It might seem odd to some of you that Citrix would make such a statement given that we have made application isolation and streaming capabilities available in the XenApp platform ever since the introduction of Presentation Server 4.5 over 3 years ago.  The fact is that Citrix has always intended to embrace App-V within our XenApp systems, a point that I have often stated, even as early as when Pete Schulz and I were presenting the pre-release hands-on training for Project Tarpon (the project name for what would become XenApp application streaming) as far back as 2006.  Regardless, there are always questions posed by customers and prospects who are left wondering which solution to use, and when.  The answer is "both", let me explain...

Application Virtualization in XenApp:

Application Virtualization within the greater context of Citrix On-demand application delivery is the system that enables a) Single Image Application Management, and b) Offline access to centrally managed applications.  Within the Application Virtualization capabilities, both XenApp Isolation and Streaming as well as Microsoft App-V are considered equally capable technologies, either of which can be managed within XenApp based upon a customer's application delivery requirements.So what in earlier versions of XenApp was a Citrix only technology known as "application streaming" is now in XenApp 6 a broader "Application Virtualization" delivery system, consisting of 5 components/technologies.

•          Publishing and Management infrastructure (AppCenter)

•          Application Isolation

•          Application Streaming

•          Receiver plug-ins (Citrix Receiver)

•          Self-service enterprise app store (Dazzle)
  

In XenApp Application Virtualization an app can be packaged as either a XenApp .profile or a Microsoft App-V sequence, either of which enables items 2 and 3 in the list above, that being isolation and streaming.  These packages are then made available to users through the central XenApp publishing and management infrastructure (item 1 in the list) where various properties and policies are configured to determine if, or how, a given application is delivered to a user based on who they are, what device they are using, over what network, etc...

There are 2 Citrix Receiver plug-ins required for a complete solution with regards to XenApp and App-V, one is the Citrix Offline Plug-in, and the other is the App-V Plug-in for Citrix Receiver.

And rounding out the complete Application Virtualization delivery system is the 5^th item in the list Citrix Dazzle, our Self-service enterprise application storefront.

In this system, both App-V and the native isolation and streaming capabilities within XenApp provide virtually the same technical solution, but with a couple of idiosyncrasies that may make one or the other the more appropriate choice for a given application.  A perfect example of this would be illustrated in the considerations for rolling out Microsoft Office 2010 as a virtualized application.  With the introduction of the Office 2010 deployment kit for App-V, Microsoft is bridging the boundaries between virtualized Office and the role Office has taken on as a common element in many traditional desktop deployments; deployments where a large number of applications rely on Microsoft Office almost as much as they do the underlying OS.  A few examples of the unique capabilities enabled by App-V and the Office 2010 Deployment Kit for App-V are:

•          Fast search in virtualized Outlook 2010 using Windows Desktop Search

•          Ability for virtualized Office 2010 applications to open, edit, and save Office files hosted with Windows SharePoint

•          Search indexing support for Office file types

•          URL protocol redirection to virtualized Outlook 2010

•          Print to virtualized OneNote 2010
  

But the biggest advantage to using App-V to deliver Office 2010 is "Single vendor support for the application as well as the application virtualization technology".

With many of the challenges around delivering virtualized applications that will rely on Office 2010 as a central enabling component, coupled with the "single throat to choke" advantage of having the application virtualization technology vendor be the same vendor that is supplying the application itself, in my opinion, it just makes good sense to use Microsoft App-V as the preferred app virtualization solution for that application suite.

Often after I walk a prospect through this particular scenario we immediately jump into the "Is Citrix ending its development of their native application virtualization capabilities and going with App-V instead?" item on the agenda. J  The answer here is "No".

The Citrix vision of enabling simple and secure anywhere access is built on many technologies, application virtualization is only one of these building blocks, but it is a critical element of delivering the best user experience to any user on any device while also simplifying the management of the applications.  And that is not only why we will continue to innovate across our broader application virtualization solution, for our native isolation and streaming, as well as better and more deeply integrated support for App-V over time, but it is also why Microsoft and our mutual customers see value in Citrix delivering App-V sequences through XenApp.  Which leads me to the last and final question I have heard over the last few years and that is "Why would Citrix want to support App-V, and what does XenApp enable me to do with App-V that I can't do otherwise"?

Great question!

Simply put, Citrix is always looking for new ways to leverage Microsoft platform elements to enable new scenarios for our mutual customers, App-V is just one of example of a new element we will be leveraging in future release of XenApp and XenDesktop.  As I said at the beginning of this post, we have intended to partner around App-V from the start of project Tarpon, today we are delivering the first incarnation of that intent.  As far as what unique value does XenApp enable for App-V, let's look at a couple of examples available today.

Publish App-V packages directly from XenApp as "Dual-mode" applications

Through our new App-V integration, Microsoft App-V sequences can be published using the same workflows and wizards as all other applications managed through XenApp. Admins can leverage native XenApp Application Virtualization and Session Virtualization configuration parameters and policies to make Microsoft App-V sequences available for online and offline use.  Dual-mode fallback is also provided, enabling end-points to access App-V applications from a consistent interface, even if the device is incapable of running the application locally, for example when a user needs to access the application from a Mac PowerBook or iPhone. 

Manage App-V client plug-in using Citrix Receiver

The Microsoft Application Virtualization Desktop Client can now be managed and delivered as a plug-in for Citrix Receiver. With XenApp, App-V sequences can now be delivered to lightly-managed endpoint scenarios, even if the end-point is not a member of the Microsoft Active Directory domain.  As a result, new App-V use cases and access scenarios are enabled, including the delivery of applications to a consultant or for companies with "Bring your own computer" (BYOC) initiatives. 

Subscribe to App-V packages using Citrix Dazzle

With Citrix Receiver, users gain self-service access to applications through an enterprise app storefront. Admins can advertise App-V packages with all other XenApp published applications and services for easy, on-demand access by users. There are many more exciting things in the Citrix/Microsoft partnering and integration pipelines that we will be sharing over the coming months, all of which complement the trajectory we have begun with the XenDesktop 4 and now this XenApp 6 release on Windows Server 2008 R2.  I definitely encourage you to check out XenApp 6 and begin considering the new possibilities this platform can enable in your on-demand application delivery and hosted shared desktop initiatives. 

Learn more

• View demo of the user experience of App-V plug-in for Citrix Receiver.
• View demo of Microsoft App-V plug-in for Citrix Receiver POC demo.
• Read blogs from our architect.
• Follow XenApp on | | |

Hello Mac Enthusiasts,

Have you or your users ever said:

• I really like the Bring Your Own Computer idea and I want to use my Mac, but my company doesn't support Macs
• I wish I could use my Mac to run the same applications my windows PC can run
• I would like to be able to run Outlook on my Mac but Vbox and Parallels are too much work and add too much complexity to an otherwise user friendly OS

Then I have a solution for you...Citrix Receiver for Mac!

With Receiver for Mac, along with Citrix XenApp and Dazzle, you will be able to search for and run all of your favorite Windows apps as if they were locally installed on your Mac. After selecting your apps with Dazzle, our one-stop enterprise app store, you can launch your apps from the Applications folder. You can even drag those windows apps to the doc and run them from there! It's that simple. Coherence Mode...what's that? Virtual Machines...who needs 'em? With Citrix Receiver for Mac you don't have to worry about these things any longer.

Receiver for Mac is downloaded from and configured by the Citrix Merchandising Server. Receiver, as well as the Online and Dazzle plug-ins for Mac install in minutes and are properly configured. Try it today! All you have to do is download the Merchandising Server 1.2 from MyCitrix. Please take a moment to watch our announcement video here on CitrixTV!

As always please let us know your thoughts!

Aaron Videtto
Product Manager
aaron.videtto@citrix.com

Learn more about the XA 6 R2 Release

• Read XenApp 6 Press Release
• Watch XenApp 6 press announcement video
• Register for XenApp Tech Talks
• Learn more about XenApp 6
• Follow XenApp on | | |

Announcing XenApp 6, the best on-demand application delivery solution! You probably have seen Harry's blog on this announcement giving a great overview of the effort involved in bringing this release to market. In addition to all the great features available today, XenApp 6 has the following new features and enhancements:

Citrix Receiver

The new Citrix Receiver for Windows supports eight languages with expanded support for plug-ins including Single sign-on, WAN acceleration, App-V and EasyCall. There is a new Dazzle-enabled Receiver for Mac. And for mobile devices, users can use Receiver on iPhone, Android or Windows Mobile to access applications hosted on XenApp 6

Dazzle

End users now have the freedom to subscribe to XenApp applications (including App-V packages) using Dazzle on their PC or Mac

HDX

Collaboration via Microsoft OCS Video conferencing. This HDX RealTime feature enables customers to host Microsoft Office Communicator on XenApp servers to enable end users to use their web cams for video conferencing. The solution even works for WAN connections and we have seen good results for connections with 200ms latency!

Enhanced audio through new audio codec technology. With the new "Optimized for speech" codec, HDX RealTime delivers clear audio quality to softphone and voice chat users with very modest bandwidth consumption (less than 20 Kbps). Any server rendered video will also benefit from the new "High definition" codec which provides CD quality audio using 90% less bandwidth

Enhancements for delivery of VoIP soft phones. Customers can deploy softphones (Avaya, etc.) on XenApp servers where the voice traffic can leverage the new HDX audio codecs and new client-side features like echo cancellation

True Multi-monitor support. The new solution expands our current Multi-monitor support by improving application compatibility when using Multiple monitors with better performance and quality

Support for Windows Portable USB Devices. This feature enables end users to plug in their USB devices (cameras, scanners, point of sale devices etc.) and seamlessly access them from their hosted XenApp 6 desktops and apps

AppCenter (Management)

Single management console. Administrators can now use a single management console to administer their entire XenApp farm. The management console has been completely redesigned for simplicity and performance

Active Directory Group Policy integration. XenApp policies and server/farm settings have now been added to Active Directory group policies enabling administrators to manage XenApp policies using their AD infrastructure. This simplifies customer environments and enables administrators to leverage all the Group Policy features when administering Citrix policies. For more details check out Juliano's blog series

Publish applications and load balance across worker groups. Administrators can now create "Worker groups" with one or more servers and publish applications and create load balancing policies across these worker groups. This simplifies application workload/silo management and ensures that all the servers in a worker group have the same applications and policies, thus eliminating 'configuration drift'

Simplified install. We have completely redesigned the install from ground up to make it simple, fast and intuitive. You can now install XenApp Platinum with all its features in a few clicks. Also, by separating the install from configuration we simplified XenApp deployments using Provisioning services or other image management solutions

Enhanced scalability and performance. Compared to XenApp 5, you will see about 15-20% more users increasing single server scalability and hence reducing the TCO of XenApp delivered applications and desktops

PowerShell SDK. Administrators can now use the power of PowerShell to automate XenApp management tasks. We have completely rebuilt the XenApp SDK using PowerShell

Windows service isolation for streamed applications. Applications like Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office 2010 (which is in Beta) install a windows service and can now be profiled and streamed using the new service isolation technology

Microsoft App-V support. Customers can now distribute App-V plug-in to end point devices using Citrix Receiver, publish App-V packages using XenApp and let their end users subscribe to App-V packaged applications using Dazzle

New Citrix license usage and trending reports. Customers can now obtain rich reports on Citrix license usage and trends. We integrated our license reports into EdgeSight and are making these reports available to all XenApp edition customers

Multi-lingual User Interface. XenApp now supports MUI enabling customers to deploy one XenApp server to serve a diverse group of user population who need access to their applications in their local language

In addition to these major features and enhancements, XenApp 6 is packed with other features like 32-bit color support, Graphics acceleration for WPF applications, Windows 7 smart card support, Web Interface, Single sign-on and SmartAuditor enhancements, etc. And we will release XenApp 6 to web on March 24th.

