Microsoft teams in vdi environment. Microsoft Teams Optimization with VMware Horizon

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. 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. First and foremost, do NOT bundle the Microsoft Teams install with your Microsoft Office deployment, they should be installed separately. Take this in to account when planning your deployment.

If you use the per-user, it will auto-update. If in the event you need to uninstall Microsoft Teams to deploy an upgrade, you can use the following command:. The following indicates that Microsoft Teams is configured for VDI Optimization, however is not functioning and running in fallback mode.

And, just like Microsoft Teams Optimization, this is one less hop for data, one less processing point, and one less load off your server […]. We utilize HP ThinPro devices flavor of Linux in our environment and the latest Linux client now has optimization built in. It only shows the version we are running, unfortunately. Thank you for the post. The Media Optimization for Microsoft Teams group policy setting must be enabled in the virtual desktop.

Web browser media offload is supported with the Browser Redirection feature. See Configuring Browser Redirection for support details. This section briefly lists the system requirements for both the client and the virtual desktop when using the Media Optimization for Microsoft Teams feature.

Client system for OSes supported with a specific release, see the appropriate Horizon Client release notes. You can see the setting if you select Customize installation in the installer.

Double-click the. If you are using the installation wizard, you can see that the Media Optimization for Microsoft Teams option is selected, as shown below. Media Optimization for Microsoft Teams is also installed by default in the Horizon Agent, but it is controlled with a GPO, which is not enabled by default. After setting this policy, you must log out of the Horizon desktop for the GPO policy to take effect. Horizon Agent must be installed before Microsoft Teams.

If the order is reversed, then on first run, Microsoft Teams does not detect Horizon Agent and caches an environment value that indicates the feature is running on an unsupported remote desktop. This results in Microsoft Teams never supporting the Media Optimization feature unless the cache is deleted. To avoid this issue, be sure to install Horizon Agent before you install Microsoft Teams. Then, on first run, Microsoft Teams detects Horizon Agent and caches the correct environment value, which verifies that the feature is running on a supported remote desktop.

As described in the overview of this guide, there are significant advantages to running Microsoft Teams in optimized mode. However, as you are planning your implementation, keep in mind that end users who are not running supported Horizon Client versions Horizon Client or later for Windows, Horizon Client or later for Mac, or Horizon Client or later for Linux will not be able to take advantage of this feature.

They will not, however, go back to running the full client in the virtual desktop because the GPO has set Microsoft Teams to offload audio and video to the client. Those users will instead run in fallback mode. A user can check if Microsoft Teams is running in optimized mode, fallback mode, or natively no optimization in the virtual desktop. Audio and video quality may be reduced. Talk to your IT admin.

If you enable the optimization GPO in the virtual desktop, these clients, although not officially supported, will begin implementing offload.

The bugs we found in these clients during beta testing are fixed in Horizon Client for Windows version or later for Horizon 8 or Horizon Client for Windows 5. VMware strongly recommends using the officially supported versions. For beta testing, VMware published the Horizon Client beta installer for Mac via the beta portal that supports optimization. VMware recommends that you use the officially supported version, Horizon Client or later for Mac, to get the latest functionality and bug fixes for the Mac client.

Similarly, VMware published a beta version of Horizon Client for Linux that supports optimization via the beta portal. VMware recommends using the officially supported version, Horizon Client or later for Linux, to get the latest functionality and bug fixes for the Linux client.

The ports described on that page are required to be opened on the client device. Note : The usual Horizon ports are also required, as detailed in the following documents:. Some organizations might require that the process name of the Teams Optimization Pack be added to a firewall allowlist, to allow communication to the Microsoft Teams Cloud server. The process name is vmware-remotemks. This is a Microsoft restriction. In certain low-powered clients, users may want to turn off software acoustic echo cancellation to reduce CPU usage.

In most cases, VMware recommends using the default configuration, which is designed for optimal audio experience. But if you are having issues with echo, software acoustic echo cancellation can be configured by using a GPO on the Horizon Agent or by setting a registry key on the Horizon Client.

Note that this configuration is only supported on Windows Clients. After setting this policy, you must log out of the Horizon desktop for the GPO policies to take effect. This configuration can also be applied on the Horizon Client for Windows device by setting the following registry key:. To troubleshoot, start by checking whether Microsoft Teams launched in optimized mode and whether the correct local client device names are being picked up. If so, you can check whether the Microsoft Teams redirection plugin has been installed and check the logs to verify that optimization has been enabled.

