Archive
#Citrix #XenApp 7.8 & #XenDesktop 7.8 Available for Download – #EnvokeIT
Citrix has no released XenApp & XenDesktop 7.8 for download! If you wonder how this new release could help you then contact us at EnvokeIT for more information!
Customers with active Software Maintenance (SWM) or Subscription Advantage (SA)–effective February 17, 2016–can download XenApp 7.8 and XenDesktop 7.8 on Citrix.com.
The XenApp and XenDesktop 7.8 release greatly simplifies application management, delivering a 90% time savings over traditional methods. It enhances the user experience, while introducing scalability improvements, enabling a 40% memory reduction and a 20% increase in CPU efficiency for select behavior. Plus new features strengthen security and compliance.
Simplify app management and delivery through new AppDisk technology
The 7.8 release includes exciting, new AppDisk app layering technology that lets you package and manage applications independent of your master desktop or server image. AppDisk alleviates the management complexity of multiple, departmental-based images by instantly layering applications onto your golden image based on different employee needs, making it easier than ever to deliver, install or update an application without changing or impacting the pristine, master image.
Save 90 percent of testing time by integrating AppDNA compatibility testing with AppDisk
Extending the app layering benefits of AppDisk, AppDNA for AppDisk instantly assesses the compatibility of the AppDisk applications with the associated master image, provides step-by-step remediation guidance to make any app compatible, while also reordering multiple assigned AppDisk layers for peak performance. Now you will be able to validate and remediate any OS or inter-app compatibility issues before delivering AppDisk applications to your user community.
Synergy 2015 – A condensed recap of everything you need to know – via @gkuruvilla, #Citrix, #CitrixSynergy
This is a great summary recap that George Kuruvill has done of Citrix Synergy 2015! Great work and enjoy this blog post!
For those of you who were not able to attend Citrix Synergy this year & dont have the time to sit through the key note recordings, I decided to put together a condensed version of some of the key announcements. So here goes!
Citrix Workspace Cloud
- Citrix hosted control plane that enables customers to deliver a comprehensive mobile workspace to end users.
- Gives customers the flexibility to host workloads on premises, in public or private clouds.
- Control plane also provides end to end monitoring of user connections.
- Evergreen infrastructure since Citrix maintains all core infrastructure components.
- Workspace Cloud Connector installed on premises on a Win 2k12 server that establishes SSL communication between control plane and customer environment. Used to talk to infrastructure components like Active Directory and hypervisors hosting workload
I wrote a blog on CWC and the value proposition a month back that you can find here.
SYN 217 – Workspace Cloud – Technical Overview [Video]
Citrix Lifecycle Management
- Comprehensive cloud based service that can be used to design, deploy and manage both Citrix and other enterprise applications.
- Based on the ScaleXtreme technology.
- Lifecycle Management enables customers/partners to deploy infrastructure not only on premises but also public/private clouds (resource locations)
- Customers/Partners have the ability to create blueprints to automate infrastructure deployments end to end. Examples of blueprints include a XD deployment for instance where you could not only install all the XD infrastructure but also automate the installation of all supporting infrastructure like Active Directory, SQL etc.
- Vendors have the ability to create blueprints as well that can then be consumed by customers and partners alike.
- Customers/Partners also have the ability to incorporate scripts (new/existing) into the deployment.
- Once a blueprint is developed, its added to a library. Any resource within the library can then be deployed to a resource location (on premises, public/private cloud)
- Another key benefit of the Lifecycle Management technology is the ability to automate application upgrades.
XenApp/XenDesktop
- Xenapp 6.5 maintenance extended till end of 2017, EOL extended till 06/2018. Details here
- New Feature Pack for XA 6.5 (enhance storage performance, Lync support enhancements, UPM enhancements, Director “Help Desk” troubleshooting”, Storefront 3.0, Receiver.next)
- XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6 FP2 (End of Q2)
- New Receiver X1
- Lync 2013 on Mac
- Touch ID Support
- HDX with Framehawk
- Native Receiver for Linux
- Linux Apps and Desktops (Redhat and SUSE support)
- Desktop Player for Mac 2.0 (June)
- Desktop Player for Windows (Tech Preview)
SYN 233 – Whats new in XenApp and XenDesktop [Video]
SYN 319 – Tech Update for XenApp and XenDesktop [Video]
#Citrix Workspace Cloud Setup on Microsoft #Azure – #EnvokeIT, #DaaS, #XenDesktop, #NetScaler
This is just so cool and great! Finally we who have seen and played with it can talk about it in the open and Citrix is showing the new Workspace Cloud services!
You can also login and try it out at http://workspace.cloud.com
Of course it’s not 100% ready for all use cases etc. but the concept is just great! There are so many customer out there that don’t want to manage their XenDesktop infrastructure components and just want to purchase XenDesktop or XenMobile like a true cloud service.. and this is it!
Gunner Berger created this great demo video on how he just spins up a couple of Windows server with RDS in Azure and then installs the components on the servers and connector in order to be able to connect the domain and workers to the Workspace service, really cool!
Have a nice weekend and contact us at EnvokeIT if you like to know more about this or if you need help with Azure, Office365, Microsoft Infrastructure or Citrix XenDesktop, NetScaler or XenMobile! 😉
//Richard
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,
#Citrix #StoreFront 2.5.2 is released – #DaaS, #XenDesktop, #XenApp
Citrix has released Citrix StoreFront 2.5.2 with some good fixes…
Issues fixed in StoreFront 2.5.x
Updated: 2014-06-18
Issues fixed in StoreFront 2.5.2
Fail to launch a XenApp session from the second delivery site.
The StoreFront server had problems with load balancing between two XenApp farms. When the first farm was completely loaded, StoreFront did not use the second farm and the application launch failed. [#432279]
Enhanced enumeration fails with socket pooling enabled.
Enumeration failed for two or more farms when socket pooling was enabled in the store configuration file. [#470666 and #458139]
Issues with finding the domain controller for a domain.
Slow logon times occurred when geographically distant domain controllers were chosen. [#479210]
Submitting the logon form after the authentication service session timed out results in an HTTP 400 Bad Request.
When the logon form was submitted after the authentication service session timed out, an HTTP 400 Bad Request response was generated preventing the user’s credentials from being resubmitted. [#479200]
Directory queries are not thread-safe.
Citrix default Domain Services crashed because the Directory services account look-up was not thread-safe. [#479188]
Issues fixed from StoreFront 2.1 to 2.5
Changing an expired password on next logon fails.
When prompted to change a password, client domain users using Windows would not be able to successfully change their passwords because of Windows Server 2003 domain controllers failing to handle the operation correctly. Microsoft has issued an update that resolves this problem. The update is available via Windows Update or may be downloaded from Microsoft support directly at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2927811. [#438725]
A user with a large number of subscriptions loses the ability to manage subscriptions.
When logging on, users with 353 or more automatic app subscriptions would receive the following error: “Citrix Receiver cannot currently add, remove, or reposition apps.” [#432086]
The wrong user name is sometimes shown.
Clients would erroneously display a different username. [#430823]
PNA resource IDs do not match requirements of local launch logic.
PNA resources from XenApp were in a format different than StoreFront’s usage. This inconsistency led to slower performance due to excessive ICA connections.[#429055]
Partial wildcard certificates cause issues in the admin console.
The admin console would improperly display configured host names from the IIS bound certificates. [#424708]
Change password option is not available for some users.
Some users were not given the option to reset their password even though they were enabled to do so. [#416373]
Subscription export/import loses subscription properties.
StoreFront was not properly maintaining multiple subscription properties. [#408668]
DAC smart card authentication updated to use domain account services rather than IIS certificate mapping.
Desktop Appliance Connector certificate authentication with smart cards required manual configuration with IIS certificate mappings rather than using the default domain account services. [#406945]
A SAN web server certificate with no CN causes issues for the admin console.
StoreFront admin console was improperly handling common name entries in certificates which would cause console crashes.[#401815]
StoreFront home farms support gives a user access to all farms when they should have access to none.
When a user was configured without access to any farms, all farms were enumerated for that user.[#400869]
The admin console being closed would overwrite some manually applied changes made to the configuration file.
Some manual configuration changes were being lost when the admin console was closed. [#440946, #424460, #439887, #395155]
#Nutanix is the Visionary leader in #Gartner magic quadrant! – #IaaS, #PaaS, #DaaS, #Storage, #Converged
I’m not surprised at all and think that this is a good report by Gartner!
Nutanix is absolutely the visionary leader and once more and more units are shipped they will also climb higher into the leaders section and totally rule! I must say that this is a really impressive product that truly is web-scale ready for SMB to large enterprise workloads!! Contact us at EnvokeIT if you need more details! We know the product and how it can deliver value to you!
The integrated system market is growing at 50% or more per year, creating an unusual mix of major vendors and startups to consider. This new Magic Quadrant will aid vendor selection in this dynamic sector.
Nutanix has close working relationships with multiple top software vendors, and workloads like VDI, Hadoop and DBMS servers are well-represented among the installed base. Maximum neutrality is a major focus for Nutanix, as it works to build trust across a wide variety of vendors. The vendor frequently targets specific workload needs to penetrate new accounts, and then expands the workload reach to compete with incumbent vendors as client confidence is built. Nutanix claims that 50% of first-time clients expand their configurations within six months (and 70% do so within 12 months).