Learn more

• Read Press Release
• Watch announcement video
• Register for XenApp Tech Talks
• Learn more about XenApp6
• Follow XenApp on | | |

In my previous two posts, I've described how XenApp for 2008 R2 configuration can be defined as XenApp Template-based Management, and how it can be defined as Group Policy integration in XenApp for 2008 R2. Today I will cover some common questions I get when explaining this new configuration model. Please feel free to add yours in the comments sessions below, if I didn't cover here.

Why XenApp has two ways to configure settings?

The Group Policy and the IMA policy system are in fact the same - settings coming from either will merge in a single, predictable Resulting Setting of Policies.

One way to think about it is that IMA has an additional GPO associated with the farm itself, and stored in the IMA data store. This GPO is what you edit when you change Policies in Delivery Services Console.

In case of setting conflicts, which policy document will take precedence?

Group Policy takes precedence over IMA; and IMA takes precedence over Local Group Policies. If you configure a GPO setting "SecureICA minimum encryption level" to RC5 128 bits, then you cannot override this configuration at the farm GPO or LGPO level.

How can I track from where settings are coming from?

The best way to track applied settings of a computer or session is to run a Resulting Set of Policies Logging report from GPMC. This report will show all Citrix settings configured via policy, and which Group Policy object - including the IMA GPO and filters - has actually won the merging calculation.

The policy report doesn't show the value I'm looking for!

RSoP doesn't display settings that policies have not configured. If you are looking for a specific setting, and it doesn't show on reports, then the value being enforced is "default". You can read the setting description in the policy editor to find what the default value for each setting is.

How does it work exactly?

When you edit a Group Policy object using GP Editor, we store your configuration in a file called \\<domain>\SYSVOL\<domain>\Policies\<guid>\<Machine or User>\Citrix\GroupPolicy\Policies.GPF. When you edit Policies in the Delivery Services Console, we store this same GPF structure in the IMA data store.

Every time Group Policies are evaluated on a XenApp server - server reboot; user logon; and randomized refresh intervals - we will retrieve these GPF files from SYSVOL and the datastore. Our Client-side Extension then evaluates filters and merges the results into a single RSoP, in the system registry (HKLM\Software\Policies\Citrix). Various software components then read the registry values and enforce the settings.

This diagram shows the conceptual model behind XenApp for 2008 R2 policy system.

What is the "Unfiltered" policy, how filtering works?

You will always find a Policy named "Unfiltered" when you edit any GPO. There's nothing special to it - it's just a default policy rule that applies to all machines and users in scope of that policy.

What is the "scope of the policy"? Group Policy Objects are linked to one or more Organizational Units in GPMC. GPOs may also have WMI filters. Only servers and users that are under OUs linked by that policy, and that match the optional WMI filters will process the policy. Other computers and users will ignore it. This is standard GPO processing.

The IMA Policy scope is the farm itself - i.e., settings added to the "Unfiltered" IMA policy will apply to all servers and users in that farm.

We've added an additional filtering system, allowing you to create additional settings and rules within each GPO. When you select "New..." in our policy editor, you will enter a set of configuration, and rules to apply that configuration. For example, you may set Bandwidth limits for end-point devices of a certain IP range; or restrict clipboard access for users of a specific AD security group.

We've created this extra filtering system for two reasons: first, we have additional filters related to the endpoint itself - AAC, endpoint IP, endpoint name - that are not available in WMI; second, some of our customers have very large number of policies (over 1000), and Group Policies wouldn't scale to those levels.

If you have a very large number of rules based on endpoint IP or name, then you should use the Citrix filtering rules - for example, setting a different Default Printer per endpoint name. Other than that, either way works fine. As a rule of thumb, you should minimize the overall number of Group Policy Objects, as a large number of GPOs may impact logon times.

Should I use Group Policies or configure settings in the DSC?

You should use Group Policies if you can. If you have some control over the server OU structure, and has the necessary delegation to Group Policies, GPO integration will give you the best user experience. You can leverage GPMC and AGPM functionality, and perform server management actions exclusively in Active Directory consoles.

However, if you have no delegated access to AD, then you can still fully manage your farm through the IMA policy.

I often get the question about support for Windows 7 in Citrix Single Sign-On (previously known as Password Manager). So, I figured I could use this short post to let you know that the upcoming version of Single Sign-On, to be released as part of Citrix XenApp for Windows Server 2008 R2 will include support for both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

If you were one of those asking that question, it is likely because you have not had a chance yet to download the Tech Preview of XenApp on Windows Server 2008 R2. Do so, and you will be able to experience a better Single Single-On that now also works in both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

You can follow me on Twitter at @aurelianolopez

Learn more about XenApp for R2 and other XenApp happenings:

• Download the tech preview for XenApp for Windows Server 2008 R2.
• Register for the TechTalk hosted by Sridhar Mullapudi.
• XenApp Technology Previews
• XenApp blogs
• XenApp Videos and TV
  
• Follow XenApp on | | |
  
  

XenApp Expert Series - Informational, News, Interviews (2010) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest news in on-demand application delivery with XenApp. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews Product Manager Modesto Tabares on new HDX technologies planned for availability in XenApp for R2. Episode 6, Season 2.

