This reviewer’s guide is designed to help you quickly install and configure XenApp and XenDesktop version 7.15 LTSR or later for a trial evaluation. It guides you through a XenApp and XenDesktop deployment scenario to help you better understand how the application delivery capabilities work with the FlexCast® Management Architecture (FMA).
This guide will walkthrough setting up the three most common use cases:
Starting with release 7.0, XenApp and XenDesktop use identical code-base and are delivered using the same software download. The difference is in how it is licensed and purchased, offering flexibility of picking the feature-set and price point to suit different budgets and needs. Throughout this guide, the terms XenApp and XenDesktop may be used interchangeably.
In the process of following this guide, the reviewer will use XenApp and XenDesktop for the core datacenter infrastructure, Citrix StoreFront for access to the enterprise app store, and Workspace appTM as the end user client software. An active directory infrastructure with DHCP and DNS services must be available. Setting up prerequisites is outside the scope of this guide.
For an in-depth evaluation and more details on the release, please see the Product Documentation.
XenApp and XenDesktop Enterprise and Platinum editions include both application and desktop publishing capabilities. Unlike previous deployments requiring separate infrastructure for XenApp and XenDesktop, unification of the architecture with FMA provides a single delivery infrastructure, and the same consoles are used for delivering server-based applications and desktops.
Organizations looking only for app publishing capabilities at this time may license the standalone Citrix Virtual Apps product. Since the code base is the same, subsequently upgrading from XenApp to XenDesktop is as easy as replacing the license key. There is no requirement for deploying additional infrastructure or management consoles.
Until XenApp 6.5, the product used a different architecture known as Independent Management Architecture (IMA). All current releases of XenApp and XenDesktop use the FMA. If you are upgrading from XenApp 6.5, please review this documentation.
A significant enhancement in this release, compared to XenApp 6.5, is the concept of separating XenApp management from the Windows Server machines that host virtual apps or server-based desktops. XenApp enables you to publish apps and server-based desktops from multiple platforms such as Windows Server 2008 R2, 2012, 2012 R2, and 2016 – all from one instance of the product. Future upgrades are also simpler as a result, because it is not directly associated with a specific version of Windows Server.
Please download the free evaluation software. For this evaluation, it is assumed that the reviewer will perform the necessary steps to put the downloaded ISO on a DVD or mount it as virtual disk.
For convenience in this guide, components are installed on fewer servers than are recommended for a production environment. An Active Directory infrastructure with DNS and DHCP services is required before you begin (during the evaluation, we strongly recommend a non-production Active Directory and DHCP service for the test environment).
Tip: While not recommended for production deployment, all virtual machines VMs for this evaluation may be run on a single physical server. The topology in this guide uses server hardware with 8 CPU cores and 64GB RAM for the test load.
Before we begin, please complete these prerequisite tasks:
The installation and configuration (excluding the prerequisites) are expected to take about 3 hours. Following is a list of VMs required for the setup shown in Figure 1.
Using these templates, create VMs 1 through 7 as per Table 1. Apply all the latest Windows patches, and turn Windows Update setting to “Never” afterwards. Take a snapshot of the “clean state” for each VM before installing any software other than the operating system (helpful if you ever wish to go back and start over). Join all VMs to the Active Directory domain. Using these VMs to create the master image is explained later in Step 1.1: Creating the master image.
Table 1: VM Assignment
Once you have concluded the series of exercises in this guide, you will have an environment in which you can explore the full feature set and performance of XenApp and XenDesktop. Please read the product documentation for detailed instructions. The instructions in this guide are meant to provide you with an evaluation method. Not every component, feature or configuration is addressed.
The example scenario is to deliver applications and a desktop published from Windows Server 2016, and one pooled desktop based on Windows 10 operating system.
After you download and install the software, publishing desktops and apps is a three-step process, driven through a user friendlyuser-friendly wizard in Citrix Studio. One task needs to be performed outside of the wizard-based Studio console: creation of the master images. This involves setting up Windows machines with the required OS and other applications, then installing Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent on them to enable communication with the delivery controller.
At the end, apps will be launched using the Citrix Workspace app client from any device, such as a Windows laptop, MacBook, thin client, mobile device, or tablet. Citrix Workspace app is available as a free download from Citrix.com and the respective app stores.
During this evaluation, the server-side activity flowchart will look something like this.