Procedures for these tasks are described in the following sections:. Figure 9: Version Box for Microsoft Teams. If the registry key is not set, follow the installation guidance for Horizon Agent, as described in Horizon Agent Installation and Configuration. Also note that you need to log out of the Horizon desktop for the GPO policies to be applied. Teams in a virtualized environment supports chat and collaboration.

And with the Azure Virtual Desktop, Citrix, and VMware platforms, calling and meeting functionality is also supported.

Teams also supports multiple configurations in virtual environments. These include VDI, dedicated, shared, persistent, and non-persistent modes. Features are in continuous development and are added on a regular basis, and functionality will expand over time. Using Teams in a virtualized environment might be somewhat different from using Teams in a non-virtualized environment.

For example, some advanced features might not be available in a virtualized environment, and video resolution might differ. The Teams desktop app was validated with leading virtualization solution providers. With multiple market providers, we recommend that you consult your virtualization solution provider to ensure that you meet the minimum requirements.

Review the information in this section to ensure that you meet all requirements for proper functionality. You can download the latest version of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops at the Citrix downloads site. You’ll need to sign in first. For the latest server and client requirements, see the Optimization for Microsoft Teams article on the Citrix website.

VMware Horizon is a modern platform for secure delivery of virtual desktops and apps across the hybrid cloud. To offer a great end-user experience, VMware Horizon provides media optimization for Teams. This optimization improves overall productivity across virtual desktops and apps, and enhances user experience when calling and meeting using Teams.

The required media optimization components are part of the Horizon Agent and Horizon Client by default and there’s no need to install any additional plug-in to use the optimization feature for Teams.

To get the latest requirements and instructions on how to configure media optimization for Teams, see the Configuring Media Optimization for Microsoft Teams article on the VMware website. Deciding on which approach to use depends on whether you use a persistent or non-persistent setup and the associated functionality needs of your organization. For a dedicated persistent setup, both per-machine and per-user installation will work. However, for a non-persistent setup, Teams requires a per-machine installation in order to work efficiently.

See the Non-persistent setup section. With per-machine installation, automatic updates are disabled. This means that to update the Teams app, you must uninstall the current version to update to a newer version.

With per-user installation, automatic updates are enabled. Keep the Teams desktop app in your VDI environment up to date. Teams desktop app versions with release dates that are more than 90 days older than the current version’s release date aren’t supported.

Unsupported Teams desktop app versions show a blocking page to users and request that they update their app. For most VDI deployments, we recommend you deploy Teams using per-machine installation. To update to the latest Teams version, start with the uninstall procedure followed by latest Teams version deployment.

For Teams AV optimization in VDI environments to work properly, the thin-client device must have access to the internet. If internet access isn’t available at the thin-client device, optimization startup won’t be successful.

This means that the user is in a non-optimized media state. In a dedicated persistent setup, users’ local operating system changes are retained after users log off. For persistent setup, Teams supports both per-user and per-machine installation. In a non-persistent setup, users’ local operating system changes are not retained after users log off.

Such setups are commonly shared multi-user sessions. VM configuration varies based on the number of users and available physical server resources. For a non-persistent setup, the Teams desktop app must be installed per-machine to the golden image. This ensures an efficient launch of the Teams app during a user session.

Using Teams in a non-persistent setup also requires a profile-caching manager for efficient Teams runtime data synchronization. Efficient data synchronization ensures that the appropriate user-specific information such as a user’s data, profile, or settings is cached during the user’s session.

Delivering a Good Microsoft Teams Experience in VDI – Thoughts on “Running Microsoft Teams in a Virtual Environment”

 
It might also cause congestion on WAN links. For these actions, you can use both keyboard and mouse.

Microsoft Teams Optimization with VMware Horizon | VMware – Install the Teams desktop app

 
Server VDI. Some of the Citrix documentation content is machine translated for your convenience only. VM configuration varies based on the number of users and available physical server resources. Smart cards. Microsoft Mechanics. Note We’re working on adding calling and meeting features that are currently only available in non-VDI environments. There are a variety of caching manager solutions available, such as FSLogix.