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Get started with UE-V for Windows

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Note

This documentation is for the most recent version of UE-V. If you're looking for information about UE-V 2.x, which was included in the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP), see Get Started with UE-V 2.x.

Follow the steps in this article to deploy User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) for the first time in a test environment. Evaluate UE-V to determine whether it's the right solution to manage user settings across multiple devices within your enterprise.

Note

The information in this section is explained in greater detail throughout the rest of the documentation. If you've already determined that UE-V is the right solution and you don't need to further evaluate it, see Prepare a UE-V deployment.

The standard installation of UE-V synchronizes the default Microsoft Windows and Office settings and many Windows applications settings. For best results, ensure that your test environment includes two or more user computers that share network access.

Step 1: Confirm prerequisites

Before you proceed, ensure that your environment meets the following requirements for running UE-V.

Operating system Edition Service pack System architecture Windows PowerShell Microsoft .NET Framework
Windows 10, version 1607 Windows 10 Enterprise NA 32-bit or 64-bit Windows PowerShell 3.0 or higher .NET Framework 4 or higher
Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 Enterprise or Pro None 32-bit or 64-bit Windows PowerShell 3.0 or higher .NET Framework 4.5
Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard or Datacenter None 64-bit Windows PowerShell 3.0 or higher .NET Framework 4.5

Step 2: Deploy the settings storage location

You need to deploy a settings storage location, a standard network share where user settings are stored in a settings package file. When you create the settings storage share, you should limit access to users that require it. For more information, see Deploy a UE-V Settings Storage Location.

Create a network share

  1. Create a new security group and add UE-V users to the group.

  2. Create a new folder on the centrally located computer that stores the UE-V settings packages, and then grant the UE-V users access with group permissions to the folder. The administrator who supports UE-V must have permissions to this shared folder.

  3. Assign UE-V users permission to create a directory when they connect. Grant full permission to all subdirectories of that directory, but block access to anything above.

  4. Set the following share-level Server Message Block (SMB) permissions for the settings storage location folder.

    User account Recommended permissions
    Everyone No permissions
    Security group of UE-V users Full control

  5. Set the following NTFS file system permissions for the settings storage location folder.

    User account Recommended permissions Folder
    Creator/owner Full control Subfolders and files only
    Security group of UE-V users List folder/read data, create folders/append data This folder only

Important

If you create the settings storage share on a computer running a Windows Server operating system, configure UE-V to verify that either the local Administrators group or the current user is the owner of the folder where settings packages are stored. To enable this additional security, specify this setting in the Windows Server Registry Editor:

  1. Add a REG_DWORD registry key named "RepositoryOwnerCheckEnabled" to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\UEV\Agent\Configuration.
  2. Set the registry key value to 1.

Step 3: Enable and configure the UE-V service on user devices

For evaluation purposes, enable the service on at least two devices that belong to the same user in your test environment.

The UE-V service is the client-side component that captures user-personalized application and Windows settings and saves them in settings packages. Settings packages are built, locally stored, and copied to the settings storage location.

Before enabling the UE-V service, you need to register the UE-V templates for first use. In a PowerShell window, type Register-UevTemplate [TemplateName] where TemplateName is the name of the UE-V template you want to register, and press ENTER. For instance, to register all built-in UE-V templates, use the following PowerShell Command:

Get-childItem c:\programdata\Microsoft\UEV\InboxTemplates\*.xml|% {Register-UevTemplate $_.Fullname}

To set the storage path for UE-V with group policy

A storage path must be configured on the client-side to tell where the personalized settings are stored.

  1. Open the device's Group Policy Editor.

  2. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Microsoft User Experience Virtualization.

  3. Double select Settings storage path.

  4. Select Enabled, fill in the Settings storage path, and select OK.

    • To make sure that each user gets a unique folder, the storage path should end with %username%.

To set the storage path for UE-V with PowerShell

  1. In a PowerShell window, type Set-uevConfiguration -SettingsStoragePath [StoragePath] where [StoragePath] is the path to the location created in step 2 followed by \%username%.

    • To make sure that each user gets a unique folder, the storage path should end with %username%.

Enable the UE-V service

With Windows 10, version 1607 and later, the UE-V service is installed on user devices when the OS is installed. Enable the service to start using UE-V. You can enable the service with the group policy editor or with Windows PowerShell.

To enable the UE-V service with group policy

  1. Open the device's Group Policy Editor.
  2. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Microsoft User Experience Virtualization.
  3. Double select Use User Experience Virtualization (UE-V).
  4. Select Enabled and select OK.
  5. Restart the device.

To enable the UE-V service with Windows PowerShell

  1. In a PowerShell window, type Enable-UEV and press ENTER.
  2. Restart the device.
  3. In a PowerShell window, type Get-UEVStatus and press ENTER to verify that the UE-V service was successfully enabled.

Step 4: Test your UE-V evaluation deployment

You're ready to run a few tests on your UE-V evaluation deployment to see how UE-V works.

  1. On the first device (Computer A), make one or more of these changes:

  2. Sign out of Computer A. Settings are saved in a UE-V settings package when users lock, sign out, exit an application, or when the sync provider runs. By default, the sync provider runs every 30 minutes.

  3. Sign in to the second device (Computer B) as the same user as Computer A.

  4. Open Windows Desktop and verify that the taskbar location matches that of Computer A. Verify that the default fonts match and that NotePad is set to word wrap on. Also verify the change you made to any Windows applications.

  5. You can change the settings in Computer B back to the original Computer A settings. To verify the changes, sign out of Computer B and sign in to Computer A.

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