Secure your business and enterprise IT systems with Multi Factor Authentication (MFA)

 Duo MFA, Linux, Remote Access, Remote Desktop Services (RDS), Security, VMware Horizon View  No Responses »
Jul 132020
 
Picture of the DUO Security Logo

When you’re looking for additional or enhanced options to secure you’re business and enterprise IT systems, MFA/2FA can help you achieve this. Get away from the traditional single password, and implement additional means of authentication! MFA provides a great compliment to your cyber-security policies.

My company, Digitally Accurate Inc, has been using the Duo Security‘s MFA product in our own infrastructure, as well as our customers environments for some time. Digitally Accurate is a DUO Partner and can provide DUO MFA Services including licensing/software and the hardware tokens (Duo D-100 Tokens using HOTP).

What is MFA/2FA

MFA is short for Multi Factor authentication, additionally 2FA is short for Two Factor Authentication. While they are somewhat the same, multi means many, and 2 means two. Additional security is provided with both, since it provides more means of authentication.

Traditionally, users authenticate with 1 (one) level of authentication: their password. In simple terms MFA/2FA in addition to a password, provides a 2nd method of authentication and identity validation. By requiring users to authentication with a 2nd mechanism, this provides enhanced security.

Why use MFA/2FA

In a large portion of security breaches, we see users passwords become compromised. This can happen during a phishing attack, virus, keylogger, or other ways. Once a malicious user or bot has a users credentials (username and password), they can access resources available to that user.

By implementing a 2nd level of authentication, even if a users password becomes compromised, the real (or malicious user) must pass a 2nd authentication check. While this is easy for the real user, in most cases it’s nearly impossible for a malicious user. If a password get’s compromised, nothing can be accessed as it requires a 2nd level of authentication. If this 2nd method is a cell phone or hardware token, a malicious user won’t be ale to access the users resources unless they steal the cell phone, or hardware token.

How does MFA/2FA work

When deploying MFA or 2FA you have the option of using an app, hardware token (fob), or phone verification to perform the additional authentication check.

After a user attempts to logs on to a computer or service with their username and password, the 2nd level of authentication will be presented, and must pass in order for the login request to succeed.

Please see below for an example of 2FA selection screen after a successful username and password:

Screenshot of Duo MFA 2FA Prompt on Windows Login
Duo Security Windows Login MFA 2FA Prompt

After selecting an authentication method for MFA or 2FA, you can use the following

2FA with App (Duo Push)

Duo Push sends an authentication challenge to your mobile device which a user can then approve or deny.

Please see below for an example of Duo Push:

Screenshot of Duo Push Notification to Mobile Android App
Duo Push to Mobile App on Android

Once the user selects to approve or deny the login request, the original login will either be approved or denied. We often see this as being the preferred MFA/2FA method.

2FA with phone verification (Call Me)

Duo phone verification (Call Me) will call you on your phone number (pre-configured by your IT staff) and challenge you to either hangup to deny the login request, or press a button on the keypad to accept the login request.

While we rarely use this option, it is handy to have as a backup method.

2FA with Hardware Token (Passcode)

Duo Passcode challenges are handled using a hardware token (or you can generate a passcode using the Duo App). Once you select this method, you will be prompted to enter the passcode to complete the 2FA authentication challenge. If you enter the correct passcode, the login will be accepted.

Here is a Duo D-100 Token that uses HOTP (HMAC-based One Time Password):

Picture of Duo D-100 HOTP Hardware Token
Duo D-100 HOTP Hardware Token

When you press the green button, a passcode will be temporarily displayed on the LCD display which you can use to complete the passcode challenge.

You can purchase Hardware Token’s directly from Digitally Accurate Inc by contacting us, your existing Duo Partner, or from Duo directly. Duo is also compatible with other 3rd party hardware tokens that use HOTP and TOTP.

2FA with U2F

While you can’t visibly see the option for U2F, you can use U2F as an MFA or 2FA authentication challenge. This includes devices like a Yubikey from Yubico, which plugs in to the USB port of your computer. You can attach a Yubikey to your key chain, and bring it around with you. The Yubikey simply plugs in to your USB port and has a button that you press when you want to authenticate.

When the 2FA window pops up, simply hit the button and your Yubikey will complete the MFA/2FA challange.

What can MFA/2FA protect

Duo MFA supports numerous cloud and on-premise applications, services, protocols, and technologies. While the list is very large (full list available at https://duo.com/product/every-application), we regularly deploy and use Duo Security for the following configurations.

Windows Logins (Server and Workstation Logon)

Duo MFA can be deployed to not only protect your Windows Servers and Workstations, but also your remote access system as well.

When logging on to a Windows Server or Windows Workstation, a user will be presented with the following screen for 2FA authentication:

Screenshot of Duo MFA 2FA Prompt on Windows Login
Duo Security Windows Login MFA 2FA Prompt

Below you can see a video demonstration of DUO on Windows Login.

DUO works with both Windows Logins and RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) Logins.

VMWare Horizon View Clients (VMWare VDI Logon)

Duo MFA can be deployed to protect your VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) by requiring MFA or 2FA when users log in to access their desktops.

When logging on to the VMware Horizon Client, a user will be presented with the following screen for 2FA authentication:

Screenshot of Duo MFA 2FA Prompt on VMWare Horizon Client Login
Duo Security VMWare Horizon Client Login MFA 2FA Prompt

Below you can see a video demonstration of DUO on VMware Horizon View (VDI) Login.

Sophos UTM (Admin and User Portal Logon)

Duo MFA can be deployed to protect your Sophos UTM firewall. You can protect the admin account, as well as user accounts when accessing the user portal.

If you’re using the VPN functionality on the Sophos UTM, you can also protect VPN logins with Duo MFA.

Unix and Linux (Server and Workstation Logon)

Duo MFA can be deployed to protect your Unix and Linux Servers. You can protect all user accounts, including the root user.

We regularly deploy this with Fedora and CentOS (even FreePBX) and you can protect both SSH and/or console logins.

When logging on to a Unix or Linux server, a user will be presented with the following screen for 2FA authentication:

Screenshot of Duo MFA 2FA Prompt on CentOS Linux Login
Duo Security CentOS Linux login MFA 2FA Prompt

Below you can see a video demonstration of DUO on Linux.

WordPress Logon

Duo MFA can be deployed to protect your WordPress blog. You can protect your admin and other user accounts.

If you have a popular blog, you know how often bots are attempting to hack and brute force your passwords. If by chance your admin password becomes compromised, using MFA or 2FA can protect your site.

When logging on to a WordPress blog admin interface, a user will be presented with the following screen for 2FA authentication:

Screenshot of Duo MFA 2FA Prompt on WordPress Login
Duo Security WordPress Login MFA 2FA Prompt

Below you can see a video demonstration of DUO on a WordPress blog.

How easy is it to implement

Implementing Duo MFA is very easy and works with your existing IT Infrastructure. It can easily be setup, configured, and maintained on your existing servers, workstations, and network devices.

Duo offers numerous plugins (for windows), as well as options for RADIUS type authentication mechanisms, and other types of authentication.

How easy is it to manage

Duo is managed through the Duo Security web portal. Your IT admins can manage users, MFA devices, tokens, and secured applications via the web interface. You can also deploy appliances that allow users to manage, provision, and add their MFA devices and settings.

Duo also integrates with Active Directory to make managing and maintaining users easy and fairly automated.

Let’s get started with Duo MFA

Want to protect your business with MFA? Give me a call today!

Hosted Desktop Infrastructure (HDI) vs Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

 Business, End User Computing, HDI, Moonshot, VDI, VMware Horizon View  No Responses »
Jul 072020
 
Picture of a business office with cubicles

In the ever-evolving world of IT and End User Computing (EUC), new technologies and solutions are constantly being developed to decrease costs, improve functionality, and help the business’ bottom line. In this pursuit, as far as end user computing goes, two technologies have emerged: Hosted Desktop Infrastructure (HDI), and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). In this post I hope to explain the differences and compare the technologies.

We’re at a point where due to the low cost of backend server computing, performance, and storage, it doesn’t make sense to waste end user hardware and resources. By deploying thin clients, zero clients, or software clients, we can reduce the cost per user for workstations or desktop computers, and consolidate these on the backend side of things. By moving moving EUC to the data center (or server room), we can reduce power requirements, reduce hardware and licensing costs, and take advantage of some cool technologies thanks to the use of virtualization and/or Storage (SANs), snapshots, fancy provisioning, backup and disaster recovery, and others.

And it doesn’t stop there, utilizing these technologies minimizes the resources required and spent on managing, monitoring, and supporting end user computing. For businesses this is a significant reduction in costs, as well as downtime.

What is Hosted Desktop Infrastructure (HDI) and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Many IT professionals still don’t fully understand the difference between HDI and VDI, but it’s as sample as this: Hosted Desktop Infrastructure runs natively on the bare metal (whether it’s a server, or SoC) and is controlled and provided by a provisioning server or connection broker, whereas Virtual Desktop Infrastructure virtualizes (like you’re accustomed to with servers) the desktops in a virtual environment and is controlled and provided via hypervisors running on the physical hardware.

Hosted Desktop Infrastructure (HDI)

As mentioned above, Hosted Desktop Infrastructure hosts the End User Computing sessions on bare metal hardware in your datacenter (on servers). A connection broker handles the connections from the thin clients, zero clients, or software clients to the bare metal allowing the end user to see the video display, and interact with the workstation instance via keyboard and mouse.

