In multi-lingual environments, where let’s say the Windows 2008 R2 installation is in English and you add MUI languages packs, the XenApp 6.5 AppCenter console will pick up the language of the current user while many would need the console to use the English language.
Also, customers with XenApp Enterprise can’t use Citrix Single-Sign On (formely Password Manager) product as it isn’t included in the XenApp licensing model (see http://www.citrix.com/products/xenapp/features/editions.html).
I wanted to share with you two possible, yet officially not supported, customizations to avoid installing the Single-Sign On module within the Citrix AppCenter console and to change the console language before or after installation.
1) Avoid Citrix Single-Sign On discovery prompt and display within AppCenter
Before installing the AppCenter or XenApp:
On the location where the XenApp 6.5 ISO was extracted, browse to the Administration\Delivery Services Console\Resource folder. The Global.xml file contains the default configuration used when installing AppCenter console either via the XenApp autorun or via the AppCenter installation package (CtxInstall.msi in Administration\Delivery Services Console folder).
Locate the <Key>ASC-CPMConsole</Key> line in the Global.xml file (should be line 13) and change the value from True to False in the <Selected> section (line 17).
Save the changes and upon intallation the Citrix Single-Sign On console will not be installed.
After AppCenter or XenApp installation:
Once installed, Citrix AppCenter is located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\Citrix Delivery Services Console\Framework. However, the Citrix Single-Sign On console folder is C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\MetaFrame Password Manager Console.
To prevent the Single-Sign On discovery prompt and displaying the Single-Sign On component in Citrix AppCenter, rename the MetaFrame Password Manager Console folder.
2) Change Citrix AppCenter language after installation
Unfortunately, I could not find a nice and proper way to force the display language for Citrix AppCenter to English via a registry entry or a configuration file modification.
The quickest solution is to simply rename the language folders from \Citrix\Citrix Delivery Services Console\Framework (by default in C:\Program Files (x86) on a XenApp 6.5 server). At the next launch, Citrix AppCenter will automatically display all details in English.
Edit: feedback, following the article’s publication, reported that above steps are not always enough and, more important, that I left out the Citrix Policy Engine details. So, to be extensive here are the folders in which you have to rename the language subfolders (de, es, fr, ja and zh-CN) in order to force English for all AppCenter details, including Citrix Policy Engine :
C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\Group Policy\Management
C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\Group Policy\Management\Extensions
C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\Group Policy\Management\ExtensionsV2
C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\XenApp Management\XenApp
Additional notes
To publish Citrix AppCenter, follow the process detailled in CTX126752 or consult this Citrix Blog post : /blogs/2012/01/19/citrix-consoles-taskpad-view/
I also recommend to leverage delegated administration allowing, for example, helpdesk to manage XenApp sessions (the feature is explained in Citrix eDocs).
