Category Archives: FMA Zones

What’s New and Understanding Citrix XenApp & XenDesktop 7.11 (Seven 11)

The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test delivering virtual apps and desktops powered by XenApp & XenDesktop 7.11 (Seven 11) 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 necessarily conform to industry descriptions or best practises.

Shortened Names
XENAPP – xa
XENDESKTOP – xd
XENAPP/XENDESKTOP – xad
VIRTUAL DELIVERY AGENT – vda
HIGH DEFINITION EXPERIENCE – hdx
INDEPENDENT COMPUTING ARCHITECTURE – ica
EXPERIENCE 1st – x1
VIRTUAL DESKTOP – vd
VIRTUAL APPS – va
THINWIRE COMPATIBLE MODE – tcm also known as ecm or thinwire+
UNIVERSAL WINDOWS PLATFORM – uwp
FEDERAL INFORMATION PROCESSING STANDARD – fips
SELF-SERVICE PASSWORD RESET – sspr
PROVISIONING SERVER – pvs
MACHINE CREATION SERVICES – mcs
AZURE RESOURCE MANAGER – arm

What’s New
1. XAD 7.11 infrastructure support on Windows Server 2016 for the Controller, StoreFront, Studio, Director, Server VDA, Session Recording Server & Agent, Universal Print Server.
2. Self-Service Password Reset 1.0 (SSPR) is now part of the StoreFront 3.7 & XAD 7.11 (Platinum feature) release and can be installed on Windows Server 2008 R2, 2012 R2 and 2016* and allows users to unlock or reset their AD passwords through a series of questions. For a detailed overview please read the CTX blog entitled “StoreFront 3.7 has been released!“- https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2016/09/14/storefront-3-7-has-been-released/

3. SQL Server 2014 Express is still installed by default when installing the XAD Controller which became the default in XAD 7.9 release ref – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-9/whats-new.html#par_anchortitle_ddbe so be aware of the installation behavioural changes for SQL and SQL Server 2016 is now supported ref –http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-11/system-requirements.html#par_anchortitle_384a and for a full list of the supported databases for XAD please refer to http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX114501 which contains and up to date tablised view of XAD versions vs. SQL versions and which are and are’nt supported! Finally DB sizing can be found by referring to the LTSR release of XAD 7.6 at – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/categories/solution_content/implementation_guides/database-sizing-guidance-for-xendesktop-7-6.html which has great guidance on database sizing for XAD 7.6+.

4. Publish URL’s, documents and media files from network shares (WAHOO!) is now available on as part of the XAD 7.11 release. It currently only supports publishing of content via PoSH cmdlets and all the examples can be found and a detaied overview of the feature is avaiable at – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-11/install-configure/publish-content.html*.

Example Publishing a Word Document from Citrix eDoc’s*
New-BrokerApplication -Name ReadMe -PublishedName”ReadMe Document” -ApplicationType PublishedContent -CommandLineExecutable \\MyFolderShare\Documents\ReadMe.doc -DesktopGroup Content

5. Use of System Center Virtual Machine Manager to provision VMs used to create AppDisks. If you are unfamiliar with AppDisks the following YouTube video from the Citrix channel demonstrates how’s setup, create and assign your AppDisks to users virtual desktops. There is also a fantastic AppDisks FAQ avaiable at – http://docs.citrix.com/content/dam/docs/en-us/xenapp-xendesktop/xenapp-xendesktop-7-8/downloads/AppDisk%20FAQ.pdf

6. Installation behavioural changes for CIS programs entitled “Citrix Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP)” and “Citrix Call Home“. For more information please refer to and read – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-11/manage-deployment/cis.html.
7. New HDX enhancements include:

– A new HDX policy setting combining Thinwire Compatible Mode (ECM) and H.264 can be enabled by selecting the following policy Use video codec for compression and select For actively changing regions. If you do not then the default HDX graphics mode is used which is Use video codec for compression Use video codec when preferred. For a more detailed overview please check out – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-11/policies/reference/ica-policy-settings/graphics-policy-settings.html.
– Up to 5% bandwidth reduction with the new behavioural enhancements for video content with Thinwire and requires XAD 7.11 with either Windows Receiver 4.5 or Linux 13.4.
– Support for USB generic mass storage devices for XenApp
– TWAIN 2.0 scanning protocol support with Windows Receiver 4.5+
– New behavioural changes for the optimisation of client USB devices – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-11/policies/reference/ica-policy-settings/usb-devices-policy-settings.html
– Support for publishing universal apps for Windows 10, Server 2016 using the Microsoft Universal Windows Platform (UWP).
– Support for H.264 hardware encoding with supported nVidia GPU cards (NVENC hardware encoding – https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-video-codec-sdk) and also to read the following entitled “Better Together: Citrix XenDesktop 7.11 + NVIDIA GRID” from – https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2016/09/14/citrix-xendesktop-nvidia-grid/!
– Default VDA policy settings for XAD 7.11 – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-11/policies/policies-default-settings.html

8. StoreFront 3.7 includes SSRP 1.0 as mentioned above in point 2., UI support for small form factor devices improving the user’s overall experience when you configur the unified Citrix Receiver experience on StoreFront against your Store(s) which can be configured by reffering to – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/storefront/3-7/manage-citrix-receiver-for-web-site/unified-receiver-experience.html so when connecting to from e.g Safari on an iPhone your end-users experience is way better try for yourself! Finally a great new addition or rather enhancement to Zones in StoreFront 3.7 & XAD 7.11 is that now client location based zone preference passes the zone information to the controller (required configuration – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-11/manage-deployment/zones.html#par_anchortitle_1db7) which in turn utilises this information to select the more appropriate workstation/server VDA’s that are closest in proximity to the user so when connecting to virtual apps & desktops there receive the best rich HD experience possible.
9. Windows Server 2016 analysis and reporting including Expanded security analysis with AppDNA 7.11 – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/dna/7-11/whats-new.html.
10. Automate Director notifications with Citrix Octoblu – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-11/director/alerts-notifications.html#par_anchortitle_1d19. For a detailed overview and look at this integration be sure to read the blog post – http://horacegoesskiing.com/index.php/2016/09/16/using-xenappxendesktop-7-11-alert-policies-with-octoblu/.
11. Support for Windows Server 2016 as a server and a target platform for PVS 7.11 including an enhanced diagnostic model so much more so be sure to review the PVS 7.11 online documentation at – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/provisioning/7-11.html.
12. Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.6 FIPS 140-2 Sample Deployments (Technically NOT new but very useful for Citrix customers and partners alike) – http://docs.citrix.com/content/dam/docs/en-us/categories/public-sector/downloads/Citrix%20XenApp%207.6%20and%20XenDesktop%207.6%20FIPS%20140-2%20Sample%20Deployments.pdf
13. Provisioning Citrix workloads in Microsoft Azure using ARM is now available. For a detailed how-to read – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-11/install-configure/install-prepare/azure-rm.html but before deploying your VM’s be sure to read the following whitepaper entitled “The scalability and economics of delivering Citrix XenApp services from Microsoft Azure” available from – https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/white-paper/xa711-scalability-azure-rm.pdf. To get started with deploying and using XenApp 7.x in Azure take a look at deploying the XenApp Trial in the Azure Marketplace at – https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/marketplace/partners/citrix/citrix-xacitrix-xa-trial/ which will be you a complete XA 7.x enviromnent in Azure along with StoreFront, NetScaler and 2x VM’s to deliver a server virtual desktop and the other for delivery of just virtual apps.
14. Citrix Receiver 7.1 is ready for iOS 10 – https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2016/09/15/citrix-receiver-ready-for-ios-10/.
15. Finally be sure to check out and be aware of the list of known issues with XAD 7.11 release at – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-11/whats-new/known-issues.html

* Microsoft Windows Server 2016 is currently still in TP and is not officially released as of writing this blog post.