Ensure that the prerequisites (previous section) are in place and the software has been downloaded to a DVD (or mounted on a virtual DVD). Also, ensure VM1 has Windows Server 2016 (as per Table 1) installed, patched, and added to the Active Directory domain. This section describes the process for installing various components of XenApp and XenDesktop and configuring Studio.
The default option will be selected for most of the configuration settings. When a different option is recommended or explanation is required, those tasks are marked with a
sign.Step 1.1: XenApp and XenDesktop Installation
Install the Controller and other core components on VM1.
Step 1.2: Set up the site in Citrix Studio
When you launch Citrix Studio for the first time, the first run wizard helps you quickly build a new site, create a pool of application servers and desktops (called “machine catalog”) and assign users to those applications and desktops (called “delivery groups”). More advanced users may add this Controller to an existing site or access physical machines using Remote PC Access (not in scope of this guide).
In this Step, you will create the Master Image, Machine Catalog, and Delivery Group. You have the option of delivering the 3 use cases, mentioned at the beginning of the guide: (1) deliver published applications from Server OS; (2) deliver a hosted shared desktop from Server OS; and (3) deliver VDI desktops from client OS.
Option A walks through the steps to deploy the first two use cases, to deliver published applications and a hosted shared desktop from Windows Server 2016.
Option B walks through the steps to deploy VDI desktop with Windows 10.
You can choose to deploy Option A, Option B, or both.
Option A: Publish Application and/or Hosted Shared Desktop from XenApp
Follow this section to deliver secure hosted application or a shared hosted desktop from Windows Server 2016.
Step 2.A.1: Install Delivery Agent on the master image
In the Getting Started section, we asked to create virtual machine templates. This is done by defining VM properties (how many vCPU, RAM, disk space), installation of OS, installation of common apps, and other configurations you want to be part of your users’ environment.
Your account must have local administrator privileges and be a domain administrator in the Active Directory, for the purpose of the evaluation.
Before you publish XenApp and XenDesktop, you must install the Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent on this server to create a master image.
The VDA is installed on this VM. For this evaluation, we choose to install it in the Master Image mode, so the virtual image will be managed and replicated using MCS. You may install the Delivery Agent in standalone mode, e.g. to deliver applications from the server itself, without replication. That is useful when the VDA is on a physical server, for instance.
Step 2.A.2: Creating the machine catalog
A machine catalog is a collection of desktops or physical computers that are managed as a single entity. To deliver applications and desktops to users, the machine administrator creates a catalog of machines and the assignment administrator allocates machines from the machine catalog to users by creating delivery groups.
For this isolated evaluation, we simply use a domain administrator in the Active Directory with local administrator privileges.
Step 2.A.3: Publish desktops and applications
Using Studio, you will first have to configure a site, create and specify machine catalogs, and then create delivery groups using those machine catalogs. Users are then entitled to one or more Delivery Groups and use the desktops/applications published.
This step guides you through creating a Delivery Group to publish applications and a server-based hosted shared desktop to a group of users, using your Windows Server 2016 XenApp machine catalog created in the previous step.
For more details on how application publishing has evolved since XenApp 6.5, please see Important Information for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Administrators in the product documentation.
Option B: Delivering VDI desktops with XenApp and XenDesktop
Follow this section to deploy a VDI desktop with Windows 10.
Step 2.B.1: Install Delivery Agent on the Windows 10 master image
Follow this section to deliver Windows 10 desktops with XenApp and XenDesktop.
In the Getting Started section, we asked to create virtual machine templates. This is done by defining VM properties (how many vCPU, RAM, Disk space), installation of operating system (OS), installation of common apps, and other configurations you want to be part of your users’ environment.
Your account must have local administrator privileges and be a domain administrator in the Active Directory, for the purpose of the evaluation.
Before you publish virtual desktop infrastructure, you must install the Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent on this desktop to create a master image.
Step 2.B.2: Creating the machine catalog
A machine catalog is a collection of desktops or physical computers that are managed as a single entity. To deliver applications and desktops to users, the machine administrator creates a catalog of machines and the assignment administrator allocates machines from the machine catalog to users by creating delivery groups.
For this isolated evaluation, we simply use a domain administrator in the Active Directory with local administrator privileges.
Step 2.B.3: Create delivery group to publish VDI desktops
Using Studio, you will first have to configure a site, create and specify machine catalogs, and then create delivery groups using those machine catalogs. Users are then entitled to one or more Delivery Groups and use the desktops/applications published to them.
This step guides you through creating a Delivery Group to publish VDI desktops to a group of users, using your Windows 10 XenApp and XenDesktop machine catalog created in the previous step.
Citrix StoreFront is the next generation of Web Interface, and enables self-service provisioning of desktops and applications, among a host of new functionality. StoreFront authenticates users and manages the store of applications and desktops. In this evaluation, StoreFront runs on the same server as the Controller (VM1).
You will now use VM #4 from Table 1 to launch apps and desktops on an endpoint and experience as end-user.
Launch published desktops and applications using Workspace app.
Citrix Workspace app is the lightweight access client that enables access to applications and desktops from StoreFront. Once a user is authenticated, you will have access those applications and desktops hosted on XenApp and XenDesktop.
Citrix Workspace app is a very flexible and user-friendly client for desktop and app access, downloaded by over 200,000 users every month. Feel free to experiment and create the look-and-feel that is most appealing to your users and meets all your business needs.
Citrix Director is the only operations dashboard designed from the ground up to resolve the unique challenges created by app and desktop virtualization. Unlike most industry monitoring solutions that take an infrastructure view of the environment, Director is designed for the “end user” view. It greatly increases efficiency of support helpdesk and Citrix specialists by providing great detail about all aspects of the user sessions – whether related to application, networking, storage, compute, or even the end user device. Use the Director to quickly identify and resolve issues before they negatively impact end-user performance.
This concludes your evaluation of XenApp and XenDesktop release. This simplified guide is intended for a quick evaluation of the product features, using a narrow scope of work. It does not replace the product documentation and detailed deployment guides .
Through this process, you learned how to install a basic deployment of XenApp and XenDesktop, configure a Studio site and create machine catalogs. Using delivery groups, you provisioned both apps and desktops from a single unified console. You saw the flexible end user delivery options, whether custom branding or true support for any device. Finally, you experienced the powerful monitoring, troubleshooting, and analytical features of Director, seeing the value of an intuitive purpose-built tool for day-to-day operations of a large-scale virtualized environment.
Over the past 25 years, our leading design philosophy believes there is no one-size-fits-all architecture. Our customers have uniquely varied requirements, from small organizations enabling workspace mobility to the largest Fortune 500 corporations deploying tens of thousands of Citrix Virtual Apps servers. The basic building blocks of machine catalogs, delivery groups, and apps can be put together to meet sophisticated and complex business needs. This guide is targeted at administrators that may be new to Citrix, and as such, it follows the simplest workflow to get an evaluation running. Now that you have completed these tasks and seen how a basic deployment functions, use the XenApp and XenDesktop documentation to experience all the components and features available with this release.
Appendix
A few additional features and use-cases are covered in this section. These features require slightly more advanced knowledge of the product, so they were moved outside the main document instructions.
Workspace app for HTML5 for client-less access
One of the most powerful enhancements to XenApp and XenDesktop is the ability to run applications and desktops in a browser, without installing any client software on the endpoint. The HTML5 Workspace app for XenApp and XenDesktop delivers a rich graphical user-experience using the Deep Compression technology from the native Workspace app. For mobile work styles, the HTML5 Workspace app is a very important and useful tool.
Three easy steps get you ready to use Workspace app for HTML5 in XenApp and XenDesktop environment
Detailed instructions are provided in Product Documentation
Step 1: Enable Workspace app for HTML5 in Citrix StoreFront
If not already installed, please deploy Citrix StoreFront either on the same server as the Delivery Controller or a standalone console. Create a store for the site.
Step 2: Enable Ports using Group Policy
Once the Workspace app settings are configured in StoreFront, we need to enable the ICA Websockets using Group Policies from Citrix Studio console.
Step 3: Verify HTML5 access to your Desktops and Applications
From the client machine, access the StoreFront URL using a compatible browser
Login via StoreFront URL using domain credentials based on permission (users/groups) in delivery group. Default URL would be http://<DDC-IPaddress-or-FQDN>/Citrix/StoreWeb
If you selected the Always Use Workspace app for HTML5, you will not see the prompt to install Workspace app. Instead, it will directly ask you to authenticate.
Citrix Workspace app for Chrome App is used when users running Google’s Chrome OS log on to a Workspace app for Web site. It is also based on HTML5 but has more features due to Google’s API support.
Workspace app for HTML5 is a great tool when local installation of the plug-in is not possible or recommended, say in kiosk mode. The native client is recommended where possible, for best performance and user-experience.
Citrix Workspace app for HTML5 contains many enhancements for great user experience:
Citrix product documentation