Category Archives: XenMobile

XenMobile 10.0

The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test XenMobile 10.0 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 – xm
XENMOBILE SERVER – xms
VIRTUAL APPLIANCE – v/a
FEDERAL INFORMATION PROCESSING STANDARDs – fips
NETSCALER GATEWAY – nsg
VIRTUAL IP ADDRESS – vip
MOBILE APPLICATION MANAGEMENT – mam
MOBILE DEVICE MANAGEMENT -mdm

What’s New
1: XenMobile is now a single unified hardened Linux virtual appliance.
2: Complete overhaul of the Web UI which dramatically simplifies policy setup & configuration of MDM + MAM policies and it allows for the management of multiple platforms within a single policy.
3: Built-in V6 Citrix Licensing server provides a 30 day trial/evaluation and also support for remote V6 CTX licensing server.
4: Built-in PostgreSQL database recommended for PoC’s and there’s also support for remote MS SQL database which is recommended for production deployments.
4: XMS V/A includes IPtables which is a Linux firewall – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iptables.
5: XMS placement is in the DMZ. The V/A is hardened and is FIPS 140-2 compliant and remember you data is actually stored in a MS SQL database unless your utilising PostgreSQL database within the XMS V/A.
6: Traffic flow and ports between NetScaler Gateway and the XenMobile Server (XMS) have changed please refer to eDocs for an architecture overview of the changes at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-10/xmob-arch-overview-con.html.
7: The Admin Web UI is now on https://XMS-FQDN:4443/. This port is not configured as part of the XenMobile 10 wizard on NetScaler Gateway build 10.5-55.8 which means that you will not be able to access the mgmt. Admin Web UI from the internet it will only be accessible from the DMZ and the TRU network dependant upon your firewall(s) ACL list.
8: New WorxHome build 10.0.3.83 which is also backwards compatible from XenMobile 10.x.n
9: The XenMobile NetScaler Connector (XNC) currently is still a separate Windows Server.
9: You can find our more by watching the following Mobility Master Class: What’s New in XenMobile 10 available from Citrix TV.

Mobility Master Class: What’s New in XenMobile 10

Mobility Master Class: Citrix XenMobile 10 Clustering & MDM Migrations

Deploying XenMobile 10
1: Review the system requirements for XMS at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-10/xmob-system-requirements.html to understand the supported hypervisors, computing requirements. You should also make sure that you review the latest XM architecture as it has changed between XenMobile 9.0 vs. 10.0 and it can be viewed at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-10/xmob-arch-overview-con.html. You’ll notice that the traffic between NSG and the XMS V/A has changed however all traffic externally still occurs on there traditional ports (443, 8443, 2195, 2196, 5223).
2: Review and understand the NetScaler Gateway compatible requirements at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/worx-mobile-apps/xmob-10-understand-compatibilitymatrix-con.html.
3: Make sure that you print out and fill-in all the pre-requitses for the XMS V/A ref – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-10/xmob-xenmobile-install-checklist.html prior to deploying your XMS V/A on your chosen hypervisor.
4: Once you have uploaded the V/A to the hypervisor and booted it complete the onscreen instructions ref – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-10/xmob-install.html. Once you are finished login into the Admin WebUI replacing the IP Addr with your XMS V/A ip addr from this example https://XMS-IPADDR:4443/ and login with Administrator account your specified during the deployment and NOT admin which is used to access the XMS V/A CLI from your hypervisor only.
5: Once you’ve logged in you’ll need to have the following listed below available to successfully complete the second part of the initial XenMobile 10 deployment. There is also a pre-requites check list available at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-10/xmob-xenmobile-install-checklist.html.

– Citrix v6 licensing file for either local or remote. Remote is recommended for H/A purposes.*
– Microsoft Active Directory (AD) ip addr or FQDN, base DN, domain, search service account with read-only permissions.
– Certificate in *.p12 or *.pfx format for the SSL_Listener which is used for two way secure HTTPS communication to the XMS V/A.
– APNS certificate.
– Separate MDM and MAM+ FQDN’s correctly setup in DNS with fwd and reserve lookup’s configured and each configured with its own static IP addr for external resolution.
– 3x VIP for configuring XenMobile 10 with NetScaler Gateway 10.5.55.8 +. You can find a compatible NSG V/A version and builds at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-10/xmob-10-understand-compatibilitymatrix-con.html.
– MS SQL Database server configured to accept traffic and with write/read privileges to create and manage the remote XMS database.
– Mail server configuration which enables and provides workflow email messages, notifications to users e.t.c

6: Follow the onscreen prompts and once completed the web UI deployment wizard then you have successfully deployed a XMS V/A. Please not reboot the XMS V/A so that the existing SSL certificates for HTTPS can be unbound and the newly uploaded SSL cert(s) can be bound to HTTPS.
7: You may now setup a XMS cluster and configure H/A with a NSG and thereafter begin configuring your XenMobile 10.0 environment. See the H/A section for a how-to.
8: Logon to one of the XMS v/a direct IP addr e.g https://XMS:4443/ if in H/A fronted by the NSG as the XenMobile 10 wizard will not configure 4443 which means that you cannot access the mgmt interface via the VIP owned by the NSG. This means that the mgmt interface is not accessible either internally or externally on the FQDN that resolves the VIP owned by the NSG.
9: Scaling XenMobile 10.0 from 1000 up to 100,000 devices – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-10/xmob-scaling-xm.html.

XMS V/A High-Availability (H/A)
1: Prior to understanding how-to setup a XMS H/A or clustering you need to understand that the minimum requirements are for a remote CTX v6 licensing server and MS SQL database as the XMS V/A do not hold any user/cfg information this is all held in the remote database.
2: Once your have setup XMS follow the prompts in the CLI to enable clustering and configure the IPtables firewall ACL and then finally shut it down and clone it.
3: Rename the cloned XMS V/S to your required naming convention and then boot up the cloned XMS V/A login to the CLI and changed the IP addr and ensure that the IPtables firewall ACL ports are correctly enabled then shutdown the V/A.
4: Boot the first XMS V/A and then 60 seconds later boot the cloned XMS V/A and login to the CLI to very the cluster is enabled and then login into the XMS admin WebUI to verify that the cluster is up and functioning as expected. The original XMS V/A will be the oldest in the cluster.
5: You can now proceed to setting up the load-balancing for the XMS V/A’s with NSG to service MDM + MAM requests.

Supported NetScaler Gateway (Builds & Versions) for XM 10
1: 10.5.55.8 MR5; 10.5.54.9 MR4; 10.5.53.9 MR3; 10.1.130 MR & 10.1.129 MR ref – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/worx-mobile-apps/xmob-10-understand-compatibilitymatrix-con.html.

Deploying XM 10 with NetScaler Gateway 10.5.x.n (Draft)
1: Before beginning its worth mentioning that the way I will be describing how-to deploy XenMobile 10 in this blog article will be to utilise to external static IP addr’s + FQDN’s that are NATed to DMZ IP addr’s and I will utilising SplitDNS for device mgmt. in/outside of my TRU network. I will also be implementing the described XenMobile 10 environment below utilising an SSL Bridge although offloading includes a few more minor steps the intention of this section is aimed at helping you front your XenMobile 10.0 deployment with a NSG 10.5.x.n V/A.
2: Please review the following CTX article entitled “FAQ: XenMobile 10 and NetScaler 10.5 Integration” – http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX200430 which will aid you in been able to setup and configure load-balancing for XMS V/A’s, mVPN for Worx’s apps for XenMobile 10 with NetScaler Gateway 10.5.x.n.
3: You’ll require the following prior to be beginning:

– Correct NetScaler (Gateway) build +_ version the NSG version + build I’ll be discussing here is NetScaler Gateway 10.5.55.8 MR5 but you can check the latest supported version + builds at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/worx-mobile-apps/xmob-10-understand-compatibilitymatrix-con.html
– 1x FQDN for MDM e.g. mdm.axendatacentre.com * that resolves to both external internet routable static IP addr and your internal assigned static IP. Please note that this should match exactly the FQDN entered in at the time of the deployment of your XMS V/A during the first phase in the CLI the text your looking for is/was “XenMobile Server FQDN:” and its highlighted in yellow. It is also worth/noting that if you have utilised an internal domain e.g xms.abc.local as the FQDN this will only manage devices internally as that FQDN is not routable on the internet so you’ll only be able to manage devices INSIDE of the trusted network to its recommended to a FQDN that is internet routable and you can utilise SplitDNS to manage traffic requests to the NSG VIP’s for XenMobile.
– 1x FQDN for MAM (Worx’s Apps) e.g. mobileapps.axendatacentre.com * that resolves to both external internet routable static IP addr and your internal assigned static IP
– 2x External routable internet IP addr’s * e.g 8.8.8.8 which most IT Pro’s utilise to ping to check internet connectivity
– 3x Internal IP addr’s owned by the NSG as VIP
|- 1x for MDM
|- 1x for MAM Gateway
|- 1x for Load-balancing IP
– Wildcard certificate for your domain e.g *.domain.com
– If your implementing SSL Offloading (HTTP) of your XenMobile traffic for MAM then you’ll require the devices cert from the XMS V/A which can be downloaded from the XMS Web AdminUI at https://xms:4443/

4: Setup the NetScaler Gateway configuration within the Admin WebUI of the XMS V/A following the process outlined at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-10/xmob-netscaler-gateway.html its fairly straight forward and simple.
5: Login into the NSG Admin WebUI interface and click the XenMobile Wizard in the bottom left-hand corner and then you’ll be prompted to setup either XenMobile 9.0 or XenMobile 10.0 please selected XenMobile 10.0 and click “Get Started” to continue.
6: Ensure that “Access through NetScaler Gateway” which is for MAM, “Load Balance XenMobile Servers” which is for MAM are checked they should be by default, however you know have the opportunity to deselect either if one depending upon your deployment scenario/use case and obviously your acquired license. The current XenMobile 10 datasheet is available at – https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/citrix-xenmobile-the-revolutionary-way-to-mobilize-your-business.pdf.
7: Enter in your first VIP for the MAM Gateway then port should be 443 and provide a suitable name.
8: Select your previously uploaded SSL certificate (I am utilising a wildcard cert for my domain *.axendatacentre.com) or upload your SSL cert.
9: Create your (s)LDAP binding you will need to provide the following:

– LDAP IP addr
– LDAP Port default is 389
– Base DN e.g Cn=Users,dc=axendatacentre,dc=com
– Service account username & password
– Timeout default is 3 seconds
– Server Login sAMAccountName or UserPrincipalName (SuGgEsTeD)

10: Now enter in your MDM FQDN and then the Load-balancing IP addr beneath and accept the default port of 8443. You can now also choose to select HTTPS (SSL Bridge) vs. HTTP (SSL Offload) and you can choose your DNS mode including split tunnelling.
11: Select your previously uploaded SSL certificate (I am utilising a wildcard cert for my domain *.axendatacentre.com) or upload your SSL cert.
12: Enter in your MDM VIP and you’ll notice the default ports are 443, 8443 for communication to the XMS V/A(s). You’ll notice that you cannot change the SSL traffic configuration as I specified to not to perform any SSL offloading in set 10 above or its under section “Load Balancing IP address for MAM” within the NSG XenMobile 10 wizard.
13: Next add in the XMS ip addr’s of each V/A in your XMS cluster and provide an appropriate name and ports are automated defaulted to 443, 8443.
14: Click continue to finish and then click done and you have now setup and configured all your traffic for XenMobile to route through your NSG V/A and we are performing SSL Bridging in the above scenario.

Worx Features by Platform
1:The following eDocs web page lists the features by Worx app which includes WorxHome, WorxMail, WorxWeb, WorxEdit, WorxNotes, WorxTasks & WorxDesktop ref – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/worx-mobile-apps/xmob-worx-feature-platform-matrix.html.
2: Be sure to also checkout the known issues list at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/worx-mobile-apps/xmob-worx-knownissues-con.html and it is also worth noting that as of writing this blogging entry WorxTask’s is in Tech Preview (TP) ref – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/worx-mobile-apps/xmob-worx-tasks.html.

Twitter
You should follow the XenMobile team on twitter at – https://twitter.com/xenmobile for the very latest on Worx’s apps, updates, upgrades and so much more.

Security
1: The XenMobile security web page is available at – http://www.citrix.com/products/xenmobile/tech-info/mobile-security.html.
2: The XenMobile Security whitepaper is available at – https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/xenmobile-security.pdf and I would strongly advise that you read/review it to get a better understanding of how XenMobile can help and assist any organisations EMM (Mobility) requirements.
3: The Mobile Application Management with XenMobile and the Worx App SDK – https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/mobile-containers-with-citrix-mdx.pdf, this is well worth reading.

XenApp 7.6 XenDesktop 7.6 including Feature Pack (FP) 1

The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test XenApp 7.6, XernDesktop 7.6 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
XENAPP – xa
XENDESKTOP – xd
VIRTUAL DELIVERY AGENT – vda
LIGHT WEIGHT DIRECTORY PROTOCOL – ldap
ACTIVE DIRECTORY – ad
CERTIFICATE SIGNING REQUEST – csr
CONNECTION LEASING – cl
FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – fqdn
RECEIVER FOR WEB – rfw
CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY – ca
STOREFRONT SERVICES – sfs
PUBLIC KEY INFRASTRUCTURE – pki
NETSCALER GATEWAY – nsg
SECURE TICKET AUTHORITY – sta
DOMAIN NAME SERVER – dns
DYNAMIC HOST CONFIGURATION PROTOCOL – dhcp
FEATURE PACK – fp

What’s New now with Feature Pack 1 (FP1)
0: If you are new to XenDesktop 7.x, XenApp & XenDesktop 7.5, 7.6 then I would suggest that you begin by reading and reviewing the Technical Overview of XAD 7.6 – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-architecture-article.html and follow on by understanding the System Requirements for XAD 7.6 at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-system-requirements-76.html.
1: XenApp – http://www.citrix.com/products/xenapp/whats-new.html.