Pros:

  • Remote Access capabilities
  • Reduction in EUC hardware and cost-savings
  • Simplifies IT Management and Support
  • Reduces downtime
  • Added redundancy
  • Runs on bare metal hardware
  • Resources are dedicated and not shared, the user has full access to the hardware the instance runs on (CPU, Memory, GPU, etc)
  • Easily provide accelerated graphics to EUC instances without additional costs
  • Reduction in licensing as virtualization products don’t need to be used

Cons:

  • Limited instance count to possible instances on hardware
  • Scaling out requires immediate purchase of hardware
  • Some virtualization features are not available since this solution doesn’t use virtualization
  • Additional backup strategy may need to be implemented separate from your virtualized infrastructure

Example:

If you require dedicated resources for end users and want to be as cost-effective as possible, HDI is a great candidate.

An example HDI deployment would utilize HPE Moonshot which is one of the main uses for HPE Moonshot 1500 chassis. HPE Moonshot allows you to provision up to 180 OS instances for each HPE Moonshot 1500 chassis.

More information on the HPE Moonshot (and HPE Edgeline EL4000 Converged Edge System) can be found here: https://www.stephenwagner.com/2018/08/22/hpe-moonshot-the-absolute-definition-of-high-density-software-defined-infrastructure/

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure virtualizes the end user operating system instances exactly how you virtualize your server infrastructure. In VMware environments, VMware Horizon View can provision, manage, and maintain the end user computing environments (virtual machines) to dynamically assign, distribute, manage, and broker sessions for users. The software product handles the connections and interaction between the virtualized workstation instances and the thin client, zero client, or software client.

Pros:

  • Remote Access capabilities
  • Reduction in EUC hardware and cost-savings
  • Simplifies IT Management and Support
  • Reduces downtime
  • Added redundancy
  • Runs as a virtual machine
  • Shared resources (you don’t waste hardware or resources as end users share the resources)
  • Easy to scale out (add more backend infrastructure as required, don’t need to “halt” scaling while waiting for equipment)
  • Can over-commit (over-provision)
  • Backup strategy is consistent with your virtualized infrastructure
  • Capabilities such as VMware DRS, VMware HA

Cons:

  • Resources are not dedicated and are shared, users share the server resources (CPU, Memory, GPU, etc)
  • Extra licensing may be required
  • Extra licensing required for virtual accelerated graphics (GPU)

Example:

If you want to share a pool of resources, require high availability, and/or have dynamic requirements then virtualization would be the way to go. You can over commit resources while expanding and growing your environment without any discontinuation of services. With virtualization you also have access to technologies such as DRS, HA, and special Backup and DR capabilities.

An example use case of VMware Horizon View and VDI can be found at: https://www.digitallyaccurate.com/blog/2018/01/23/vdi-use-case-scenario-machine-shops/

 Conclusion

Both technologies are great and have their own use cases depending on your business requirements. Make sure you research and weigh each of the options if you’re considering either technologies. Both are amazing technologies which will compliment and enhance your IT strategy.

VMware Horizon 7 Product Evaluation Extension – COVID 19

 VDI, VMware, VMware Horizon View  No Responses »
Apr 072020
 
VMware Horizon View Icon

In response to COVID 19, VMware has extended their VMware Horizon 7 trial offering up to 90 days and includes 100 users. This includes both VMware Horizon 7 On-Premise, as well as VMware Cloud on AWS.

This is great if you’re planning or about to implement and deploy VMware Horizon 7.

In it’s simplest form, Horizon 7 allows an organization to virtualize their end user computing. No more computers, no more desktops, only Zero clients and software clients. Not only does this streamline the end user computing experience, but it enables a beautiful remote access solution as well.

And Horizon isn’t limited to VDI… You can install the VMware Horizon Agent on a Physical PC so you can use VDI technologies like Blast Extreme to remote in to physical desktops at your office. It makes the perfect remote access solution. Give it a try today with an evaluation license!

To get your evaluation license, please visit https://my.vmware.com/en/web/vmware/evalcenter?p=horizon-7.

VMware Horizon Blank Screen

 Remote Access, VDI, VMware, VMware Horizon View  5 Responses »
Apr 042020
 
VMware Horizon View Icon

I see quite a bit of traffic come in on a regular basis pertaining to issues with VMware Horizon View. A lot of these visitors either are looking for help in setting something up or are experiencing an issue I’ve dealt with. While my posts usually help these people do specific things or troubleshoot specific issues, one of the biggest issues that comes up is when users experience a VMware Horizon blank screen (or black).

This can be caused by a number of different things. I wanted to take this opportunity to go over some of the most common issues that cause this and make a master guide for troubleshooting and fixing the VMware Horizon blank screen.

Horizon Blank Screen Causes

There’s a number of different causes of a blank or black screen when connecting and establishing a VDI session to Horizon View. Click on the item below to jump to that section of the post.

Now that we have a list, let’s dive in to each of these individually. Some of these will require you to do your own research and will only guide you, while other sections will include the full fix for the issue.

VMware Tools and Horizon Agent Installation Order

When deploying the VMware Horizon View agent, you are required to install the agent, along with VMware tools in a specific order. Failing to do so can cause problems, including a blank screen screen.

