This article provides information about the branding change for the Horizon virtual desktop product and what you will need to update for Zoom to work with the new Horizon product updates.
In December 2024, the VMware Horizon client was rebranded as the Omnissa Horizon client. An additional change is being made to rebrand the VMware agent installed on the virtual desktop to the Omnissa agent.
Zoom has worked closely with the Horizon engineering team to update our software for the new Omnissa branding. The changes require updates for both the VDI Plugin and the VDI Zoom Workplace client.
VDI version 6.2.11, released on January 13, 2025, has been updated to support both older VMware Horizon client installations and the newer Omnissa Horizon client. The VDI Plugin installation packages updated for this change are for Windows, MacOS, and Ubuntu.
Note: Support for Linux distributions beyond Ubuntu will be provided later. Zoom is working closely with our partners to provide new plugins for the Omnissa Horizon client as soon as possible.
VDI plugins below version 6.2.11 are incompatible with the new Omnissa Horizon client. Attempting to install a VDI plugin release below 6.2.11 will result in an error message, and the VDI plugin will not be installed.
If you have installed or updated to the Omnissa Horizon client, you must install a VDI plugin version that is 6.2.11 or greater for Windows, MacOS, or Ubuntu.
In addition, the 6.2.11 version is still compatible with the older VMware Horizon client, and the installation packages can be installed for either Horizon application.
The Horizon team has informed Zoom that the upgrade from VMware Horizon to Omnissa Horizon is designed to update the components for an existing Zoom VDI plugin for the new Omnissa Horizon client. The update changes to provide continued support for an older Zoom VDI plugin are handled by the Horizon team.
While the update from VMware Horizon to Omnissa Horizon is intended to continue support for older Zoom VDI Plugin releases before 6.2.11, any future updates for the Zoom VDI Plugin, once the Horizon client has been updated to the Omnissa Horizon client, will require updating to version 6.2.11 or higher. Update prompts and policies for Zoom VDI Plugin Management that attempt to update to a VDI plugin version below 6.2.11 when the Horizon client has been updated to the Omnissa Horizon client will fail during the update procedure. This could result in repeated update attempts.
If you are using Zoom VDI plugin management for a VMware environment, the recommendation is to update all Zoom components, both VDI plugins and VDI host, to version 6.2.11 or greater before updating to the new Omnissa Horizon releases. For customers with BYOD users that could potentially update or install an Omnissa Horizon client on their own, Zoom VDI Plugin Management may need to be disabled until updates to 6.2.11 for Zoom can be completed in the virtual desktop environment.
Branding changes for Horizon also apply to desktop software components, including the VMware agent installed on the virtual desktop being rebranded as the Omnissa agent. This new desktop agent component will be released in January 2025.
Before updating the Horizon virtual desktop to use the new Omnissa agent, you must first update the VDI Zoom Workplace client in the virtual desktop to release 6.2.11 or greater to continue optimization support with the Zoom VDI Plugin.
It is recommended that the team responsible for updating virtual desktop applications, such as the VDI Zoom Workplace client, coordinate with the team responsible for updating the Horizon desktop environment to ensure the VDI Zoom Workplace client is updated prior to any Horizon desktop updates.
Please be aware that releases of Zoom’s VDI Plugin Management solution before 6.2.11 are incompatible with the Omnissa Horizon client. Due to this, VDI Plugin Management updates will no longer work if VMware Horizon is updated to Omnissa Horizon unless VDI Plugin Management is updated to version 6.2.11 or more significant.
Please update your VDI desktop environment to 6.2.11 or greater and then update the VDI Plugin to 6.2.11 or greater before updating VMware Horizon to Omnissa Horizon. If the VMware Horizon client is updated to the Omnissa Horizon client when a VDI Plugin below version 6.2.11 is installed, the VDI Plugin may continue to work, but VDI Plugin Management will not.
Our recommendation, if an update to the Omnissa Horizon client is done before updating the Zoom VDI Plugin, is to either ask users to manually update their VDI Plugin to version 6.2.11 or greater or install the latest version of VDI Plugin Management. Downloads for just the VDI Plugin Management package can be obtained from our VDI Plugin Management downloads page.