I will be fast today, session are too average level, I think this is good session for XenApp, XenDesktop administrators on the way, there are many detailed architectures, a lot of debugging / troubleshooting tools explanations but that’s it. There was nothing like deep memory dump analyzes, network packet capture and analyzes, it remains ‘mainstream’ for experimented Citrix engineers.

So I used my time to understand how things are working at Synergy, V.I.P groups, clans and underground wars… I did have many theories about that but I keep it for myself Those guys are like rock stars in virtualization small planet, this is funny, it really remind me of what’s happening behind the scene in music business. Some are true with themselves, committed, honest and frank while some others are really annoying (passi satana perkele) and some situation are just unreal. Cloud computing ? yeah right… Everyone needs to write something about this trendy rock’n roll attitude but they lost the point, users and CxOs are lost and if they’re lost they won’t pay for something they don’t understand. Wait ! I need to check my crystal ball to write an blog about future of workstations and operating systems…

Back to Synergy, there was the opening keynote from Mark Templeton about what’s going on the crazy Citrix planet. There are many ongoing things for this year, and here are what I think are the most important release for this year.

XenClient available for download now at : XenClient Download
Synchronizer for XenClient available for download now at : Synchronizer for XenClient Download
Dazzle.net (new client and the very long waited back-end framework)
EncryptedData plug-in (Q3)

Citrix is really pushing very far their development and product releases, there are two Marc Templeton presentation’s slide  showing very clearly the direction Citrix is taking :

And they really are taking over with such technologies. Now I can’t wait to be back home to diver very deep in XenClient and Synchronizer for XenClient technology. (My crystal ball told me, XenClient will burn everything to the ground within 3 years…)

User Profile Manager 3 Tech. Prev.

Here is a list of new featured inluded in this TP

• Citrix streamed user profiles. With Citrix streamed user profiles, files and folders are synchronized on the local computer only when they are needed, which speeds up logon and logoff. (Registry entries are cached immediately.) This feature includes the following settings in the ADM file.
• Cache entire profile. Profiles are synchronized locally after logon as a background system task, without any feedback to users.
• Active profile write back. Files and folders (but not Registry entries) that are modified can be synchronized to the user store in the middle of a session, before logoff.
• More supported operating systems. Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are now supported.
• Diagnostic enhancements. Administrators can now set the computers and groups to be monitored using the Diagnostic Facility in the Daily Management Console. They no longer have to configure logging in the ADM template and force a group policy update (that they may not have permissions for). In addition, new event log messages display the full path to the user store for each user logon.
• For further deployment information, including how to add the ADM file in the download to Group Policy, see the installation topics in the Version 2.1 documentation.
• Installation enhancements. Profile management checks for more errors during installation and, if they are encountered, writes messages to the event log. A new command-line switch installs Profile management without the .ini files that were previously used for configuration.

You can see bellow installation screenshots :

When you download it, you’ll have a zip file with x86 and x64 version, a html file to redirect you to Citrix EDoc and the ADM file to use with Windows GPO, this ADM is well organised/comment and you can easily find news feature added inside if you edit it.

You can see with the next screenshot how the features are categorized in the group policie management console :

And the a screenshot of each feature you can find:

For me the major new feature is the possibility to update the profile without waiting for a log off, this profile streaming stuff is just awesome, and I need to test it and check under heavy load how it will behave.

Merchandising Server 1.2 Tech. Prev.

A new release of mechandising server has been deliver with XenApp 6 (Project Parra) and at first look the is not a huge difference with the Production version 1.1

As far as I can see there is a proxy configuration, i saw while browsing on internet some people were using it to deploy Xentools as well. There is not much to read on the web yet.

Hdx

HDX for flash is now supported on XenApp, there also what is call HDX Usb device plug and play, I will post more informations about this later in a dedicated blog post.

Single Sign On 4.8

Single sign-on 4.8 includes the following:

• Enhanced Web application definition creation and management functionality
• Sendkeys functionality for Web, matching existing availability for Windows

Web Application Compatability

• Dynamic Web Page Support

Single sign-on now recognizes and responds when Web pages refresh through Javascript or similar technology.

• Sendkeys Functionality for Web

Single sign-on now supports Sendkeys for Web applications without the use of the Redirect to Windows application feature.

Administrator Experience

• The new Web page selector highlights Web pages in Windows Internet Explorer as you select them to ensure you choose the desired Web page
• Advanced Matching now features simplified, clearer Web elements, using highlights to connect the selected elements with the contents of the Web page
• The Define form action process for Web applicaiton definitions now resembles the process used for Windows application definitions
• New action editor is now similar to the one used with Windows application definitions
• The Form Definition Wizard now can adjust as Web page refresh or reload, or you navigate to a new page
• The Data Integrity certicate expiration date can now be seen in the Single sign-on Properties display in the Delivery Services Console, enabling you to create a new certificate before the existing one expires.
• Single sign-on 4.8 contains a modified administrative data migration feature to cleanly move data from one central store to another.

