How To Remove Domain Status Errors In VMware Horizon Administrator Console

To remove domain status errors in VMware Horizon is a straightforward process that can be done with a few simple steps. In this blog post, we will guide you through the process of identifying and troubleshooting domain status errors in the VMware Horizon Administrator console.

I recently had a situation where the clients VMware Horizon Administrator console was displaying domain errors on the system health dashboard panel. Their environment consists of multiple forest trusts to other domains and they wished to filter them out of the VMware Horizon infrastructure.

The following screenshot is what was initially seen when they log into the VMware Horizon Administrator console:

Selecting the ‘VIEW’ option at the bottom-left of the panel opens another window. Choosing the ‘Other Components’ option on the left and the errors are displayed in a bit more detail:

In this case the error description states ‘Domain status error detected. Domain cannot be contacted.‘ I can also see that this domain does have a two-way trust relationship with the connection server’s domain.

The likely cause of the errors is the DNS server of the Horizon Connection Server does not have forward lookup zones to these domains. More information on this can be found in the VMware Horizon 7 documentation.
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Horizon-7/7.13/horizon-installation/GUID-01AF58AA-6617-41E5-B173-BBEFA2FEA7AA.html

Configuring Domain Filters using vdmadmin.exe

The vdmadmin executable can be found in the following directory on the Horizon connection server:
C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware View\Server\tools\bin

Begin by launching an elevated powershell prompt:

Use the following command to list all the active domains the connection server can see:
vdmadmin -N -domains -list -active

Use the following command to list the current include and exclude domains:
vdmadmin -N -domains -list

To exclude a domain use the following command:
(Note that the NetBIOS name must be used, not FQDN)
vdmadmin -N -domains -exclude -domain <NETBIOS_NAME> -add

Once added, you can use vdmadmin -N -domains -list again to show that the domain is now excluded.

I repeated the above step for the other two domains I wished to exclude:

The excluded domains will have also been removed from the list of active domains when viewed using the command vdmadmin -N -domains -list -active

To reverse the process and remove a domain from the exclude list thus making it active again, use the following command:
vdmadmin -N -domains -exclude -remove -domain <NETBIOS_NAME>

When finished, the VMware Horizon View Connection Server service must be restarted. This can be done from the powershell window with the command Restart-Service wsbroker

When you log back in to the VMware Horizon Administrator console, the excluded domain(s) no longer appear in the drop-down list.
(in my case, just three of the original six active domains are included)

The domain errors no longer appear on the dashboard system health panel.