no exclamation point listed on the device. If using Horizon View Software Client you will need to reattach the USB devices again after rebooting and accessing the Install-Machine.
8. If you have joined your Install Machine edited layer to the domain, remove it from the domain and go back to the Unidesk web console (UDMC) and finalize the USB Driver layer.

Settings

When attaching specific USB hardware into a Horizon View desktop you should see under the Device Manager -> Universal Serial Bus Device -> USB Composite Device for each redirected USB hardware.
The image below shows 3 devices in green and the correlated Horizon View USB Composite Device in red.

Other Considerations

Many USB vendors package their software utilizing InstallShield. In a situation where you do not want to install the device applications and only install the required driver, running the program with a /EXTRACT_ALL or /A will allow you to extract the compressed files. If neither of these switches work check with your USB vendor for how you may obtain just the driver files. All isochronous devices (eg. webcams) operate under USB 1.1 speeds when using tera1 or tera2 zero clients, see Teradici KB15134-262. When troubleshooting USB devices refer to Teradici KB15134-4 on which logs to review in isolating your problem.