View this episode View this season View season 1

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Learn more about XenApp for R2 Download the tech preview for XenApp for Windows Server 2008 R2. Register for the TechTalk hosted by Sridhar Mullapudi. Follow XenApp on | | |

Hello Everyone,

I am happy to announce that Citrix will be releasing the next exciting , feature-packed versions of Citrix Receiver and Merchandising Server software on March 1st, just one short week away! Below are just a few of the new enhancements for the 1.2 release:

Receiver for Windows 1.2:

• Includes new language support - Nine languages: English, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Korean, Russian, traditional and simplified Chinese
• Full support for Dazzle , the new "iTunes-like" application store

Receiver for MAC 1.2:

• Automatically configure and update the new Citrix online plug-in
• Full support for Dazzle, the new "iTunes-like" application store

Merchandising Server 1.2:

• Expanded Administrator Console browser support: Internet Explorer 8 in native mode, Firefox, and Safari
• One-step download of new plug-ins. (Note: only plug-ins compatible with your version of Merchandising Server are downloaded)
• Ability to configure a back-up Active Directory server in case your primary server is down

Note: The current version of Merchandising Server virtual appliance can be imported into the Citrix XenServer virtual machine environment. We are working on releasing a version of the Merchandising Server that can be imported into VMware's ESX virtual machine environment, stay tuned for updates!

Why upgrade to Receiver?

First of all because it is a time-saving, slick, new tool that administrators and end users are finding a great deal of value in. Those customers that have already upgraded to Citrix Receiver are finding value in three main areas, are you one of them?

1. Faster, smoother rollouts of new desktops, whether they are physical or virtual
2. Ease of client management, version and configuration control
3. A single end user experience for everything Citrix

How do you upgrade from your existing XenApp Online Plug-in? Simple!

1. Download and import the Merchandising Server
2. Either push the Receiver client using your favorite ESD tool, or use the built in download page to enable end user self-service
3. Use the built-in plug-in download feature of MS to get the latest and greatest Online Plug-in
4. Configure a single rule and delivery with the new online plug-in
5. Your upgrade is now complete!

XenApp Expert Series - Informational, News, Interviews (2010) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest news in on-demand application delivery with XenApp. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews Product Manager Aaron Videtto (@aaronvidetto) on current Citrix Receiver functionality and insight into what's planned in support for XenApp on Windows Server 2008 R2. Episode 5, Season 2.

View this episode View this season View season 1

Listen to this episode

Learn more about XenApp for R2 Download the tech preview for XenApp for Windows Server 2008 R2. Register for the TechTalk hosted by Sridhar Mullapudi. Follow XenApp on | | |

It's been over 2 years since my initial post on XenApp/Group Policy integration... how time flies! This feature is finally seeing the light of day with XenApp for 2008 R2 (in Tech Preview right now). I'm really happy with the results, let me describe how it will enhance management of XenApp farms.

As I described in my previous post, our primary goal for XenApp management was to enable template-based management of XenApp servers. We realized that most environments used Group Policies and Active Directory OUs as a way to define these server templates. Most XenApp environments need GPOs in some capacity to configure RDS, profiles, lock-down servers, configure sessions and the operating system.

GPO integration therefore reduces the number of consoles used for common management task. This sounds counter-intuitive at first: the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) is an extra console... But the reality is that tasks can be fully performed on the Active Directory consoles: Creating a new app silo or farm? Create a new OU, drop servers there, and assign a new Group Policy Object to that OU. Adding servers to the farm? Just drop to the right OU. Maintaining dev, test, and production farms? Just link the high-level policies to the right OUs, and override any farm-specific setting using child OUs.

Additionally, GPO integration means all GPO management features now apply to XenApp settings as well. GPMC supports backup/restore; migration; and resulting set of policies (planning and modeling). AGPM supports off-line editing; configuration logging; change control; role-based delegation; and more.

Finally, GPO integration allows separation of management roles within IT. XenApp administrators can delegate server provisioning more easily, knowing that the only required step is the correct OU assignment for the server - something non-XA admins can understand and perform without specific XA delegation.

How will it work?

When you install the XenApp for 2008 R2 Management Console, it will include extensions to GPMC and GP Editor. GP Editor will display new Citrix policy nodes under the existing Computer and User nodes. These apply to all servers and/or users under the scope of that GPO (generally the list of OUs the GPO is linked to). The GP Editor extension is also installed at all XenApp servers, so the Local GPO editor (gpedit.msc) will also display XA settings that apply to that computer alone.

This picture shows GPEdit after XenApp management consoles are installed:

In this example, I've selected "User Configuration", "Policies", and then "Citrix Policies". The UI is the same as the policy editor found in the native XenApp MMC console. The difference is that these policies are associated with the Group Policy itself, rather than any one farm! In other words, this policy will apply to all computers and users under the scope of this policy, even if the computers are in multiple XenApp farms.

Note that we didn't use standard ADMX files to represent our policies. ADMC couldn't handle our filtering requirements. Our policies support session filtering based on the client-side parameters - AAC tags; client IP range; client name; etc - as well as computer filtering based on IMA Worker Groups membership.

You can set any number of policies under "Computer Configuration" and "User Configuration" for a single GPO. Each policy has its own filter - in the example above I've set policies for any user connecting from IP addresses different than 10.15.* - representing remote users.

