Step 4: Installing and Configuring RemoteFX

Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1

Use the following procedures to install and configure RemoteFX:

  • Install Microsoft® RemoteFX™.

  • Install the RemoteFX cap driver.

  • Configure the custom RDP settings for a LAN connection speed.

  • Install the RemoteFX 3D Video Adapter on each virtual desktop within the virtual desktop pool.

To install RemoteFX

  1. Log on to RDVH-SRV as CONTOSO\Administrator.

  2. Open Server Manager. To open Server Manager, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager.

  3. Under the Roles Summary heading, click Add Roles.

  4. On the Before You Begin page of the Add Roles Wizard, click Next.

  5. On the Select Server Roles page, select the Remote Desktop Services check box, and then click Next.

  6. On the Introduction to Remote Desktop Services page, click Next.

  7. On the Select Role Services page, select the RemoteFX and Core Services check boxes.

  8. On the Confirm Installation Selections page, verify that the RD Virtualization Host role service will be installed, and then click Install.

  9. On the Installation Results page, you are prompted to restart the server to finish the installation process. Click Close, and then click Yes to restart the server.

  10. After the server restarts and you log on to the computer as CONTOSO\Administrator, the remaining steps of the installation finish. When the Installation Results page appears, confirm that installation of the RD Virtualization Host role service succeeded, and then close Server Manager.

Note

You may see warnings on the Installation Results page. For the purposes of this guide, you can safely ignore these warnings.

To install the RemoteFX cap driver

  1. From an elevated command prompt, type dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-RemoteFX-EmbeddedVideoCap-Setup-Package, and then press ENTER.

  2. After the command has completed successfully, restart the RDVH-SRV computer.

Note

If you manage a KVM switch over IP with an onboard management adapter, install the RemoteFX cap driver after you have enabled RemoteFX. The RemoteFX cap driver supports KVM access over IP prior to the point where the Windows operating system loads (so that you can access the BIOS). After the operating system has loaded, you can access the RemoteFX server by using RDP or a non-Microsoft solution to manage the KVM switch over IP.

To configure the custom RDP settings

  1. Log on to RDCB-SRV as CONTOSO\Administrator.

  2. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Remote Desktop Services, and then click Remote Desktop Connection Manager.

  3. Expand RD Virtualization Host Servers.

  4. Right-click CONTOSO Virtual Desktop Pool, and then click Properties.

  5. Click the Custom RDP Settings tab.

  6. In the Custom RDP settings box, type connection type:i:6, and then click OK.

Instead of configuring the custom RDP settings, you can give your users the option to configure their connection speed when logging on to the RD Web Access server. This is configured by editing the web.config file on the RDCB-SRV server.

To show the connection speed check box

  1. Log on to RDCB-SRV as CONTOSO\Administrator.

  2. Navigate to C:\Windows\Web\RDWeb\Pages.

  3. Double-click the web.config file.

  4. Under AppSettings, change the following settings to true.

    • <add key="ShowOptimizeExperience" value="true" />

    • <add key="OptimizeExperienceState" value="true" />

  5. Save the file, and then close Notepad.

To install the RemoteFX 3D Video Adapter

  1. Shut down the VDP1-CLNT virtual desktop.

  2. Open Hyper-V Manager. To open Hyper-V Manager, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Hyper-V Manager.

  3. Under Virtual Machines, right-click vdp1-clnt.contoso.com, and then click Settings.

  4. Click Add Hardware.

  5. In the Select the devices you want to add box, click Synthetic 3D Video Adapter, and then click Add.

  6. Click OK to add the RemoteFX 3D Video Adapter.

  7. Under Virtual Machines, right-click vdp1-clnt.contoso.com, and then click Start.

  8. Under Virtual Machines, right-click vdp1-clnt.contoso.com, and then click Connect.

  9. Log on to the VDP1-CLNT computer as a member of the local Administrators group.

  10. The RemoteFX 3D Video Adapter driver will install. When you dialog box that asks you to restart the computer appears, click Restart Now.

Important

After the virtual machine restarts, you will see a black screen on the virtual machine console with the message “Video Remoting was disconnected. The virtual machine is using the 3D video adaptor, which is not supported by the Virtual Machine Connection console.” This is expected, and you will not be able to log on to the virtual machine from the Virtual Machine Connection. You will be able to remotely log on to the virtual machine by using an account that is a part of the Remote Desktop Users group on the virtual machine.

  1. Repeat steps 1 – 10 for the VDP2-CLNT computer.

You have configured RemoteFX. Now you can proceed to Step 5: Verifying the Functionality of RemoteFX for Virtual Desktop Pools.