Tag Archives: Microsoft Skype for Business

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

HDX RealTime Optimization Pack 2.0 for Skype for Business with XenApp/XenDesktop

The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test HDX RealTime Optimization Pack 2.0 with XAD 7.7+ 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
XENAPP XENDESKTOP – xad
REALTIME MEDIA ENGINE – rtme
REALTIME CONNECTOR – rtc
USER INTERFACE – ui
UNIFIED COMMUNICATION – uc
HIGH DEFEINTION EXPERIENCE – hdx
SKYPE FOR BUSINESS – skype4b

What is HDX RealTime?
It’s a component of the Citrix HDX technology stack aimed at enhancing the UX for UC e.g Lync, Skype for Business. To better understand implementing Unified Communications with XenApp and XenDesktop check out- https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/unified-communications-with-xendesktop-solutions-overview.pdf for an introduction overview. If you aren’t familiar with HDX technologies then perhaps its best to review the HDX introduction whitepaper entitled “HDX technologies for optimizing the virtualization experience” available at – https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/citrix-hdx-technologies.pdf prior to proceeding with the implementing of the HDX RealTime Optimization Pack within your Citrix environment.

What’s New
1: Native Skype for Business 2015 UI supported.
2: Authentication and SIP signalling handled exclusively by the Skype for Business client
3: Fallback mode is controlled by a registry entry at the following location “Key: HKLM\Software\Citrix\HDXRTConnector or HKCU\Software\Citrix\HDXRTConnector Value: DWORD DisableFallback” but please ref to – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/hdx-optimization/2-0/about.html for what value needs to be inserted and be sure to read the Registry WaRniNg notification.
3: Improved audio-video quality (resilience to packet loss, echo cancelation)
4: Call and video call buttons added to the contact card
5: Automatically join meeting audio controls
6: Adheres to the Skype for Business Server settings surrounding making audio, video calls from endpoints.
7: Web proxy support with limitation as described at – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/hdx-optimization/2-0/hdx-realtime-optimization-pack-about.html#par_richtext_3
8: ….*

A full and detailed list* is available at – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/hdx-optimization/2-0/about.html and a technical key features overview is available at – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/hdx-optimization/2-0/hdx-realtime-optimization-pack-about.html#par_richtext_1 covering support codecs, resolutions, webcams and limitations within this release.

Example of an Offloaded Skype for Business 2015 Published Citrix Virtual Desktop
The below is an example of the HDX Optimization Pack 2.0 implemented with Skype for Business 2015 client using and the latest Citrix Receiver and HDX RealTime media engine on my end-point which is a Dell Latitude E6420 running Windows 8.1. My initial test results within my IaaS home lab have been very good and I’m currently doing more testing with a few colleagues and will update this blog update as when/how time permitting with the feedback and results.

An Introduction & System Requirements (Basic’s)
The Citrix HDX RealTime Optimization Pack consists of client and server component’s and requires the following system requirements between Citrix
Receiver for Windows 4.x; Receiver for Mac 12.x; Receiver for Linux 13.x; Skype for Business 2015 Server, Business Online or Lync 2013 Server; XenDesktop 7, 7.5, 7.6 Feature Pack 1, Feature Pack 2, and Feature Pack 3. XenDesktop 7.7; ◦XenApp 6.0, 6.5, 6.5 Feature Pack 1, and 6.5 Feature Pack 2 and Feature Pack 3 , XenApp 7.5, 7.6 Feature Pack 1, Feature Pack 2, and Feature Pack 3, XenApp 7.7 with a full detailed list and overview available at – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/hdx-optimization/2-0/hdx-realtime-optimization-pack-system-requirements.html.

Why Use The Citrix HDX RealTime Optimization Pack for Lync Performance Comparison

What XAD Licensing
Please refer to the XAD features list – https://www.citrix.com/go/products/xendesktop/feature-matrix.html to identity what XAD edition is required in order to utilise the HDX Optimization Pack.

Client Side
The Citrix HDX RealTime Media Engine is a component that integrates within the Citrix Receiver thus providing a wide range of support device types (Windows, Mac and Linux) and offloading capabilities thus improving the UX for end-users while also improving bandwidth consumption and the density of XenApp (RDS) workloads.

Server Side
The Citrix HDX RealTime Connector (RTC) is installed alongside the Microsoft Skype for Business within a virtual desktop which allows for communication (signalling) through an Citrix ICA virtual channel between the virtual desktop and the users end-point running Citrix Receiver (RTME).

