When attempting to install a Microsoft Exchange Cumulative Update, the readiness checker may fail and stop you from proceeding with the upgrade and installation.
You will be presented with the following error, or one similar:
There is a pending reboot from a previous installation of a Windows Server role or feature. Please restart the computer and then run Setup again.
After restarting the server, and re-attempting to install the Exchange CU, it will continue to present this and stop you from proceeding with the installation.
The Problem
There’s a few different things that can cause this. I experienced this issue when trying to upgrade Exchange 2016 CU18 to Exchange 2016 CU20. This issue can also happen when upgrading from Microsoft Exchange 2019 CU versions, as well as earlier versions of Exchange 2013.
I found a few posts online referencing to delete two registry keys, “UpdateExeVolatile” and “PendingFileRenameOperations”, however these didn’t exist for me.
The Fix
I figured I’d try to install a feature, specifically something small that I may or may not ever use, to see if it would work and to see if it would clear whatever flag had been set for the pending restart.
First, I left the Exchange CU installer window open on the prerequisite check, opened the Server Manager and installed the TFTP Client. After finishing, I hit retry and it continued to fail.
I restarted the server, ran the CU installer again which got stuck on the pending restart. This time I closed the Exchange CU upgrade, installed the “Telnet Client” feature, opened the CU upgrade again, and it finally worked and proceeded!
Looking at setting up Zoom for VDI in your Virtual Desktop Infrastructure?
In this post, I will guide you on how to deploy Zoom for VDI and the Zoom VDI Plugin in your VMware Horizon View VDI Infrastructure. There is also a Zoom VDI Plugin for Citrix XenDesktop and WVD (Windows Virtual Desktop) in addition to VMware Horizon.
While these instructions are targeted for VMware Horizon VDI environments, the process is very similar for Citrix XenDesktop.
VMware Horizon client on Windows or compatible Thin Client
VDI Desktop or Base Image
Endpoints must have internet access
Background
Just like with Microsoft Teams, before Zoom’s VDI client, VMware’s RTAV (Real-time Audio-Video) was used to handle multimedia. This offloaded audio and video to the VMware Horizon Client utilizing a dedicated channel over the connection to optimize the data exchange. With minor tweaks (check out my post on enhancing RTAV webcam with VMware Horizon), this actually worked quite well with the exception of microphone quality on the end-users side, and high bandwidth requirements.
Using Zoom for VDI and the Zoom VDI Plugin, Zoom will offload (and a more optimized way than RTAV) video encoding and decoding from the VDI Virtual Machine and the endpoint will directly communicate with Zoom’s infrastructure. And, just like Microsoft Teams Optimization, this is one less hop for data, one less processing point, and one less load off your server infrastructure.
There are two components involved in deploying Zoom for VDI.
Zoom for VDI Application on VDI Virtual Machine (or Image)
Zoom VDI Plugin installed on the client system connecting to the VDI session (Computer, Thin Client, Zero Client)
It’s pretty straight forward. We just need to have the Zoom for VDI application installed on the VDI Virtual Machine (and/or base image), and have the plugin installed on the computer or thin client that we are connecting with.
Zoom for VDI About Screenshot
Zoom is highly configurable both with a GPO (Group Policy Object) and registry settings. Please make sure you load up the Zoom Active Directory ADMX Templates and configure them appropriately for your environment and deployment.
These GPOs are needed especially for non-persistent VDI (Instant Clones) for autoconfiguration and SSO (Single Sign On) when the user opens the application and to tweak numerous other configurables.
Zoom for VDI Application Installation on VDI VM or Base Image
For the first part of deployment, we’ll need to install the Zoom for VDI application inside of our VDI VM or bundle it inside of our Base Image (if you’re using instant clones).
To deploy in your existing infrastructure using persistent desktop pools, you can deploy the MSI via Group Policy Objects.
To deploy in your existing infrastructure using non-persistent desktop pools (Instant Clones), you can install Zoom for VDI in your base image, and then re-push the image/snapshot.
To manually install on an existing VDI Virtual Machine, you can double click the MSI, or run the following command:
msiexec /package ZoomInstallerVDI.msi
And that’s it! Make sure you have your Zoom GPO and/or registry settings configured as well.
Zoom VDI Plugin Installation on Client Computer or Thin Client
For the second part of deployment, we need to load the Zoom VDI Plugin on the connecting client computer and/or thin client.
The Zoom for VDI plugin is available for numerous different operating system and thin clients such as Windows, Mac, Mac (ARM), Linux (CentOS, Ubuntu), HP ThinPro Thin clients, Dell ThinOS Thin clients, and more!
Client Plugin Installation
The steps will vary depending on the computer or device you’re connecting with so you’ll want to download the appropriate plugin and install it.
As an example, to install the Zoom VDI Plugin manually on a Windows Client running VMware Horizon View Client:
Download the appropriate Zoom for VDI plugin
Install
Restart
It’s actually that easy. You can also deploy the MSI file via Active Directory GPO or your application and infrastructure management platform if you’re installing it on to a large number of systems.
Conclusion
As you can see, it’s pretty easy to get up and running with Zoom for VDI. When deploying VDI, make sure you give your users the tools and applications they need to be productive. Including Zoom for VDI in your deployment is a no-brainer!
One last thing I want to mention is that you can have both the traditional Zoom Desktop and Zoom for VDI application installed at the same time. In my own high performance environment, I chose to have and use both due to the limitation of the Zoom for VDI application. When using the traditional Zoom Desktop application, VMware RTAV will be used if configured, and still works great!
This guide will show you to install Microsoft (Classic) Teams and deploy Microsoft Teams VDI Optimization on VMWare Horizon for Manual Pools, Automated Pools, and Instant Clone Pools, for use with both persistent and non-persistent VDI. This guide works for Microsoft Teams on Windows 10 and Windows 11, including the new Windows 11 22H2.
Please see my post Deploy and install the New Teams for VDI to learn how to deploy the new Teams client for VDI. The Classic client will go end of support on June 30, 2024.
Before Microsoft Teams VDI Optimization, VMware’s RTAV (Real-Time Audio-Video) was generally used. This offloaded audio and video to the VMware Horizon Client utilizing a dedicated channel over the connection to optimize the data exchange. With minor tweaks (check out my post on enhancing RTAV webcam with VMware Horizon), this actually worked quite well with the exception of microphone quality on the end-users side, and high bandwidth requirements.
Starting with Horizon View 7.13 and Horizon View 8 (2006), VMware Horizon now supports Microsoft Teams Optimization. This technology offloads the Teams call directly to the endpoint (or client device), essentially drawing over the VDI VM’s Teams visual interface and not involving the VDI Virtual Machine at all. The client application (or thin client) handles this and connects directly to the internet for the Teams Call. One less hop for data, one less processing point, and one less load off your server infrastructure.
Microsoft Teams Optimization uses WebRTC to function.
Deploying Microsoft Teams Optimization on VMware Horizon VDI
There are two components required to deploy Microsoft Teams Optimization for VDI.
Microsoft Specific Setup and Configuration of Microsoft Teams
VMware Specific Setup and Configuration for Microsoft Teams
We’ll cover both in this blog post.
Microsoft Specific Setup and Configuration of Microsoft Teams Optimization
First and foremost, do NOT bundle the Microsoft Teams install with your Microsoft 365 (Office 365) deployment, they should be installed separately.
We’re going to be installing Microsoft Teams using the “per-machine” method, where it’s installed in the Program Files of the OS, instead of the usual “per-user” install where it’s installed in the user “AppData” folder.
Non-persistent (Instant Clones) VDI requires Microsoft Teams to be installed “Per-Machine”, whereas persistent VDI can use both “Per-Machine” and “Per-User” for Teams. I use the “Per-Machine” for almost all VDI deployments. This allows you to manage versions utilizing MSIs and GPOs.
Please Note that when using “Per-Machine”, automatic updates are disabled. In order to upgrade Teams, you’ll need to re-install the newer version. Take this in to account when planning your deployment. If you use the per-user, it will auto-update.
For Teams Optimization to work, your endpoints and/or clients MUST have internet access.
Let’s Install Microsoft Teams (VDI Optimized)
For Per-Machine (Non-Persistent Desktops) Install, use the following command:
And that’s it for the Microsoft Specific side of things!
VMware Specific Setup and Configuration for Microsoft Teams Optimization
When it comes to the VMware Specific Setup and Configuration for Microsoft Teams Optimization, it’s a little bit more complex.
VMware Horizon Client Installation
When installing the VMware Horizon Client, the Microsoft Teams optimization feature should be installed by default. However, doing a custom install, make sure that “Media Optimization for Microsoft Teams” is enabled (as per the screenshot below):
VMware View Client Install with Microsoft Teams Optimization
Group Policy Object to enable WebRTC and Microsoft Teams Optimization
You’ll only want to configure GPOs for those users and sessions where you plan on actually utilizing Microsoft Teams Optimization. Do not apply these GPOs to endpoints where you wish to use RTAV and don’t want to use Teams optimization, as it will enforce some limitations that come with the technology (explained in Microsoft’s documentation).
We’ll need to enable VMware HTML5 Features and Microsoft Teams Optimization (WebRTC) inside of Group Policy. Head over and open your existing VDI GPO or create a new GPO. You’ll need to make sure you’ve installed the latest VMware Horizon GPO Bundle. There are two switches we need to set to “Enabled”.
Expand the following, and set “Enable HTML5 Features” to “Enabled”:
Next, we’ll set “Enable Media Optimization for Microsoft Teams” to “Enabled”. You’ll find it in the following:
Computer Configuration -> Policies -> Administrative Templates -> VMware View Agent Configuration -> VMware HTML5 Features -> VMware WebRTC Redirection Features -> Enable Media Optimization for Microsoft Teams
And that’s it, you’re GPOs are now configured.
If you’re running a persistent desktop, run “gpupdate /force” in an elevated command prompt to grab the updated GPOs. If you’re running a non-persistent desktop pool, you’ll need to push the base image snapshot again so your instant clones will have the latest GPOs.
Confirming Microsoft Teams Optimization for VDI
There’s a simple and easy way to test if you’re currently running Microsoft Teams Optimized for VDI.
Open Microsoft Teams
Click on your Profile Picture to the right of your Company Name
Expand “About”, and select “Version”
Microsoft Teams – About and Version to check Teams Optimization for VDI
After selecting this, you’ll see a toolbar appear horizontally underneath the search, company name, and your profile picture with some information. Please see the below examples to determine if you’re running in 1 of 3 modes.
The following indicates that Microsoft Teams is running in normal mode (VDI Teams Optimization is Disabled). If you have configured VMware RTAV, then it will be using RTAV.
Microsoft Teams VDI Optimization disabled
The following indicates that Microsoft Teams is running in VDI Optimized mode (VDI Teams Optimization is Enabled showing “VMware Media Optimized”).
Microsoft Teams VDI Optimization enabled
The following indicates that Microsoft Teams is configured for VDI Optimization, however is not functioning and running in fallback mode. If you have VMware RTAV configured, it will be falling back to using RTAV. (VDI Teams Optimization is Enabled but not working showing “VMware Media Not Connected”, and is using RTAV if configured).
Microsoft Teams VDI Optimization Fallback
If you’re having issues or experiencing unexpected results, please go back and check your work. You may also want to review Microsoft’s and VMware’s documentation.
Conclusion
This guide should get you up and running quickly with Microsoft Teams Optimization for VDI. I’d recommend taking the time to read both VMware’s and Microsoft’s documentation to fully understand the technology, limitations, and other configurables that you can use and fine-tune your VDI deployment.
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