Dell OptiPlex VDI Blaster Edition Instruction Manual

Devon IT
VDI Blaster
Dell Edition
Administration
Manual

Notes, Cautions, and Warnings
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important informationthat helps you make betteruseof 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.
© 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of these materials in any manner whatsoever without the written permission
of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell™, the DELL logo, and OptiPlex™ are trademarks of
Dell Inc. Devon IT, the Devon IT logo, Devon IT Echo™ Thin Client Management
Software, and VDI Blaster™ are registered trademarks of Devon IT Inc. in the U.S. and
other countries. Microsoft®, Windows®, Windows Server®, MS-DOS®and Windows
Vista®are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
United States and/or other countries. Citrix®, Xen®, XenServer®, XenDesktop™, ICA™,
and XenMotion®are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. in
the United States and/or other countries. VMware®, VMware View™, View Client
™,Virtual SMP®, vMotion®, vCenter®, and vSphere®are registered trademarks or
trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States or other countries.
Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this publication to refer to either the
entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any
proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own.
2011 - 11 Rev. A01

Devon IT VDI Blaster Dell Edition Administration Manual | 3
1
Contents
Devon IT VDI Blaster Dell Edition.................................................5
What is VDI Blaster? ................................................................................5
Installation Methods..................................................................................6
Using the VDI Windows Installer Executable............................................7
VDI Blaster Licensing .............................................................................11
Achieving Persistence in VDI Blaster Systems.......................................12
Echo Agent System Information .............................................................14
Technical Specifications.............................................................16
Hardware Requirements.........................................................................16
Features.................................................................................................16
Screen Shots..........................................................................................17
VDI Blaster Setup Wizard Screen...........................................................17

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VDI Blaster Installation Screen...............................................................18
VDI Blaster Boot Screen #1....................................................................18
VDI Blaster Boot Screen #2....................................................................19
VDI Blaster Desktop...............................................................................19
Devon IT Echo Management Console Dell Edition.................................20
Frequently Asked Questions ......................................................21
How is VDI Blaster Installed, and How Does it Work? ............................21
What Servers/Connection Brokers are Supported in VDI Blaster?..........21
Will VDI Blaster Overwrite my Hard Drive?.............................................22
What Hardware do I Need to Install VDI Blaster? ...................................22
Getting Help..................................................................................23
Contacting Dell.......................................................................................23

Devon IT VDI Blaster Dell Edition Administration Manual | 5
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. When systems reach end of life, they can be replaced by a terminal
with minimal disruption.
NOTE: VDI Blaster does not currently support local options.
NOTE: VDI Blaster currently does not support x11, No Machines, and VPN
connections.
NOTE: VDI Blaster’s Control Panel does not have a network tab.
Organizations of all sizes can deploy VDI Blaster to:
 Repurpose old systems.
 Extend the life of systems (and their original capital investment).
 Experience the benefits of virtual desktop and thin client environments at a
fraction of the price of a vast, new system of thin client deployment.

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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 1-877-459-
7304. 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.
Standard Installation Method: Dual Boot with Microsoft Windows XP
VDI Blaster Dell Edition can be used without the risk of erasing your existing
Windows installation. To install VDI Blaster, just execute the installer on the
system you want to repurpose. After installation, the system reboots by default
in thin client mode, running VDI Blaster.
In this mode repurposed systems can be managed with Devon IT's Echo
Management Console Dell Edition. But it is still possible to reboot repurposed
systems in Windows XP mode and uninstall VDI Blaster to return the system to
its initial configuration (with Windows XP as the only operating system).
The standard installation method for VDI Blaster is the Windows Installer
Executable.
vdi-blaster-<date and version>-wininstaller.exe
Using this executable, VDI Blaster can be installed without erasing the existing
XP installation. Uninstall it at any time to revert the system back to its normal
Windows OS boot mode.

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Full Hard Drive Installation
If you prefer to overwrite your system’s existing operating system with VDI
Blaster, then you may use the hdinstall iso (vdi-blaster-<date
and version>-hdinstall.iso:).
NOTE: Overwriting your system’s existing operating system will overwrite all contents of
your hard disk, and if you choose to reinstall theoriginal operatingsystem sometimein
the future you will need to do so with your system’s originalinstallation CD.
USB Boot
VDI Blaster can be installed via a USB drive ( vdi-blaster-<date and
version>-livecd.iso:).
This version of VDI Blaster allows you to run on a system without altering the
current operating system or files already installed on your system's hard drive.
VDI Blaster will run completely off of the USB Flash Drive or CD media and is
a great way to test without actually installing it.
Using the VDI Windows Installer Executable
This section describes the hardware requirements and installation steps for
installing VDI Blaster on a system, without overwriting the existing Windows
XP operating 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, 512 MB RAM

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Installation Steps
1 Log-in as Administrator on the system you want to repurpose and run the
VDI Blaster Windows Installer executable.

