Purpose:
This post is to share a Citrix MCS / VMware PowerShell script I created
over the last year or so to automate the process of renaming a master image (Win2K16 or W10), converting it to a template, cloning the template and creating a snapshot of the clone in preparation for MCS updates.
You can use this script if you have a single datacenter or if you have multiple. It's relatively easy to modify it so the master image is copied to multiple vCenter datacenters/clusters and follows the same process.
I currently have 9 different datacenters/clusters running the same master image. I just maintain the core master image in the primary datacenter, perform updates, shutdown, run this script and once the process is done I can update each machine catalog one by one from the same master image.
Download the script from Citrix ShareFile
SageLike Post ID: SL0023
September 17, 2019
July 31, 2019
XenApp and XenDesktop 7.16
Released November 28, 2017 - End of Life May 28, 2018
Citrix Docs and Product Lifecycle Matrix
User eXperience:
Citrix Docs and Product Lifecycle Matrix
User eXperience:
- High Definition webcam support.
- Expanded tablet mode in Windows 10 using Windows Continuum.
- Adaptive transport enhancement. By default, adaptive transport is enabled (Preferred), and EDT is used when possible, with fallback to TCP.
- Browser content redirection. Redirects the contents of a web browser to a client device with a corresponding browser embedded within the Citrix Receiver. See (Citrix Docs) for more information.
- "H.265 Encoding Now Available for XenDesktop Using NVIDIA GPUs" (Citrix Blogs). Requires Receiver for Windows 4.10 and must be enabled. If the GPU at the endpoint does not support H.265 decoding using the DXVA interface, the Citrix Receiver for Windows H.265 Decoding for graphics policy setting is ignored and the session falls back to using the H.264 video codec. Requires a Platinum license. See Receiver 4.10 for more information (Citrix Docs).
- Unicode keyboard mapping. Without the registry setting, if a user changes the local and the server keyboard layouts, the keyboards might not be in sync and character output is wrong.
- HDX 3D Pro is detected automatically during VDA setup.
- MCS support for on-demand provisioning with Azure Resource Manager.
- Support for App-V 5.0 deployment configuration files in single admin method and support for shortcuts in App-V packages.
- Access Monitor Service data uses version 4 of the OData API.
- Shadow Linux user sessions running RHEL 7.3 or Ubuntu 16.04. Director connects via noVNC.
- HDX Insight improvement. Integration of the new NSAP virtual channel. Nick, from Citrix Consulting, is calling this, "HDX Insight 2.0" (Citrix Blogs) but 7.17 recommended (CTX239748).
- Applications analytics in Director. It provides a consolidated view of the health and usage of all published applications. It shows metrics like the number of instances per application and faults and errors associated with the applications. Requires Delivery Controller version 7.16 or later and VDA version 7.15 or newer.
- VDA desktop OS support: Windows 10 1607 or newer. For support of older operating systems (Windows 7, Windows 8) use the 7.15 VDA.
- VDA server OS support: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016 (also supports server VDI). For support of older operating systems (Winddows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012) use the 7.15 VDA.
June 11, 2019
Citrix Posters and Diagrams
My Citrix journey started about a decade ago. I was lucky enough to work with some really great people to get me started. These mentors helped me with the "what". Building a farm and publishing applications were great but I really wanted to understand the "how". Where did NetScaler end and Web Interface begin? What really happened after a user put in their credentials and click, "Log On". I eventually figured it out using a combination of Citrix Docs, Google, late nights and fixing broken environments.
If I had to learn this all over again in 2019, I would start with an Instructor-Led Training class or eLearning (training.citrix.com). Spending hundreds of hours learning on the job could have been shortcutted with a class. Both of these options will probably cost you or your organization money. Money that in hindsight would have been worth it in my opinion. Maybe the money or the time is not in the cards right now, so let's move on to a great alternative with a lower price point 😏.
Citrix is making posters and diagrams for a variety of solutions. Allen (Twitter) announced the roadmap for these reference architectures in, "What's ahead for Citrix reference architectures" (Citrix Blogs). I use the Virtual Apps and Desktops on-prem poster each and every week when talking to customers. It helps guide me through any of the following:
Last week I sent a customer a link to the posters on techzone.citrix.com and he replied back with the image below. It got a lot of attention when I posted it on Twitter. Anyone have a plotter so I can get one for my office?
Brian @sagelikebrian
See also:
Brian's monthly article on important things in the world of apps, applications, and micro apps that we call TheAppFactory. Use the widgets at the left to have this site delivered to your RSS feed reader or by email.
If I had to learn this all over again in 2019, I would start with an Instructor-Led Training class or eLearning (training.citrix.com). Spending hundreds of hours learning on the job could have been shortcutted with a class. Both of these options will probably cost you or your organization money. Money that in hindsight would have been worth it in my opinion. Maybe the money or the time is not in the cards right now, so let's move on to a great alternative with a lower price point 😏.
Citrix is making posters and diagrams for a variety of solutions. Allen (Twitter) announced the roadmap for these reference architectures in, "What's ahead for Citrix reference architectures" (Citrix Blogs). I use the Virtual Apps and Desktops on-prem poster each and every week when talking to customers. It helps guide me through any of the following:
- Virtual desktop models
- 5 layers of a VAD deployment
- User authentication and resource enumeration*
- HDX technologies
- ICA protocol
- Networking traffic and ports
- Session launch*
Last week I sent a customer a link to the posters on techzone.citrix.com and he replied back with the image below. It got a lot of attention when I posted it on Twitter. Anyone have a plotter so I can get one for my office?
A customer sent me this after I told them that https://t.co/tycJmor3Cu (design) has the newest Virtual Apps and Desktop posters. This should help him wrap up his documentation, check it out. Thanks, @MartinZugec and @djfeller pic.twitter.com/FlmyD0rwee— Brian Olsen (@sagelikebrian) May 14, 2019
Brian @sagelikebrian
See also:
Brian's monthly article on important things in the world of apps, applications, and micro apps that we call TheAppFactory. Use the widgets at the left to have this site delivered to your RSS feed reader or by email.
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