2: XenDesktop – http://www.citrix.com/products/xendesktop/whats-new.html. 3: How to setup and configure session pre-launch and lingers for XAD 7.6 – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-dg-manage-sessions.html#xad-dg-manage-sessions__prelaunch-linger including a video from Citrix TV is embedded below. 4: Connection Leasing (Previously or rather similar to Local Host Cache (LHC) under XenApp 6.x and downwards) provides the ability to allow end-users within your organisation the ability to continue to access Citrix published desktops, applications even if your MS SQL highly available database is offline using the new feature in XAD 7.6. Please note that you should always still have a H/A SQL database environment in-place and connection leasing does require the 7.6 VDA. For more information please read and review – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-connection-leasing.html#xad-connection-leasing. 5: How-to perform a XenApp 6.5 migration – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-xamigrate.html#xad-xamigrate and the general eDocs node that covers off migrations from previous versions of XenApp 6.x and XenDesktop 4.x, 5.x are covered at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-upgrade-existing-environment.html. 6: Overview & Understanding High Definition eXperience (HDX) under XAD 7.6 including Flash and USB/Drive redirection, GPU Sharing and Network traffic priorities – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-hdx-landing.html. 7: For a complete and full list of what’s new in XenApp 7.6 and XenDesktop 7.6 take a look at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-whats-new.html. 8: What’s new in the XAD 7.6 FP1? Check out http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-whats-new-7-6fp1.html for a list of the full details. I’ve provided summary below of what it includes: – Session Recording which/was formerly Smart Auditor. – Updated Citrix Licensing. – Updated Director which includes enable/disable session recording for the detail check out http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX142260. – HDX Real-Time Optimization Pack 1.7 for Microsoft Lync 2013 the details here at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/hdx-realtime-optimization-pack-17/lync-realtime-optimization-pack-17.html. Detailed How-to Upgrade to Citrix Receiver 4.2.x.n 1: Learn what is required in order to perform an upgrade of your existing Citrix Receiver 3.4 implementation to to 4.2.100 by download this handy and useful PDF best practises guide at – http://docs.citrix.com/content/dam/en-us/receiver/windows/4-2/downloads/Receiver_for_Windows_4.2_Upgrade_Best_Practice_Guide.pdf. 2: It is also worth mentioning that the current new Citrix Receiver for Windows 4.2.x.n now supports TLS 1.1, 1.2, Start menu integration & shortcut management, USB 3.0 and so much more please check out – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/receiver-windows-42/receiver-windows-42-about.html#receiver-windows-42-about for more information so upgrading does and will provide numerous useful benefits for CTX SysAdmins and there end-users. Upgrading & Migration
1: XenApp 7.5 Migration Guide – http://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/xenapp-75-migration-guide.pdf.
2: Upgrading & Migration Microsite for XenApp 6.x to XenApp 7.5 – http://www.citrix.com/products/xenapp/tech-info/upgrade.html.
3: Introduction to XenApp 7.6 Upgrade Planning recorded GoToWebcast from 07/102014 available at – https://citrix.webcasts.com/viewer/event.jsp?ei=1040823. If you would any overview please read the orginal events web page at – http://www.citrix.com/events/introduction-to-xenapp-76-upgrade-planning.html. Citrix Education
1: CXA-104 Citrix XenApp 7.6: Overview – – http://training.citrix.com/mod/ctxcatalog/course.php?id=925. 2: CXA-105 Getting Started with Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.6 – http://training.citrix.com/mod/ctxcatalog/course.php?id=973 3: CXA-208 Moving to XenApp 7.6 – http://training.citrix.com/mod/ctxcatalog/course.php?id=1096. 4: CXD-105 Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop Help Desk Support – http://training.citrix.com/mod/ctxcatalog/course.php?id=1011. GUI Installation & Overview for XenApp 7.6, XenDesktop 7.6
1: XenApp 7.6 Reviewers Guide provides a simple installation overview which can be downloaded at https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/oth/xenapp-reviewers-guide.pdf and the XenDesktop 7.6 equivalent can be found at – https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/xendesktop-reviewers-guide.pdf. Unattended Installation of XAD 7.6 Infrastructure Components & The VDA
1: The installation executable is located at x64\XenDesktop Setup\XenDesktopServerSetup.exe within the installation media path. The below is an example and simply replace x with mounted ISO, CD/DVD drive letter or the UNC path to the XAD7.5-6 installation media. If you do not include the /xenapp switch it will automatically install XenDesktop.

x:\x64\XenDesktop Setup\XenDesktopServerSetup.exe /xenapp /components controller,desktopstudio /configure_firewall

2: Sample installation code to insert into a batch script from Citrix eDocs that will install the VDA on Desktop OS as a master image and it will include Citrix Receiver.


x:\x64\XenDesktop Setup\XenDesktopVdaSetup.exe /quiet /components
vda,plugins /controllers “Contr-Main.mydomain.local” /enable_hdx_ports /optimize
/masterimage /baseimage /enable_remote_assistance

If you are looking for how-to install the VDA for groups of machines in AD the please checkout this eDocs node the batch script that will allow you to install/configure or even remove the VDA – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-install-vda-adscript.html.
3: For more detailed information check out – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-install-command.html.

High-Definition user eXperience (HDX) 1: So what is HDX? That’s a very good question an introduction whitepaper to your questions can be found at – http://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/citrix-hdx-technologies.pdf. 2: Now that you’ve read through the whitepaper you will want to begin configuring and testing some of the HDX policies in Studio to test out HDX capabilities. Start with reading through the HDX eDocs node at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-hdx-landing.html. If your more interested in HDX 3D Pro which leverages GPU cards installed on workstations, servers within the data centre then I would suggest to start by reviewing – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-hdx3dpro-intro.html. For a visual aid surrounding of how GPU technologies with work XenApp & XenDesktop take a look at how GPU pass-through works at – http://www.nvidia.com/object/xenapp.html for with XenApp and for a vGPU works for XenDesktop check out – http://www.nvidia.com/object/virtual-gpus.html. 3: High Definition User Experience template policy in Studio explained and feedback requested – http://blogs.citrix.com/2014/11/13/citrix-studio-templates-help-needed-out-of-the-box-configuration-for-xendesktop-and-xenapp/. Citrix Unveils New Version of Market Leading Third-Generation Unified Platform for Application and Desktop Virtualization
http://www.citrix.com/news/announcements/aug-2014/citrix-unveils-new-version-of-market-leading-third-generation-un.html Citrix Offers Technology Preview of Linux Virtual Apps and Desktops Delivered from XenApp and XenDesktop

http://www.citrix.com/news/announcements/aug-2014/citrix-offers-technology-preview-of-linux-virtual-apps-and-deskt.html Deploying Unified Communications (UC) Lync 2010/2013 1: Lync Feature Matrix is available at – http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX200279 which is very useful for understanding what is and what isn’t supported and whether you need to deploy either the HDX Optimisation Pack of the Microsoft VDI Plug-in. 2: Delivery options for deploying Microsoft Lync for XenApp 7.6 or XenDesktop 7.6 explained in detail at – http://blogs.citrix.com/2014/10/23/delivering-lync-from-xenapp-and-xendesktop/. I’ve summarised your options below: – Generic HDX Realtime * Pure ICA/HDX between two end-points and the infrastructure. – HDX RealTime Optimization Pack for Lync® * Optimised softphone with offloading of the media engine by Citrix Note: 1.6 is for Lync 2010 and 1.7 is for Lync 2013 check out 1.7 – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/hdx-realtime-optimization-pack-17/hdx-realtime-optimization-pack-about-17.html which is compatible with Lync Server 2013, Lync Server 2010, and Lync Online (Office 365). – Microsoft® Lync® VDI Plug-in * Optimised softphone with offloading of the media engine by Microsoft check out the CTX article for a how-to at – http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX138408. – Local App Access utilises a * XAD policy applied to users to utilise the locally installed Lync app over published Lync app from XenApp. If you want to under more about how-to enable this XAD feature please review – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-laa-intro.html. * Please refer to eDocs or CTX200279 3: UC with XenApp and XenDesktop Solutions Brief – https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/unified-communications-with-xendesktop-solutions-overview.pdf.