End User Experience

Users will no longer see an intrusive progress bar telling them the Single sign-on plug-in is starting. That information is now contained in a tooltip visible when users roll over the Single sign-on plug-in notification tray icon. As always, users can begin working while the plug-in is starting.

Security

Single sign-on 4.8 uses the stronger encryption standards of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and SHA-256 (Secure Hash Algorithm) for the storage of credentials.

Other New Functionality

• Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 support.
• Single sign-on Service for V4.8 runs on 64-bit servers.

I cannot post more informations about Single Sign On 4.8, I need to update my VM with new binaries and it will take some times. I will also make a blog only about SmartAuditor to screenshot everything and test all the new features.

You can find all these informations and more at Citrix Edoc : http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp/ps-6-w2k8-wrapper.html

---

Join the forum discussion on this post

Self-Serve management
Users can now click on a link from an IT intranet site or email to auto-configure the required settings ( check out the built-in demo for an example )

Personalization
A new Dazzle feature is included allowing users to select favorite apps , and for IT to feature recommended apps.

Improved User Experience
New gestures have been added to improve usability and navigate apps.

Performance
Significant improvement in connection and launch times.

Security enhancements
Support for Secure HDX/ICA 128 bit encryption
Password policy enabling IT to enforce password requirements.

2 Factor Authentication
Integrated support for SMS Passcode authentication allowing Text based One Time Passwords instead of Tokens.
RSA 2 Factor Token or Soft Token authentication ( available in 1.03 )

Multiple Accounts
Users can now access multiple accounts for farms with different credentials and configuration without re-entry.

XenDesktop 4.0 Support
Apps from XenApp or XenDesktop is now supported.

Integrated Demo
The app now has an integrated demo feature with multiple apps for anyone to start right away.

Experimental features
HDX audio can provide access to apps audio such as voice mail attachments.
Icons can now be added on the home screen using the iPhone Configuration Utility.

a lot a new features and the most useful one is multiple account for me and the caffeine option is very cool as well Here is some screenshot :

---

Join the forum discussion on this post

4.00.581
4.00.686
4.20.715
4.20.727
4.20.741
4.21.779
6.00.910
6.01.963
6.01.964
6.01.967
6.20.985

6.30.1050
6.31.1051
7.00.17534
7.01.20497
7.10.21845
7.10.22650
8.00.24737
8.10.29670
9.00.32649
9.10.36280
9.15.39151
9.20.44376
9.23.50211
10.00.45418
10.00.49686
10.00.52110
10.10.55836
10.15.58643
10.20.2650
11.00.5284 (beta)
11.00.5357
11.2.0.31560
11.2.2.3

There are several way to list all client version connecting to a PS or XenApp farm, my favorite because the simplest one is by using Edgesight. You need to open you Edgesight website and go to the “Browse” tab and then click on “Session” category and this is it “ICA Client Version” is here waiting for your click.

The result will be this kind of report :

I will post in next few days how to retrieve the client version with a vbs script and then using Powershell scripting.

---

Join the forum discussion on this post

There is some missing point to this tool, most of company made the choice to deploy the PNAgent and by experience many users are now use to launch their XenApp application through the start menu but also right clicking the PNAgent icon on the task bar. This is not possible any more, I really think this feature should be back to allow a massive deployment.

Setup begin with this light windows to uninstall preivous version. It might take a while

Once uninstall is done, the installation begin

and this is the end

Click on Read more to continue

Then the setup is (already) done, nothing very exiting, we cannot see anything or make any choice. Then a popup appear :

I authenticate myself to access my favorite Citrix applications. Before watching this new client in full action, here comes all the option you can use :

 

 

The new top bar seems to be very handy and very intuitive.

I got some issue with Citrix client focus while trying to move from a publish desktop to another through the bar, it simply didn’t work for me, I have to try it a bit ater on my new Windows 7 workstation

Some setup screenshots :

And the Final Window :

So just to say this new toy took me some time and now I’m late on eveything The XenDesktop installation and setup with PVS is almost complete, I just have to type some word and upload the video, it’s very simple and will allow you to setup you own XenDesktop. I have also setup a XenServer 5.5 beta 1 and a Merchandising Server, I would have like to setup a Dazzle server but the beta is not available yet… Everything should popup very soon in here so stay tune !