Devon IT VDI Blaster Dell Edition Administration Manual
Notes, Cautions, and Warnings NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer. CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if instructions are not followed. WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death. ______________ Information in this publication is subject to change without notice. © 2012 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
1 Contents Devon IT VDI Blaster Dell Edition .................................................5 What is VDI Blaster? ................................................................................5 Technical Specifications ...........................................................................6 Installation Methods ......................................................................7 Standard Installation Method: Dual Boot with Microsoft Windows XP .......7 Full Hard Drive Installation............
Frequently Asked Questions ......................................................27 How is VDI Blaster Installed, and How Does it Work? ............................27 What Servers/Connection Brokers are Supported in VDI Blaster?..........27 Will VDI Blaster Overwrite my Hard Drive? .............................................28 What Hardware do I Need to Install VDI Blaster? ...................................28 Do PCs repurposed with VDI Blaster have wireless networking capabilities? .....................
Devon IT VDI Blaster Dell Edition What is VDI Blaster? Devon IT VDI Blaster Dell Edition software allows users to repurpose Windows XP based systems into stateless thin clients. It extends the useful life of hardware and allows secure central management of systems using Devon IT Echo Thin Client Management Dell Edition. VDI Blaster can be installed without erasing the existing XP installation and can be uninstalled at any time, reverting the system back to its normal Windows OS boot mode.
Technical Specifications Hardware Requirements A system running Microsoft Windows XP (32-bit) Minimum 1 GHz CPU, 1 GB RAM Features Includes VMware View, Citrix, and Microsoft Remote Desktop clients Includes Firefox Web Browser to connect to web applications. Supports Kiosk mode.
Installation Methods Visit support.dell.com for instructions on downloading VDI Blaster Dell Edition software. Or, for Software Solution support in the U.S., call 1-877-4597304. For support outside the U.S., contact the Dell ProSupport for Software Solution support using the contact information provided on your purchase invoice, packing slip, or Dell product catalog.
Full Hard Drive Installation If you prefer to overwrite your system’s existing operating system with VDI Blaster, then you may use the installer msi (dell-vdiblasterinstaller.msi). NOTE: Overwriting your system’s existing operating system will overwrite all contents of your hard disk, and if you choose to reinstall the original operating system sometime in the future you will need to do so with your system’s original installation CD.
Using the VDI Windows Installer MSI This section describes the hardware requirements and installation steps for installing VDI Blaster on a system. Hardware Requirements A system running Microsoft Windows XP (32-bit) NTFS formatted hard drive with 1 GB available disk space NOTE: NTFS is the default file system for Windows XP Minimum 1 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM NOTE: If you have a version of VDI Blaster already installed on your system, you must uninstall it before attempting to install again.
Dual Boot Installation Steps In order to perform a dual boot installation, which will install VDI Blaster without overwriting Windows XP, using the MSI installer: 1 Log-in as Administrator on the system you want to repurpose and double click on the icon for the VDI Blaster Installer MSI.
2 Accept the EULA and click Install to continue. 3 Select Co-Install and click Next. 4 VDI Blaster will begin installing. Once it has finished, you must click Finish to complete the installation.
5 Once installation is complete, reboot the system. It is now configured to automatically boot into thin client mode. Optionally, you may edit the win.ini file if you want to change the default behavior. You will see two entries, one for Windows XP and one for Devon IT DeTOS (Devon Terminal Operating System).
Full Hard Drive Installation Steps In order to perform a full hard drive installation, which will completely overwrite the hard drive of your system, using the MSI installer: 1 Log-in as Administrator on the system you want to repurpose and double click on the icon for the VDI Blaster Installer MSI.
2 Accept the EULA and click Install to continue. 3 Select Full HD Install and click Next. 4 VDI Blaster will begin installing. Once it has finished, you must click Finish to complete the installation.
5 Once installation is complete, reboot the system. It is now configured to automatically boot into thin client mode. When you boot up your computer, it will now start the Devon IT DeTOS (Devon Terminal Operating System). 6 Provided the hardware detection for the video card, network card and sound card is successful, you should see the system acquire a DHCP address (this is the default behavior) and start a graphical desktop. If you see a black screen please contact support.dell.
How to Uninstall VDI Blaster (Dual Boot Only) 1 Reboot the system. During boot up you will see the OS boot menu briefly appear on your screen. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to select the Windows XP option for bootup. 2 Log-in as the Administrator account for that XP system. 3 Select StartControl PanelAdd or Remove ProgramsDevon IT DeTOS Thin Client. Press the Change/Remove button to uninstall VDI Blaster.
Using a Bootable USB Key Creating a USB Key In order to perform a USB boot to run VDI Blaster, you must first create a USB key by using the VDI Blaster USB Creator (VDIBLASTER-usb---.exe) Once the EXE file has been downloaded, follow these steps to create your bootable USB key: 1. 2. 3. Run the executable as an administrator. If a security warning opens, select Run. Click I Agree in the EULA screen to continue.
4. Select the drive letter of your USB key from the dropdown menu. If the desired drive does not appear in the dropdown, click in the box next to Show All Drives. CAUTION: Selecting Show All Drives will populate the list with every available drive, including the C:\ drive. Be certain you are selecting the desired drive before continuing. 5. 6. If you want to format the drive, click the checkbox titled Format Drive as FAT32. This will erase everything else from your key. Select Create.
7. A dialog box will appear to confirm the changes you are making. If all the information is correct, click Yes. Clicking No will cancel the operation. 8. After the action is carried out, select Close. Running VDI Blaster Using a USB Key Once your USB key is made, you can now run your system in VDI by booting from your USB drive. Upon bootup, a menu will display with two options: VDI Blaster and Install VDI Blaster to first hard disk.
Administration VDI Blaster Licensing This section describes how to install your VDI Blaster license. It is assumed you already have an Echo Management Server online. If this is not the case, then please revisit this section once your management server is up and running. Receiving a License File Upon completing the purchase of VDI Blaster, the customer will receive an email from Dell that provides the necessary information for downloading the VDI Blaster software and obtaining the VDI Blaster license key.
How to Install the License 1 Open a web browser, enter the address to your management server (i.e. ws-broker), and then enter your credentials to log-in to the Admin GUI. 2 Open the Manage Licenses inventory table by selecting MaintenanceManage Licenses in the bar on the left. 3 Select Add License from the top of this page. The details pane on the right-hand side will display a License Key form.
4 Enter the alphanumeric license key and then press the Add button. 5 A new entry will appear in the Manage Licenses inventory table in the center of the page. Your license is now successfully installed.
Achieving Persistence in VDI Blaster Systems Once you have installed the VDI Blaster software, for all intents and purposes, your system has been converted into a terminal and now possesses virtually all of the same attributes and behaviors one would expect from a typical terminal. Your system now runs in a stateless, non-persistent mode.
Once you locate your terminal in the inventory table, it is recommended that you rename that terminal entry to a more meaningful value. To do this, left-click the terminal in the table. This will open a Name and Details pane to the right hand side of the inventory table. Enter a name into the Name field and select Update to change the name of the terminal. Another important step that occurs during the discovery process is the application of profiles.
Echo Agent System Information Echo Management- Displays the current status and information of the Echo Management server to which your terminal is connected. Management Status-Displays when the terminal is being managed by an Echo server. Management Server-Displays the current address of the Echo server. Change Management Server-Allows you to change the Echo server. UUID-Displays the current UUID assigned to the terminal.
| Devon IT VDI Blaster Dell Edition Administration Manual
Frequently Asked Questions How is VDI Blaster Installed, and How Does it Work? Dual boot with Windows XP is a great way to test VDI Blaster without erasing your existing Windows installation. To install VDI Blaster, run the installer on the system you want to repurpose. After installation, the system reboots by default in thin client mode, running VDI Blaster Dell Edition software. In this mode repurposed systems can be managed with Devon IT Echo Management Console Dell Edition.
Will VDI Blaster Overwrite my Hard Drive? Not automatically. If VDI Blaster is installed in dual boot mode, the software keeps the original operating system intact and it is possible to boot back into Windows if desired. You can select to perform a full hard drive installation. What Hardware do I Need to Install VDI Blaster? Dell recommends using a system with a processor running at least at 1 Ghz and at least 1 GB of RAM.
Getting Help Contacting Dell For customers in the United States, call 800-WWW-DELL (800-999-3355). Dell provides several online and telephone-based support and service options. Availability varies by country and product, and some services may not be available in your area. To contact Dell for sales, technical support, or customer service issues: 1 Visit support.dell.com.