XenMobile Device Manager 9.0

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The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test XenMobile Device Manager 9.0 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
APPLE PUSH NOTIFICATION SERVICE – apns
ROLE BASED ACCESS CONTROL – rbac
LIGHT WEIGHT DIRECTORY PROTOCOL – ldap
ACTIVE DIRECTORY – ad
CERTIFICATE SIGNING REQUEST – csr
FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – fqdn
RECEIVER FOR WEB – rfw
CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY – ca
STOREFRONT SERVICES – sfs
PUBLIC KEY INFRASTRUCTURE – pki
NETSCALER GATEWAY – nsg
XENMOBILE DEVICE MANAGER – xdm
XENMOBILE NETSCALER CONNECTOR – xnc
SECURE TICKET AUTHORITY – sta
DOMAIN NAME SERVER – dns

Self-paced Online (SPO) XenMobile Device Manager Training
1: Course # CXM-200 entitled “Deploying Citrix XenMobile Device Manager Server” at – http://training.citrix.com/mod/ctxcatalog/course.php?id=834. Note at the time of writing this blog entry Thursday 17/07/2014 this SPO was freely available with a valid Citrix.com account.
2: Course # CXM-201
Administering and Managing Devices with Citrix XenMobile 9.0 – http://training.citrix.com/mod/ctxcatalog/course.php?id=923. Login to view the price at http://training.citrix.com.

XenMobile APNS Signing Portal
This service requires a valid Citrix.com partner access details to sign-in and sign your APNS CSR – https://xenmobiletools.citrix.com/. Please review the documented APNS process for XenMobile Device Manager at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-dm-config-requesting-apns-con.html.

Handset Security
1: How do you know a handset is secure outside of MDM or EMM providers? Well I typically search for a security Whitepaper or security micro sites that covers off the h/w and or software security hardening of these mobile handsets and I have listed a few below enjoy. Note the resources are not listed in any particular order.

Samsung Knox – https://www.samsungknox.com/en/support/knox/white-paper

Windows Phone 8.1 Security Overview – http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/9/A/B9A00269-28D5-4ACA-9E8E-E2E722B35A7D/Windows-Phone-8-1-Security-Overview.pdf

iOS Security – http://www.apple.com/ipad/business/docs/iOS_Security_Feb14.pdf

Android Security Overview – https://source.android.com/devices/tech/security/

XenMobile AppController 9.0

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The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test XenMobile AppController 9.0 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
CERTIFICATE SIGNING REQUEST – csr
FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – fqdn
RECEIVER FOR WEB – rfw
CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY – ca
STOREFRONT SERVICES – sfs
PUBLIC KEY INFRASTRUCTURE – pki
NETSCALER GATEWAY – nsg
XENMOBILE DEVICE MANAGER – xdm
XENMOBILE NETSCALER CONNECTOR – xnc
SECURE TICKET AUTHORITY – sta
DOMAIN NAME SERVER – dns

New & Existing XenMobile AppController (XAC) Admin & User Consoles
1: The NEWEST console is a troubleshooting one which is accessible at https://XAC-FQDN:4443/ControlPoint/support which allows troubleshooting of NetScaler Gateway, XenMobile Device Manager
2: Control Point Admin console – https://XAC-FQDN:4443/ControlPoint/
3: Hidden Admin console – https://XAC-FQDN:4443/admin.
4: Receiver for Web (RfW) provides user access to SaaS, Web-links – https://XAC-FQDN:4443/Citrix/StoreWeb/ natively. You can integrate XAC with StoreFront to enumerate published Windows apps, Sever and Desktop VDI’s from XenApp, XenDesktop 7.x.

What’s New
0: XenMobile Security PDF document – http://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/xenmobile-security.pdf and XenMobile security microsite is also available at – http://www.citrix.com/products/xenmobile/tech-info/mobile-security.html.
1: Support for Windows Phone 8.1 MDX Policy’s for WorxMail and WorxWeb only – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-worx-about-wrapper.html. You can learn how to wrap Worx apps for Windows Phone 8.1 using this useful CTX article entitled “FAQ: Windows Phone 8.1 and XenMobile 9” – http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX200105 and also watching the following video below from Citrix TV.

2: New troubleshooting and support console that can download logs, perform connectivity tests and upload logs to http://taas.citrix.com. The console is available at – https://XAC-FQDN:4443/ControlPoint/support once you have successful authenticated at https://XAC-FQDN:4443/ControlPoint/. You will need to know the admin access details for NSG, XAC and XDM in order to effectively use this console.

3: Wrapping iOS Worx Apps Video.

4: Wrapping Andriod Worx Apps including covering off how-to sign multiple *.APK files using a BASH script. Refer to the XenMobile 9.0 MDX Toolkit Documentation
– http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX140458 for more information once you have watched this video.

5: XenMobile 9.0 MDX Toolkit Documentation – http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX140458

Installing & Deploying XAC 9.0
1: Review and understand the systems & networking pre-requites of the XAC virtual appliance at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-appc-sysreqs-wrapper-con.html and http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-prepare-xenmobile-checklist-con.html.
2: Deploy the XAC virtual appliance on your chosen hypervisor and boot it and follow the onscreen instructions to apply the IP addr, DNS e.t.c and reboot upon completion connect to the Web Admin UI to compete the initialisation wizard thereafter you can begin to setup and configure your XAC virtual appliance and upload your MDX signed Worx apps and configure the MDX policies as required per app per supported platform. Don’t forget to generate and sign a CSR for the XAC and optionally sign it with your Enterprise CA (PoC/Demo environments) or a Public CA (PROD environments) and apply your own SSL certificate(s) to the XAC refer to – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-deploy-appc-cert-install-con.html or for a video demonstration watch – http://www.citrix.com/tv/#videos/9501.
3: Configuring MDX policies for Windows Phone 8.1 – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-appc-mobile-apps-policies-wp81.html, iOS – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-appc-mobile-apps-policies-ios-con-nike.html and Android – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-appc-mobile-apps-policies-andr-con-1.html. Finally checkout how-to configure encryption policies – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-appc-mobile-apps-encryption-con.html.
5: Once you have setup and configured your XAC appliance you can setup high-availability – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-appc-ha-wrapper-con.html.
6: If you are looking for the XenMobile Reference Architecture please refer to http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX140433.

XenMobile Enterprise 9.0

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The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test XenMobile Enterprise 9.0 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 ENTERPRISE – xme
XENMOBILE CLOUD – xc
CERTIFICATE SIGNING REQUEST – csr
FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – fqdn
RECEIVER FOR WEB – rfw
CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY – ca
STOREFRONT SERVICES – sfs
PUBLIC KEY INFRASTRUCTURE – pki
NETSCALER GATEWAY – nsg
XENMOBILE DEVICE MANAGER – xdm
XENMOBILE APPCONTROLLER – xac
XENMOBILE NETSCALER CONNECTOR – xnc
SECURE TICKET AUTHORITY – sta
DOMAIN NAME SERVER – dns
PUBLIC KEY INFRASTRUCTURE – pki

XenMobile Security
1: Citrix have published a Whitepaper in PDF format covering the security within XenMobile which can be downloaded directly at – http://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/xenmobile-security.pdf there is also a new security web page within the XenMobile microsite on Citrix.com at – http://www.citrix.com/products/xenmobile/tech-info/mobile-security.html.
2: Security harden your XDM implementation leveraging Microsoft’s leading best practises I have listed below are a few (starter) useful resources. I always believe that you should challenge the way you are manage your infrastructure periodically from the services, ports, packages running on servers to the ACL at the edge of your network to ensure that you are using the latest leading best practises for monitoring, managing and supporting your environment(s) end-2-end and often this will require input from a Server, DBA SysAdmin & network engineer.