The installation order:

  1. Install GPU/vGPU drivers (if needed)
  2. Install VMware Tools Agent
  3. Install the VMware Horizon Agent
  4. Install the VMware User Environment Manager Agent (if needed)
  5. Install the VMware App Volumes Agent (if needed)

It is important to also consider this when upgrading the agents as well.

Network ports are blocked (Computer Firewall, Network Firewall)

For the VMware Horizon agent to function properly, ports must be accesible through your firewall, whether it’s the firewall on the VM guest, client computer, or network firewall.

The following ports are required for the VMware Horizon Agent when connecting directly to a View Connection Server.

DestinationNetwork ProtocolDestination PortDetails
Horizon Connection ServerTCP443Login, authentication, and connection to the VMware Connection Server.
Horizon AgentTCP22443Blast Extreme
UDP22443Blast Extreme
TCP4172PCoIP
UDP4172PCoIP
TCP3389RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol)
TCP9427Client Shared Drive redirection (CDR) and Multi-media redirection (MMR).
TCP32111USB Redirection (Optional), can be incorporated in to the Blast Extreme connection.
Network Ports Required for VMware Horizon View to View Connection Server

The following ports are required for the VMware Horizon Agent when connecting through a VMware Unified Access Gateway (UAG).

DestinationNetwork ProtocolDestination PortDetails
Unified Access GatewayTCP443Login, authentication, and connection to the Unified Access Gateway. This port/connection can also carry tunneled RDP, client drive redirection, and USB redirection traffic.
TCP4172PCoIP via PCoIP Secure Gateway
UDP4172PCoIP via PCoIP Secure Gateway
UDP443Optional for Login traffic. Blast Extreme will attempt a UDP login if there are issues establishing a TCP connection.
TCP8443Blast Extreme via Blast Secure Gateway (High Performance connection)
UDP8443Blast Extreme via Blast Secure Gateway (Adaptive performance connection)
TCP443Blast Extreme via UAG port sharing.
Network Ports Required for VMware Horizon View to VMware Unified Access Gateway (UAG)

You’ll notice the ports that are required for Blast Extreme and PCoIP. If these are not open you can experience a blank screen when connecting to the VMware Horizon VDI Guest VM.

For more information on VMware Horizon 7 network ports, visit https://techzone.vmware.com/resource/network-ports-vmware-horizon-7.

DNS Issues

While VMware Horizon View usually uses IP address for connectivity between the View Connection Server, guest VM, and client, I have seen times where DNS issues have stopped certain components from functioning properly.

It’s always a good idea to verify that DNS is functioning. DNS (forward and reverse) is required for VMware Horizon Linux guests VMs.

Incorrectly configured Unified Access Gateway

A big offender when it comes to blank screens is an incorrectly configured VMWare Unified Access Gateway.

Sometimes, first-time UAG users will incorrectly configure the View Connection server and UAG.

When configuring a UAG, you must disable both “Blast Secure Gateway”, and “PCoIP Secure Gateway” on the View Connection Server, as the UAG will be handling this. See below.

Picture of the Secure Gateway settings on VMware Horizon View Connection Server when used with VMware UAG.
Secure Gateway Settings on View Connection Server when used with UAG

Another regular issue is when admins misconfigure the UAG itself. There are a number of key things that must be configured properly. These are the values that should be populated on the UAG under Horizon Settings.

Connection Server URLhttps://ConnectionServerIP:443
Connection Server URL Thumbprintsha1=SSLTHUMPRINT
(Thumbprint of the SSL certificate your View Connection Server is using)
PCOIP External URLUAG-EXTERNALIP:4172
Blast External URLUAG-InternetFQDN:443
Tunnel External URLUAG-InternetFQDN:443

You must also have a valid SSL certificate installed under “TLS Server Certificate Settings”. I’d recommend applying it to both the admin and internal interface. This is a certificate that must match the FQDN (internal and external) of your UAG appliance.

Once you’re good, you’re green!

Picture of the VMware UAG interface showing all green (functioning).
VMware Unified Access Gateway showing valid

You should always see green lights, all protocols should work, and the connections should run smooth. If not, troubleshoot.

GPU Driver Issue

When using a GPU with your VM for 3D graphics, make sure you adhere to the requirements of the GPU vendor, along with the VMware requirements.

Some vendors have display count, resolution, and other limits that when reached, cause Blast Extreme to fail.

An incorrectly installed driver can also cause issues. Make sure that there are no issues with the drivers in the “Device Manager”.

VMware documents regarding 3D rendering:

Blast Extreme log files can be found on the guest VM in the following directory.

C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Blast\

Looking at these log files, you can find information that may pertain to the H.264 or display driver issues that will assist in troubleshooting.

VMware Tools

A corrupt VMware tools install, whether software or drivers can cause display issues. Make sure that the drivers (including the display driver) are installed and functioning properly.

It may be a good idea to completely uninstall VMware Tools and re-install.