Devon IT VDI Blaster Dell Edition Administration Manual | 9
2 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).
3 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.com and provide your
system model or specifications. Should the VDI Blaster not work on your
system, you can reboot the system and select Windows XP during the
boot up sequence with the keyboard arrow keys.

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How to Uninstall VDI Blaster
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 Start->Control Panel->Add or Remove Programs->Devon
IT DeTOS Thin Client . Press the Change/Remove button to uninstall
VDI Blaster.
4 The VDI Blaster software will no longer exist on your hard drive and
the default boot option will revert back to its original setting of
Windows XP .

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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. Follow the
steps below to install this license key in the Thin Client Management software
(Devon IT Echo Management Console Dell Edition).
How to Install the License
1 Open a web browser, enter the address to your management server (i.e.
ws-broker ), and then click the Web Based Administration Tool icon to
log-in to the Admin GUI.
2 From the top of the page, select Admin->Manage Licenses to open a
new screen displaying the current inventory of licenses.

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3 Select Add->License from the top of this page. The details pane on the
right-hand side will display a License Upload form.
4 Enter the alphanumeric license key and then press the OK button.
5 A new entry will appear in the License table on the left-hand side 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. This means any
connections or system settings configured in the Control Panel will be
discarded on reboot unless the terminal is being remotely managed by an Echo
Thin Client Management server. More specifically, a profile must be created
AND applied to these newly converted thin client terminals to maintain
persistent settings across multiple system reboots.
The VDI Blaster terminals run a service, called the Echo Agent, which
communicates back and forth with the Echo server. When a terminal is booted,
the Echo Agent will announce its presence to the Echo server by continuously
sending XML-based messages known as heartbeats. By default, the agent will
be sending these messages out to a server named ws-broker . You can change
the Server Address to another IP in the Control Panel by clicking

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Management .
Once the agent heartbeats into the server for the first time, the discovery process
begins and varied information about that device will be displayed in a new row
in the Terminals table in Echo. The default name of the device will be set to a
unique identifier, consisting of 32 alphanumeric characters. The terminal's IP
Address and MAC Address are also reported in this row. The best method for
identifying newly discovered terminals is to match these two addresses with the
IP and MAC addresses reported on the terminal's Interface Status screen.
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, right-click
the terminal row and select Rename from the context menu. On the right-hand
side of the screen, enter the nickname of your terminal in the Name field and
select the OK button.
Another important step that occurs during the discovery process is the
application of profiles. Upon receiving a heartbeat message, Echo will
determine whether a profile has been associated to this terminal. If so, then all
connections and settings included in that profile will immediately be applied to
that terminal. If the terminal does not have a profile associated with it, then the
next step that Echo takes is to search for a special profile named Default in its
profile inventory and proceed to apply all connections and settings defined
within that “default” profile to the terminal. At this point, if a default profile
isn't found, then Echo has reached the end of its profile search and the result will
be a terminal that simply has no connections or settings permanently associated
with it.
NOTE: For more information on profiles, cloning, and settingsmanagement, please refer
to chapter three of the Dell Edition Echo Administration Guide and chapters three and
four ofthe DeTOS Dell Edition Manual .

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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.
Network Information-This displays information about the current network connection.
IPAddress-Displays the current IP address assigned to the terminal.
MAC Address-Displays the current MAC address assigned to the
terminal.
Hostname-Displays the name assigned to the terminal.
Network Tools-Allows you to run diagnostics test with the network
connection and to check on the current status of the network connection.
System Information-Displays information about the operating system and the terminal.
Operating System-Displays the name of the image or operating system
that is in use.
Processor-Displays the processor that the terminal is using.
Memory-Displays the total internal memory of the terminal.
DOM Size-Displays the total storage capacity size of the terminal.
Hardware Model-Displays the name of the terminal in use.

Devon IT VDI Blaster Dell Edition Administration Manual | 15

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Technical Specifications
Hardware Requirements
 A system running Microsoft Windows XP (32-bit)
 Minimum 1 GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM
Features
 Includes VMware View, Citrix, and Microsoft Remote Desktop clients
 Includes Firefox Web Browser to connect to web applications. Supports
Kiosk mode.
 Thin Client Management Software (Devon IT Echo Management Console
Dell Edition) is included in the price and allows to centrally manage
repurposed systems along with Dell’s thin clients
 Devon IT VDI Blaster Dell Edition can be installed without erasing
existing data or reformatting the hard drive. Devon IT VDI Blaster Dell
Edition is easy to uninstall.

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Screen Shots
VDI Blaster Setup Wizard Screen

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VDI Blaster Installation Screen
VDI Blaster Boot Screen #1

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VDI Blaster Boot Screen #2
VDI Blaster Desktop

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Devon IT Echo Management Console Dell Edition