Looking to repurpose old PCs or laptops in to VDI Thin Clients (or Zero Clients)? Looking at implementing VDI but don’t have the budget for fancy Thin Clients or Zero Clients? Look no further! 10ZiG RepurpOS (also known as RPOS) allows you to repurpose PCs and laptops as VDI client endpoints.
You get all the power of a thin client, but built in to a piece of software that you can install on traditional x86 PC hardware. This means you don’t have to throw away semi-new hardware when rolling out your VDI deployment, it also means you can repurpose old hardware that was destined for recycling.
Read the post, or scroll down to watch the video!Please note that the screenshots may be a bit blurry since they were captured from the video recording.
The Software
10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) is built on Linux, similar to their NOS OS for Zero Clients. It install’s like an operating system on traditional x86 computer systems, and turns them in to a fully functioning Thin Client which can be used for VDI.
Pros of the Software
Easy installation
Installs on x86 hardware (PCs, Laptops)
Supports most VDI Technologies (VMware, Citrix, RDP/VDA)
You can also contact me (or 10ZiG) for a free 10ZiG Repurposing Trial.
Demonstration
Below you’ll see a demonstration video of the 10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) in action, followed further below by a text review of the software.
10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) Software Video Demonstration
The continuation of this blog post features the different segments of the video.
Setup and Configuration
Getting started is easy… You’ll be provided with a compressed archive that contains an ISO file (which you can burn to CD), or you can use an executable provided that will write the ISO to a USB stick, so you can boot the computer from that.
After booting the installer, you’ll see a very simple interface to get started.
10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) Installer
You’ll note that you have the capability of both running a Live Instance as a Live CD, or you can choose to install the 10ZiG repurposing software to the hard drive disk.
After choosing to “Install RepurpOS”, you select the disk and hit “Install”.
Install the 10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) to disk
After a few moments, the install will complete. You’ll hit “Exit” and then restart the PC.
10ZiG RepurpOS Installed
10ZiG RepurpOS Reboot after Installation
Interface and Usage
On first boot, you’ll notice the PC repurposing software has a very simple look and interface. We started off with a licensing message since we are using a demo.
10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) unable to obtain a license
To get started, theres a simple “Start menu”-like interface that allows you to configure and use the client. You can configure the thin client settings, or configure and add connections.
10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) Programs
And we have the settings menu.
10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) Settings Menu
I want you to keep in mind that while you can configure and use the 10ZiG RPOS software from this interface, in a large corporate environment you’d probably want to use the 10ZiG Manager software, and lock out the interface.
10ZiG RepurpOS Configuration and 10ZiG Manager Compatibility
All components of this software can be managed and configured via the 10ZiG Manager, just like the 10ZiG 5948qv and other 10ZiG Zero Clients. This makes the software extremely powerful since you can easily manage and maintain it, even if you have thousands of repurposed PCs running RPOS.
Inside of the 10ZiG Manager, the RPOS devices show up similar to how the other 10ZiG Thin clients and Zero clients would appear.
10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) with RPOS and NOS Clients
You can see above that I pushed my main configuration template to the RPOS demo devices. For more posts on 10ZiG Manager, please see the following posts:
As part of my main template, I have included SSL certificates for my VMware Horizon View connection server, so we’ll be able to test a VDI connection using BLAST.
Using the guides for the 10ZiG Manager above, you could fully configure the RPOS the way you want (for mass deployment), and then create a template and deploy it to a large batch of RPOS PCs. Or you could do all the initial configuration directly from the 10ZiG Manager.
The software supports a number of different protocols and technologies.
10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) Programs List
The list of applications and programs on 10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS)
And below we have the VMware Global Settings window.
10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) VMware Global Preferences10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) VMware Global PCoIP Settings10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) VMware Global RDP Settings10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) VMware Global Advanced Settings10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) VMware Global Settings
We also have the ability to configure the default connection from the Connection Manager. We can also configure whether we want auto-start a connection and enable automatic reconnection.
10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) Connections Manager and Startup options
On a final note, you can see there is multi-display support built in. This is more apparent when browsing through other sections of the UI on the 10ZiG RPOS.
VDI Connection Testing
It’s time to test out the main functionality of the 10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) software!
I’ve gone ahead and created a connection profile for my company “Digitally Accurate Inc.” to access our VDI environment.
10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) with Connection Profile to Digitally Accurate Inc.
Double clicking that icon, initiates the session. We login with my credentials.
10ZiG Horizon DUO Login10ZiG Horizon DUO Challenge10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) Horizon View with DUO MFA Login
And here we are presented with the available desktop pools. Please note, that you can configure it to automatically connect to a chosen desktop pool, or if only one is available it will automatically connect.
And finally, we have a fully functional connection to our VDI environment on our VMware Horizon View environment using the 10ZiG repurposing software.
10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) with active VDI session on VMware Horizon View
Again, please note that the screenshots may be a little fuzzy due to the capture from video, the interface in reality is sharp and clear.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the 10ZiG RepurpOS (RPOS) software is a great way to bring life to old or existing hardware, reduce spending during a VDI rollout, and bring value to your investment.
Further backing up that investment, is the ability to use the 10ZiG Manager which is free, and can be used to manage a large number of devices.
I’d highly recommend this software and I look forward to using it more!
You have VMware Horizon View deployed along with Duo Multi-Factor Authentication (2FA, MFA), and you’re you having user experience issues with 10ZiG Zero Clients and multiple login dialog boxes and planning on how to deal with the MFA logins.
