At the beginning of April, Dan Cote wrote about our first release of Citrix App Layering. This 4.1 release was the first Citrix-branded version.
Now, just a few weeks later, we already have another release to talk about. Citrix App Layering 4.2 is available as of today. Since the first blog post focused on the overall value of App Layering, I wanted to use this one to go over some of the exciting features from both the 4.1 and 4.2 releases.
So, what’s new?
In both 4.1 and 4.2, we focused on adding functionality and some management features around the User Layer technology. User Layers allow you to persist user profile settings, data, and user-installed applications in non-persistent VDI environments. With the release of the User Layer, you’ll be able to deliver fully persistent Windows workspaces using non-persistent, pooled virtual desktops. Instead of having to allocate a virtual machine for every user who needs a persistent experience, you’ll be able to size your infrastructure based on the maximum number of concurrent users, significantly reducing server and storage costs.
- User Layer support was expanded to add Windows 10 64-bit into Labs, which can be enabled under Settings and Configurations.
- Additional messaging and user notifications when a user’s layer is unavailable.
- The ability to split the User Layers’ file share targets based on Active Directory group membership. This will allow you to distribute the load and capacity needs across different servers or disks.
There have also been some features added specifically for Admins to make their packaging and deployment faster, and simpler:
- Layer creation on XenServer and Nutanix AHV can both take advantage of OS and Layering caching on the target platform to speed the packaging process.
- In XenServer and vSphere environments, you can now import an OS directly from a VM without having to disconnect or copy the original disk.
- When publishing images for MCS or View Composer, additional automated steps have been added to reduce the admin’s number of manual tasks after the image is created.
- Upgrades for the Enterprise Layer Manager will automatically download when available (not install, just download) and notify the administrator that an upgrade is ready and waiting to be applied.
These incremental releases are a byproduct of our development cadence and allow us to get these new (highly demanded) features out to you and in your environment faster than ever. Are you ready to give App Layering and these new features a try? It’s simple and fast to get started—and requires no changes to any on-premises infrastructure. Go to Citrix Cloud to sign-in or to create a new account to access your 60-day free trial.