If you’re experiencing display driver issues (such as a blank screen), before re-installing VMware Tools try forcibly removing the display driver.

  1. Open “Device Manager”
  2. Right click on the VMware Display adapter and open “Properties”
  3. On the “Driver” tab, select “Uninstall”
  4. Check the box for “Delete the driver software for this device”.

This will fully remove the VMware driver. Now re-install VMware Tools.

Horizon Agent

Often, re-installing the Horizon Agent can resolve issues. Always make sure that VMware Tools are installed first before installing the Horizon Agent.

Make sure that if you are running 64-bit Windows in the VM then you install and use the 64-bit Horizon Agent.

You may experience issues with the “VMware Horizon Indirect Display Driver”. Some users have reported an error on this driver and issues loading it, resulting in a blank screen. To do this, I’d recommend forcibly uninstalling the driver and re-installing the Horizon Agent.

To forcibly remove the “VMware Horizon Indirect Display Driver”:

  1. Open “Device Manager”
  2. Right click on the “VMware Horizon Indirect Display Driver” and open “Properties”
  3. On the “Driver” tab, select “Uninstall”
  4. Check the box for “Delete the driver software for this device”.

Now proceed to uninstall and reinstall the Horizon View Agent.

On a final note, when running the Horizon Agent on Horizon for Linux, make sure that forward and reverse DNS entries exist, and that DNS is functioning on the network where the Linux VM resides.

Video Settings (Video Memory (VRAM), Resolution, Number of Displays)

When experiencing video display issues or blank screens on VMware Horizon View, these could be associated with the guest VM’s memory, video memory (VRAM), display resolution, and number of displays.

Make sure you are adhering to the specifications put forth by VMware. Please see the following links for more information.

Protocol

When troubleshooting blank screens with VMware Horizon, you need to try to identify if it’s specific to the guest VM, or if it’s associated with the connection protocol you’re using (and the route it takes whether through a Connection Server, or UAG).

Always try different protocols to see if the issue is associated with all, or one. Then try establishing connections and find if it’s isolated direct to the Connection Server, or through the UAG.

If the issue is with a specific protocol, you can view the protocol log files. If the issue is with the UAG, you can troubleshoot the UAG.

Log files can be found in the following directory:

C:\ProgramData\VMware\

HTTPS Proxy and redirection issues

If you are connecting through a network that does passive HTTPS scanning or that uses a proxy server, you may experience issues with inability to connect, or blank screens.

You’ll need to modify your firewall or proxy to allow the VMware connection and open the required ports for VMware Horizon View.

Login banner or disclaimer (PCoIP)

I haven’t seen or heard of this one in some time, but when using VMware Horizon with PCoIP, sessions can fail or show a blank screen when the legal disclaimer login banner is used.

For more information on this issue, and how to resolve or workaround, visit https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1016961.

Old version of Horizon View

It never stops surprising me how old some of the VMware Horizon View environments are that some businesses are running. VMware regularly updates, and releases new versions of VMware Horizon View that resolve known issues and bugs in the software.

While it may be difficult, simply upgrading your VMware Horizon environment (VMware vSphere, View Connection Server, VMware Tools, VMware Horizon Agent) can resolve your issues.

Blank Screen connecting to Physical PC running Horizon Agent

When you install the VMware Horizon Agent on a Physical PC, you may encounter issues with a blank screen.

This is usually caused by:

After troubleshooting these issues, you should be able to resolve the issue.

Conclusion

As you can see there are a number of different things that can cause Horizon View to show a blank screen on login.

Let me know if this helped you out, or if you find other reasons and feel I should add them to the list!

Audio and hardware redirection issues with Horizon Agent installed on Physical PC

 VDI, VMware, VMware Horizon View  6 Responses »
Mar 192020
 
VMware Horizon View Icon

After installing the VMware Horizon Agent on a Physical PC, you may have noticed some issues with USB redirection, audio, and hardware redirection. These issues include not working, or not working in it’s entirety.

On a few occasions I’ve had readers reach out to inform me that they are experiencing these issues. Most recently a reader by the name of “Sascha” reached out and reported issues with audio, particularly the microphone not functioning or being redirected from the VMware Horizon View Client to the Physical PC.

The Fix

In Sascha’s case (along with the other readers), we troubleshot the issue and realized that in each and every case the problem was due to the use of a Windows 10 Profesional license being used. As per the VMware Horizon release notes, a Windows 10 Enterprise license must be used when installing the Horizon Agent on a Physical PC.

Once Sascha and the other users upgrades or installed a Windows 10 Enterprise license, the issues stopped immediately.

This is another reminder that you need an Windows 10 Enterprise license when installing the Horizon Agent on a Physical PC.

Video Editing and Encoding on VDI (with Nvidia GRID)

 VDI, VMware, VMware Horizon View, Zero Clients/Thin Clients  1 Response »
Mar 052020
 
Picture of someone video editing on Laptop

Lately, I’ve been playing with video editing and encoding as a new hobby. It requires a powerful system for the production process for both editing, and encoding. While CPU power isn’t necessarily important, the CPU instruction sets and your GPU play a key part with editing and encoding.

