Last week, Citrix released to web XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2. Hopefully, you've had a chance to download the media and install it in your lab, as well as read about some of the new features and functionality. Or maybe you've pondered it and brushed it off because transitioning to a new Feature Pack level might take more time and effort that you can expend right now. Hold on!

Transitioning to XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 isn't all that complex—if you have the right tools. Here's how to simplify your life:
• Attend the Best Practices for Upgrading/Migrating to XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 TechTalk on October 8th (also available on demand after that date)
• Download the Technical Guide for Upgrading/Migrating to XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 white paper

The TechTalk and white paper are straightforward technical how-to resources that include those little "gotcha" items that will simplify the transition to XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2. You'll get a very brief overview of the new features and then dive right into what it takes to upgrade or migrate.

So, here's the challenge: Invest 50 minutes in the TechTalk and/or read through 20 pages (mostly tables), and you'll definitely save at least a few hours (maybe days?) implementing XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2. Let me know how much time the TechTalk and/or white paper saved you!

That's the title of the July 9th TechTalk. This session is open to genuine propeller heads and geeks only.

In this session, I'll explain how ICA functions, including why single session application bandwidth testing isn't accurate, the CGP (Common Gateway Protocol) and how it relates to ICA, what virtual channels do, and much more. We'll even dissect some ICA packets!

Then Jason Maynard is going to talk about ICA Acceleration, which is focused on how the Branch Repeater devices can make ICA even more efficient. He'll show you how you can squeeze and compress ICA like never before.

As you consume this information, the "aha!" moments will abound. You will have lots of "Did you know that . . . ?" items to discuss at lunch the next day with your fellow Citrix geeks. Go ahead, take it up a notch and invite your fellow network geeks to dine with you. Just be warned that packets of knowledge will be accelerating everywhere and beverage napkins will be full of diagrams!

Just the mention of user profiles sends some admins running in the other direction. Agreed, it's not everyone's favorite subject, but not understanding profiles and configuring incorrectly can make life as an administrator (and a user!) miserable.

For you, there's a 13-minute video called Technical Intro to User Profiles that just might get you to the point where you realize that user profiles aren't all that horrible. By no means am I promising that you'll know everything about user profiles in 13 minutes flat, but this simplistic approach will put you on the road to understanding profiles.

This could be the beginning of great things . . . be sure to drop me a line when your fellow admins refer to you as Profile Administrator Extraordinaire.

Over the past few weeks, you may have read about the new XenApp 5 Feature Pack.   And you've probably realized that Citrix didn't make any changes to core XenApp but instead added value to XenApp by incorporating additional features into each of the editions.

As a systems architect or admin, you'll need to make decisions about which features make sense for your environment, both from a business and technical standpoint.  Especially if you are licensed for Platinum, the available feature set is extensive, and realistically, not every feature is applicable to every environment.

To make it easier to implement the new XenApp 5 Feature Pack, the latest document in the Technical Guide to Upgrading/Migrating series has been published.  As with previous editions, this easy-to-follow format provides the basic steps that are required to upgrade or migrate, as well as references to other documents. 

Drum roll, please . . .

You can now access the Technical Guide to Upgrading/Migrating to XenApp 5 Feature Pack: CTX120635.  And, if you missed the original TechTalk delivery on March 31^st, you may wish to view the replay.  

Please let me know how the TechTalk and/or Technical Guide helped you and how they can be improved for the next release.

You may have noticed that Citrix released its XenApp and XenDesktop feature called Profile Management in late January and we mentioned it again as a part of the XenApp 5 Feature Pack announcement that went out on February 23^rd. As you read through the documentation, you may be asking yourself, "What's in it for me?  How will it benefit my organization?"

First, profiles is a subject area that administrators don't love.  Don't even like.  And, based on my field experience in Citrix Consulting, I'd say that at least 75% of all administrators don't fully understand profiles, although they're a necessary part of a successful IT infrastructure.  If you're looking for some basic information on profiles that's easy to understand, check out CTX120285.

