Citrix PVS - After Reverse Imaging Unable To Change Computer Name

Purpose:

Show the steps taken after reverse imaging a W2K8R2 Citrix PVS Target Device to fix the inability to rename the server and add back to the AD Domain

Symptom:

After the reverse imaging process is done, the machine removed from the domain, rebooted, name changed and rebooted again the name of the server doesn't change and the ability to add the machine back to the domain is grayed out.



Resolution:

In the registry navigate to the below location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ComputerName

There are 2 subkeys called ActiveComputerName and ComputerName and within each of there are valumes called ComputerName. Verify that both have the new computer name.

On my issue the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ComputerName\ActiveComputerName\ComputerName value had the old computer name. I renamed the key and then restarted the computer.

Cause:
Computer account not updating correctly

SageLike Post ID: SL0014

Applies to:

Citrix Provisioned Target Devices
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows 7

Maybe others but these are the OS's that I've had issues with.

References:

http://discussions.citrix.com/topic/283685-after-reverse-image-unable-to-change-computer-name/

Citrix Default Printer Won't Retain

The Windows default printer is a magical thing. This is the printer that is selected by default when you print in an application. Depending on your particular printing workflow this may be the only printer you ever use. Some applications have a quick print functionality that sends a print job to the default printer using default settings and no prompts (for example, portrait orientation and a single copy). To make a printer your default, simply right-click it and select default printer.

When you use Citrix, a Windows default printer is still a Windows default printer. The difference is that Citrix has administrative policies to help you decide what will be the default.

I recently ran into an issue with a new XenDesktop v7.6 environment where users could select a new default printer using the method above but the next day when they logged on to their desktop it was set back to Microsoft XPS Document Writer. A quick note on Microsoft XPS Document Writer, as you may have noticed it installed on your computer, it is really a print-to-file driver Microsoft created to allow you to save print output in the Microsoft XML Paper Specification.  If you have never used it, do not feel bad, it is more likely you have used the immensely popular PDF format made popular by Adobe before becoming an open standard in 2008.

By default, the user's current printer is used as the default printer for the session. For example, my laptop's default printer is HP Deskjet 3520 series (Network).  When I logon to my Citrix desktop it will redirect the laptop printers into the session including my default printer.  That is ideal for a laptop user.

For my next example, I am using a thin client that does not have a default printer because it does not have an OS. It can only connect to a Citrix desktop. When I logon from the thin client it will not see a default printer so it will make the first printer on the Citrix desktop the default. Often times this ends up being the Microsoft XPS Document Writer instead of the HP Deskjet 3520 series (Network). At first, the issue seemed related to a Windows user profile issue since everyone lost their setting from one logon to the next.  After verifying that other Windows user settings were being retained (i.e. wallpaper, Office settings, and the printer mappings themselves), I moved on to Citrix print policies.

There is a specific policy I found interesting:

Default printer

Looking closer at the policy it defaults to "Set default printer to the client's main printer".  Most of the time this will result in using the default printer on the user's endpoint (e.g. laptop or desktop).  If that endpoint is a thin client or even an iPad it will not have a default printer to redirect so you will end up with the first printer in the session.

I made a new policy and set it to "Do not adjust the user's default printer" and gave it a higher priority then the others and assigned it to my test user account.

I then ran a gpupdate on each test worker to verify it had the new policy.  To test, I logged on with the test user, changed my default printer to a network printer.  I then logged out and put that test server in maintenance mode ensuring my next logon would go to the other test server.  Success, my new default printer was retained.  To be extra sure there was not anything cached locally, I rebooted both non-persistent workers and logged in again.  Success.  The final steps were to make the policy apply to more users and have them test before rolling it out to everyone on both the test and production workers.

Printing is rarely thought of as complicated but it always is.  If you are running into a similar issue then this policy change could be your answer.

Brian Olsen @sagelikebrian


SageLike Post ID: SL0010

Applies to:
Citrix XenApp
Citrix XenDesktop
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
Maybe others

LoginVSI VSISetup has stopped working

Purpose:
This article explains how to resolve the error, "VSISetup has stopped working" while setting up LoginVSI.

Symptom:
During the install process of the LoginVSI management console the setup program crashes shortly after starting it.

Resolution:
Add the .NET Framework 3.5.1 using the Add Features wizard.  Before continuing on with the LoginVSI install, run Windows Update and patch .NET.  This can be time consuming as there are lots of updates available and may require a reboot or two.

Cause:
While it is documented in the excellent install guide, it is easy to forget that the default install of Windows Server 2008 R2 does not have .NET 3.5.1 installed and it is required.

SageLike Post ID: SL0008

Applies to:
Windows Server 2008 R2

Maybe others

References:

Citrix XenDesktop 7.1 Slow Logon Black Screen

Purpose:
This article explains slow logon times for XenDesktop v7.1.  In addition to slow logons, the wallpaper may show as black during the initial logon process.

Symptom:
A slow logon is a relative thing and depends on a myriad of factors.  If your server or desktop logon does not show the progress wording on logon but instead has only black wallpaper then it is definitely worth testing out this registry key.  If you just think that your logon is slow, then it still may be worth the effort to test.

Resolution:
Add a new registry key to the master image (desktop or server).

Registry Key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Logon
Name: DisableStatus
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 00000001 

Before you add the key, establish a logon time baseline.  I historically like to do this manually using a stopwatch (iPhone) but the built in Director logon time functionality is an exciting new feature and will give you additional insight.  Here is an example of a Windows 7 baseline from the SageLike lab:

After adding the key, time another logon to see if your logon duration has improved.  Here is an example of the after:

This is a big improvement but YMMV.  An interesting side effect for Windows 2008 R2 server deployments is the return of the status text while establishing a session.  A blank black screen leaves the user to wonder if anything is happening at all.  This fix replaces the black wallpaper with the rapidly changing logon status information.  This cues the user that many things are happening to build their session.