For the last few weeks, I’ve been attempting to use my desktop rig with a couple of Nvidia GeForce cards and I’ve been struggling to be able to edit in real time, as well as encode completed video productions in a reasonable amount of time.

Well, there’s a happy ending to this story, my Nvidia Grid K1 and VDI environment saved the day!

Video Editing on VDI Virtual Desktop

My VDI setup

As part of my demo and homelab, I have an HPE ML310e Gen8 v2, with an Nvidia Grid K1 card. This setup is backed with an HPE MSA 2040 SAN for main storage and a Synology DS1813+ for backup and video storage.

Nvidia GRID K1 in ML310e without air baffle installed
Nvidia GRID K1 in ML310e w/o Air Baffle

On this rig, I’m running VMware Horizon 7.11 and connect to it via a 10ZiG 5948qv Zero Client.

10ZiG 5948q Zero Client

It’s a beautiful desktop replacement as it’s silent, provides a desktop backed with a Intel Xeon Processor, and a high performance GPU.

VDI Video Editing and Encoding

For software, I’ve been using Cyberlink’s PowerDirector software. I’ve used this in the past for screen recording, as well as editing videos I use for demos.

On my physical desktop rig, even with two GPUs it struggles to allow me to preview in realtime the edits I’ve done on a project. The preview window is jolty with loss frames, and it’s hard to know what you’re doing. Also, when producing and encoding a finalized video project, it would take forever to complete even a small 5 minute video at 1080p.

When I first loaded this up on my VDI environment, the software instantly detected the Nvidia GRID card, and asked me if it could use it. From that point on the preview window was fluid, transitions and add-ins were rendered on the fly during previewing, and the final production encoding was literally over 20 times faster using 1080p. Keep in mind this VM only has one Nvidia K180q profile attached to it, so I’m only using less than 25% of the cards full capability.

Other benefits to video editing and encoding on VDI

There’s some other benefits that can be realized when doing video editing and encoding inside of a VDI environment:

  • Ability to connect remotely and work anywhere
  • Ability to work anywhere with a high performance system
  • High speed video storage on demand (since it’s all remote)
  • It can become part of your normal backup solution

This is just another great use case scenario for VDI. Whether it’s for the video professional, or a large organization.

VDI 3D Graphics and Game Demo – Horizon, GRID, vGPU

 HPE, NVIDIA, VMware, VMware Horizon View  4 Responses »
May 182019
 
VMware Horizon View Mobile Client Android Windows 10 VDI Desktop

Since I’ve installed and configured my Nvidia GRID K1, I’ve been wanting to do a graphics quality demo video. I finally had some time to put a demo together.

I wanted to highlight what type of graphics can be achieved in a VDI environment. Even using an old Nvidia GRID K1 card, we can still achieve amazing graphical performance in a virtual desktop environment.

This demo outlines 3D accelerated graphics provided by vGPU.

Demo Video

Please see below for the video:

Information

Demo Specifications

  • VMware Horizon View 7.8
  • NVidia GRID K1
  • GRID vGPU Profile: GRID K180q
  • HPE ML310e Gen8 V2
  • ESXi 6.5 U2
  • Virtual Desktop: Windows 10 Enterprise
  • Game: Steam – Counter-Strike Global Offensive (CS:GO)

Please Note

  • Resolution of the Virtual Desktop is set to 1024×768
  • Blast Extreme is the protocol used
  • Graphics on game are set to max
  • Motion is smooth in person, screen recorder caused some jitter
  • This video was then edited on that VM using CyberLink PowerDirector
  • vGPU is being used on the VM

How to configure DUO MFA 2FA on VMware Horizon View

 Duo MFA, Remote Access, VMware Horizon View  No Responses »
May 072019
 
VMware Horizon View Icon

So you’ve started to use or test Duo Security’s MFA/2FA technology on your network. You’ve been happy so far and you now want to begin testing or rolling out DUO MFA on your VMware Horizon View server.

VMware Horizon is great at providing an end user computing solution for your business, a byproduct of which is an amazing remote access system. With any type of access, especially remote, comes numerous security challenges. DUO Security’s MFA solution is great at provided multi-factor authentication for your environment, and fully supports VMware Horizon View.

In this guide, I’ll be providing a quick how to guide on how to get setup and configured with DUO MFA on your Horizon Server to authenticate View clients.

Here’s a video of DUO on VMware Horizon View in action! Scroll down for instructions on how to set it up!