All the Group Policies rules and features apply to the Citrix extension: loopback, enforced policies, ACL and WMI filtering. For example, the following Modeling Report shows Windows and XenApp policies side-by-side:

I've launched this simulation from the "Citrix Group Policy Modeling" wizard, added to GPMC after you install the XenApp extension. That wizard replicates all steps of the "Group Policy Modeling", with one extra page where you can enter client IP, name, and AAC filters you want to simulate with.

Note that you can see which Group Policy setting "won" for every single setting. You can also see which XenApp filters "matched" the simulation, and the resulting policy group within the GPO.

We know, however, that some XenApp admins cannot effectively use Group Policy - they either lack delegated control to the XenApp OU; or they are not using Active Directory. In this case, you can fully manage your farm using the Policy node in the XenApp Delivery Services console. I've shown how that is done at this blog post here.

Does this mean we have two policy systems, one in IMA, and another with Group Policies?

Not at all! I will describe how the IMA Policies and Citrix Group Policies extension work together in my next post.

Learn more about XenApp for R2

• Download the tech preview for XenApp for Windows Server 2008 R2.
• Register for the TechTalk hosted by Sridhar Mullapudi.
• Follow XenApp on | | |

XenApp for Windows Server 2008 R2 has a new HDX Plug-n-Play feature called True Multi-monitor. First of all, why the heck is it called "True". Does it mean our existing Multi-monitor solution on Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 R1 we had for several years was "False" . Let me explain. Historically Terminal Services has not allowed the mapping of multiple display devices into a remote session. So we presented a single display to Windows that overlaps all of the display devices on the client. And XenApp had to hook (the infamous MMHOOK) the Windows APIs that deal with multiple monitors to fake the existence of different display devices where in reality there is only one.

With True Multi-monitor, our display driver can actually present multiple display devices to the host Windows OS server that match those on the client. This will enable Windows to completely handle the Multi-monitor behavior. There are several benefits with this approach as outlined below

• Improved application compatibility as we never have to deal with hooking conflicts with other applications
• Better performance as we delegate the Multi-monitor tasks to Windows
• Better quality as we don't have to work around specific application and monitor configuration bugs

And best of all, this feature relies on server side changes and hence you can use this feature with your existing online plug-in/client deployments.

"Learn more about XenApp for R2"
Download the tech preview for XenApp for Windows Server 2008 R2.
Follow XenApp on | | |

The main theme behind XenApp for Windows 2008 R2 management was to enable template-based management of XenApp servers. Instead of configuring individual servers, the new release let you use "templates" to simplify common management tasks and eliminate configuration drift among servers in a silo.

Now that the Parra Tech Preview is available, you can finally see how things worked out!

As an example, assume I want to create a new group of servers to host Office 2007 - i.e., a new application silo. All servers in this group will be configured in the same way, and will publish the same applications.

The first step is to create a "Worker Group". Worker Groups are groups of servers, introduced in XA for 2008 R2. Unlike server folders, worker groups are unstructured - a server may belong to multiple worker groups.

Worker Groups are the Templates that applications and configuration policies will apply to.

In the example, I will use an OU to assign servers to this worker group - I could also select individual servers, or AD Security Groups. Select the "Worker Groups" node in the Citrix Delivery Services Console (the MMC - the Java console was removed - yay!), and "Create Worker Group":

Applications can now reference these worker groups. You can still publish against individual servers, but I really recommend you start making use of worker groups for your apps going forward:

For server and session settings, you will use the new "Policies" node. Select the "Computers" tab to show computer policies, then "New...", then go through the wizard.

There are two policies now: "Unfiltered", which is always present and applies to all computers in the farm; and a new policy I've created called "Office 2007 App Group". I've entered the server settings for that silo, and applied a filter to my Office 2007 worker group. Computers outside that worker group will ignore this policy.

Computer policies replace the old Farm and Server settings pages. Policies are much more flexible, since they apply to group of computers. As long as the server group membership is correct, you can be sure the settings and applications assigned to that server are correct.

The "Users" tab in the Policies node replace the old Session Policies from the Java console. The usability for Computer and Session policies is exactly the same.

That's it! Now, adding or removing capacity to this app silo is just a matter of adding or removing the server from the OU. It means the provisioning step for XenApp servers can be done completely without going to the XenApp console, and without scripting!

Stay tuned! Next, I will deep-dive on the new policy system, and talk about Group Policies integration.

Learn more about XenApp for R2

• Download the tech preview for XenApp for Windows Server 2008 R2.
• Register for the TechTalk hosted by Sridhar Mullapudi.
• Follow XenApp on | | |

XenApp Expert Series - Informational, News, Interviews (2010) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest news in on-demand application delivery with XenApp. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews Product Manager David Wagner on new User Profile Streaming technology planned for availability in XenApp for R2. Episode 4, Season 2.

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Learn more about XenApp for R2 Download the tech preview for XenApp for Windows Server 2008 R2. Register for the TechTalk hosted by Sridhar Mullapudi. Follow XenApp on | | |

.

XenApp Expert Series - Informational, News, Interviews (2010) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest news in on-demand application delivery with XenApp. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews XenApp Architect Juliano Maldaner (@jmaldaner) on best practices for Migrating to XenApp for R2. Episode 3, Season 2.

View this episode View this season View season 1

Listen to this episode

Learn more about XenApp for R2 Download the tech preview for XenApp for Windows Server 2008 R2. Register for the TechTalk hosted by Sridhar Mullapudi. Follow XenApp on | | |

XenApp Expert Series - Informational, News, Interviews (2009) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest news in on-demand application delivery with XenApp. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews interviews Adam Marano (@adammarano) on CitrixCloud.net and best practices for optimizing your applications for delivery and session virtualization to smartphones. Adam discusses tips for developers as well as day to day optimization that requires no code. Episode 2, Season 2.

