Zoom system requirements: Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

This article lists the requirements for using the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) version of the Zoom desktop client on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Software requirements

Additional applications and versions known to be compatible with Zoom’s VDI offering are listed in the tables below.

VDI Server

VDI Client

Notes:

• A: Citrix Workspace Receiver must be an official Citrix version provided directly from their website and cannot be from the Microsoft Store.
• B: Windows 7 and higher are supported for VDI media offloading with the Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) plugin if connected through Windows RDP. For example, a user can connect to their remote, non-VDI Windows 7 machine through RDP and offload Zoom media if the client and AVD plug-in are installed in their respective locations.
• C: Windows 7 and Windows 8 will likely no longer be supported as of Q2 2024 due to end of support for 32-bit devices. More information on this will be available soon.

Hardware requirements

VDI plugin for macOS

These Mac devices are supported for use with the VDI plugin:

• MacBook, 2015 or later
• MacBook Air, 2012 or later
• MacBook Pro, 2012 or later
• Mac mini, 2012 or later
• iMac, 2012 or later
• iMac Pro
• Mac Pro, 2013 or later
  Note: Some Mac Pro mid-2010 or mid-2012 models are supported with a recommended graphics card that supports Metal.

VDI plugin for Windows

A Windows device must have the following hardware requirements to support the VDI plugin:

• 64-bit processor
• Dual-core 1.5Ghz or above

VDI plugin for Linux

A Linux device must have the following hardware requirements to support the VDI plugin:

• 64-bit processor
• Dual-core 1.5Ghz or above

Limitations for VDI features

Some Zoom features are not available with the VDI Client because of technical limitations related to the infrastructure and media offloading requirements.

The VDI Client has the following limitations:

• Local recording: Due to the lack of writing space on most thin clients and Zoom’s continuous writing process for local recordings, shared or synchronizing resources (such as a VDI server), the VDI client only supports cloud recording.
• Virtual background: Standard thin clients may not meet system requirements to use virtual backgrounds in meetings. Optimized thin clients with sufficient processing power are supported.
• Gallery view with 49 participants: The Zoom VDI Client supports 6 to 49 video streams, depending on the hardware. For more information, please visit the Support article on how to calculate the number of video streams for VDI Clients.
• Group HD: Most VDI Clients cannot use Group HD video at 720p or 1080p resolution because of hardware processing limitations; however, Group HD video is available if users are optimized and their local machine meets minimum requirements.
• Zoom Clips: The feature called Zoom Clips that allows a video recording to be created that can composite your video on top of captured content is not currently supported for VDI.
• Presenter Layouts: Layout options to display your webcam video on top of your share session are not currently supported and the settings are hidden. The Advanced option for Powerpoint as a background is also disabled.
• Human Avatars: The ability to design and create your own avatar from a selection of human attributes is not supported for VDI.
• Video Messages in Team Chat: The ability to send a video message using Zoom Team Chat is not currently supported in the VDI client.
• Zoom Phone Video Greeting and Video Mail:Creating, sending and viewing video greetings or video mail for Zoom Phone is not currently supported.
• Screen capturing: Third-party tools designed to save screen content may not be capable of capturing content from a Zoom meeting depending on where the tool is running. Video, including the screen share content, is displayed on the thin client and capture tools located in the virtual desktop are unable to access the video overlay. By default, screen capture capability is disabled for VDI but the option to capture using the VDI plugin can be enabled by adding the DisableScreenshotOptimization DWORD registry key to the \VDI path with the assigned value of “0”. For more information about this and other policy options that can be added for VDI as registry entries refer to our VDI client registry settings article.
• Optimize video for screen sharing: The VDI Client is optimized for screen sharing at a low frame rate to maintain server performance, which can produce choppy animated content when sharing from a virtual desktop.
  Users can share at higher frame rates if the Optimize Video option has been created using the EnableOptimizeForVideo registry key. The frame rate possible is typically up to only 15 frames per second maximum.
• Peer-to-peer connections: Because of the intended optimized connection for the VDI Client with the plug-in, the VDI Client will never establish a P2P connection and will always connect to the cloud.