Skype for Business and Lync Delivery Feature Matrix
http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX200279

Download, Installation & Troubleshooting Overview
You can download from – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/hdx-optimization/2-0/hdx-realtime-optimization-pack-download.html for both XenApp and XenDesktop. You can find a Basic installation overview of your chosen end-point(s) at – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/hdx-optimization/2-0/hdx-realtime-install.html and you can utilise the following deployment guide entitled “Delivering Microsoft Skype for Business and Lync to XenApp and XenDesktop Users” available at – https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/delivering-microsoft-lync-to-xenapp-and-xendesktop-users.pdf.

If you have any issues POST your deployment initially first verify that the RealTime Connector connectivity status which should state Connected indicating that there is a connection over the ICA virtual channel and that both client and server side components match. For a more in-depth view and images alongs with other useful troubleshooting info please check out –
http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/hdx-optimization/2-0/hdx-realtime-optimization-pack-troubleshooting.html and if not appears to help be sure to read the limitations node in eDocs and the feature matrix as described earlier in this blog article.

Skype for Business Broadcast Series
I’d suggested that you begin with watching the SfB Video Broadcast: Ep 9. VDI archive from the Skype for Business YouTUBE channel at – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfL-WUXlvFjLsUs4UCpPrsA before watching the rest of the broadcast recordings in the archive if your looking to understand more about deploying Skype for Business on XenApp, XenDesktop with the HDX Optimisation Pack 2.0.

HDX Realtime and Microsoft Lync 2013

The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test Lync 2013 with XAD 7.6 and the HDX RealTime Optimization Pack 1.7-8.x.n for Microsoft Lync 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
XENAPP/XENDESKTOP – xad
VIRTUAL DELIVERY AGENT – vda
HIGH DEFINITION EXPERIENCE – hdx
UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS – uc
MICROSOFT – ms
NETSCALER GATEWAY – NS(G)
ACCESS GATEWAY – AG

Summarising your Lync 2010, 2013 Deployment Options on Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop 7.x
The following Lync deployment methods are supported by Citrix including utilising Lync Online and Office 365 ref – http://blogs.citrix.com/2015/04/03/deployment-guide-for-microsoft-lync-2013-in-vdi-environment/.

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 Receiver at end-points.

Microsoft® Lync® VDI Plug-in
Optimised softphone with offloading of the media engine by Microsoft however this approach does require Windows end-points.

Local App Access *
XAD policy applied to utilise (preferred) the locally installed Lync app over delivered Lync app.

* Please refer to eDocs or CTX200279 for the Lync Delivery Feature Matrix http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX200279. For HDX Realtime Licensing Q&A please check out – http://www.citrix.com/go/products/xendesktop/feature-matrix.html.

Deployment Guides
1: Delivering Microsoft Lync to XenApp and XenDesktop Users – https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/delivering-microsoft-lync-to-xenapp-and-xendesktop-users.pdf
2: Microsoft Office 365 for Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.x – http://www.citrixandmicrosoft.com/Documents/Deployment%20Guide%20-%20Office%20365%20for%20XenApp%20and%20XenDesktop.pdf

HDX RealTime Optimization Pack 1.8
The latest released optimisation pack 1.8 supports the Lync Server 2013 Autodiscover Service and Microsoft Skype for Business client in Lync UI mode, the Microsoft Lync 2013 client, and the Microsoft Lync 2010 client (Call Park, Call Pick Up & Call forwarding and simultaneous ringing controls). There is also now support for Mac with support for the Microsoft Windows 10 technical preview, for more information check out the official documentation at – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/hdx-optimization/1-8.html and what’s new in XAD FP2 – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-6/xad-whats-new.html.

HDX RealTime Optimization Pack 1.7
HDX RealTime Optimization Pack consists of two component’s the client (media engine is integrated into Citrix Receiver) and server (HDX Realtime connector). A technical overview of how the optimisation pack works and helps to improve the users over all experience with Lync 2013 can be found at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/hdx-realtime-optimization-pack-17/hdx-realtime-optimization-pack-about-17.html including a network diagram. Citrix have also recently released at the time of writing this blog article a great CTX article entitled “Remote Access with Citrix HDX RealTime Optimization Pack” available at – http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX201116 explaining how-to and where to deploy NS(G) for Lync 2013.

The below is an embedded Citrix TV video entitled – Ask the Architect “Citrix Optimisation Pack for Microsoft Lync”:

Microsoft Lync 2013 VDI Plug-in
As stated at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/hdx-realtime-optimization-pack-17/lync-realtime-optimization-pack-17.html Citrix recommends the Microsoft Lync 2013 VDI Plug-in for customers using Lync 2013 with Windows devices. For information about this solution, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj204683.aspx and http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX138408.