Windows Server 2008 R2
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg236605.aspx
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd548350(v=ws.10).aspx

Windows Server 2012
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj898542.aspx
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831360.aspx.

What’s New & Fixed
1: Support for Windows Phone 8.1 MDM API’s which include but not limited to software inventory, disabling of the camera, encryption e.t.c and for a complete list checkout – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-dm-manage-config-win-81.html.
2: New MDX policies for Windows Phone 8.1 e.g Document exchange (Open In), App restrictions, iOS e.g AirDrop, Social media integration and others.

For a full list of MDX policies for iOS checkout – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-appc-mobile-apps-policies-ios-con-nike.html and Android checkout – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-appc-mobile-apps-policies-andr-con-1.html and for Windows Phone 8.1 checkout – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-appc-mobile-apps-policies-wp81.html.

3: Cloud enabled Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) powered by with XenMobile Cloud – http://www.citrix.com/products/xenmobile/tech-info/cloud.html.

4: New RBAC options within XDM to optionally ring or disown devices.
5: IPv6 licensing is now supported for XDM 9.0 check out – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-deploy-xenmobile-licenses-con.html in addition checkout this Citrix Blog article for a set by step how-to – http://blogs.citrix.com/2014/07/02/install-license-server-for-xenmobile-device-manager-in-xenmobile-9-0/.
6: XDM clustering for multiple geographic sites so that the device management service is resilient to outages at individual sites – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-dm-manage-ha-wrapper-con.html.
7: FIPS Compliance – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/clg-appwrap-fips-con.html
8: Secret Vault for iOS and Android- http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-appc-secret-vault-ios-andr.html.
9: Penetration tested by Veracode and Gotham who are specialists in digital science and research.
10: Full a complete and full list of Whats new in XenMobile 9.0 please take a look at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile/xmob-understand-whats-new.html.
11: XenMobile 9.0 – Issues Fixed in This Release – http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX140926.
12: Always check in with the XenMobile data sheet for the most up to date and accurate features and details for XenMobile vs. editions at – http://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/citrix-xenmobile-the-revolutionary-way-to-mobilize-your-business.pdf?accessmode=direct.

Citrix Support Forums for XenMobile 9.0
You can access the latest online Citrix Discussions focused on XenMobile 9 at – discussions.citrix.com/forum/1487-xenmobile-9x/ and previous discussions can be found at – discussions.citrix.com/forum/302-xenmobile/, including ZenPrise 7.x.

Wrapping & Deploying Worx Mobile Apps for Windows Phone 8.1
1: This CTX article provides a lot of detailed pre-requites & FAQ – http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX200105.
2: http://blogs.citrix.com/2014/07/11/deploying-worx-home-and-worx-apps-to-windows-phone-8-1-with-xenmobile/.

Xenmobile 9 Basic Upgrade Video Demonstration

XME Supported Mobile OS/Hardware Platforms
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-understand-device-platforms.html

XenMobile 9.0 MDM Policies by OS Platform
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-understand-device-platform-matrix.html

XenMobile 9.0 Compatibility Matrix
Currently the following NetScaler (Gateway) builds are supported for XenMobile 8.6 and 8.7 is 10.1.124.1308.e and for XenMobile 9.0 the following are supported 10.1.126.1203.e, 10.1.124.1308.e and 10.5 reference – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-understand-compatibilitymatrix-con.html.

Worx features by Platform
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-understand-worx-feature-platform-matrix-con.html

XenMobile Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Integration
Prior to implementing with XME I would suggest that you review and read through the PKI section in eDocs for XenMobile Enterprise 9.0 at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-90/xmob-dm-manage-security-pki-overview-con.html so that you are aware and familiar with the supported PKI capabilities supported by XenMobile 9.0. The below embedded videos are from Citrix TV and covering the Symantec PKI integration for XenMobile 9.0.


http://www.citrix.com/tv/#videos/10866 – XenMobile Symantec PKI Integration Part1


http://www.citrix.com/tv/#videos/10867 – XenMobile Symantec PKI Integration Part2

Deploying & Hardening XenMobile 9.0
1: Here is a really good blog article to help you understand XenMobile Bandwith requirements and considerations – http://blogs.citrix.com/2014/07/10/xenmobile-bandwidth/ .
2. How-to restrict the XDM admin console from the Internet when using SSL Offloading – http://blogs.citrix.com/2014/07/14/mobility-experts-restrict-xenmobile-device-manager-admin-web-console-access-from-internet-when-deployed-in-ssl-offload-mode/.

XenMobile AppController 2.10

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The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test XenMobile AppController 2.10 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
XENMOBILE DEVICE MANAGER – xdm
CERTIFICATE SIGNING REQUEST – csr
APPLE PUSH NOTIFICATION SERVICE – apns
FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – fqdn
GoToMeeting – gtm
GoToAssist – gta
CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY – ca

Understanding MDX Technologies
1: Citrix MDX technologies provides and enable IT to wrap enhanced security, traffic around mobile apps for Android and iOS. The technologies can be segregated into 3 tiers called MDX ACCESS, MDX INTERAPP & MDX VAULT when determining what policy(s) to enforce. I will not look into the capabilities of each tier at a high level.
2: MDX VAULT enables encryption of the private data storage of MDX wrapped mobile apps. Check out – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-appc-mobile-apps-encryption-con.html.
3: MDX INTERAPP allows IT to control the application fabric of MDX wrapped mobile apps e.g restricting what apps it can open in (Document Open In); opening a service of the mobile platform e.g maps when a user clicks on an address in WorxMail.
4: MDX ACCESS enables and allows IT to set a MDX wrapped mobile apps traffic to be tunnelled via a mVPN, blocked or to the internet. The mVPN can be configured with either SecureBrowse (Only internal traffic traverses up the mVPN and anything bound for the internet does not) or FullVPN (All traffic flows up the mVPN).
5: You can find more surrounding the MDX policies at these two links one for iOS at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-appc-mobile-apps-policies-ios-con-nike.html and Android at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-appc-mobile-apps-policies-andr-con-1.html.

Wrapping native *.APK, *.IPA mobile apps to become MDX enabled
1: Take a look at the following documentation in eDocs at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-appwrap-toolkit-wrapper.html then the MDX Toolkit Documentation –http://support.citrix.com/servlet/KbServlet/download/37081-102-709208/MDXToolkit%20Documentation%20v1.0.pdf and video available at showing how to wrap Android mobile apps – http://www.citrix.com/tv/#videos/9465. I have embedded the video below from Citrix.com/TV:

Pre-requisites, Understanding & Installing The XenMobile 8.7 Components End-2-End for a PoC or a Demo Environment (DRAFT & MAY CONTAIN ERROR(S))
Coming soon!

