Application Streaming with Leostream

Application streaming is a great way of providing end users remote access to the tools they need to work, especially when considering the savings in resource utilization. Leostream does not have an out-of-the-box application streaming solution, however, you can stream applications by leveraging Windows RDS and RemoteApps. Below you will find a tutorial on how to accomplish this.

Enabling and Licensing RDS

Assuming you already have a licensed Windows Server instance connected to a domain, you'll only need to configure a few things in order to enable Remote Desktop Services.

1. The first step is to navigate to Server Manager and add the RDS role:
   
   
   
2. For the case of this tutorial, we are using "Quick Start" which adds (almost) all the appropriate features needed:
   
   
   
3. Next, we'll select the Session-based desktop deployment - this is the common RemoteApp and desktop session model that is traditionally used with RDS deployments
   
   
   
4. On the next page, ensure your server is selected
   
   
   
5. Once confirmed, follow the next steps to deploy the features and allow for the machine to be rebooted
   
   
6. Once the machine is rebooted, you may need to ensure the Licensing feature is installed as well. You can do this by navigating to the Server Manager to "Add Roles and Features" and checking the following:
   
   
   
   
7. Once installed, open the Remote Desktop Licensing Manager
   
   
   
8. In this application, you will need to activate your server and install the RDS Licensing.
   Note: The Leostream HTML5 Viewer counts as a single device under Device CAL. The HTML5 Viewer can support ~75 concurrent HTML5 sessions
   
   
9. Once activated and licensed, in Server Manager, select the Remote Desktop Services from the left-hand menu
   
   
   
10. Right click where it says "RD Licensing" and select "Select RD Licensing Mode".
    
    
    
    

Leostream Configuration

Now that you have a licensed RDS server, it's time to integrate it with Leostream.

1. The first step is to install the Leostream Agent (https://license.leostream.com/download.html) on the RDS server. For instructions on Leostream Agent installation, please see our Installation Guide
   
   
2. In the Connection Broker, you should be able to find the imported RDS Server in Resources > Desktops. If you are having trouble, please use the System > Log to see if you can find a recent "Imported" message
   
   
   
3. Next, navigate to Setup > Centers and add a new "Remote Desktop Services/Multi-User" center. In this form, you can name the Center, select the RDS server, and specify how many concurrent sessions that server can support
   Note: There is no inherit limit for the amount of concurrent sessions allowed, but this should be based on the server hardware capacity. In addition, if you're using the HTML5 viewer, please consider the ~75 concurrent user limit

   
   

   After the Center is created, you'll notice that the original RDS server desktop record is marked "Unavailable" and new desktops are created to match the number of sessions you've defined:

   

   These can be treated like any other desktop object, and you can hard-assign or pool-assign these machines based on your preferred method.

   
   

4. The last part of the configuration, aside from the policy + pool assignments, is to define the protocol plan that will allow for RemoteApp streaming. In this example, I will use "Paint" as the remote application.

   
   

   HTML5 RDP with RemoteApp:
   

   When defining the RemoteApp, it's crucial to prefix the alias on the RemoteApp with "||"
   
   

   Native RDP with RemoteApp:
   

   When defining the RemoteApp, it's crucial to prefix the alias on the RemoteApp with "||". The two highlighted parameters are the only required ones to stream the RemoteApp.
   
   
   Once you have your sessions and an appropriate protocol plan, you can now setup your policy and pool assignments to stream applications to your end users: