Welcome to the third and final part of my Linux VDA on CentOS 6.6 Blog series… (Nearly there!!!) If you have just stumbled across this post and would like to go back and review what has come before just click on these links: Part 1 – Installing and preparing the Linux OS and Part 2 – Installing and configuring the Linux VDA. Once again, I hope you enjoy the final part in the series and, as always, please sound off in the comments if you have any questions or feedback.
@XDtipster – Linux VDA setup on CentOS 6.6 Pt.2
Now that we have our Linux OS installed and prepared as per part 1 of this guide. It’s time to move onto part 2 and install and configure the Linux VDA for registration with a Site Controller… Once again, I hope you enjoy the read and please sound off in the comments if you have any questions or feedback :-)
@XDtipster – Linux VDA setup on CentOS 6.6 Pt.1
With the Linux VDA set to drop very shortly as part of the XenApp & XenDesktop 7.6 FP2 release. It seems like a good time to share the high level, yet detailed, set-up process I followed when successfully carrying out internal testing. Taken from various sources including the tech preview RHEL install guide, my colleague Lee Bushen’s detailed SLED based lab set-up guide and a tonne of Google searches and read-through’s, I hope this collection of posts can save people some time and be used and referenced as one of the definitive Linux VDA setup guides for CentOS 6.6.
XenDesktop 7.x internals continued… The Server VDA in more detail.
Although the new FMA based Server VDA has been built from the ground up it still has a lot of similarities when compared to the ‘old’ ICA protocol stack deployed with XenApp 6.5 and earlier versions. However, unlike XenApp, the VDA (Virtual Delivery Agent) directly communicates with the Delivery Controller, it does this through the Broker Agent, basically the same way as we are used to with the desktop VDA (PortICA).
The ultimate Citrix XenDesktop 7.x internals cheat sheet!
Ever wondered what happens after a user fills in his or her username and password? What the difference is between internal and external user authentication, resource enumeration and the accompanying launch process? Or what about Web-Interface and StoreFront, do they both have the same authentication mechanism? What are the differences between the server and desktop VDA’s? What about the VDA and XenDesktop internals, what happens inside a VDA when a resource is launched? How does a connection get brokered? Read about this and more during the next 8 (mini) chapters.
Continue ReadingConnection Leasing vs. Local Host Cache. Conclusion? CL doesn’t stand a chance!
Average time to read: 7 minutes
When Citrix re-released their XenApp and XenDesktop products not that long ago, things changed. XenApp’s Independent Management Architecture, IMA, was no more and got replaced by XenDesktop’s Flexcast Management Architecture, or FMA. With it some of the functionality and features loved and used by many disappeared as well. Features like Sessions Lingering, Anonymous Users, Pre-Launch and a few more, were missed, and for some this even became one of the main reasons not to migrate at that time. Luckily Citrix has again reinstated some of the most popular features known to XenApp 6.5, again, not all, but some, in its latest XenApp release, version 7.6.
Presenting Citrix XenApp 7.6 & Citrix XenDesktop 7.6… What’s new?!
Average time to read: 4 minutes
Hi everybody, as you might have heard by now Citrix announced XenApp and XenDesktop version 7.6 build on top of the their new and improved Flexcast Management Architecture. I took the liberty to summarize some, if not all, of the newly announced features and enhancements that both products will bring to the table, sparing you the marketing propaganda surrounding it. If you feel I left anything out, drop me a line and I’ll include it, and of course this goes for the Citrix employees as well :-) Here goes:
How to: Rebooting your XenDesktop 7.x application servers.
Average time to read: 7 minutes
Sounds easy enough right? Rebooting your XenDesktop Site’s application servers. When your Site isn’t that big and you don’t have a few hundred machines running or you have to deal with 24/7 shifts and so on, it can be fairly straightforward. I don’t want to spend to much time on why we would want, or need, to reboot our machines on a weekly or perhaps daily basis etc. a lot of factors come into play and there’s really no ‘one size fits all’. You could be using App-V or Citrix provisioning Services for example, both caching data which you would like to clear from time to time. Or perhaps the underlying Windows OS, when physically installed, might need a refresh every once in awhile, which we all know it does! Fact of the matter is, reboots are a given and need to be thought trough to keep operations running as smooth as possible. Make sure to finish the article, there is a question on the Citrix build-in reboot tooling, maybe you can help me out!
Configuring Citrix XenDesktop 7.x Desktop publishing and Limited Visibility!
Average time to read: 8 minutes
With the merge of XenApp into XenDesktop’s Flex Management Architecture (FMA) a lot changed, for most XenApp admins it meant they had to rethink their designs and as a result it was back to the drawing board. Take application, or resource, publishing for example, we now have to deal Delivery Groups and Machine Catalogs, nothing new if you’re used to working with XenDesktop, but if it’s ‘just’ XenApp you know, well… Even now where XenApp 7.5 is a product on it’s own, again, it’s still based on the Flex Management Architecture meaning it also still uses the same wizards and configuration options as in XenDesktop 7.x a few months ago, for the most part anyway.
Planning your next XenDesktop deployment? Have a look at Citrix Project Accelerator
Average time to read: 9 minutes
Have you ever used the Citrix project Accelerator? No? You should! At least have a look and see what you make of it, so did I. Currently there are over 12.500 projects (active and closed) known by Project Accelerator, I’ll get to the how and why in a minute. According to the release notes it has been online and available in beta since December 2012, but I assume they’re only referring to the (upgraded) XenDesktop 7.1 version, right?! For those of you unknown with the concept, I’ll try and explain what it’s about and how it’s done.