To join, or not to join [to the domain before deploying VDI]?

Question

I've seen conflicting suggestions on VMware's documentation as well as around the Internet on a best practice for preparing linked clones for VMware View (5) deployments. Should I join the parent VM to the domain prior to shutting down for a snapshot, or should I do that with Sysprep/Quickprep during Compose?

Answer 1

Looks like I should have read through the documentation more thoroughly. While I know it's possible to join during deployment, VMware's desktop preparation guidelines state that the machine should be joined prior to deployment. I assume that this is needed for QuickPrep.

VMware View 5.1 Documentation Center: Prepare a Guest Operating System for View Desktop Deployment

11 Join the virtual machine to the Active Directory domain for your View desktops.

A parent virtual machine that you use for View Composer must either belong to the same Active Directory domain as the domain that the linked-clone desktops will join or be a member of the local WORKGROUP.