Secondarily, as you consider profile management, ask yourself whether the standard Microsoft solution, i.e. local, mandatory, and roaming profiles, as well as Terminal Service mandatory and roaming profiles, will address your organization adequately. There's no sense in fixing something if it isn't broken, right? When addressing a profile decision, the solutions architect should consider not only the technical factors, but also the business aspects. Can and will the administrators maintain anything other than a standard Microsoft solution?  If you can't answer with a firm yes, then you can bet that the profile solution will become a mess within several months of the implementation.

So, where does XenApp and XenDesktop's Profile Management feature fit?  Basically, where the standard Microsoft solutions don't address your requirements AND where you can get consensus from your teams to stick with a non-Microsoft solution over the long run. If you can satisfy those two key requirements, then Profile management will be a great solution for IT and for your users.  For example, if users access XenApp hosted apps hosted from multiple servers or farms, last-write-wins issues can cause users to become dissatisfied (okay, downright angry).  Some standard options to address this are Terminal Services mandatory profiles and multiple roaming/mandatory profiles. If these solutions have proven unreliable or inconsistent and are just causing problems for you and your users, then Profile management is what you need.  If mandatory profiles work for you, then life is good.  If you've ever looked into how to implement multiple roaming/mandatory profiles, your head may spin - plus it may not definitively address your needs. Now consider the maintenance aspect. Here's where Profile management really shines.

Some use cases for Citrix Profile Management are:

• User accesses multiple XenApp server silos or farms and opens multiple sessions that cause last write wins issues
• User accesses multiple desktops, including XenDesktop where their user settings won't otherwise be carried over to additional desktops, especially where the OS is different
• Roaming profile corruption issues are rampant

Before implementing Profile management, review the following environment considerations:

• Going back to the Microsoft profile solutions, have you considered folder redirection? If you can redirect folders such as AppData and Documents and suffice with mandatory profiles, simple is good.
• Because Citrix Profile Management will take control of the user profiles based on OU, will another administrator attempt to configure Microsoft-based profiles and wonder why they didn't work?  One administrator has to know what the other administrator is doing.
• Although installation and management of Citrix Profile Management isn't difficult, how will maintenance be addressed?  For example, will installation of Citrix Profile Management be incorporated into the base XenApp server build? If not, the Profile Management service won't be available and started on new servers.

Is Profile management a great solution? Yes. Is it a silver bullet for every situation? Quite honestly, no. There are some considerations and maintenance aspects of Citrix Profile Management but where it fits these niche requirements and environment, it totally rocks! 

Want to learn more? Check out information regarding implementing Citrix Profile Management (CTX118943) or Best Practices for Profile Management (CTX119036). Also, take a look at Citrix.com/upgradetoxenapp5. Stay tuned for weekly blogs on XenApp 5 Feature Pack. As always, let us know your thoughts, questions and feedback below.

This post is part of a multi-part series on XenApp 5 Feature Pack:

• Part 1: Citrix Releases its own Economic Stimulus Plan with XenApp 5 Feature Pack
• Part 2: Manage your entire server farm from a single image with XenApp 5 Feature Pack
• Part 3: Profile Management, new in XenApp 5 Feature Pack! When does it make sense for your business?
• Part 4: Single Sign-on for any user! New in XenApp 5 Feature Pack!

Now that XenApp 5 has been released, you may be wondering how to transition the current environment to this new version and the associated pre-requisites.  Should I upgrade?  Should I migrate?  If this, then what? 

That's exactly the focus of the TechTalk that I'll be hosting on October 9th.  If you attended the Presentation Server 4.5 Feature Pack 1 Upgrade/Migration TechTalk session last year, you know that we get into the the nitty-gritty technical discussion fast and stay there for the better part of the hour. 

Check out the XenApp 5 TechTalk series!

Jo Harder