Market Definition/Description
Integrated systems are combinations of server, storage and network infrastructure, sold with management software that facilitates the provisioning and management of the combined unit. The market for integrated systems can be subdivided into broad categories, some of which overlap. Gartner categorizes these classes of integrated systems (among others):
- Integrated stack systems (ISS) — Server, storage and network hardware integrated with application software to provide appliance or appliancelike functionality. Examples include Oracle Exadata Database Machine, IBM PureApplication System and Teradata.
- Integrated infrastructure systems (IIS) — Server, storage and network hardware integrated to provide shared compute infrastructure. Examples include VCE Vblock, HP ConvergedSystem and IBM PureFlex System.
- Integrated reference architectures — Products in which a predefined, presized set of components are designated as options for an integrated system whereby the user and/or channel can make configuration choices between the predefined options. These may be based on an IIS or ISS (with additional software, or services to facilitate easier deployment). Other forms of reference architecture, such as EMC VSPEX, allow vendors to group separate server, storage and network elements from a menu of eligible options to create an integrated system experience. Most reference architectures are, therefore, based on a partnership between hardware and software vendors, or between multiple hardware vendors. However, reference architectures that support a variety of hardware ingredients are more difficult to assess versus packaged integrated systems, which is why they are not evaluated by this research.
- Fabric-based computing (FBC) — A form of integrated system in which the overall platform is aggregated from separate (or disaggregated) building-block modules connected over a fabric or switched backplane. Unlike the majority of IIS and ISS solutions, which group and package existing technology elements in a fabric-enabled environment, the technology ingredients of an FBC solution will be designed solely around the fabric implementation model. So all FBCs are an example of either an IIS or an ISS; but most IIS and ISS solutions available today would not yet be eligible to be counted as an FBC. Examples include SimpliVity, Nutanix and HP Moonshot System.
Read the whole Gartner Magic Quadrant for Integrated Systems here!
//Richard
#XenMobile and the #Citrix Mobile Workspaces Architecture – #BYOD
This is a great blog post by Christopher Campbell and good picture to show the overall capabilities and architecture of the Citrix offering!
You’ve heard us talk about Mobile Workspaces and if you’re a techie you’re probably wondering if Citrix really has the architectural components (a complete, comprehensive and fully integrated architecture) that can deliver any app and data to any user on any device over any network?
Well let’s first identify a few of the market leading technologies that make up the Citrix Mobile Workspaces solution:
- XenApp mobilizes and secures Windows apps on any device
- XenDesktop securely delivers virtual Windows desktops and apps on any device
- XenMobile manages and secures mobile, web and SaaS apps on mobile devices
- GoToMeeting empowers people to meet and collaborate with anyone, anywhere
- ShareFile shares and syncs corporate data securely from any location
- NetScaler optimizes and secures app delivery and on any network
- CloudPlatform orchestrates and provisions apps, desktops and IT services from any cloud
OK, OK. We know you have the products but do they really integrate?
Yes. Don’t believe me? Well as they say a picture is worth a thousand words. This is what the Mobile Workspace Architecture looks like.
OK. I get it. You have the architecture but that doesn’t necessarily translate to a seamless user experience.
Still don’t believe huh? Well this is what the user experience looks like.
XenMobile is a key ingredient in delivering a mobile workspace. Along with XenApp and XenDesktop it allows organizations to deliver on giving users access to any app from any device. In fact, if you’re an existing XenApp or XenDesktop customer, XenMobile seamlessly plugs into your existing architecture.
If you’re a XenDesktop or XenApp customer this is what your environment probably looks like.
Now this is what you need to enable EMM for BYO and COPE (Corporate Owned, Personally Enabled) devices and add that MDM, MAM, Secure Email, Secure Data…
Continue reading here!
//Richard
#Citrix #XenApp and #XenDesktop 7.5 is released
Finally it’s released, just go and download and enjoy (hopefully)! 😉
https://www.citrix.com/downloads/xendesktop/product-software/xendesktop-75-platinum.html
Documentation is available online in Citrix eDocs. Keeping in mind that the online documentation will be periodically updated, you may also download a PDF file with a current snapshot for offline use:
Admin Guide
Upgrade Guide
Install Guide
This single package contains the Core and components needed to deploy the server-side infrastructure supporting Windows 8.1 and Server 2012 R2 and includes Director, Studio, Delivery Controller, Virtual Delivery Agent, Personal vDisk, Universal Print Server, Receiver and StoreFront, Profile Management, HDX, Migration tool, License Server and CloudBridge (Branch Repeater) plug in.
