Archive
Deploying #SCCM 2012 Packages and Programs with the #Citrix Connector – #DaaS, #XenDesktop
This is a really good blog post by Christopher Fife, it touches on a couple of scenarios and explains the solution to how best you would accommodate the solution to them. Good work Christopher! 🙂
The Citrix Connector 7.5 for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, also known simply as the Citrix Connector, integrates XenApp and XenDesktop 7 with Configuration Manager 2012 (CM). The Connector streamlines use of Configuration Manager deployment technology to automate Citrix server and desktop image management. The Connector leverages the new Application/Deployment Type (App/DT) feature of Configuration Manager 2012 to orchestrate deployment to the right images at the right time. Administrators can optionally use the App/DT model to deliver the actual application publications.
Many of our customers are still early in migrating to the App/DT model. They are still leveraging their extensive library of Packages and Programs developed with great care over many years. These Citrix customers want to know how to use all the goodness of the Connector with these Packages and Programs. So, if you are interested in using the Citrix Connector to deploy Packages and Programs to your Citrix servers and desktop, this post is for you.
In many cases deploying Packages and Programs with the Citrix Connector is a straight forward process familiar to any CM administrator. However there are two scenarios in which specific actions are required to avoid unintended consequences when deploying Packages and Programs with the Citrix Connector.
Scenario 1 – Deploying to Image Managed (MCS or PVS) Citrix hosts
The first scenario that requires special consideration is deploying Packages and Programs to VMs created with Citrix XenDesktop Machine Creation Services (MCS) or Citrix Provisioning Services (PVS). As an administrator, you want to deploy software on the master image of a Machine Catalog and rely on XenDesktop/XenApp to clone worker VMs. Deploying directly to VM clones wastes compute, storage, and network resources because each clone will discard the changes on reboot.
Thus, the Citrix Connector is optimized to only install applications on the master image of a Machine Catalog while entirely skipping application installation on the clones of the master image. The key enabler that allows us to selectively install applications is a CM client policy that puts a 3rd party agent like the Citrix Connector in charge of when to install application or updates.
Here’s the problem. CM client policy does not stop the installation of Packages and Programs or Task Sequences; it only applies to the App/DT model and Windows Updates. This means that the Citrix Connector cannot prevent the installation of Packages and Programs on MCS or PVS clones, leading to unnecessary resource utilization.
Solution
Create a device collection that contains just the update device and deploy Packages and Programs to this device collection instead of the device collection created by the Citrix Connector.
Scenario 2 – App Publishing from the CM Console
The second scenario comes into play when using the CM Console to publish the Package/Program as a XenApp-hosted application. The Citrix Connector uses CM application detection logic to ensure that the application is installed before publishing it to Citrix Receiver. This is to prevent an icon from appearing in Receiver before all the servers in a Delivery Group have the application installed.
Unfortunately Package/Program deployments do not have reliable, ongoing application detection logic. Consequently, this orchestration feature of the Citrix Connector cannot be supported when using the Citrix Application Publishing Wizard to publish apps from the Configuration Manager Console.
Solution 1
Use Citrix Studio to publish the application instead of the Citrix Application Publishing Wizard in the CM Console.
Solution 2
If you are using CM Application Catalog and want the Citrix hosted version of the installed program to appear there, you will need to create a new application with a Script deployment type and a Citrix deployment type. The Script DT supplies the application detection logic by looking for the application’s executable, while the Citrix DT creates the application publication in XenDesktop.
Solution Details
The remainder of this post is divided into two sections and will give specific examples of how to implement the solutions discussed above. The first focuses on image management and precisely targeting the program deployment at the update device for a Citrix device collection. The second section focuses on publishing the program installed by CM as a Citrix hosted app.
Solution for Image Management and Resource Utilization
As previously mentioned, the Citrix Connector cannot prevent the installation of Packages and Programs on pooled Citrix session hosts created with Machine Creation Service (MCS) or Provisioning Service (PVS). To prevent this potential inefficiency, a new device collection must be created that only contains the update device. There are 4 steps to accomplish this:
- create the new device collection,
- deploy the program to the new device collection,
- monitor for deployment success on the update device, and
- update the pooled Citrix session hosts with the updated image.
These steps are detailed below.
For background information about master image management with the Citrix Connector and the role of the update device, watch the Master Image Management video http://www.citrix.com/tv/#videos/11534 on CitrixTV.
Before you start, use the machine catalog properties to make sure there is a designated update device, the Update Method property value is “update device”, and the Update Device property value contain a machine name. This is a very important step. If an update device is not defined for a Citrix image managed device collection, the steps outlined below will result in a new device collection with zero members.
Step 1: Use the Configuration Manager Console to create a device collection
- In the Assets and Compliance section of the Configuration Manager Console, click the “Create device collection” action on toolbar ribbon.
- On the General Page of the Create Device Collection Wizard,
True or False: Always use Provisioning Services – #Citrix, #PVS, #MCS
Another good blog post from Daniel Feller:
Test your Citrix muscle…
True or False: Always use Provisioning Services
Answer: False
There has always been this aura around Machine Creation Services in that it could not hold a candle to Provisioning Services; that you would be completely insane to implement this feature in any but the simplest/smallest deployments.
How did we get to this myth? Back in March of 2011 I blogged about deciding between MCS and PVS. I wanted to help people decide between using Provisioning Services and the newly released Machine Creation Services. Back in 2011, MCS an alternative to PVS in that MCS was easy to setup, but had some limitations when compared to PVS. My blog and decision tree were used to help steer people into the PVS route except for the use cases where MCS made sense.
Two and a half years passed and over that time, MCS has grown up. Unfortunately, I got very busy and didn’t keep this decision matrix updated. I blame the XenDesktop product group. How dare they improve our products. Don’t they know this causes me more work? 
It’s time to make some updates based on improvements of XenDesktop 7 (and these improvements aren’t just on the MCS side but also on the PVS side as well).
So let’s break it down:
- Hosted VDI desktops only: MCS in XenDesktop 7 now supports XenApp hosts. This is really cool, and am very happy about this improvement as so many organizations understand that XA plays a huge part in any successful VDI project.
- Dedicated Desktops: Before PVD, I was no fan of doing dedicated VDI desktops with PVS. With PVD, PVS dedicated desktops is now much more feasible, like it always was with MCS
- Boot/Logon Storms: PVS, if configured correctly, would cache many of the reads into system memory, helping to reduce the Read IOPS. Hypervisors have improved over the past 2 years to help us with the large number of Read disk operations. This helps lessen the impact of the boot/logon storms when using MCS.
#Citrix #XenDesktop 7 on #vSphere Validated Design Guide is available now!
Really good design guide by Citrix and blog post by Carisa Powell:
We are pleased to announce the availability of the Citrix Solutions Lab 5000-user XenDesktop 7 on vSphere Validated Design Guide.
Yes, you read that right, XenDesktop on vSphere. XenDesktop is also known to many vSphere customers as the best VDI solution for vSphere, and this design guide showcases the latest release of XenDesktop features and functionality all being hosted on a vSphere hypervisor. XenDesktop is the best of both virtual apps and desktops from a single platform, so XenDesktop is VDI, XenDesktop is app virtualization, XenDesktop is server-hosted apps and desktops, XenDesktop is secure remote access, XenDesktop is mobility…and with XenDesktop 7 you get all of this functionality from a single platform.
This design guide combines everything that is XenDesktop 7 and delivers it from vSphere to showcase how you can provide an app, desktop, remote access, and more solution for any type of user:
- VDI – XenDesktop offers a variety of VDI use cases, whether the user needs a standardized, corporate desktop that remains consistent and routine, or the user needs a personalized virtual desktop that he or she can customize to meet their business needs. This design guide validates XenDesktop Provisioning Services central image management technology for Pooled VDI on vSphere and XenDesktop Personal vDisk technology for delivering Personal VDI on vSphere.
- Server-hosted Apps and Desktops – XenDesktop also offers server-hosted apps and desktops by leveraging Microsoft Remote Desktop Shared Hosted (RDSH) technology to enable multiple users to connect and share resources from a single server. This design guide showcases XenDesktop server-hosted resources from Windows Servers on vSphere.
- Remote Access – XenDesktop leverages Citrix NetScaler appliances to provide secure, remote access from any location. NetScaler can be a virtual or physical appliance, and this design guide highlights the implementation and configurations of NetScaler Gateway virtual appliances on vSphere.
So why showcase all the features and functionality of XenDesktop 7 on vSphere? Staying true to the Citrix vision, XenDesktop continues to remain the only hypervisor agnostic app and desktop virtualization solution – including VDI, virtual apps and more. This means XenDesktop 7 seamlessly integrates with any hypervisor including Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix…
Continue reading here!
//Richard
#Citrix #XenDesktop 7 released – #RTW, #BYOD, #HSD, #VDI
Ok, it’s here! The official release is now available for everyone!
There are tons of blog posts and materials already out there and some great features as well that comes with this new release from Citrix. If you haven’t already played with the Excalibur release and know about them I suggest that you start evaluating and testing now!
Here are some good links to have a look at:
- XenDesktop 7 Overview
- XenDesktop 7 Feature matrix
- Excalibur is XenDesktop 7: what does this mean for XenApp and XenDesktop customers?
- XenDesktop 7: Upgrade & migration paths for XenDesktop and XenApp customers
- XenDesktop 7: AppDNA and Platinum Activation
- Reference Architecture: Director and EdgeSight
- XenDesktop 7 edocs – Documentation
- XenDesktop 7 Admin Guide
- XenDesktop 7 Upgrade Guide
- XenDesktop 7 Install Guide
Enjoy! 🙂
//Richard
#CitrixSynergy keynote – What will be announced?
So here we are! Keynote is about to start!
what can we expect? This is one thing that I definitely like to see:
– MDM + MAM + MIM + XA/XD= one solution/service! Have they finally made some progress into integrating Zenprise, AppController and StoreFront into one “App Store” and policy governance model so that we have one (1) app that handles both MDM, MAM and MIM from a device/user perspective?
Let the show begin! 🙂
//Richard
#Citrix Knowledge Center Top 10 – March 2013
Citrix Support is focused on ensuring Customer and Partner satisfaction with our products.
One of our initiatives is to increase the ability of our Partners and Customers to leverage self-service avenues via our Knowledge Center.
Find below the Citrix Knowledge Center Top 10 for March 2013.
Top 10 Technical Articles
| Article Number | Article Title |
|---|---|
| CTX129229 | Recommended Hotfixes for XenApp 6.0 and Later on Windows Server 2008 R2 |
| CTX129082 | Application Launch Fails with Web Interface using Internet Explorer 9 |
| CTX804493 | Users Prompted to Download ICA File, Launch.ica, Instead of Launching the Connection |
| CTX132875 | Citrix Receiver Error 2320 |
| CTX105793 | Error: Cannot connect to the Citrix server. Protocol Driver Error |
| CTX127030 | Citrix Guidelines for Antivirus Software Configuration |
| CTX115637 | Citrix Multi-Monitor Configuration Settings and Reference |
| CTX133997 | Citrix Receiver 3.x – Issues Fixed in This Release |
| CTX325140 | Manually and Safely Removing Files after Uninstalling the Receiver for Windows |
| CTX101644 | Seamless Configuration Settings |
Top 10 Whitepapers
| Article Number | Article Title |
|---|---|
| CTX131577 | XenApp 6.x (Windows 2008 R2) – Optimization Guide |
| CTX132799 | XenDesktop and XenApp Best Practices |
| CTX101997 | Citrix Secure Gateway Secure Ticket Authority Frequently Asked Questions |
| CTX136546 | Citrix Virtual Desktop Handbook 5.x |
| CTX136547 | StoreFront Planning Guide |
| CTX133185 | Citrix CloudGateway Express 2.0 – Implementation Guide |
| CTX129761 | XenApp Planning Guide – Virtualization Best Practices |
| CTX134081 | Planning Guide – Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop Policies |
| CTX130888 | Technical Guide for Upgrading/Migrating to XenApp 6.5 |
| CTX122978 | XenServer: Understanding Snapshots |
Top 10 Hotfixes
| Article Number | Article Title |
|---|---|
| CTX136714 | Hotfix XS61E016 – For XenServer 6.1.0 |
| CTX132122 | Hotfix Rollup Pack 1 for Citrix XenApp 6.5 for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 |
| CTX126653 | Citrix Online Plug-in 12.1.44 for Windows with Internet Explorer 9 Support |
| CTX136483 | Hotfix XS61E014 – For XenServer 6.1.0 |
| CTX133882 | Hotfix Rollup Pack 2 for Citrix XenApp 6 for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 |
| CTX133066 | 12.3 Online Plug-In – Issues Fixed in This Release |
| CTX136253 | Hotfix XS61E010 – For XenServer 6.1.0 |
| CTX136482 | Hotfix XS61E013 – For XenServer 6.1.0 |
| CTX136085 | Hotfix XA650R01W2K8R2X64061 – For Citrix XenApp 6.5 |
| CTX136674 | Hotfix XS61E012 – For XenServer 6.1.0 |
Top 10 Presentations
| Article Number | Article Title |
|---|---|
| CTX135521 | TechEdge Barcelona 2012 PowerPoint and Video Presentations – Reference List |
| CTX129669 | TechEdge 2011 – Overview of XenServer Distributed Virtual Switch/Controller |
| CTX121090 | Planning and implementing a Provisioning Server high availability (HA) solution |
| CTX133375 | TechEdge 2012 PowerPoint and Video Presentations – Reference List |
| CTX135356 | TechEdge Barcelona 2012 – Understanding and Troubleshooting ICA Session Initialisation |
| CTX135358 | TechEdge Barcelona 2012 – XenDesktop Advanced Troubleshooting |
| CTX133374 | TechEdge 2012 – Monitoring your NetScaler Traffic with AppFlow |
| CTX135361 | Troubleshooting Tools: How to Isolate and Resolve Issues in your XA and XD Env Rapidly |
| CTX135360 | TechEdge Barcelona 2012 – Planning, Implementing and Troubleshooting PVS 6.x |
| CTX135357 | TechEdge Barcelona 2012 – Implementing and Troubleshooting SF and Rec for Windows |
Top 10 Tools
| Article Number | Article Title |
|---|---|
| CTX122536 | Citrix Quick Launch |
| CTX135075 | Citrix Diagnostics Toolkit – 64bit Edition |
| CTX130147 | Citrix Scout |
| CTX111961 | CDFControl |
| CTX106226 | Repair Clipboard Chain 2.0.1 |
| CTX109374 | StressPrinters 1.3.2 for 32-bit and 64-bit Platforms |
| CTX124406 | StressPrinters 1.3.2 for 32-bit and 64-bit Platforms |
| CTX113472 | Citrix ICA File Creator |
| CTX123278 | XDPing Tool |
Continue reading here!
//Richard
#Citrix Virtual Desktop Handbook 5.x – #XenDesktop, #XenApp
Ok, this is a pretty good handbook I must admit. Have a look at it here!
And if you need help then of course you can always contact EnvokeIT! 😉
And here is a good blog post about this as well by Thomas Berger:
One of the foundational project management principals is that project success occurs when it is delivered on time, within budget and with a level of quality that is satisfactory to the client. Of course these three dimensions are valid for any desktop virtualization project as well.
While a lot of information about budget planning and TCO/ROI for virtual desktop / application delivery projects can be found on the internet (e.g. http://flexcast.citrix.com/analyzeandcompare.html), the amount of information about time planning and success criteria is very low.
Since this lack of publicly available information causes every customer to “reinvent the wheel” and therefore add some delays to their projects, we thought it’s time to provide some guidance around these topics.
The result of our efforts has become part of the newly released Citrix Virtual Desktop Handbook (http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX136546). Version 1 of this white paper focuses on the Assess phase that identifies the information required prior to starting the design phase and outlines the project management tasks I mentioned earlier.
But instead of just discussing the topics from a theoretical point of view, we provide detailed guidance and tools which can be used for your projects right away. For example you will get a sample project plan (Microsoft Project), which outlines and provides duration estimates for every step of a desktop virtualization project (sample below).
Furthermore the white paper discusses a general project methodology, describes how business priorities can be identified and provides detailed information about the roles required during a enterprise grade project (sample below).
This and even more can be found within the new Citrix Virtual Desktop Handbook..
//Richard
PVS support in XenServer 6.1 – via @_POPPELGAARD – #XenServer, #Citrix, #PVS
Good blog post from Thomas Poppelgaard!
And this is something that many have waited for, either they upgraded and ran into the issues and had to revert back to 6.0.2… but now it’s fixed! 🙂
Citrix have released Hotfix XS61E009 & XS61E010 for XenServer 6.1 and now you are able to have Citrix Provisioning Services with XS 6.1 and use VVS.
I have been waiting for this for a while.
Issues Resolved In This Hotfix XS61E009
- Virtual Machines (VMs) with out of date XenServer Tools, may not be flagged as “out of date” in XenCenter. This hotfix resolves this issue and enables customers to be notified in XenCenter when new XenServer Tools are available.
- Booting a Citrix Provisioning Services (PVS) target device using a Boot Device Manager (BDM) image can take an extended time to complete. This hotfix resolves this issue.
Issues Resolved In This Hotfix XS61E010
- Customers using XenServer Platinum Edition to license Citrix Provisioning Services (PVS) may find that one PVS license per VM is checked out, rather than one PVS license per XenServer host. This may lead to a shortage of PVS licenses and an inability to provision VMs. Installing this hotfix along with CTX135672 – Hotfix CPVS61016 (Version 6.1.16) – For Citrix Provisioning Services 6.1 – English resolves this issue.
- Attempts to shut down Microsoft Windows Vista and later VMs can cause intermittent blue screen errors, with a "STOP: 0x0000009f..." error message.
- Adding more than eight NICs to Microsoft Windows Vista and later VMs, using the xe CLI can lead to a blue screen error on reboot.
- Copying data to a Microsoft Windows 2003 VM can cause the VMs to hang and lead to a grey screen error.
- When Dynamic Memory Control (DMC) is enabled, attempts to migrate Microsoft Windows XP and later VMs using XenMotion can cause the VMs to hang and lead to blue screen error.
- When the Citrix Xen Guest Agent service is running, Cut and Paste will not work between a XenDesktop virtual desktop and the endpoint device.
- Microsoft Windows XP and later VMs may hang during the boot process and may have to be forced to reboot.
- Attempting to install or upgrade the XenServer Tools on Microsoft Windows Vista and later VMs, which do not have access to a paravirtualized or an emulated network device can cause the installation process to hang.
- Manually installing the Legacy XenServer Tools without changing the device_id to 0001 can result in a "STOP: 0x0000007B..."error when rebooting a Windows VM. After installing this hotfix, customers will not be able to manually install the Legacy XenServer Tools by running xenlegacy.exe…
Continue reading here!
//Richard
My Post-Synergy View – Update 2 #CitrixSynergy #Citrix #CitrixSummit #XenApp #XenDesktop #NetScaler #Sanbolic
Hi again!
Ok, time to wrap up my Synergy update post series… In the previous post I started to give U my view of the takeaways from Citrix Synergy. So let’s continue! 🙂
As I wrote before I tried to structure the post using the following; each heading represents the enhancement request topic and/or the takeaway item, and then the subheading of Description and Status is showing you my personal view on the topic and its status.
NetScaler
Description:
These where the items that we had on the enhancement list before going to Synergy:
- Create SDX platform/architecture to run on all MPX appliances, for more info why see; NetScaler MPX vs. SDX dilemma; https://richardegenas.com/2012/10/03/netscaler-mpx-vs-sdx-dilemma/
- Add support for AG session policies so that ICA proxy can be turned on for specific published apps and desktops and not per session. This for situations where you might have one app or desktop that sits behind an AGEE and others don’t.
- The NetScaler/Access Gateway HTML/GUI pages used shall be able to be customized per AGEE/AAA Virtual Server. Today they are global pages so that specific modifications/customizations cannot be made and you have to buy an additional NetScaler unless major customizations are done and then life-cycle management becomes an issue.
- Change so that you can specify different Authentication policies and requirements mapped to Session policies instead of to a Virtual Server, AAA group etc. This could then provide a way so that you could offer ICA proxy mode with single auth and two-factor if you launch/select to open an SSL VPN tunnel. And then a user that has forgotten a hardtoken could still get access but only in ICA proxy mode and have all virtual channels disabled without having to have multiple accounts in the Receiver and admin doesn’t need multiple NS AGEE VS.
- It would be good to get the same Account Self-Service functionality that the Single Sign-On/Password Manager service can provide and have integrated into the AGEE login page where end-users can themselves unlock their accounts and reset their passwords without involving Service Desk. And the solution for how to get the single sign-on account self service feature should be an integration part of the NetScaler AGEE console rather than manually updating the HTML pages etc.
Wow, PVS creativity at its best – but still a workaround…
Ok, I must admit that the blog post below and the efforts put into it from a creativity point of view is great!
Martin Zugec blog post about Pimp your PVS 1 – auto patcher is really neat! I give you all the creeds Martin, great work!
But, is this a solution to the problem that the PVS product has regarding configuration and patch management? NO… U still have a lot of work to do here Citrix, I’m just glad that you have such innovative and creative people like Martin to deliver interim workarounds to a problem that according to my personal believe is a major mistake in the product design and build principles.
Still waiting for a XenDesktop suite-wide “Update Manager” that handles life-cycle management of all components of the stack. Citrix has a lot of great products and now just need to “wrap it all up” and ensure that they are ready from an ITIL/ITSM point of view.
Cheers!
//Richard
The IT Melting Pot! 