For a completely detailed summary of what is avaiable in XAD 7.11 (Seven 11) check out – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-11/whats-new.html.

XenApp and XenDesktop 7.x.n (As of this blog post its 7.11) Features
https://www.citrix.com/go/products/xendesktop/feature-matrix.html

Quick upgrade guide to XenApp 7.11 and XenDesktop 7.11 by #Citrix #CTP @ervik
http://www.ervik.as/quick-upgrade-guide-to-xenapp-7-11-and-xendesktop-7-11/

Upgrading My Azure XAD 7.9 environment to XAD 7.11
Coming…

Installing a XAD 7.11 PoC environment on Azure
I have testing installing XAD 7.11 (Seven 11) onto Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 5 or TP5 on Azure via the Azure Market Place – https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/?term=Windows+Server+2016+TP5. The CLEAN installation that I performed did not have any issues or errors however the when creating the machine catalog for Windows Server 2016 TP5 even installing the Server DVA 7.11 it will revert to recommended VDA release of 7.8 only so you have been warned!

Once Microsoft releases Windows Server 2016 officially I will follow-up with an overview of setting up and configuring XAD 7.11 on Windows Server 2016 hosted on Microsoft Azure.

Scheduled & Coming…

What’s New in XenApp/XenDesktop 7.7

APPLICATION LIMITS – applimits
CONNECTION LEASING – cl
FLEXCAST MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE – fma
SKYPE FOR BUSINESS – skype4b
APPLICATION LIMITS – applimits

What’s New At A Glance
1: The re-introduction of Zones within the FMA architecture is a leading key NEW feature known as “Multi-geo Zone”.
2: Application Limits (AppLimits) allows you to limit the number of application instants launched which is also shown in existing views/counts within Director.
3: MCS provisioning support in Microsoft Azure for XenApp workloads.
4: Proactive e-mail notifications, alerts and Integrated Windows Authentication for SSO for Director
5: Installation improvements allowing SysAdmins to choose the SQL databases names and server(s) during the creation Site creation.
6: New API support for provisioning VMs from hypervisor templates
7: HDX Optimization Pack 2.0 for offloading of Lync 2013, Skype for Business 2015 within a virtual ICA/HDX session.
8: API support for managing session roaming.
9: Windows 10 support for VDA’s and Studio.
10: HDX Ready has been overhauled for Citrix’s supported thin clients.

For a complete list of what’s new check out – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-7/what-is-new.html.

Database
You can now choose to deploy your XAD SQL databases for on one or more SQL database server(s) during the creation of your Site including defining the names for each DB instance.

Understanding Zones
Its important to understand a few key things which is that FMA Zones are NOT IMA Zones and the second point to stress is that this is an re-introduction feature of Zones within the Flexcast Management Architecture (FMA) that has powered XAD platform since the 7.x.n release and that this is a v1 or version 1 release. I would very strongly encourage anyone reading this blog post to watch the embedded YouTube by Craig Hinchliffe a PM within Citrix focused on XenApp & XenDesktop.

Some important notes prior to watching the video:

1. The official documentation for Zones is available at – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-7/manage-deployment/zones.html
2. Zone in-geo support for XAD 7.x FMA Site’s over secure WAN’s e.g London, Paris, Munich as there is a latency challenge as described at – https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2016/01/12/deep-dive-xenapp-and-xendesktop-7-7-zones/.
3. There is ALWAYS a Primary Zone and then two types of Satellite Zones. The first Satellite Zone consists of VDA’s and N1+ controllers and second type of Satellite Zone consists of VDA’s and a single only controller.
4. A Satellite Zone consisting of VDA’s ONLY is NOT Supported!
5. Zones can be managed by Studio or PoSH.
6. In the event of a connection failure over the secure WAN connecting a Primary & Satellite Zone Connection Leasing (CL) is the default fallback until access to Primary Zone is restored enabling access to the SQL database(s), Controller(s), StoreFront server(s) in the Primary Zone. The CL functionality is exactly the same as XAD 7.6 so please be sure to https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2014/11/11/xendesktop-7-6-connection-leasing-design-considerations/.
7. SuGgEsTeD create a Secure WAN connection between two or more geographic locations to create your Zone utilising the CloudBridge Connector which is a feature of the NetScaler which allows you to creates secure L2L IPSec VPN tunnels between two separate data centre’s, thus saving you during a PoC implementing additional virtual or physical appliances to create secure L2L IPSec VPN simple re-use your NetScaler if the appliance is correctly licensed so please refer to the NetScaler datasheets at https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/citrix-netscaler-vpx-data-sheet.pdf, https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/netscaler-data-sheet.pdf.
8: VDA’s will default to registering to Controller(s) within there own zone! A VDA in the primary zone will only ever attempt to register with controller(s) in the Primary Zone and VDA’s in the Satellite Zone will register there local or (preferred) controller(s) by default. In the event of a controller failure the VDA’s will register the secondary controller in the Satellite Zone if one doesn’t exist the VDA’s will then register with the controller(s) in the Primary Zone.
9: The SuGgEsTeD number of Zones per Site is 10 https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2016/01/12/deep-dive-xenapp-and-xendesktop-7-7-zones/.

For a more detailed overview of Zones please refer to http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-7/manage-deployment/zones.html.

Please submit any comments at – https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2015/12/29/xenapp-xendesktop-7-7-intro-to-zones-within-fma/.

Missing or No Zones Feature Post Upgrade of XAD 7.6 FP3 to 7.7

After upgrading from XA/XD 7.6 FP3 to XA/XD 7.7, the MultiGeo Zones feature does NOT appear in Citrix Studio. To resolve this behavior, in an Elevated rights PoSH Window, navigate to “C:\Program Files\Citrix\XenDesktopPoshSdk\Module\Citrix.XenDesktop.Admin.V1\Citrix.XenDesktop.Admin\StudioRoleConfig” and run the following “Import-AdminRoleConfiguration .\RoleConfigSigned.xml”. Now close both the PoSH window and Studio and re-open Studio and you should notice that the Zone’s feature is now available under App-V Publishing. The following PoSH cmdlet and two other known issues can be found at – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-7/what-is-new/known-issues.html.

AppLimits or Application Limits
Once you have configured your application limits – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-7/install-configure/delivery-groups-manage/applications-manage.html per published XenApp app begin your testing and your notice that your users receive the following error message Cannot start “APP NAME”. If you want to better understand why the user received these error messages open the event viewer on the XenApp worker and search for the following event ID’s 1117 which translates to “The Citrix Broker Service failed to broker a connection for user ‘DOMAIN\USER’ to application ‘APP NAME’. The maximum allowed instances of this application in the site are already running” and 1118 “The Citrix Broker Service failed to broker a connection for user ‘DOMAIN\USER’ to application ‘APP NAME’. The user is already running the maximum number of instances of this application that they are allowed.“.

Managing Session Roaming
http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-7/manage-deployment/sessions.html.

Find Your Citrix HDX Thin Client
The HDX Ready team have classified any/all Citrix thin clients into the following three categories HDX Ready – https://citrixready.citrix.com/category-results.html?category=c1-thin-clients&lang=en_us&filter=c1-thin-clients/g-hdx-level/f-hdx-ready&sortby=product-asc, HDX Premium – https://citrixready.citrix.com/category-results.html?category=c1-thin-clients&lang=en_us&filter=c1-thin-clients/g-hdx-level/f-hdx-premium&sortby=product-asc, HDX 3D Pro – https://citrixready.citrix.com/category-results.html?category=c1-thin-clients&lang=en_us&filter=c1-thin-clients/g-hdx-level/f-hdx-3d-pro&sortby=product-asc.
https://citrixready.citrix.com/info/thin-clients.html.

It’s strongly suggested that you read the following white paper from the HDX Ready team entitled “Find Your Thin Client” which can be viewed online or downloaded at – https://citrixready.citrix.com/content/dam/ready/assets/thin-clients/thin-clients-features.pdf