//Richard
Bug in Citrix Receiver 13 for Linux – cannot connect with multiple STAs – @CitrixSupport, @CitrixReceiver, #Citrix
Ok, we’ve had some issues with Citrix Receiver version 13 for Linux.. and it’s not just ONE issue. I found one that I thought I just have to share… so it’s lab Saturday for me at the office in a true geek manner with two XenClients and my favourite MacBook!
I guess that some of you have tried the Linux Receiver and knows how hard it is to get working, especially on a 64-bit distribution of Linux like Ubuntu 12.04 LTS och 13.10 LTS.
If you follow these instructions you can get it onto the device and then login through a browser (local Receiver UI may still not be full functioning!)..
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CitrixICAClientHowTo
What I’m about to show you is that it’s not just only getting Receiver on the device and ensuring that the SSL certificates are trusted. You then have to be able to use it as well externally through a NetScaler Gateway (NSG) into StoreFront and your XenApp/XenDesktop VDA’s.
Just assume that you have a production environment that consists of a NetScaler Gateway and a StoreFront server, if you then in StoreFront have configured your NetScaler Gateway correctly and the appropriate STA configuration (with MULTIPLE STA’s) then you will notice that you can’t launch a session.
BTW, the recommendation from Citrix is to use multiple STA’s, right! See this from edocs:
For all deployments, if you are making resources provided by XenDesktop, XenApp, or VDI-in-a-Box available in the store, list on the Secure Ticket Authority (STA) page URLs for servers running the STA. Add URLs for multiple STAs to enable fault tolerance, listing the servers in order of priority to set the failover sequence. If you configured a grid-wide virtual IP address for your VDI-in-a-Box deployment, you need only specify this address to enable fault tolerance.
Important: VDI-in-a-Box STA URLs must be entered in the form https://serveraddress/dt/sta in the Add Secure Ticket Authority URL dialog box, where serveraddress is the FQDN or IP address of the VDI-in-a-Box server, or the grid-wide virtual IP address.
The STA is hosted on XenDesktop, XenApp, and VDI-in-a-Box servers and issues session tickets in response to connection requests. These session tickets form the basis of authentication and authorization for access to XenDesktop, XenApp, and VDI-in-a-Box resources.
If you want XenDesktop, XenApp, and VDI-in-a-Box to keep disconnected sessions open while Citrix Receiver attempts to reconnect automatically, select theEnable session reliability check box. If you configured multiple STAs and want to ensure that session reliability is always available, select the Request tickets from two STAs, where available check box. Read more…
How to: Create Desktop Appliance site on StoreFront – #Citrix, #StoreFront, #ThinClient
I guess that some of you out there by now are using Thin Clients and some are using Desktop Appliance site functionality in the old Web Interface for these thin clients that are XenApp- or XenDesktop-ready.
So now you have or are thinking on how to setup this on StoreFront!
Citrix has A LOT of work to do in order to ensure that StoreFront becomes a stable and enterprise ready! There are so many tweaks and configurations needed in config files etc. that just isn’t ok! Add them into the console! It’s not hard, even I could code in some menus, forms windows and trigger the underlying PowerShell scripts!
But back to the topic, how do we configure Desktop Appliance site in StoreFront? Well, first we need to have a look at the following edocs articles that explain how to do it:
Desktop Appliance sites – And the most important in this article is the bottom that details WHAT DOESN’T WORK!
Important considerations
Desktop Appliance sites are intended for local users on the internal network accessing desktops from non-domain-joined desktop appliances. When you decide whether to use Desktop Appliance sites to provide users with access to your stores, consider the following restrictions.
- If you plan to deploy domain-joined desktop appliances and repurposed PCs, do not configure them to access stores through Desktop Appliance sites. Instead, configure Citrix Receiver with the XenApp Services URL for the store. For more information, see XenApp Services URLs.
- Desktop Appliance sites do not support connections from remote users outside the corporate network. Users logging on to NetScaler Gateway cannot access Desktop Appliance sites.
How do you release this and don’t support connecting through a NetScaler Gateway? Then you miss the whole point of SmartAccess, you cannot trigger EPA (host checks) for instance to control ICA/HDX features like drive mapping etc. internally. And you cannot have thin clients on the Internet that connects into the enterprise through NetScaler Gateway!
Next you should read this article that details the PowerShell madness 😉
Configure Desktop Appliance sites
I won’t go into details of the article above but rather show you how it’s done and with some examples of arguments to pass to the PowerShell scripts.
Step one is to log on to your StoreFront server, and just to show you our current setup is that we have one Receiver for Web (RfW) sites used for browser access into StoreFront:
From a Store perspective you can see that we have one (1) store that the RfW site exposes:
The IT Melting Pot! 