The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test AppController 2.6 (Previously Cloud Gateway) part of the Mobile Solutions Bundle prior to deploying in a PoC, Pilot or Production environment by the author of this entry. The views, opinions and concepts expressed are those by the author of this entry only and do not necessary conform to industry descriptions or best practises.
Shortened Names
XENMOBILE APPCONTROLLER – xac
FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – fqdn
ACTIVE DIRECTORY – ad
STOREFRONT SERVER – sfs
HIGHLY-AVAILABLE – h/a
XENAPP – xa
XENDESKTOP -xd
NETSCALER GATEWAY – nsg
SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE – SaaS
REMOTE ACCESS – r/a
Apple iOS Developer Account
1: Register for an Apple Enterprise iOS Developer Account and NOT Standard – bit.ly link to https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/. Why your probably asking? The enterprise account is designed to allow you to deliver your digitally signed wrapped apps e.g Worx Home, WorxWeb and WorxMail to an unlimited number of iOS devices from your enterprise app store e.g XAC. The standard account is designed for you to develop and then test your app to a fair number of iOS devices (iPad mini, iPhone) and then publish your app to the iTune’s AppStore.
2: Download the Citrix App Preparation Tool for iOS – http://www.citrix.com/downloads/
3: Prior to continuing please review review the following Citrix eDocs article – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/cloudgateway/clg-appwrap-landing-page-con.html
4: Following the instructions for digitally signing your iOS app using the Citrix App Preparation Tool for iOS
Certificates
1: By default the following two types of self-assigned certificates are issued to your XenMobile AppController upon initial deployment which are a Server, SAML certificates issued to the FQDN AppController.example.com.
2: It is safe to perform the initial xac with the default certificates thereafter I would recommend generating a CSR and signing with your Enterprise CA vs. self-assigned to the host name.
Uploading & Configuring Wrapped iOS Apps
1: Once the app has been digitally signed with your iOS Enterprise developer account please navigate to your AppControllers Mgmt. FQDN e.g yourdomain.co.uk:4443 and login with your administrative credentials.
2: Navigate to Apps & Docs tab select iOS then upload and locate the signed iOS app and follow the onscreen instructions – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/appcontroller-26/clg-appc-mobile-apps-wrapper-d-con.html.
3: To configure any of the MDX policies i.e MDX Access, InterApp, Vault for your iOS app – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/appcontroller-26/clg-appc-mobile-apps-policies-d-con.html
4: The iOS app is now available and ready to be selected and downloaded onto the users end-point mobile device via StoreFront.
Deployment Modes
1: There are two types of deployment modes for the XenMobile AppController which is either direct or integrated. It is important to understand that this is NOT h/a.
2: Direct mode is where users connect directly to the XenMobile AppController bypassing StoreFront. In this deployment scenario the xac can only service and deliver Mobile apps, SaaS and web links to users. If you would like to test this mode deploy and configure your xac with mobile apps, web links within your environment and connect to the xac’s https://FQDN/ either internal or external using a internet browser on an iOS device as an example and it will redirect you to https://FQDN/Citrix/StoreWeb where you will be able to login using your AD credentials thereafter you’ll be able to select and launch a web link or click and install a Mobile app.
4: Integrated mode is where all the requests for mobile apps, SaaS, web links are aggregated through to the sfs over a HTTPS connection. ( xac <-- HTTPS 443 -->sfs ). The xac is setup as a delivery controller within StoreFront must the same a XA, XD. TIP: Prior to setting this configuration connect to the xac admin console from the sfs to ensure there is no SSL mismatch issues or errors with the certificate (Using IE you’ll receive a blue bar + background around the lock icon). If you would like to test this mode deploy and configure your xac with mobile apps, web links and configure the trust setting to point to your sfs e.g. https://sfs.local/ from the xac. Now attempt to connect to the xac’s https://FQDN/ either internal or external using a internet browser on an iOS device as an example and it will redirect you to https://FQDN/Citrix/StoreWeb but you will NOT be able to complete the request! Why? The xac disables its local StoreWeb as another trust setting has been configured i.e https://sfs.local. Now connect to your sfs FQDN and login using your AD credentials thereafter you’ll be able to select and launch a web link, published windows application e.g Notepad, Windows 7 desktop and select and click to install a Mobile app. How? As long as you have a setup the following delivery controllers servers in StoreFront xac, xa, xd and published the resources you can tap to select and launch any of the described resources. TIP: Allows ensure that if you have configured your delivery controllers to use HTTPS (443) there are no SSL mismatch errors with the FQDN as this is the most common error causing SysAdmins alot of headaches in troubleshooting where the issue lies.
Users
1: Users are provisioned using your organisations AD but first ensure that all users you attempt to provision have a first, last name and email fields populated even if you don’t have a mail server within your domain populate the e-mail address field as are a mandatory requirement for the xac.
Troubleshooting Tips
1: Setup a reoccurring calendar invite using your support ticketing system or group exchange invite to renew your iOS Enterprise Developer Account which expires annually and needs to be renewed.
2: Use a Enterprise CA to sign your CSR’s for your xac, sfs instead of using self-assigned certificates but use a publicly signed SSL certificate for R/A using a NetScaler Gateway.
3: Read through the Citrix Reference Architecture for MDM and MAM.