View this episode View this season View season 1

Listen to this episode

Learn more about Receiver for Mobile devices Learn about Receiver for Mobile devices. View the TechTalk by Vinny Sosa. Access the Citrix Developers Network. Follow XenApp on | | |

In our first part of this series, we talked about publishing apps at the right resolution... something that doesn't really require any custom development. All it requires is a little thought and observation about an app in general. In part 2 we talked about publishing apps as tasks to basically turn receiver into a list of tasks that represent the way your users work. Now, we'll take that a step further and talk about some useful apps you may want to publish. There are many more, I am sure, and if you have some you would like to add, please comment on this post. I've just added the top 5 here.

Optimize Configuration by publishing useful apps

As I stated in the previous post, the last thing you want to do is make available applications that aren't really usable on small form factors just for the sake of saying, "I did it" (Don't laugh, I've seen this practice myself).

To start off your implementation and help ensure early user adoption and support, here is a short list of useful applications you might want to publish. Don't forget that session resolution, as discussed in the previous post, can help with the user experience.

• Microsoft Powerpoint and Powerpoint Viewer - I love PowerPoint and PowerPoint Viewer on mobile devices. The reason is because it's a great helper app. I have an iPhone and most smartphones have built-in readers for office. The problem is that they don;t preserve the animations. They also don;t parse data very well so complex presentations with lots of graphics and animation can come out all garbled. For these, I use Microsoft Powerpoint. If I need to get a review on a Powerpoint done quickly or if I'm on my way to a meeting and want to practice my presentation, I can open a PPT up on my iphone and work away. I can even practice and record timings. I would publish this app at 640x480 or 960x640 (landscape) if you are working with phones that have a built-in accelerometer and automatically flip to landscape when the users turns the phone in it's side. Users will want to naturally flip it on it's side anyway. Publishing at this resolution gives users the ability to navigate using a 4 quadrant display while at the same time being able to easily zoom out to view a PPT in slideshow mode. You'll want to try a variety of configurations depending on the mobile devices you need to support. Publish this app as "Edit a presentation" or "View a presentation". Publish Powerpoint Viewer or Powerpoint with the /s command line option to open in slideshow view only. Publish this task as "View a presentation".

• Citrix GoToWebinar and GoToMeeting - In conjunction with Microsoft PowerPoint, this is a killer app for anyone on the road. If you don't have a laptop connection and are in a pinch to watch a webinar, you can do it via GoToMeeting or GoToWebinar on XenApp. It's even handy for hosting small meetings using a hosted session running PowerPoint. It's great for participating in meetings if you're broken down somewhere or at the beach enjoying a lazy day when the board of directors decides to have an emergency call. I'd publish this app at 640x480 or 960x960 to make it easy for users hosting a conference to use the toolbar. If you want to see this in action yourself, get a demo account at CitrixCloud.net and connect with your mobile device. Publish this app as "Join a Webinar". In fact, even if your organization doesn't support this yet but you have a GotoWebinar (like a Citrix TechTalk) or a GotoMeeting to attend, you can use CitrixCloud.net and published GotoWebinar to participate. I've done this myself for morning meetings from 8-9. I have a suction stand and stereo jack that lets me mount my iPhone on my windshield and plug the sound into my car stereo. I can be on the con-call and at red lights (of course I'm safe ) I'll glance over and see what's going on in the presentation. Very nifty tool. Especially if you're running late or if you need to multi-task without your laptop.

• Microsoft Outlook - I know you're probably thinking "how could this app possibly be on this list when smartphones can already access e-mail". Well, guess what? Not all organizations allow mobile e-mail. In fact they don't trust mobile devices at all due to the fact that e-mail is cached and if the device is lost this can pose a security risk. Even in any organization there are always a handful of users that are involved in mergers and acquisitions or have access to sensitive information. These users can't even have Camera's on their phones. You might want to provide them with access to Microsoft Outlook from XenApp which could serve as a more secure option for you. It's also useful for use with GoToWebinar, GoToMeeting and PowerPoint if you have meetings scheduled in your calendar (makes webinars easier to start from published Outlook). It's also useful if you have to review that PowerPoint you got in e-mail but your local viewer isn't cutting it. Open Microsoft Outlook, search for your e-mail with attachment and open it from there. Check out the first blog post in this series for more specific direction on Microsoft Outlook. Publish this app as "Access e-mail".

• Doc Finder - Doc Finder is a feature of Citrix Receiver for Mobile Devices. Doc Finder is kind of like Windows Explorer built for small form factors. This is super useful for users with lots of centralized data. Just think about it... There are two ways to open a file... using explorer or using an applications File...Open... menu. For small form factor devices, both of these methods are frustrating, requiring panning, zooming, tapping, moving, panning, zooming, etc. The easiest thing is to open Doc Finder, find your doc using simple taps and an interface that actually works on the device you're using. You'll want to publish Doc Finder at 640x480 to enable users to work with the apps that will open when they find their file (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.). Publish this app as "Find & open files". If you decide not to make it available in this manner, then you might want to publish it at 320x480. Isolate the application on a virtual XenApp server and use in conjunction with file type association. This way, when the user opens a file, it will open Microsoft PowerPoint in a separate session which can be configured at a higher resolution (640x480). Don't worry, this scenario only uses one license.

• App Viewer - Probably one of my favorite utilities is App Viewer, another feature of Citrix Receiver for Mobile Devices. App Viewer is a web browser with no user controls. It's great for maximizing usable area for web apps. So, if you see the graphics below, one shows the experience of publishing a flash-based app running in Internet Explorer. The other is the same app using App Viewer. This app is so useful for custom apps or even your own web apps if you decide not to do any customization (More on customization later in the series). Publish this app as the task enabled by the web app is it delivering access to.