Cause:
I have not found the history of this registry key or why it is absent when using the v7.1 VDA.  I have observed this working quite well for both Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 in a lab environment.  At the time this was written, the reference CTX article below only indicates it is applicable to XenApp 6.5

SageLike Post ID: SL0006

Applies to:
Windows 7
Windows 2008 R2
XenApp 6.5
XenDesktop 7.1
Maybe others

References:
CTX135782 Black Screen Logging on to a Published Desktop

Windows 2008 R2 on a Laptop

Purpose: This post explains the pros and cons of running a server operating system on a laptop.

Backstory:
A year ago, I was picking out a new business laptop and had a decision to make.  My employer had given me $700 as part of their BYOD program.  As a consultant, I wanted something that could run a lab full of VMs but at the same time be light and portable.  After searching the Ultranet for fifteen minutes, that dream died.  In the end, I chose performance, price, and battery life (Dell Latitude E6420) over portability (MacBook Pro).

The next big decision was hypervisor.  VMware Workstation had worked well in the past but I couldn't stop thinking about a story I heard about a vendor running Windows 2008 R2 on his laptop to avoid being seen running a competitors hypervisor.

There were a couple of things that made me like this route:
1) It was unusual, which in my mind makes it cool
2) It would give me lots of hands on with a server OS that I was frequently working with and a hypervisor that I hadn't touched


The last twelve months running a bulky server OS on my daily driver laptop were an overall positive experience and on more than one occasion came in handy for testing or reference. I learned a fair amount about Hyper-V which will likely pay off dividends now that Windows Server 2012 has been released and looks promising.  That being said, I won't be doing it again.  I ran into a fairly large issue (see "Windows 8 and C-States") that could have been resolved much sooner had I been running a more mainstream laptop OS.  As nice as running a small army of VMs on a laptop can be from time to time, it doesn't justify lugging around a 9 pound laptop.  I have access to several labs for that kind of troubleshooting.  My next laptop will be light and lean--MacBook Air'ish.

If you would like to buck the trend and go down this same path, here are some things you'll want to know.

• Disable hibernation before enabling Hyper-V (see Aaron's post below)
• Wireless network connectivity requires a feature called Wireless LAN Service
• Changing LAN networks frequently causes headaches.  Disable the adapter and re-enabling it often fixes issues when the auto-repair failed.  There were times when it took a reboot to finally fixed it.
• Bridge your network connections to give VMs Internet access to a wireless connection.  Highlight both networks, right-click, Create Bridge.

• Disable your DNS suffix if you travel from network to network so it won't automatically append workdomain.local to every host name.  In the Advanced section of your TCP/IP properties, click on the DNS tab, under Append these DNS suffixes (in order), add a ".".  That will force your to enter a suffix every time but will less annoying than the wrong domain name.
• The Windows Search service is disabled by default so nothing will be indexed (OneNote, Outlook...)

• Microsoft Security Essentials (their free antivirus) works fine

• OneNote can't start without the Desktop Experience feature enabled

• Microsoft Media Player can't play DVDs because it does not come with a codec.  The easy workaround is to install VLC

SageLike Post ID: SL0003

Applies to:
Windows 2008 R2
Maybe others

References:
stealthpuppy.com - Disable Hibernation before enabling Hyper-V on a laptop

Windows 8 and C-States

Purpose:
This post explains what to do when your Windows 8 with Hyper-V enabled laptop has power issues.

Symptom:
While working on a light  or heavy workload the laptop turns off.  I do not mean shuts down or blue screens but acts as if you just pulled out the battery  and power cord at the same time.  Basically, a turned off laptop where a running one once was. I have been battling this intermittent issue on my Dell Latitude E6420 laptop for the last year.   Sometimes it was twice in a day, sometimes it was once a week,  other weeks were totally clean.   Dell support believed it was an issue with the motherboard (twice).  At one point, I believed it was an issue running Windows 2008 R2 on a laptop  but that is a story for another post.   When the problem happened on a fresh Windows 8 install it got me thinking.


Resolution:
Windows 8 ran totally clean for a month before the power kill happened.  Right about the time I turned on Hyper-V, hmm...  A few Google searches later and I had the solution.   In the BIOS, Virtualization Technology needs to be turned on and VT for Direct IO will be needed for some functionality.
 

Turn off C-States.
 

Cause:
Hyper-V does not play well with Intel's C-States.  C-States are low power modes for CPUs (see references below for more info).  This doesn't make much sense for a server in a data center, especially when it runs multiple VMs so turning them off is a good thing.  Turning them off will also give your server better performance.  In Hyper-V's defense, they aren't the only one to suffer issues from C-States.  XenServer has had well documented issues (CTX127395) as well.

Sidenote: I did not find official recommendations from Microsoft to turn it off because of issues but I did find one to turn it off for better performance.

SageLike Post ID: SL0002

Applies to:
Windows 2008 R2
Windows 8
Maybe others

References:
hardwaresecrets.com - Everything You Need to Know About the CPU C-States Power Saving Modes
technet.com - Hyper-V and BIOS power plans (c-states)
KB974598 - You receive a "Stop 0x0000007E" error on the first restart after you enable Hyper-V on a Windows Server 2008 based computer
KB2000977 - Hyper-V: Performance decreases in VMs on Intel Xeon 5500 (Nehalem) systems
CTX127395 - Hosts Become Unresponsive with XenServer 5.6 on Nehalem and Westmere CPUs
CTX130464 - How to Check if Extra C-States are Enabled without Booting into the BIOS.
SL0002  - Windows 2008 R2 on a Laptop