I spent some time experimenting with numerous different settings trying to find the cleanest workaround that wouldn’t bother the user or mess up the user experience. I’m going to share with you what I came up with below.
If you’re interesting in 10ZiG products and looking to buy, don’t hesitate to reach out to me for information and/or a quote! We can configure and sell 10ZiG Zero Clients (and thin clients), help with solution design and deployment, and provide consulting services! We sell and ship to Canada and the USA!
The Issue
When you have DUO MFA deployed on VMware Horizon, you may experience login issues when using a 10ZiG Zero Client to access the View Connection Server. This is because the authentication string (username, password, and domain) aren’t passed along correctly from the 10ZiG Login Dialog Box to the VMware Horizon View Client application.
Additionally, when DUO is enabled on VMware View (as a RADIUS authentication), there is no domain passed along inside of the DUO login prompt on the view client.
This issue is due to limitations in the VMware Horizon View Linux Client. This issue will and can occur on any system, thin-client, or Zero Client that uses a command string to initialize a VMware View session where DUO is configured on the View Connection Server.
Kevin Greenway, the CTO at 10ZiG, reached out to say that they have previously brought this up with VMware as a feature request (to support the required functionality), and are hopeful it gets committed.
At this point in time, we’d like to recommend everyone to reach out to VMware and ask for this functionality as a feature request. Numerous simultaneous requests will help gain attention and hopefully escalate it on VMware’s priority list.
The Workaround
After troubleshooting this, and realizing that the 10ZiG VMware login details are completely ignored and not passed along to the VMware View client, I started playing with different settings to test the best way to provide the best user experience for logging in.
At first I attempted to use the Kiosk mode, but had issues with some settings not being passed from the 10ZiG Client to the View Client.
Ultimately I found the perfect tweaking of settings that created a seamless login experience for users.
The Settings
On the 10ZiG Zero Client, we view the “Login” details of the “VMware Horizon Settings” dialog box.
10ZiG Zero Client VMware Horizon Settings Login Settings
Login Mode: Default
Username: PRESS LOGIN
Password: 1234
Domain: YourDomain
Please Note: In the above, because DUO MFA is enabled, the “Username”, “Password” and “Domain” values aren’t actually passed along to the VMware View application on the Zero Client.
We then navigate to the “Advanced” tab, and enable the “Connect once” option. This will force a server disconnection (and require re-authentication) on a desktop pool logoff or disconnection.
10ZiG Zero Client VMware Horizon Settings Advanced Settings
Please Note: This option is required so that when a user logs off, disconnects, or get’s cut off by the server, the Zero Client fully disconnects from the View Connection Server which causes re-authentication (a new password prompt) to occur.
The Login User Experience
So now that we’ve made the modifications to the Zero Client, I want to outline what the user experience will look like from Boot, to connection, to disconnection, to re-authentication.
Turning on the 10ZiG Zero Client, you are presented with the DUO Login Prompt on the View Connection Server.
You then must pass 2FA/MFA authentication.
You are then presented with the desktop pools available to the user.
Upon logging off, disconnecting, or getting kicked off the server, the session is closed and you are presented to the 10ZiG VDI Login Window.
To re-establish a connection, click “Login” as instruction by the “Username” field.
You are presented with the DUO Login Window.
And the process repeats.
As you can see it’s a simple loop that requires almost no training on the end user side. You must only inform the users to click “Login” where the prompt advises to do so.
Once you configure this, you can add it to a configuration template (or generate a configuration template), and then deploy it to a large number of 10ZiG Zero Clients using 10ZiG Manager.
Let me know if this helps, and/or if you find a better way to handle the DUO integration!
In this post, we’ll be going over how to deploy an existing configuration template that is stored inside of your 10ZiG Manager management software.
This allows you to push out configs on the fly to either a single device, or 10,000 devices at once. This is a MUST for managing small, medium, and large sized 10ZiG deployments.
If you’re interesting in 10ZiG products and looking to buy, don’t hesitate to reach out to me for information and/or a quote! We can configure and sell 10ZiG Zero Clients (and thin clients), help with solution design and deployment, and provide consulting services! We sell and ship to Canada and the USA!
This post is part three of a three part 10ZiG Manager Tutorial series:
Choose the 10ZiG Zero Client(s) that you’d like to deploy the configuration to. You can “CTRL + Click” or “SHIFT + Click” to select more than one 10ZiG Zero Client.
In the menu, expand “Configuration” -> and select “Apply Template”.
A “Configuration Template Note” is displayed. Please read and understand this, then click “Ok”.
In the “Configuration Templates” window, select and highlight the configuration template you’d like to deploy, and then click “Ok”. In my example, I’m choosing “DA-MainTemplate”.
The “Configuration Cloning Target” dialog box is displayed. Here you can change the target hostname, and choose to immediately push the configuration. Select “Ok”.
And now the “Reboot” dialog box is displayed. Here you can choose how you’d like the reboot to be handled once the configuration is pushed to the device(s). Select your preference, or leave as default and select “Ok”.
You’ll be brought back to the 10ZiG Manager interface. Here you’ll see a new task in the tasks list at the bottom of the window.
Once completed, you have successfully deployed the configuration.
You’re done! You have successfully pushed the configuration template to your 10ZiG Zero Client(s).
You can maintain, edit, and use multiple templates for different users, organizational units, or geographical units.
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