XenMobile Enterprise 8.7

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The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test XenMobile Enterprise 8.7 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 DEVICE MANAGER – xdm
CERTIFICATE SIGNING REQUEST – csr
APPLE PUSH NOTIFICATION SERVICE – apns
FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – fqdn
SECURE LIGHTWEIGHT DIRECTORY ACCESS PROTOCOL – (s)ldap
SHAREFILE STORAGEZONE CONNECTOR – szc
XENMOBILE APPCONTROLLER – xac
RECEIVER FOR WEB – RfW
OUT OF OFFICE – ooo
GoToMeeting – gtm
GoToAssist – gta
VOLUME PURCHASE PROGRAM – vpp

What’s New The Highlights
0: XenMobile Datasheet by edition – http://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/citrix-xenmobile-the-revolutionary-way-to-mobilize-your-business.pdf.
1: Enrol and manage Windows 8.1 including support for Windows 8.1 RT devices – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-understand-device-platforms.html.
2: Worx Home supports pin history & pin cycle checking.
3: Configure and deploy VPN cfgs to Amazon devices.
4: Shared Device Management support allows for multiple individuals to leverage MDM capabilities once the device has been enrolled.
5: ShareFile Single Sign-On (SSO) support from Worx apps to ShareFile.
6: Samsung SAFE devices support with the ability to now install Worx Home on Samsung SAFE devices running Android 4.3 and later from Google Play Store.
7: Support for Android 4.4.
8: Battery retention has improved by approximately 15% please see point 11 below for further details re the Tests performed.
9: IBM notes support for iOS in WorxMail.
10: Geo-fencing on Android.
11: A full and complete list of what’s new check out – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile/xmob-understand-whats-new.html.
12: For a list of the new features in NetScaler Gateway 10.1 and NetScaler Gateway 10.1, Build 120.1316.e check out – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/netscaler-gateway-101/ng-whats-new-con.html.

XenMobile Compatibility Matrix
1: http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-understand-compatibilitymatrix-con.html

Supported Device Platforms
1: http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-understand-device-platforms.html

Pre-requisites, Understanding & Installing The XenMobile 8.7 Components End-2-End for a PoC or a Demo Environment (DRAFT & MAY CONTAIN ERROR(S))
1: I would suggest starting with this really good XenMobile Architectural XenMobile Diagram to help you understand where the individual components are placed between the DMZ and TRUSTED network, so check out – http://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/images/info-graphics/xenmobile_architecture_86.png.
2: Understanding how-to deploy the components of XenMobile Enterprise – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-understand-deploy-architecture-wrapper-n-con.html and I would also recommend reading and understanding what ports are required to be enabled at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-deploy-component-port-reqs-n-con.html and the review the XenMobile and NetScaler Gateway checklists which are available at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-prepare-xenmobile-checklist-con.html & http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/netscaler-gateway-101/ng-checklist-10-1-con.html#ng-checklist-10-1-con followed understanding the Server & SAML certificate types/ requirements of XenMobile at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-deploy-certificates-con.html.
3: Sizing & System requirements for XenMobile 8.7 – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-deploy-netscaler-gateway-reqs-con.html.
4: How-to Install XenMobile 8.7 – . If your looking to install XDM at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-deploy-device-manager-install-steps-tsk.html for a basic visual overview and instructions. To deploy the XAC use the following to pre-configure the XenMobile AppControllers IP addr, DNS e.t.c at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-appc-change-ipaddress-tsk.html followed by configuring the XAC using the initial web UI wizard at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-appc-setup-wizard-tsk.html. To configure your NetScaler Gateway for the first time use – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/access-gateway-hig-appliances/ag-vpx-configure-basic-settings-wrapper-con.html, http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/netscaler-gateway-101/ng-config-ng-with-wizards-con.html followed by the initial NSG wizard accessible via the Web UI upon your initial login – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/netscaler-gateway-101/ng-config-first-time-new-install-con.html thereafter you can use the built-in NSG wizard to setup and configure remote access to the XAC for XenMobile Enterprise 8.7 at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/netscaler-gateway-101/ng-install-simplified-config-tsk.html.

Enrolling by OS Platform
0: Prior to enrolling any devices you may want to consider configuring enrolment options – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-dm-connect-config-enroll-mode-con.html.
1: iOS – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-ios-user-enroll-device-tsk.html.
2: Android – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-android-user-enroll-device-tsk.html.
3: Windows – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-dm-enroll-users-devices-wrapper-con.html.
4: Symbian – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-symbian-user-enroll-device-tsk.html.

Performing In-place Upgrades from XenMobile 8.6 to 8.7
I performed in-place upgrade within my XenMobile Enterprise demo environment running Hyper-v on Microsoft Windows Server 2012 from 8.6 to 8.7 without any issues or errors.
2: Note: As I focus on PoC’s and Training the upgrade methods used below will be different for production environments and you should follow – http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX140444 for steps and guidance.
3: My current setup consisted of a XDM cluster on 8.6 l/b by NetScaler using a MS SQL database. I first performed a snapshot of both XDM servers and the SQL database then proceeded to shutdown the second XDM server and executed the XDM 8.7 software package on the primary XDM server which detected a XDM installation and performed a in-place upgrade following the onscreen steps. Once the software update completed I rebooted the VM and then proceeded to connect to XDM mgmt. Web UI locally via https://localhost/zdm on the primary XDM server desktop (Note: SSL error is normal as the FQDN your connected to is not for localhost but your organisations FQDN) and then logged in as a XDM admin then as domain user to verify that the SHP works as expected. Next shutdown the primary XDM server and boot the secondary XDM server and repeat the process above and once verified shutdown the secondary XDM server and boot the primary XDM server wait a few minute then boot the secondary XDM server and what a few minutes and then login to https://XDM-FQDN/Instance/helper.jsp e.g https://mdm.citrix.lab/zdm/helper.jsp and verify that the XDM cluster is active and working, next login to https://XDM-FQDN/Instance/ as a domain user and then a XDM admin to verify that everything works as expected e.g send a notification to an iOS device or enrol a new device using a custom deployment policies to verify your XDM is functioning as expected.

Security
1: XenMobile FIPS 140-2 Compliance – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/clg-appwrap-fips-con.html.
2: XDM supports internal and external PKI’s – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-dm-manage-security-pki-overview-con.html; SAML – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-dm-manage-securityid-saml-con.html.
3: Network Access Control (NAC) – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-dm-manage-securityid-configurenac-con.html.
4: Client certificate based authentication using Configuring Device Manager with Microsoft Active Directory Certificate Services – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-87/xmob-dm-manage-securityid-configdm-mscertificatesvs-con.html.