Video Demonstration of DUO MFA 2FA on VMware Horizon View

Enabling DUO MFA on VMWare View will require further authentication from your users via one of the following means:

  • DUO Push (Push auth request to mobile app)
  • Phone call (On user’s pre-configured phone number)
  • SMS Passcode (Texted to users pre-configured phone number)
  • PIN code from a Hardware Token

For more information on the DUO technology and authentication methods, please visit
https://www.digitallyaccurate.com/blog/2018/06/12/secure-business-enterprise-it-systems-multi-factor-authentication-duo-mfa/

Prerequisites

  • VMware Horizon View Connection Server (Configured and working)
  • VMware View Client (for testing)
  • DUO Authentication Proxy installed, configured, and running (integrated with Active Directory)
  • Completed DUO Auth Proxy config along with “[ad_client]” as primary authentication.

Please Note: For this guide, we’re going to assume that you already have a Duo Authentication Proxy installed and fully configured on your network. The authentication proxy server acts as a RADIUS server that your VMware Horizon View Connection Server will use to authenticate users against.

Instructions

The instructions will be performed in multiple steps. This includes adding the application to your DUO account, configuring the DUO Authentication Proxy, and finally configuring the VMware View Connection Server.

Add the application to your DUO account

  1. Log on to your DUO account, on the left pane, select “Applications”.
  2. Click on the Blue button “Protect an Application”.
  3. Using the search, look for “VMware View”, and then select “Protect this Application”.
  4. Record the 3 fields labelled “Integration key”, “Security key”, and “API hostname”. You’ll need these later on your authentication proxy.
  5. Feel free to modify the Global Policy to the settings you require. You can always change and modify these later.
  6. Under Settings, we’ll give it a friendly name, choose “Simple” for “Username normalization”, and optionally configure the “Permitted Groups”. Select “Save”.

Configure the DUO Authentication Proxy

  1. Log on to the server that is running your DUO Authentication Proxy.
  2. Open the file explorer and navigate to the following directory.
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Duo Security Authentication Proxy\conf
  3. Before any changes I always make a backup of the existing config file. Copy and paste the “authproxy.cfg” file and rename the copy to “authproxy.cfg.bak”.
  4. Open the “authproxy.cfg” file with notepad.
  5. Add the following to the very end of the file:
    ;vmware-view
[radius_server_challenge]
ikey=YOUR_INTEGRATION_KEY
skey=YOUR_SECRET_KEY
api_host=YOUR-API-ADDRESS.duosecurity.com
failmode=safe
client=ad_client
radius_ip_1=IP-ADDY-OF-VIEW-SERVER
radius_secret_1=SECRETPASSFORDUOVIEW
port=1813
    Using the values from the “Protect an Application”, replace the “ikey” with your “integration key”, “skey” with your “secret key”, and “api_host” with the API hostname that was provided. Additionally “radius_ip_1” should be set to your View Connection Server IP, and “radius_secret_1” is a secret passphrase shared only by DUO and the View connection server.
  6. Save the file.
  7. Restart the DUO Authentication Proxy either using Services (services.msc), or run the following from a command prompt: 
    net stop DuoAuthProxy & net start DuoAuthProxy

Configure the VMware View Connection Server

  1. Log on to your server that runs your VMware View Connection Server.
  2. Open the VMware Horizon 7 Administrator web interface and log on.
    Horizon 7 Administrator Launch Icon Screenshot
  3. On the left hand side, under “Inventory”, expand “View Configuration” and select “Servers”.
    View Configuration and Servers highlighted on Left Pane
  4. On the right hand side in the “Servers” pane, click on the “Connection Servers” tab, then select your server, and click “Edit”.
    Select Connection Server in Server Pane Window
  5. On the “Edit Connection Server Settings” window, click on the “Authentication” tab.
    Authentication under Edit Connection Settings Window
  6. Scroll down to the “Advanced Authentication” section, and change the “2-factor authentication” drop down, to “RADIUS”. Check both check boxes for “Enforce 2-factor and Windows user name matching”, and “Use the same user name and password for RADIUS and Windows Authentication”.
    Advanced Auth Settings for DUO in Authentication Tab Dialog Window
  7. Below the check boxes you will see “Authenticator”. Open the drop down, and select “Create New Authenticator”.
  8. In the “Add RADIUS Authenticator” window, give it a friendly name, friendly description, and populate the fields as specified in the screenshot below. You’ll be using the shared RADIUS/DUO secret we created above in the config file for the proxy auth.
    Edit RADIUS Authenticator VMware View Window
    Please Note that I changed the default RADIUS port in my config to 1813.
  9. Click “Ok”, then make sure the newly created authenticator is select in the drop down. Proceed to click “Ok” on the remaining windows, and close out of the web interface.

That’s it!

You have now completely implemented DUO MFA on your Horizon deployment. Now when users attempt to log on to your VMware View Connection server, after entering their credentials they will be prompted for a second factor of authentication as pictured below.

DUO Security Login VMware View Client Dialog Box
DUO Security Login VMware View Client
DUO Security MFA authenticate VMware View Client dialog box
DUO Security MFA authenticate VMware View Client

VMware Horizon View is now fully using MFA/2FA.

Leave a comment!

