VMware Horizon – HTML5 Redirection

Release date: June 26th 2022

Welcome to my VMware Horizon series. In this session I will describe how I configured HTML5 Redirection for my Horizon Desktops. This is done by configuring the HTML5 Redirection settings in Group Policy using the Horizon Admx files. To configure the silent installation of the VMware HTML5 Redirection Extension for Google Chrome and MS Edge (Chromium), I have to add the Google Chrome and Edge Chromium admx templates to the PolicyDefinitions folder in SYSVOL, links below. This is the same procedure as adding VMware Horizon admx-files to MS AD, as described here: VMware Horizon – Upgrade Horizon GPO Bundle to v. 2203. Another prerequisite is to install Google Chrome and/or MS Edge Chromium on the computer running the Horizon Client.

• Google Chrome Policy Templates: https://dl.google.com/dl/edgedl/chrome/policy/policy_templates.zip
• Microsoft Edge Policy Templates:  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

In this example I have created a separate Group Policy for Redirection, which I have connected to the OU where my VDI’s computer accounts reside.

In Windows on the client system, the Horizon Client for Windows must be installed with the “Support for HTML5 Multimedia Redirection and Browser Redirection” custom setup option selected, which is selected by default. I configure the GPO settings for the HTML5 Redirection as shown below.

Navigate to the “Computer Configuration – Policies – Administrative Templates – VMware View Agent Configuration – VMware HTML5 Features” folder.

Enable the “Enable VMware HTML5 Features” setting, OK

Enable the “Disable Automatically Detect Intranet” setting, OK

Navigate to the “Computer Configuration – Policies – Administrative Templates – VMware View Agent Configuration – VMware HTML5 Features – VMware HTML5 Multimedia Redirection” folder.

Enable the “Enable VMware HTML5 Multimedia Redirection“ setting, OK

Enable the “Enable Chrome Browser for VMware HTML5 Multimedia Redirection” setting, OK

Enable the Enable legacy version of Microsoft Edge Browser for VMware HTML5 Multimedia Redirection setting, OK

Enable the “Enable Microsoft Edge (Chromium) Browser for VMware HTML5 Multimedia Redirection” setting, OK

To specify which websites to redirect, enable the ” Enable URL list for VMware HTML5 Multimedia Redirection” setting, click Show…

Provide an URL or more, OK

Silent install of HTML5 Redirection Extension for Google Chrome

Navigate to the “Computer Configuration – Policies – Administrative Templates – Google Chrome – Extensions” folder.

Enable the “Configure the list of force-installed apps and extensions” setting, click Show…

Enter the value below, OK

ljmaegmnepbgjekghdfkgegbckolmcok;https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx

Verify that the HTML5 Multimedia Redirection extension is installed and enabled in Chrome by typing “chrome://extensions” in the address bar

When testing the redirect, the “REDIR” icon lights up on the HTML5 Redirection extension

Silent install of HTML5 Redirection Extension for Edge (Chromium)

Navigate to the “Computer Configuration – Policies – Administrative Templates – Microsoft Edge – Extensions” folder

Enable the “Control which extensions are installed silently” setting, click Show…

Enter the value below, OK

ljmaegmnepbgjekghdfkgegbckolmcok;https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx

Verify that the HTML5 Multimedia Redirection extension is installed in Chrome by typing “edge://extensions” in the address bar

When testing the redirect, the “REDIR” icon lights up

IMPORTANT: These extensions won’t be installed if You’ve used VMware OS Optimization Tool and removed Web-extensions under Common Settings.

The same applies when configuring OS Optimization in MDT Task Sequence

Official VMware Documentation about this topic:

Install and Configure HTML5 Multimedia Redirection

Install the VMware Horizon HTML5 Redirection Extension for Google Chrome

Install the VMware Horizon HTML5 Redirection Extension for Microsoft Edge (Chromium)

Install the VMware Horizon HTML5 Redirection Extension for Microsoft Edge

VMware Horizon planning, deployment etc.

Official VMware Horizon 8 Documentation

Disclaimer: Every tips/tricks/posting I have published here, is tried and tested in different it-solutions. It is not guaranteed to work everywhere, but is meant as a tip for other users out there. Remember, Google is your friend and don’t be afraid to steal with pride! Feel free to comment below as needed.