Installing and Configuring Horizon TRUESSO

Overview

Traditionally when authenticating to Workspace ONE Access using a 3rd party authentication method, the user we will by default, not have a Single-Sign On experience when trying to launch any VMware Horizon based resource through Workspace ONE Access.

Traditionally when using a password based authentication method Workspace ONE Access would cache the original authentication against Access and then pass this on when required to the Broker.

Traditionally Single-Sign On would only be an issue when using a 3rd Party authentication method. To solve this problem we would deploy what is known as the Horizon Enrollment services to facilitate a single-sign on experience. We integrate with Microsoft Certificate Services to provide a solution to this challenge and we refer to the solution as Horizon TRUE SSO

Since December 2019

Caching of Passwords for Horizon has been disabled and a user will always have to re-authenticate when they select their entitlement. Whilst the session is open we can choose to Cache the users credentials provided the Authentication method is password based.

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workspace-ONE-Access/services/rn/VMware-Workspace-ONE-Access-Cloud-Release-Notes.html

To continue offering users a seamless single-sign On experience, Enrollment services has now become a critical service with the integration with Workspace ONE Access

In this lab scenario the 3rd party authentication method we use to login into Workspace ONE Access will be a certificate based method of authentication.

We will start off by doing the following:

  • Install and configure Horizon Enrollment services
  • Log into a Windows 10 Desktop and demonstrate the solution
    • W10EXT-01a will represent a device on an Untrusted Network
      • It is running on the 172.16.30.0/24 network
      • This Windows 10 device is enrolled into Workspace ONE UEM as User4
    • W10Client01 will represent a device on a Trusted Network
      • it is running on the 192.168.110.0/24 network
      • This Windows 10 device is enrolled into Workspace ONE UEM as User1

Part 1. Installing a sub-ordinate CA and the Enrollment services

  1. On your ControlCenter2 server
    • Open the Remote Desktop Folder and launch TrueSSO.RDP shortcut
    • On the Server Manager Interface select Manage > Add Roles and Features
  1. On the Before you begin window select Next
  1. On the Select installation type window, ensure the radio button in front of Role-based or feature-based installation is selected select Next
  1. On Select destination server window (accept the defaults) select Next
  1. On the Select server roles window, select the check box in front of Active Directory Certificate Services, when prompted for the Add Features window, select Add Features box, then select Next
  1. On the Select features window select Next
  1. On the Active Directory Certificate Services window select Next
  1. On the Select role services window select Next
  1. On the Confirm Installation selections window, select the checkbox next to Restart the destination server automatically if required, on the Add Roles and Features Wizard window select Yes and then select Install

You will have to wait a short while before moving on to step 11.

  1. On the Installation progress page, select the Configure Active Directory Certificate Services on the destination server hyper-link
  1. On the Credentials window select Next
  1. On the Role Services page, select the Certificate Authority checkbox
  1. On the Specify the setup type of the CA window , select the radio button next to Enterprise CA and select Next
  1. On the CA type window ensure the Subordinate CA radio button is selected, select Next
  1. On the Private Key window, ensure the radio button next to Create a new private key is selected and select Next
  1. On the Cryptography for CA window select the following
    • Under Cryptographic Provider: RSA#Microsoft Software Key Storage Provider
    • Next to Key Length: 2048
    • Hash Algorithm: SHA256
  • Select Next
  1. On the CA Name window observe the CA naming convention and select Next

 

  1. On the Specify the name of the CA window select Next
  1. On the Request a certificate from parent CA , select the radio button next to Send a certificate request to a parent CA:
    • To the right of the Parent CA box click the Select button
    • Select OK accept the Default and select Next
  1. On the CA Database window, select Next
  1. On the Confirmation window select Configure
  1. On the Results window select Close on the Installation progress window, select Close

Part 2: Deploying and Configuring Horizon TRUE SSO

  1. In this section we will create a certificate template for Horizon TRUE SSO
    • On  your TRUESSO server select Start > Run > type mmc
    • Select File > Add/Remove Snap-in...
    • Select the Certificate Authority services snap-in,  select Add
    • In the Certificate Authority window,
      • Select the Local computer  radio button
      • Select Finish
    • Select OK to close the Snap-ins window
  1. Expand the euc-livefire-TRUESSO-CA inventory
    • Select Certificate Templates, right-click and select Manage
  1. In the Certificate Template Console find and select the Smartcard Logon template
  1. Right-click the Smartcard Logon template and select Duplicate Template
  1. In the Properties of New Template window in the Compatibility tab under Certificate Authority
    • Change from Windows 2003 to Windows 2012 R2
      • When prompted for the Resulting changes window select OK.
    • Under Certificate recipient change Windows XP / Server 2003 to Windows 8.1 / Server 2012 R2
      • When prompted for the Resulting changes window select OK.
  1. Select the General tab,
    • Under Template display name: type TrueSSO Template, you will notice Template name gets filled in automatically.
    • Under Validity period change the period from 1 years to 1 hours
      • When prompted by the Certificate Templates Box select OK
    • The Renewal period will automatically change from 6 weeks to 0 hours
  1. Select the Request Handling tab change the following next to :-
    • Purpose: change: Signature and encryption to Signature and smartcard logon.
    • Select the checkbox in front of Allow private key to be exported
    • Select the checkbox in front of For automatic renewal of smartcard certificates, use the existing key if a new key cannot be created
    • Select the radio button in front of Prompt the user during enrollment
  1. Select the Cryptography tab change the following next to
    • Provider Category: Key Storage Provider
    • Minimum key size: 2048
    • Request hash: SHA256
  1. Select the Server tab,
    • Select the checkbox in front of Do not store certificates  and requests in the CA database  
      • You will notice that Do not include revocation information in issued certificates is selected automatically.
    • Uncheck the check box next to  Do not include revocation information in issued certificates
  1. Select the Issuance Requirements tab, configure the following:
    • Select the checkbox : This number of authorized signatures and change the value to 1 in the box
    • Under Policy type required in signature
      • Ensure the Application policy is selected (default config)
    • Under Application Policy
      • Select Certificate Request Agent from the dropdown
    • Under the Require the following for reenrollment
      • Select the Valid existing certificate radio button
  1. On the Security tab in the Group or user names: area select Add
    • To the right of the Select this object type: box select the Object types button
      • Select the checkbox next to Computers, select OK
  1. In the Enter the object names to select type Truesso and to the right select Check Names select OK
  1. For the Permissions for TRUESSO ensure that the permission Read and Enroll checkboxes are selected.
    • Select OK to close the TrueSSO Template Properties,
  1. Switch to the Certificate Authority Console select and right-click the Certificate Templates container, select New > Certificate Template to Issue
  1. In the Enable Certificate Templates window, select your TrueSSO Template and select OK
  1. Switch back to the Certificate Templates Console select and right-click the Enrollment Agent (computer) template and select Properties
  1. In the Enrollment Agent Properties window select the Security tab
  1. Select Add and add the TRUESSO Computer account with Read and Enroll permissions . Select OK to close the Enrollment agent properties

 

  1. Switch back to the Certificate Authority Console select and right-click the Certificate Templates container, select New > Certificate Template to Issue
  1. In the Enable Certificate Templates window select the Enrollment Agent (Computer) template and select OK
  1. We will now configure the CA  for non-persistent certificate processing
    • On the TrueSSO server select and right-click the Start button and select Command Prompt (Admin)
  1. In the Administrator: Command Prompt enter the following commands
  • certutil -setreg DBFlags +DBFLAGS_ENABLEVOLATILEREQUESTS
  1. Configure CA to ignore offline CRL errors
    • certutil -setreg ca\CRLFlags +CRLF_REVCHECK_IGNORE_OFFLINE
  1. Restart the CA service. From the command prompt run:
    • net stop certsvc
    • net start certsvc
  1. On the TrueSSO server desktop launch the software shortcut and open the Horizon7 folder.
    • Select and launch the VMware-Horizon-Connection-Server-x86_64-7.11.0-15231595
  1. On the Open File - Security Warning window select Run
  1. On the Welcome window select Next
  1. On the License agreement window select the radio button next I accept the terms in the license agreement, select Next
  1. On Destination Folder window select Next
  1. On the Installation Options window select Horizon 7 Enrollment Server and under Select an Authentication Mode for the Enrollment Server Instance ensure Horizon 7 is selected.
    • Select Next
  1. On Firewall configuration window select Next
  1. Select Install
  1. On the Installer Completed Window select Finish
  1. On the TrueSSO server select and right-click the Start Button, select Run, type MMC, select OK
  1. In the Console window select File > Add/Remove Snap-in..
  1. In the Add or Remove Snap-ins window, select Certificates and select Add
  1. Select Computer account radio button select Next and select Finish select OK
  1. Expand the Certificates console inventory and select and right-click the Personal container. Select All Tasks > Request New Certificate
  1. On the Certificate Enrollment > Before you Begin window select Next
  1. On the Select Certificate Enrollment Policy window select Next
  1. On the Request Certificates windows select the checkbox in front of Enrollment Agent (Computer) and select Enroll
  1. On the Certificate Installation Results window, ensure the enrollment was successful and select Finish.
  1. On your ControlCenter2 server, open up your Remote Desktop folder and RDP to CS1-PD1 with username euc-livefire\administrator and password VMware1!
  1. On the CS1-PD1 desktop select and open your Cert Console.mmc
  1. In the Certificates Console expand the inventory and browse down to VMware Horizon View Certificates > Certificates
  1. Expand the console or scroll across the console and notice the guid based certificate has a friendly name of vdm.ec
  1. Select your GUID certificate with the friendly name of vdm.ec. Right-Click select All Tasks and select Export
  1. On the Welcome window select Next
  1. On the Export Private Key page select the radio button next to No, do not export the private key select Next
  1. On the Export File Format window select the radio button next to Base-64 encoded X.509 select Next
  1. In the File to Export window in the File name area type the following C:\software\Horizon7\enroll.cer and select Next

(Software is a shared folder which we will use to copy from on the TrueSSO server)

  1. On the Completing the Certificate Export Wizard window select Finish. When prompted that The export was successful, select OK
  1. On your ControlCenter2 server desktop switch from your CS1-pd1 session to  your TrueSSO session

 

  1. Open your Certificate services Snap-in, select and right-click the last container in the inventory VMware Horizon View Enrollment Server Trusted Roots, select All Tasks > Import
  1. On the Welcome window select Next
  1. In the File to import window type the following \\cs1-pd1.euc-livefire.com\software\Horizon7\enroll.cer and select Next
  1. In the Certificate Store window accept the defaults and select Next. On the Summary page select Finish. When Prompted that The Import was succesful select OK
  1. Right-click the imported certificate and select Properties. In the Friendly name: section type vdm.ec and select OK
  1. On your ControlCenter2 server, switch to your Chrome browser, Workspace ONE Access session,
    • Select the Catalog tab > Virtual Apps Collection

 

  1. Select the radio button next Horizon and select EDIT next to NEW
  1. In the Edit Horizon Collection window, select 2 Pod and Federation, under Horizon Connection Server select cs1-pd1.euc-livefire.com
  1. In the Edit Pod window under True SSO, change the toggle from Disabled to Enabled
    • Select SAVE , select NEXT, select NEXT, select SAVE
  1. From the ControlCenter2 server, switch back to your TrueSSO.RDP session
    1. Select the Start button > RUN and type regedit.exe
    2. In the regedit inventory, browse to the following location, browse to
      • HKLM\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.\VMware VDM\
      • What we should see is an Enrollment Service Key
        • HKLM\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.\VMware VDM\Enrollment Service.
        • You will notice there is no Enrollment Service key,  we need to create one. In our case we have to
    3. Create the Enrollment Service key
      • Right-click VMware VDM > New > Key and type Enrollment Service as a name
  1. Configure the enrollment service to give preference to the local certificate authority when they are co-located:
    • Add a new String Value
      • Right-click the Enrollment Service key > New > String Value and  type the name PreferLocalCaValue
      • Right-click the PreferLocalCaValue String value and select Modify and in the Value data: field enter 1
      • Select OK to close the window.
      • Click to close RegEdit
  1. On your ControlCenter2 server switch to your   CS1-PD1.RDP session

 

  1. Select and right-click the Start button and select Command Prompt (Admin)
  1. In the Administrator: Command Prompt type the following:-
  • cd\
  • cd Program Files\VMware\VMware View\Server\tools\bin
  1. In the Administrator: Command Prompt type the following:-

The enrollment server is added to the global list.

vdmUtil --authAs administrator --authDomain euc-livefire --authPassword VMware1! --truesso --environment --add --enrollmentServer TrueSSO.euc-livefire.com
  1. Wait 1 min before doing the next command

In the Administrator: Command Prompt type the following:-

The output shows the forest name, whether the certificate for the enrollment server is valid, the name and details of the certificate template you can use, and the common name of the certificate authority.

vdmUtil --authAs administrator --authDomain euc-livefire --authPassword VMware1! --truesso --environment --list --enrollmentServer TrueSSO.euc-livefire.com --domain euc-livefire.com
  1. Enter the command to create a True SSO connector, which will hold the configuration information, and enable the connector.
vdmUtil --authAs administrator --authDomain euc-livefire --authPassword VMware1! --truesso --create --connector --domain euc-livefire.com --template TrueSSOTemplate --primaryEnrollmentServer truesso.euc-livefire.com --certificateServer euc-livefire-TRUESSO-CA --mode enabled
  1. Enter the command to discover which SAML authenticators are available

Authenticators are created when you configure SAML authentication between Workspace ONE Access and a connection server, using Horizon Administrator.

The output shows the name of the authenticator and shows whether True SSO is enabled

vdmUtil --authAs administrator --authDomain euc-livefire --authPassword VMware1! --truesso --list --authenticator
  1. You will notice True SSO mode is Disabled. Enter the command to enable the authenticator to use True SSO mode
vdmUtil --authAs administrator --authDomain euc-livefire --authPassword VMware1! --truesso --authenticator --edit --name "Workspace ONE Access" --truessoMode ENABLED

 For --truessoMode, use ENABLED if you want True SSO to be used only if no password was supplied when the user logged in to VMware Identity Manager. In this case if a password was used and cached, the system will use the password. Set --truessoMode to ALWAYS if you want True SSO to be used even if a password was supplied when the user logged in to VMware Identity Manager

Part 3: Testing and troubleshooting TrueSSO

  1. On your ControlCenter2 server, switch your Remote Desktops session for  W10EXT01a.RDP.
  1. On your W10EXT01a desktop, ensure that any existing browser session is CLOSED
    • Open your browser and type access.euc-livefire.com

 

  1. On the Select a certificate window, select OK
  1. Select Apps tab in the Console
  1. In the Apps area, under Categories select Virtual
  1. In the Virtual area, next to W10INST select OPEN
  1. This might be the result. If it is not move on to Step 10
    • As we mentioned early, for VMware Horizon Enrolment services to work, it critical we have a Healthy Certificate Services environment.
    • Move on to the following step to clean out your Microsoft Certificate Services
  1. Perform the following steps on the following stakeholder platforms:-
    • The TRUESSO (Enrolment server), CS1-PD1 (Horizon Connection server ) and your ControlCenter2 (Certificate Authority) servers
      • Repeat these task on the W10EXT01a desktop
        • When you open the Certificates Snap-In for Local Computer we will go to two areas:
          • Trusted Root Certificate Authorities > Certificates
          • Intermediate Certificate Authorities > Certificates
        • On all stakeholder platforms Delete the following:-
          • The Certificates starting with CA
          • The Certificates starting with CONTROLCENTER-CA
            • On some of the stakeholder platforms there might be 3 and others 2
  1. Perform the following steps on the following stakeholder platforms:-
    • The TRUESSO (Enrolment server), CS1-PD1 (Horizon Connection server ) and your ControlCenter2 (Certificate Authority) servers
      • Repeat these task on the W10EXT01a desktop
        • When you open the Certificates Snap-In for Local Computer we will go to two areas:
          • Trusted Root Certificate Authorities > Certificates
          • Intermediate Certificate Authorities > Certificates
        • On all stakeholder platforms Delete the following:-
          • You will notice there are certificates starting with euc-livefire-CONTROLCENTER2-CA
          • Always start by selecting the bottom of either a set of two or three certificates
            • Select the certificate and select Open
  1. On the Certificate, select the Details. You will notice the certificate starts with a Serial number of 31 ec 01....
    • PLEASE NOTE: If the certificate Serial number starts with 29 03 ... This is a valid cert and should be left alone.
  • Select OK to close the Certificate window and then delete this certificate
    • Perform this task on all Stakeholder Platforms
  • Open the Command Prompt on all stakeholder platforms and type the command GPUPDATE /Force
  • You are now ready to again test your login through Workspace ONE Access. If necessary go back to Paragraph1 and repeat the login process
  1. Launch another session from the Workspace ONE portal and launch your Desktop entitlement.
    • This should be the result
  1. Launch another session from the Workspace ONE portal and launch an Application entitlement.
    • This could be the result, I have just launched Paint

Acknowledgments

A Huge thank you to

  • Rahul Jha from Global Support Services in Bangalore India for his support in development of this content
  • Spas Kalarov from the Hybrid Cloud Team at Livefire for help in Troubleshooting Certificate Services
  • Graeme Gordon from Tech Marketing for their guidance on Tech Zone

 

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