Deploying Nexthink in VDI environment
This page provides an overview of how to deploy and configure Nexthink in a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environment.
VDI environments introduce specific technical considerations when deploying endpoint agents and capturing user session data. As such, some steps in this guide focus on integrating your VDI environment with Nexthink, while others outline general configuration tasks applicable to all Nexthink deployments.
Refer to Deploying Nexthink in VDI environment on this page to get an overview of VDI-specific deployment path.
Refer to Step-by-step deployment procedure on this page that includes both VDI-specific and general Nexthink configuration tasks.
Understanding VDI infrastructure components
The following figure shows a simplified representation of typical on-premises and cloud-hosted VDI infrastructures, highlighting which components to install on each node.
The connection lines show the path of metrics collected in the vdi_session and vdi_event tables, specific to VDI Experience. To learn about these metrics, refer to the VDI Experience NQL capabilities and NQL data model documents.
Depending on what components you install, the system collects different metrics. To learn what metrics are provided by each installation scenario, refer to the VDI Experience NQL capabilities documentation.
Determining your VDI Deployment path
The chart below outlines the available VDI deployment paths based on your desktop broker, desktop type, and the method used to deploy Nexthink Collector on virtual machines.
*For Microsoft Remote Desktop Session Host (RDSH) and other desktop brokers not outlined in this chart, Nexthink recommends using features available in the basic Nexthink license, such as Desktop virtualization (classic) in the Alerts and Diagnostics module.
Step-by-step deployment procedure
This section describes the high-level sequence for installing and configuring Nexthink components in a VDI environment, including VDI-specific and general Nexthink configuration tasks.
Nexthink recommends following this sequence for a smooth and consistent setup, and to ensure that data is sent correctly from each node to the next.
For more detailed guidelines specific to your VDI platform, refer to one of the following deployment scenarios outline in the VDI platform-specific deployment scenarios documentation.
Set up the VDI Platform-specific inbound connector
Install the appropriate Inbound connector for your VDI Platform, when applicable:
Configure Collector for Virtual Machines (VMs)
If needed, use Nexthink Collector Installer (MST) to include VM-specific MST parameters
The VDI Client Extension component of Collector is included by default.
Refer to Configuring and deploying Collector for VMs for more information.
Deploy Collector on Virtual Machines (VMs)
The method for Collector deployment on VMs depends on the type of desktop:
Persistent desktops: Deploy Collector with UEM or VDI platform-specific tool.
Non-persistent desktops: Prepare a golden image and deploy Collector with your VDI platform-specific tool.
Shared desktops: Deploy Collector with VDI platform-specific tool.
Once both Connector and Collector on VMs are set, verify that your tenant is receiving VDI metrics:
Navigate to Investigations to query the new tables and verify the installation. Refer to VDI Experience NQL capabilities.
Verify that session data is available in the Desktop Virtualization dashboards.
Configure Collector for client devices
Configure Collector using Nexthink Collector Installer (MST) or Windows Installer.
The VDI Client Extension component of Collector is included by default.
Deploy endpoint agents on client devices
Deploy Nexthink Collector on employee devices using your preferred method (UEM, MECM, GPO).
Optionally, deploy VDI Client Extension on private or unmanaged devices where you cannot install Collector.
In case you use Citrix, see the Citrix virtual channel allowlist configuration documentation.
Once Collector and VDI Client Extension are deployed, use the Investigations module to verify if related VDI client data are available in Nexthink.
Deploy browser extensions on client devices
Deploy the Nexthink browser extension on employee devices.
If you have purchased Amplify, deploy the Amplify browser extension:
Configure other inbound connectors according to your IT infrastructure and Nexthink license
Configure other Inbound connectors, such as Microsoft Entra ID or Salesforce, to enrich data from endpoint agents and browser extensions with additional context from external vendors.
Enable permissions for the Desktop Virtualization
Enable permissions for the Desktop Virtualization dashboard under Administration > Roles. Refer to Roles for more information.
To understand how to install and configure components for your specific virtual infrastructure, continue with reading the topic that is applicable to your VDI platform:
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