So check these apps out for starters and visit CitrixCloud.net for more ideas. Keep your eye on Adam Morano and Ray Yang for more in this area. They are our Guru's here.

Other blog posts in this series:

• Part 1: Session resolution by Vinny Sosa
• Part 2: Publish Tasks by Vinny Sosa
• Part 3: Make your app mobile friendly by Chris Fleck

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In our first post in this series we talked about publishing apps at the right resolution. Here, we'll talk a little more about an application publishing concept called publishing tasks.

Optimizing Configuration by publishing tasks

In the mobile world, users perform tasks. Just think about it... every app is designed to perform a single task very well on a small form factor. The most important thing you can do when providing access for mobile users is to understand the tasks your users perform when they work with your applications and then break applications down into specific tasks wherever possible. Doing so will save users time and make navigation easier. An easy example is Microsoft PowerPoint. With this app, a user can either edit a PPT or view a slideshow. You can publish Powerpoint,exe and call the published app "Edit a presentation". That is fine for users who want to edit a PPT file on their mobile device (however impractical that use case may be). But, if users want to simply view files in slideshow, you could save them some panning, zooming and a couple of taps if you publish PowerPoint Viewer (the program specifically made to view slideshows). In this case, you might call it "View a presentation". These are two distinct tasks that a user would want to perform and for which you can tailor the application session.

A more sophisticated and real-world example might be a Healthcare application used in a hospital. In this case perhaps you take a user like a nurse. That nurse might be giving medication or taking vital stats or simply entering notes. If you can publish direct access to those tasks by using a command line parameter then you should do so. For example, if the app is a web app, then publish App Viewer or Internet Explorer with the URL to a specific page as a command line parameter. If you can do this, it will save clicks, pans and zooms and make the application at least more bearable for use in a pinch.

Make the Receiver yours

The Receiver isn't just client software for accessing applications. It helps you organize applications in a way that makes sense to your organization. However, with Receiver for Mobile devices, you can take that concept to a new level. For example, a traditional XenApp admin may use a folder structure that organizes apps by package as follows:

• Microsoft Office 2007
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2007
  • Microsoft Excel 2007
  • Microsoft Word 2007
  • Microsoft Outlook 2007
    etc.

I submit to you that making this menu task oriented is far easier for mobile users as long as there are actual task-based applications behind each item. So, a new folder structure for published apps may look as follows:

• Work with files (Folder)
  • Find & edit files (Opens Doc Finder)
  • Create Presentation (Opens PowerPoint in edit mode)
  • View a Slideshow (Opens PowerPoint Viewer)
  • Create a document (Opens Word)
  • Create a Spreadhseet (Opens Excel)
• View e-mail (Opens Outlook)

Another example might look like this if you were able to publish apps with command line parameters as mentioned in the first section above:

• Patient Care (Folder)
  • View dashboard (Dashboard that show me open tasks, active patients, messages, etc.)
  • View active patients (App that filters only current open cases assigned to me)
  • Record patient data (App that let's you enter patient data)
  • Search Prescription Med DB (Reference app that let's me search for info in prescription meds)
  • Write Prescription (App that let's me write a prescription for my patients)
  • View historical records (App that let's you view patient data for archived cases)
• Administration (Folder)
  • Order supplies
  • View budget
  • View payroll status
    etc.

So, the lesson here is that you don't necessarily need to customize your applications as a first step. Consider simple things that you can do to make it easier for users by reducing the number of clicks or taps they have to go through to do what they need to do. Do a little research to find out how much flexibility you have in your own apps to get users to the screen they need to use right when they open the app. These things go a long way to creating a great user experience.

Stay tuned for more in my next post in this series - "Publishing useful apps."

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XenApp Expert Series - Informational, News, Interviews (2009) SEASON PREMIERE The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest news in on-demand application delivery with XenApp. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews XenApp Architect Juliano Maldaner (@jmaldaner) on the exciting new technologies coming for XenApp on Windows Server 2008 R2 and why it's such a boone for customers. Episode 1, Season 2.

View this Episode View Season 1

Listen to this episode

Learn more about XenApp for R2 Download the tech preview for XenApp for Windows Server 2008 R2. Register for the TechTalk hosted by Sridhar Mullapudi. Follow XenApp on | | |

Citrix XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 for Windows Server 2003 has a very cool feature called Secure Clipboard Control. The technical folks may know this feature as "Read-Only Client Drive Mapping and Clipboard", but the end results are the same: it further mitigates risks of data leakage.

Granting remote users CDM access is great because they can open local files with server published apps. But they also have the ability to save server documents locally thereby increasing the probability that confidential data leaks out beyond the enterprise. Some customers have tried to tackle this problem by disabling CDM and clipboard altogether, but that does not offer users flexibility - what if administrators want to only let users save documents back on the server? This is where the new Secure Clipboard Control setting can help. It is a really simple feature for administrators to configure, yet provides an added level of flexibility (users can save documents to the server, but cannot save documents to the local device) administrators didn't have before.

To enable the feature in the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdm\Parameters, create a DWORD value with value name ReadOnlyMappedDrive and value data 1.

To enable one way clipboard In registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Citrix\wfshell\Virtual Clipboard, create a DWORD value with value name ReadOnly and value data 1.

After rebooting the server all users that connect will only be able to read documents from their mapped drives and will only be able to copy and paste text into a published application. Data that is copied into the published application clipboard (via CTRL-C) will not show up in the client's clipboard paste buffer. Whenever the user tries to save a file to a mapped drive they will get an error saying they don't have permission to write to the location because XenApp has the drive open in read-only mode.

For now both settings are server wide so remote users will have to be confined to specific machines where the settings are enabled. You can find out more about this feature at CTX123002 and in Citrix eDocs here.

Learn more about Citrix XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2

• Official Press Release - http://citrix.com/English/NE/news/news.asp?newsID=1857726
• XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 release Web Site - http://citrix.com/xenapp/featurepack2
• XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 Executive Video - http://citrix.com/xenapp/fp2/video
• XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 Release Webinar - http://citrix.com/xenapp/fp2/techtalk
• XenApp feature matrix by platform, version and edition - http://citrix.com/xenapp/comparativematrix
• XenApp Expert Series videos for this release - http://citrix.com/xenapp/fp2/expertseries
• XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 Blogs- http://community.citrix.com/blogs/tag/xa5fp2
• Download XenApp technology previews - http://citrix.com/xenapp/techpreviews
• XenApp Product Page - http://citrix.com/xenapp/

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I was away for a couple of week, but I'm back and very excited to tell you about the HDX Plug-n-Play for USB storage device. HDX Plug-n-Play for USB storage is another HDX/High Definition eXperience feature introduced in XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2. I believe this new feature will really eliminate many headaches for XenApp administrators and end users alike. So imagine, users now have the ability to plug-in their USB thumb drive/USB stick and use it with their XenApp delivered application at any time; before launching the application or while they are in the middle of working with the application. Effectively, users now have a local-like experience when interacting with a USB stick or USB disk drive.

For those not familiar with how USB storage worked prior to Feature Pack 2, let me explain... Let's say you are working with Microsoft Powerpoint delivered to you via XenApp. A co-worker stops by, hands you a USB stick and asks for a copy of the Powerpoint. Naturally, your instinct tells you to plug in that USB stick, go to Powerpoint - File - Save As... <bzzzz - wrong!>. Prior to Feature Pack 2, users must first plug in the USB stick before starting the Powerpoint. Otherwise, XenApp would not recognize and map the thumb drive in the session. Needless to say, it's not very natural, and couldn't be any less instinctive.
Many customers & admins I talked to are raving about this new feature in XenApp! They are excited because they no longer need to "re-train" users how to use USB drives with XenApp. IT no longer have to field support calls on why they don't see the USB stick in the application. Applications delivered with XenApp become ever more transparent to the end users...and that's a great thing!

How do I enable this feature? This feature is enabled by default. So, if you have policies to not allow use of USB sticks, you'll need to disable this feature in the registry by following the instructions below or in eDocs.

On XenApp 32-bit edition
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Citrix\Policies\DisableUSBRedirection
On XenApp 64-bit edition
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Policies\DisableUSBRedirection

Type: DWORD
Values:
1 = redirection disabled
0 = redirection enabled

Now, I also want to point out that this feature, like the HDX MediaStream for Flash is currently available on XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2003. Support on Windows Server 2008 is forth-coming and I'll be sharing more information on this site in the near future.

So, there you go... XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 makes life easier for admins and end users, again! And if you missed my first post on how XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 delivers a local-like experience with Adobe Flash content, take a look at HDX MediaStream for Flash
But wait! Tomorrow, Ola Nordstrom from our Security team will post our HDX Easter-egg feature called Secure Clipboard Control. Very cool feature for customers who require better control of information flow in an XenApp session. So, stop back tomorrow!

Learn more about Citrix XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2

• Official Press Release - http://citrix.com/English/NE/news/news.asp?newsID=1857726
• XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 release Web Site - http://citrix.com/xenapp/featurepack2
• XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 Executive Video - http://citrix.com/xenapp/fp2/video
• XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 Release Webinar - http://citrix.com/xenapp/fp2/techtalk
• XenApp feature matrix by platform, version and edition - http://citrix.com/xenapp/comparativematrix
• XenApp Expert Series videos for this release - http://citrix.com/xenapp/fp2/expertseries
• XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 Blogs- http://community.citrix.com/blogs/tag/xa5fp2
• Download XenApp technology previews - http://citrix.com/xenapp/techpreviews
• XenApp Product Page - http://citrix.com/xenapp/

Follow XenApp on | | | [|http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2130967&trk=hb_side_g|Follow XenApp application

Planning is done, content is ready, now we are in the middle of rolling out the XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 training to the support teams worldwide.

By Sept 29th, the date in which XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 will be available for download as mentioned in the Official Press Release, we plan to have a majority of Support engineers trained.

The 2 1/2 day XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 comprehensive training course covers all new features as outlined by Vinny Sosa in his What's new in XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 in plain English blog. A majority of the course is spent "hands on" installing, configuring, break/fixing and troubleshooting the various new features.

Then 3-5 months post release we plan to deliver a follow up "Advanced" session on common issues encountered.
The agenda for the Advanced session will be based on common/troublesome support issue logged in our CRM, Support Forums and Tech Support Twitter accounts, here and here.

Learn more about Citrix XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2

■Official Press Release - http://citrix.com/English/NE/news/news.asp?newsID=1857726
■XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 release Web Site - http://citrix.com/xenapp/featurepack2
■XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 Executive Video - http://citrix.com/xenapp/fp2/video
■XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 Release Webinar - http://citrix.com/xenapp/fp2/techtalk
■XenApp Expert Series videos for this release - http://citrix.com/xenapp/fp2/expertseries
■XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 Blogs- http://community.citrix.com/blogs/tag/xa5fp2
■Download XenApp technology previews - http://citrix.com/xenapp/techpreviews
■XenApp Product Page - http://citrix.com/xenapp/

David
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