Synergy SYN308: Citrix Mobility & Desktop Integration

XenMobile Enterprise 8.5, 8.6, 8.7, 9.0 PoC Considerations

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The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test XenMobile Enterprise 8.5, 8.6, 8.7 and 9.0 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 DEVICE MANAGER – xdm
XENMOBILE APPCONTROLLER – xac
NETSCALER GATEWAY – nsg
FIREWALL – f/w
CERTIFICATE – cert
ACTIVE DIRECTORY – ad
INFRASTRUCTURE-AS-A-SERVICE – IaaS
ENTERPRISE MOBILITY MANAGEMENT – emm

Preparation & Pre-requisites (DRAFT & MAY CONTAIN ERROR(S))
0: Never use a production NetScaler or NetScaler Gateway for PoC why? When you upload the trial licenses it will require a reboot which cannot be completed in a production environment without a planned maintenance window. Also you may want to use the latest NS(G) during the PoC for best results & optimal performance likewise some versions require a e release of NS(G) which will mean a firmware upgrade to your production NS(G) eventually.
1: If you don’t understand all the components of XenMobile Enterprise then I would suggest researching and reading (Data sheets of each) to understand what the XenMobile Device Manager, XenMobile AppController, XenMobile NetScaler Connector, XenMobile Mail Manager, NetScaler (Gateway) and finally what ShareFile StorageZone Connectors are all capable of individually as integrated as part of a Mobility Solution. XenMobile Enterprise can also include the delivery of hosted shared and VDI desktops, hosted published Windows apps delivered from XenApp, XenDesktop as part of the overall EMM Solution.
2: XenMobile Enterprise is an integration of a number of the Citrix products mentioned above deployed together to form a complete EMM solution.
3: Identify and visually understand where potentially all the components/products sit within the whole overall mobility solution. Here is a great visual reference that is clean and clear to understand – http://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/images/info-graphics/xenmobile_architecture_86.png?accessmode=direct.
4: Review the pre-requites and checklists if available for each product that you wish to deploy within XenMobile. I have listed a few here for you starting with all the required ports – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-prepare/xmob-deploy-component-port-reqs-n-con.html, for the checklist – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-prepare/xmob-prepare-xenmobile-checklist-con-.html, for or XDM – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-prepare/xmob-deploy-device-manager-sys-reqs-con.html, for XAC – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-prepare/xmob-appc-sysreqs-wrapper-con.html, for NSG – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenmobile-prepare/xmob-deploy-netscaler-gateway-reqs-con.html, for SF – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/sharefile-storagezones-22/sf-storage-center-sys-reqs.html and for XD – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-71/cds-system-requirements-71.html.
5: Now that you have an understanding of the requirements for each and you should by now know and understand each product a little more read through the XenMobile 8.6 Reference Architecture – http://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/citrix-reference-architecture-for-xenmobile-86.pdf.
6: Deploying the XenMobile Solution – http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX139235 as well as download a copy of the XenMobile MDXToolKit Documentation v1.0 – http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX140458.

Pre & Post Discovery Meeting (DRAFT & MAY CONTAIN ERROR(S))
1: Ensure that you educate the organisation as to what XenMobile is and is capable of doing re MDM, MAM and MIM.
2: Setup 2-3 GoToMeeting sessions. The first is to answer any Q&A that the organisation has for you re the pre-requites and ensure that they have started to prepare any external dependencies e.g iOS Enterprise Developer Account. The second is to ensure that all the pre-requites have been completed prior to the installation onsite for the PoC and to answer any further Q&A the organisation has. If the organisation has not completed the pre-requites then proceed with the third GoToMeeting and if the pre-requites have not being completed I would strongly advise escalating to managers on both that your PoC will more than likely be unsuccessful as your need ports opened, servers build, software downloaded, certificates e.t.c and you will need to focus on installing and then configuring the products to be integrated together and into mgmt infrastructure e.g (s)LDAP and finally configure policies and if applicable wrapping Worx, ShareFile *.ipa and *.apk files to become *.mdx to provide secure sandboxed, internet and intranet browsing (WorxWeb) + e-mail (WorxMail) and data sharing (ShareFile).
3: Decide on a database platform note that Postgres SQL is built-in to the XDM software package and is great for PoC’s or alternatively you can use MS SQL.
4: Decide upon the XDM management addr for mobile devices you can use either an IP Addr 10.10.100.200 for FQDN e.g mdm.axendatacentre.com, however I would recommend a FQDN. Why? When you install and configure the XDM your creating and configuring a CA if use used an IP addr and you decided to move the XDM server from one subnet to another and could not provide the exact IP or you move from one ISP to another you’ll get a new IP addr range you will break the CA and all enrolled devices will become unmanaged so install using an FQDN and you can always adjust the underlying IP addr of the XDM’s serves FQDN this not compromising/breaking the XDM’s CA and all devices will remain managed and connected to the XDM. Remember changing an IP addr of an external FQDN does and will require 24 hours for DNS to propagate through out the internet.
5: Login to your Citrix My Account at – http://www.citrix.com/ locate and click Partner Central (Opens a new tab) then once the web page loads click Sales in the navigation menu bar and click on SalesIQ (Opens a new tab) then once loaded click on PoC Central scroll down and download the XenMobile PoC kit. Note only valid Citrix Partners may download content from Citrix SalesIQ.

PoC Notes & Tips
1: Deploy your first few XenMobile 8.7 PoC’s using single NIC’s.
2: Stick with 2-3 devices during a PoC to maximise your PoC success and remember a PoC is designed to prove a concept or a technology.
3: If your deploying ShareFile On-Prem SZ remember to back SZKeys.txt in the root of your ShareFile data CIFS share.
4: Your PoC should run smoothly provided that you can confirm that all the perquisites for XenMobile Enterprise are successfully completed prior to arriving onsite and this should also potentially include having a basic customer defined MDM, MDX policy agreement so that you can setup and configure these policies post successfully deploying the XenMobile components so that you can begin your initial testing to check that everything is operating as expected thereafter you demonstrate that the deployment is active and working as expected. At this stage you can either define what MDM, MDX policies you wish to trial or test during the PoC however hopefully this has too also been previously agreed and you can begin defining the policies by platform and for any Worx or 3rd party signed MDX mobiles apps.
5: XDM clustering for high-availability in XenMobile 9.0 has changed so please refer to this blog article – which will help your understand what Tomcat configuration changes are required prior to performing an in place upgrade from XenMobile Device Manager 8.7 to 9.0. This changes also means that your XDM cluster can now reside in alternatively data centres ref – .

Support NetScaler Gateway (Builds + Versions) for XM 9.0
1: 10.5.53.9; 10.5.52.11; 10.5.52.1115.e; 10.5.51.1017.e; 10.5.51.10; 10.1.129.1105.e; 10.1.128.8003.e; 10.1.127.1007.e; 10.1.126.1203.e; 10.1.124.1308.e ref – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/worx-mobile-apps/xmob-10-understand-compatibilitymatrix-con.html.

XenApp 7.5 XenDesktop 7.5

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The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test XenApp 7.5, XenDesktop 7.5 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
XENAPPP – xac
FLEXCAST MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE – fma
INFRASTRUCTURE-AS-A-SERVICE – IaaS
XENDESKTOP – xd
XENAPP/XENDESKTOP – xad
INDEPENDENT MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE – ima
STOREFRONT – sf
HOSTED SHARED DESKTOPS – hsd
VIRTUAL DESKTOP INFRASTRUCTURE – vdi
HOSTED SHARED PUBLISHED WINDOWS APPS – hspwa
RECEIVER FOR WEB – rfw
REMOTE ACCESS – r/a

XenApp 7.5 XenDesktop 7.5 Announcement
Citrix have recently announced XenApp 7.5 which is built upon Flexcast Management Architecture (FMA) and has been available within XenDesktop 7.0, 7.1 within the App Edition license tier. The least releases also brings with it XA hybrid cloud provisioning meaning that SysAdmins now are able to extend there private cloud to IaaS hosted cloud providers (ISP’s) provided they leverage Citrix CloudPlatform which will enable quick scalability and elasticity and without having to learn the ISP’s chosen design, build, provision and management consoles to provision your environment as it’s all integrated into Studio. The announcement can be found at – http://www.citrix.com/news/announcements/jan-2014/citrix-xenapp-7-5-simplifies-windows-app-delivery-for-the-mobile.html and it’s also worth reading up on about the benefits and features of Flexcast technology for XA at – http://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/xenapp-datasheet.pdf?accessmode=direct.

What’s New & Different in XenApp 7.5 from XenApp 6.5?
0: Check out – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-75/cds-previous-xa-admins.html#previous-xa-admins.

What’s New & Highlights of XenApp/XenDesktop (XAD) 7.5
1: The platform architecture is now powered by FMA and not Independent Management Architecture (IMA) anymore thus providing enhanced scalability and ease of management through two consoles Studio which is used for deign, building, assigning polices and resources to users and Director which is used for management of user support & troubleshooting.
2: StoreFront 2.5 is included within XenApp and XenDesktop 7.5 app binaries and includes a number of new enhancements including an updated HTML5 Receiver, SDK to apply organisational logic if required and much more.
3: Support for Web Interface (WiF) 5.4 on supported Windows Server OSes.
4: AppDNA is included in Platinum edition.
5: Virtual Graphical Processing Unit (vGPU) and GPU support for supported Windows Desktop & Server OSes.
6: Support for Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 in addition to current supported OSes in XenDesktop 7.0, 7.1.
7: The Citrix Profile management 5.0 is installed silently by default on master images when the Virtual Delivery Agent is installed (Note: You do not have to use Citrix profile management solution).
8: Support for IPv4, IPv6 or dual-stack (IPv4/IPv6) environments from clients to core components.
9: MCS support for Microsoft Key Management System (KMS) activation.
10: For a complete list please check out – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-75/cds-75-about-whats-new.html and also review the XA 7.5 data sheet at – http://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/xenapp-datasheet.pdf.

Synergy SYN405: Best Practices for Implementing Administering and Troubleshooting Xendesktop 7.5

Pre-requisites, Understanding & How-to Install XenApp 7.5 and enable R/A for your PoC or Custer Demo Environment (DRAFT & MAY CONTAIN ERROR(S))
Coming soon!

ShareFile StorageZone Controller 2.2

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The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test ShareFile StorageZone Controller 2.2 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
STORAGEZONE CONTROLLER – szc
CERTIFICATE SIGNING REQUEST – csr
SHAREFILE – sf
FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – fqdn
SECURE LIGHTWEIGHT DIRECTORY ACCESS PROTOCOL – (s)ldap
CERTIFICATE – cert
COMMON INTERNET FILE SYSTEM – cifs
XENMOBILE APPCONTROLLER – xac

What’s New
1:This release coupled with prior versions now integrates both the Storage Center and Controller server software packages into one unified software package now called the “ShareFile StorageZone Controller 2.2”.
2: Access your organisations trusted existing or new network CIFS shares and SharePoint sites via a ShareFile On-Prem SZC which always users to securely connect via a FQDN over 443 (HTTPS) this ensuring secure and encrypted communication between the users device and the On-Prem SZC. It is worth mentioning that your organisations datasets do not traverse the ShareFile Control Plane in any way ref – http://support.citrixonline.com/en_US/ShareFile/all_files/SF090015.
3: ShareFile also introduced an EMEA Control Plane for organisations to meet local, regional and geo requirements and or restrictions one basic example could be Safe Harbor – http://export.gov/safeharbor/ as well as preferring to have localised data centre’s within the EU to manage and handle user requests and more. Note this feature was already widely available prior to this WordPress post/blog entry.
4: For information regarding what else is new please check out – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/sharefile-storagezones-22/sf-storagezones-about-22.html.

ShareFile Security Whitepaper PDF
http://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/sharefile-enterprise-security-whitepaper.pdf

Synergy SYN310: Deep Dive into ShareFile Enterprise Functionality

Deploying an On-Prem SZC (DRAFT & MAY CONTAIN ERROR(S))
1: Initially would suggest that your read/review the following CTX Article – http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX138041 and http://blogs.citrix.com/2012/03/19/saml-authentication-with-sharefile-using-ad-fs-2-0/ which covers numerous technical FAQ and may answer a number of your questions.
2: Setup a ShareFile Enterprise Account and request that On-Prem SZC be enabled against your account when setting up your account or if you already have one request that SZC be enabled by sending a email to ShareFile support – http://www.sharefile.com/company/contact-us.aspx and online help & support including videos is available at – http://support.citrixonline.com/sharefile. Verify that StorageZones are available under the Admin tab when you sign into your ShareFile sub-domain e.g xendc.sharefile.eu or axendatacentre.sharefile.com prior to continuing with the installation and configuration.
3: Prepare a Windows Server 2008 R2 and install IIS (include dependencies ASP, Basic Authentication if you want to connect to existing network shares for a PoC).
4: Setup and configure your external DNS A record e.g sharefile.axendacentre.com or sf.thedurbannatal-sharks.co.za and ensure that you can successful connect to the default IIS page on TCP Port 80.
5: Generate a CSR on the intended ShareFile On-Prem SZC for your FQDN and sign it with an external CA e.g http://www.verisign.co.uk or http://www.thawte.com e.t.c. Your are required to use an external CA as IIS self-signed or Enterprise CA certificates are not permitted and will not work with the ShareFile Control Plane. Download and install the cert response from your chosen external CA and Complete The Certificate Response in IIS.
6: Once the cert is successfully imported bind it to HTTPS (443) and the restart IIS and navigate to the FQDN via HTTPS externally to ensure that you can connect to it without any SSL cert mismatches, errors e.t.c
7: * Create a ShareFile service account within and assign full r/w access it to the intended On-Prem SZ folder located either on the local disk or secondary disk of the VM or remotely. Please do the same for your PoC Shared Area that you intend to access as an existing network share.
8: *Install the ShareFile Storage Zone Controller 2.2 software package and leave the checkbox to launch the Configuration Web Page. Once the page launches sign in with your Super Admin ShareFile Admin access details.
9: Follow the onscreen instructions which are fairly self explanatory however should you require any further help & support re the exact requirements please navigate to – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/sharefile-storagezones-22/sf-install-storagezones.html and http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/sharefile-storagezones-22/sf-manage-connectors.html.
10: Please stop and ensure that you safely backup the SCKeys.txt file within the root of On-Prem SZ CIFS share to a alternative and secure location that is also backed up.
11: Provision a test user that resides within your domain and has also been created within the ShareFile Control Plane. For help with setting up users please take a look at – .
12: Ensure that your test user has permission to your intended CIFS Shared Area e.g your SZC that you setup and configured within the ShareFile Control Plane.
13: Now that you have successfully setup and configured your On-Prem SZ and SZC proceed to download a ShareFile mobile app from e.g iTunes – iPad https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sharefile-for-ipad-by-citrix/id440596621?mt=8, iPhone https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sharefile-mobile-by-citrix/id434391375?mt=8 or Google Play – https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=ShareFile+by+Citrix&hl=en_GB. Once downloaded enter in your test users account details and test uploading and downloading a picture taken from within the ShareFile iOS app as an example.
14: Once you test that your On-Prem SZ

SZ Controller Management
This eDocs node will help you to proactively manage your On-Prem SZ Controller environment covering on to add/remove controllers for H/A as well as how-to promote, demote and disable SZ Controller – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/sharefile-storagezones-22/sf-manage-storagezone-controller.html. These eDoc articles are essential for the ongoing management and routine scheduled maintenance task(s).

Two-Step Verification = Stronger Security
http://support.citrixonline.com/en_US/sharefile/help_files/SF060010?title=Two-Step+Verification