Tag: Excalibur

How to install Citrix Excalibur Tech Preview (part 5)

In the previous posts I have explained to you how to install the software and how you can create your first environment. Here’s the overview of the previous, current and yet to come posts and the Excalibur Tech Preview.

  1. What is Excalibur, prerequisites and overview of test lab setup
  2. Installation of Excalibur
  3. Configuring Excalibur (Studio)
  4. Configuration StoreFront
  5. Install Agent software on Windows 2012 machine <<Current page >>
  6. Configure Application
  7. Test published application and desktop (old XenApp)

In this post we are going to configure the Agent software for use with Excalibur on a Windows 2012 machine.

In this post I assume you already have installed a Windows 2012 server and are ready to install the Excalibur agent now.

Mount the Excalibur ISO in your VM and (if everything is correct) the auto launch will show this screen. Select the “Delivery Agent for Windows Machines” and let the installation begin. Continue reading “How to install Citrix Excalibur Tech Preview (part 5)”

What’s new with Provisioning in Excalibur

Patrick Carey wrote a nice blog on the Citrix blogs about the new features in provisioning that comes with the Excalibur Tech Preview available at this time.

One of the benefits of the updated FlexCast Management Architecture is that XenApp farms can now be deployed and managed from within Studio.  This also means they can be provisioned using the Machine Creation Services linked-clone delivery model that has been available within XenDesktop for a few releases now.  One of the primary benefits of MCS is the ease in which new catalogs of machines (virtual desktops and now virtual XenApp servers) can be created.  Updates to the catalog creation wizards in Studio guide you though the initial roll-out of a virtual XenApp farm.  The MCS model provides many of the same single image management benefits of Provisioning Services, but works directly on the storage managed by your hypervisor, so there is no need to deal with PXE or build-out a Provisioning Services deployment.  However, this capability is limited to the new Excalibur version of XenApp.

PVS streaming for XenApp farms and desktop catalogs is still an option in Excalibur, providing the enhanced image management capabilities and storage IO optimizations beneficial in larger, more complex environments, though management of the Provisioning Services infrastructure remains in a separate management console. Provisioning Services will continue to provide a centralized image library for mixed environments where multiple “sites” or “farms” of XenDesktop and XenApp are used.

Read more here.

How to install Citrix Excalibur Tech Preview (part 4)

In the previous posts I have explained to you how to install the software and how you can create your first environment. Here’s the overview of the previous, current and yet to come posts and the Excalibur Tech Preview.

  1. What is Excalibur, prerequisites and overview of test lab setup
  2. Installation of Excalibur
  3. Configuring Excalibur (Studio)
  4. Configuration StoreFront <<Current page >>
  5. Install Agent software on Windows 2012 machine
  6. Configure Application
  7. Test published application and desktop (old XenApp)

In this post we are going to configure the StoreFront for use with Excalibur.

Go to the bottom left of the screen and open the tiles interface (or use Windows key ). Select the StoreFront tile which will show by know. Open StoreFront now. Continue reading “How to install Citrix Excalibur Tech Preview (part 4)”

How to install Citrix Excalibur Tech Preview (part 3)

In my previous posts I covered the prerequisites and the installation of the next generation of XenApp and XenDesktop called “Excalibur”.

In this post I will cover the “Studio” part of the configuration of Excalibur.

  1. What is Excalibur, prerequisites and overview of test lab setup
  2. Installation of Excalibur
  3. Configuring Excalibur (Studio) <<Current page >>
  4. Configuration StoreFront
  5. Install Agent software on Windows 2012 machine
  6. Configure Application
  7. Test published application and desktop (old XenApp)

When the installation is complete and you launch the “Studio” application you are presented with this screen. From this “Welcome” page you can create an empty site , create a full deployment or join an existing deployment. As this is the first installation the latter option obviously doesn’t apply. Continue reading “How to install Citrix Excalibur Tech Preview (part 3)”

How to install Citrix Excalibur Tech Preview (part 2)

In the previous post I explained what the prerequisites are and what Excalibur is. In this post I’ll be showing you the basic installation of Excalibur. This setup is a single server with all options installed on 1 server. This is good for a test or PoC environment but never for a production environment. Always separate the database, StoreFront and delivery controller from each other.

  1. What is Excalibur, prerequisites and overview of test lab setup
  2. Installation of Excalibur <<Current page >>
  3. Configuring Excalibur (Studio)
  4. Configuration StoreFront
  5. Install Agent software on Windows 2012 machine
  6. Configure Application
  7. Test published application and desktop (old XenApp)

Continue reading “How to install Citrix Excalibur Tech Preview (part 2)”

How to install Citrix Excalibur Tech Preview (part 1)

Citrix has released the Tech Preview of Excalibur recently (beginning of November). This new version is a melt between XenDesktop and XenApp as we know it now. So for all of the XenApp fans I must disappoint you…. No more XenApp!!!

My idea is to cut it up in a couple of blog posts to keep it from being one big long, and not fun to read, post. So I split it up in a couple of posts which I will be spreading over a few days.

  1. What is Excalibur, prerequisites and overview of test lab setup <Current page >>
  2. Installation of Excalibur
  3. Configuring Excalibur (Studio)
  4. Configuration StoreFront
  5. Install Agent software on Windows 2012 machine
  6. Configure Application
  7. Test published application and desktop (old XenApp)

So to begin with the first part of the series straight away is a brief overview of what Excalibur is, the prerequisites and how my little test lab is setup.

What is Excalibur Continue reading “How to install Citrix Excalibur Tech Preview (part 1)”

Project Excalibur (Avalon) Tech Preview available

Citrix has released today the Tech Preview of the new XenDesktop/XenApp version.

Project (Avalon) Excalibur Technology Preview is our next-generation, unified desktop and app virtualization technology that is reinventing the delivery of Windows apps and desktops for mobility in the cloud-era.  The availability of this tech preview will allow Citrix customers and partners to have a first-hand look at a new unified FlexCast infrastructure combining VDI and Hosted Shared desktops and apps from a single platform.

New features include: