Citrix and Server 2012 legal notice scrollbar

If you have a Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop 7.x environment and enabled the legal notice and you are seeing the legal notice being displayed in a window with scrollbars here’s the solution.

On the XenApp/XenDesktop machines add these registry keys: Continue reading “Citrix and Server 2012 legal notice scrollbar”

XenDesktop/XenApp 7.6 VDA agent exclude options

When you want to install the bare essentials of the XenDesktop/XenApp 7.6 Virtual Desktop Agent you can use the command line switch /EXLCUDE to install only the bare minimum of the VDA agent.

The following KB article lists the 4 components which can be excluded using the XenDesktopVDASetup.exe /EXCLUDE command.
Continue reading “XenDesktop/XenApp 7.6 VDA agent exclude options”

Citrix XenApp failed to connect to the Data Store.

Today I needed my XenApp 6.5 server to check something in my lab and I wasn’t able to run the discovery of my XenApp farm. I checked the services and they were running fine (IMA, MFCOM etc). In the event log however I saw these nice messages: Continue reading “Citrix XenApp failed to connect to the Data Store.”

XenDesktop and XenApp 7.6 feature overview

With the upcoming release of XenDesktop/XenApp 7.6 Citrix has released an overview of the features available per license model:

 

Meet the demands of any use case

XenApp Advanced XenApp Enterprise XenApp Platinum XenDesktop VDI XenDesktop Enterprise XenDesktop Platinum
XenApp published apps (Server-based hosted apps) can be deployed on 5 generations of Windows operating systems, enabling secure access to Windows apps on any type of device including iOS, Android, Mac and Windows devices for on-demand access from anywhere, lets users focus on work.
XenApp published desktops are low-cost, locked-down virtual desktops that provide the flexibility and mobility benefits of desktop virtualization while maximizing IT control through enhanced security and simplified management.
VDI desktops offer maximum user personalization of a persistent Windows virtual desktop that can be fully customized to meet the needs of your most-demanding users.
VDI with Personal vDisk pairs the maximum user personalization benefits of VDI with the storage optimizations and administrative efficiencies of single image management to deliver a desktop virtualization solution that meets the needs of both users and IT admins.
Server VDI enables enterprises and service providers the ability to deliver to an individual user a single session, server-based virtual desktop from the cloud.
Hosted physical desktops enable high performance remote access to physical desktops securely protected in the datacenter for optimal data protection, especially beneficial for graphically intensive applications that run best on a native OS that has direct access to the physical desktop hardware.
Remote PC Access (with Wake On LAN) instantly delivers desktop virtualization benefits without the need to migrate desktops to the datacenter by providing users with a secure, high-definition, direct connections to their office PCs.
Offline client virtualization (XenClient Enterprise)extends the benefits of desktop virtualization to people who need to work from anywhere including offline, by enabling them to work in a disconnected state thereby extending use case flexibility.
DesktopPlayer for Mac (Add-on*) extends the benefits of XenDesktop to MacBook users, enabling them to run Windows desktops on a Mac whether they are online, offline, or even experiencing a slow or intermittent network connection. End users gain freedom while IT gains control by centrally managing Windows virtual desktops deployed to corporate and BYO MacBooks.

*Add-on purchase required

VM hosted apps ease Windows OS transitions and overcome application compatibility challenges in a multi-user, server environment.
Pre-launch technology creates a local-like app launch experience by expediting the session creation process.  With pre-launch, a session waits for the user in an active or disconnected state, enabling quick, instant-on app access to an already active app session making for a fast and local-like app launch experience.  Pre-launch configurations have been improved on the FMA platform, making it simple to configure from the Citrix Studio management console.

Available with Receiver for Windows.

*Feature of XenApp

Session linger keeps the user session open after the user closes the app, to provide a quick app reconnect or enable the user to open a new app without repeating the logon process. Admin-configurable time-based policy automatically releases a license consumed by a pre-launched and lingering session to improve license management.

Available on all Citrix Receivers

*Feature of XenApp

Unauthernticated user (anonymous logon) enables administrators to authenticate users at the applications. Employees get instant, unauthenticated access to a single app while access to other, more personalized apps such as email remains authenticated.
Support for USB 3.0 devices with automatic drive mapping and redirection provide users a plug-n-play capability with the latest web cams, microphones, headsets and other peripherals to enhance the user experience within published app sessions.

For more comparison tables check out this link.

 

reconnect only to published desktop or application

Hi guys,

If you ever find yourself in the situation that you want to be able to only publish applications or desktops to your users you can can create two stores (1 for the applications and the other for desktops). You can configure both stores to point to the same XenApp/XenDesktop farm/site. This blog post by Feng Huang describes the configuration of the StoreFront Store in great detail.  When you have this configured and you connect to the Desktops only store, you are only able to (re)connect to desktops. Any opened or disconnected published applications won’t be reconnected from that store. Vice versa this works off course the same, open or disconnected published desktop(s) aren’t reconnected when connecting to the Applications only store.

 

XenApp 6.5 Hotfix Rollup Pack 02

Citrix has released HRP02 for XenApp 6.5 for Windows Server 2008R2 end of June. This Rollup Pack packs a lot of fixes which have been released after the release of Rollup Pack 01.

Download

You can download the HRP02 here.

Replaced Hotfixes

This hotfix rollup pack replaces the following hotfixes:

<rmc_replaces_list>XA650W2K8R2X64R01, XA650W2K8R2X64032, XA650W2K8R2X64033, XA650W2K8R2X64034, XA650W2K8R2X64036, XA650R01W2K8R2X64001, XA650R01W2K8R2X64002, XA650R01W2K8R2X64003, XA650R01W2K8R2X64004, XA650R01W2K8R2X64005, XA650R01W2K8R2X64006, XA650R01W2K8R2X64007, XA650R01W2K8R2X64009, XA650R01W2K8R2X64010, XA650R01W2K8R2X64011, XA650R01W2K8R2X64012, XA650R01W2K8R2X64013, XA650R01W2K8R2X64014, XA650R01W2K8R2X64015, XA650R01W2K8R2X64016, XA650R01W2K8R2X64017, XA650R01W2K8R2X64018, XA650R01W2K8R2X64019, XA650R01W2K8R2X64020, XA650R01W2K8R2X64021, XA650R01W2K8R2X64022, XA650R01W2K8R2X64023, XA650R01W2K8R2X64024, XA650R01W2K8R2X64025, XA650R01W2K8R2X64026, XA650R01W2K8R2X64027, XA650R01W2K8R2X64028, XA650R01W2K8R2X64029, XA650R01W2K8R2X64030, XA650R01W2K8R2X64031, XA650R01W2K8R2X64033, XA650R01W2K8R2X64034, XA650R01W2K8R2X64036, XA650R01W2K8R2X64037, XA650R01W2K8R2X64038, XA650R01W2K8R2X64039, XA650R01W2K8R2X64040, XA650R01W2K8R2X64042, XA650R01W2K8R2X64043, XA650R01W2K8R2X64044, XA650R01W2K8R2X64045, XA650R01W2K8R2X64046, XA650R01W2K8R2X64047, XA650R01W2K8R2X64048, XA650R01W2K8R2X64049, XA650R01W2K8R2X64050, XA650R01W2K8R2X64051, XA650R01W2K8R2X64052, XA650R01W2K8R2X64053, XA650R01W2K8R2X64055, XA650R01W2K8R2X64056, XA650R01W2K8R2X64057, XA650R01W2K8R2X64058, XA650R01W2K8R2X64059, XA650R01W2K8R2X64060, XA650R01W2K8R2X64061, XA650R01W2K8R2X64062, XA650R01W2K8R2X64063, XA650R01W2K8R2X64064, XA650R01W2K8R2X64065, XA650R01W2K8R2X64066, XA650R01W2K8R2X64067, XA650R01W2K8R2X64068, XA650R01W2K8R2X64069, XA650R01W2K8R2X64070, XA650R01W2K8R2X64071, XA650R01W2K8R2X64073, XA650R01W2K8R2X64074, XA650R01W2K8R2X64075, XA650R01W2K8R2X64078, XA650R01W2K8R2X64079, XA650R01W2K8R2X64080, XA650R01W2K8R2X64081, XA650R01W2K8R2X64082, XA650R01W2K8R2X64083, XA650R01W2K8R2X64084, XA650R01W2K8R2X64086, XA650R01W2K8R2X64087, XA650R01W2K8R2X64088, XA650R01W2K8R2X64089, XA650R01W2K8R2X64091, XA650R01W2K8R2X64094

Invalidated Hotfixes Continue reading “XenApp 6.5 Hotfix Rollup Pack 02”

How to Enable Continuous CDF Tracing in Provisioning Services 7.0

This article describes how to enable continuous CDF tracing in Provisioning Services 7.0.

Requirements

CDFMonitor

Background

With the introduction of Provisioning Services 7.0, the Provisioning Services logging mechanism has changed from persistent log files to CDF tracing. Provisioning Services no longer logs streaming event to a log file. You must configure CDF tracing to capture persistent logging for determining the root cause of a problem.

Procedure

To enable continuous CDF tracing in Provisioning Services 7.0, complete the following procedure:

  • Download the Provisioning Services specific configuration file from this article.
  • Extract the files to the C:cdfmonitor folder.
  • Replace the CDFMonitor.exe.config that comes with CDFMonitor with the one downloaded from this article.
  • Open a command line interface and open the C:cdfmonitor folder.
  • Run the following command:
    cdfmonitor.exe /installservice

    CDFMonitor runs as a service that persists even after the server restarts. Continuous CDF trace is then captured on all modules. The trace file will grow to 100 MB in size and will rotate between five files. The moment the CDFMonitor service is restarted, a new CDF trace file is created.

Download

You can read more instructions and download the special CDFMonitor.exe here.

DSCheck Maintenance Assistant

Citrix has released a new tool (for GUI lovers amongst us techies) for DSCheck options and queries to make our live easier. Be aware that the tool (even with GUI) can break your environment so USE CAUTION!!!

DSCheck Maintenance Assistant is designed to facilitate the process of running dscheck commands on a XenApp server. The tool provides a graphical user interface for dscheck.exe that the XenApp administrators can use to clean and validate their datastore.

Prerequisites

  • Install .NET Framework 2.0 or later
  • log on as a user with Local Administrative privileges

Installing DSCheck Maintenance Assistant

DSCheck Maintenance Assistant is a standalone application. You need not install the application; also you can run the application from any folder local on the XenApp server.

Download

You can download the tool here and read more about the options and how to use them wisely.