Using DUO 2FA/MFA with 10ZiG Zero Clients on VMware Horizon View

 10ZiG, Duo MFA, VDI, VMware, VMware Horizon View  No Responses »
May 062019
 
10ZiG 5948qv Zero Client VMware Horizon View

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.

Sidenote: Remember, my company Digitally Accurate Inc. is a 10ZiG partner. We can configure and sell 10ZiG Zero Clients (and thin clients), help with solution design and deployment, and provide consulting services! Contact us today for information or a quote! 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 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 Dialog Window
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.

  1. Turning on the 10ZiG Zero Client, you are presented with the DUO Login Prompt on the View Connection Server.
    DUO Security Login VMware View Client Dialog Box
  2. You then must pass 2FA/MFA authentication.
    DUO Security MFA authenticate VMware View Client dialog box
  3. You are then presented with the desktop pools available to the user.
  4. Upon logging off, disconnecting, or getting kicked off the server, the session is closed and you are presented to the 10ZiG VDI Login Window.
    10ZiG Zero Client VMware View Login Dialog Window
  5. To re-establish a connection, click “Login” as instruction by the “Username” field.
  6. You are presented with the DUO Login Window.
    DUO Security Login VMware View Client Dialog Box
  7. 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!

Install Horizon Agent on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Linux VDI Guest

 Ubuntu, VMware Horizon View  3 Responses »
May 032019
 
Ubuntu Enterprise Logo

So here we’re going to talk about Installing the VMware Horizon Agent for Linux on an Ubuntu 18.04 Guest VM for use with VDI. Ultimately you’ll be setting up Horizon 7 for Linux Desktops.

This will allow you to add Linux VMs to your VDI environment.

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS running on VMware Hoirzon Client using Horizon for Linux
Horizon for Linux on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

See below for a video of Ubuntu Linux 18.04.4 LTS running on VMware Horizon 7.11.

Horizon for Linux running Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS bionic

VMware has the documentation here, but I’ve condensed this down for your to get up and running quickly, as well as deal with a few bugs I noticed.

Requirements

You’ll need the following to get started

  • VMware Horizon View 7 (I’m, using 7.8)
  • Horizon Enterprise or Horizon for Linux Valid Licensing
  • Horizon VDI environment that’s functioning and working
  • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Installer ISO (download here)
  • Horizon Agent for Linux (download here)
  • Functioning internal DNS

Once you have the above, we can get going!

Instructions

  1. Create a static DHCP reservation, or note the IP you will set statically to the Ubuntu VM
  2. Create a host entry on your internal DNS Server so that the IP of your Ubuntu VM will have a functioning internal FQDN
  3. Create a VM and Install Ubuntu 18.04 TLS using the ISO you downloaded above
  4. If you’re using a static IP, set this now. If you’re using a DHCP reservation, make sure it’s working
  5. Install any Root CA’s or modifications you need for network access (usually not needed unless you’re on an enterprise network)
  6. Open a terminal, and type “sudo su” to get a root console
  7. Run the following command 
    apt install open-vm-tools-desktop openssh-server python python-dbus python-gobject lightdm
    You can skip the “openssh-server” package if you don’t want to enable SSH. A display manager configuration prompt will present itself, choose “gdm”
  8. Now we need to add the internal FQDN to the hosts file. Run “nano /etc/hosts” to open the hosts file. Create a new line at the top and enter 
    127.0.0.1 compname.domain.com compname
    Modify “compname.domain.com” and “compname” to reflect your FQDN and computer name.
  9. Restart the Guest VM
  10. Open terminal, “sudo su” to get a root console
  11. Extract the Horizon Agent tarball with 
    tar zxvf VMware-horizonagent-linux-x86_64-7.8.0-12610615.tar.gz
    Please note that if your version is different, your file name may be different. Please adjust accordingly.
  12. Change directory in to the VMware Horizon Agent that we just extracted.
  13. Run the installer for the horizon agent with 
    ./install_viewagent.sh
  14. Follow the prompts, restart the host
  15. Log on to your View Connection Server
  16. Create a manual pool, and configure it accordingly
  17. Add the Ubuntu Linux VM to the pool
  18. Entitle the users to the pool, and assign the users to the host under inventory

Final Notes

In the VMware documentation, it states to select “lightdm” on the Display MAnager configuration window that presents itself in step 7. However if you choose this, the VMware Horizon Agent for Linux will not install. Choosing “gdm” allows it to install and function.

I have noticed audio issues when using the Spotify snapd. I believe this is caused by timer-based audio scheduling in PulseAudio. I have tried using the “tsched=0” flag in the PulseAudio config, however this has no effect and I haven’t been able to resolve this yet. Audio in Chrome and other audio players works fine. A workaround is to install “pavucontrol” and have it open while using Spotify and the audio issues will temporarily be resolved. I also tried using the VMware Tools (deprecated) instead of OpenVM Tools to see if this helped with the audio issues, but it did not.

If you have 3D Acceleration with a GRID card, the Linux VDI VM will be able to utilize 3D accelerated vSGA as long as you have it configured on the ESXi host.

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