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I am glad to share with you all the news about our Citrix Branch Repeater 5.5. Building on our momentum with XenApp optimization (via the ICA acceleration feature) released earlier this year, we announced today the availability of our newest Citrix Branch Repeater 5.5. Among the many benefits this release delivers, check out the following key highlights:
- Microsoft Exchange (MAPI) optimization accelerates Exchange email for branch and mobile users by up to 50X while reducing bandwidth consumption. You also get these benefits if you are streaming Microsoft Outlook with XenApp or Microsoft App-V because streamed Outlook application behaves just like a native application from a network perspective - a streamed Outlook will talk MAPI to the Exchange server in the datacenter. Here is a sneak peek of email acceleration benefits from an upcoming performance whitepaper (available soon):
- Branch Repeater with Windows Server 2008 enables consolidation of essential branch services with Microsoft's most advanced server operating system - Windows Server 2008. Customers now have a choice of deploying Branch Repeater appliances built on either Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008. As before, we continue to offer the non-Windows version of Branch Repeater as well.
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- Of the many powerful capabilities in the Windows Server 2008 operating system, the Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC) feature is one I would like to highlight. RODC allows you to securely deploy Domain Controller in a branch office for faster Windows authentication and login times. This also helps improve the security posture of IT infrastructure in branch offices.
- With the availability of Repeater Plug-in for Citrix Receiver Branch Repeater now provides WAN acceleration benefits for the already easy-to-use Receiver software client. Receiver provides a consistent and intuitive user experience, and simplifies client distribution and updates. For instance, if you want a single client that provides secure access, SSL VPN client and WAN optimization benefits, then Citrix Receiver is a great way to simplify the client distribution and improve the user experience. This now truly provides simple, fast and secure access to applications from anywhere, whether you are working remotely or in a branch office. I encourage you to try it out and share your experiences with us.
Stay tuned for a series of blog posts that explore some of the features in detail.
I encourage you to check out the newest Branch Repeater 5.5 and share your experiences with me at sai.allavarpu@citrix.com.
Sai
We are all guilty from time to time.....go on and admit it. It's not just our kids that are eating all of those chicken nuggets! They would never be confused with a gourmet meal, but they do have some advantages over chicken cordon bleu from a fancy French restaurant. They are tasty and small but filling, and sometimes they hit the spot. You can buy them at the drive-thru, pay for them with your loose change, and eat them while you drive. They are easy to access, easy to consume, and get right to the point.
Product training rarely hit the bullseye when it comes to giving you just what you need, when you need it. Companies so often shoot for chicken cordon bleu and it becomes information overload when you're just looking for specific information on a single topic. I think we have hit the mark with the new XenApp Fundamentals training videos. They are free of charge and readily available on the Citrix SMB Portal. There are four "How-To" videos that range in length from 5 to 15 minutes. The videos cover topics like, how to configure a Xenapp Fundamentals server, or just how to setup licensing, remote access, or security. The topics were chosen based on their popularity in the Citrix Support Knowledgebase.
Take a minute and check out the new portal; it's a great resource for easy to find, and easy to use white papers, technical training and sales and marketing tools, focused on XenApp Fundamentals. I'm sure it will hit the spot.
Follow us on Twitter @CitrixSMB
XenApp Expert Series - Informational, News, Interviews (2009) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest research and technology news on XenApp application virtualization. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews Product Strategist Derek Thorslund (@derektcitrix) to help everyone understand the HDX Technology stack. This is part one of multiple videos that will dig deeper into HDX technologies. Episode 3, Season 1.
- Listen to archived episodes:
XenApp Expert Series - Informational, News, Interviews (2009) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest research and technology news on XenApp application virtualization. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews Product Strategist Derek Thorslund (@derektcitrix) to help everyone understand the HDX Technology stack. This is part one of multiple videos that will dig deeper into HDX technologies. Episode 3, Season 1.
View this Episode and Subscribe to the XenApp Expert Series
The Citrix C3 Lab with Amazon AWS now hosts XenApp Fundamentals on Windows 2003 Server with no installation required. The C3 Blueprint describes how to set up the environment so you can be testing or demoing apps delivered from the Cloud in minutes. XenApp Fundamentals is the new name for Access Essentials which is an ideal solution for SMB's looking for a simple way to administer and deliver Windows apps to office PC's , Thin Clients, Desktop Appliances, home PC's, Mac's, Laptops or mobile devices. Only a Receiver client is required on the endpoint, the applications get installed on a single XenApp server and are simply published to the users you want to access the app. The Admin console is wizard driven and easy to use, with the option for advanced features only if required.
Putting XenApp Fundamentals in EC2 makes everything even easier, no servers to buy or configure, the image is pre-built and ready to run. The Amazon plus Windows cost is only 12.5 cents per hour while you are using it. Even if you leave it on 24 hours a day all month that only $93 /mo ( plus storage and bandwidth, which is nominal for testing ). We have also included 2 User XenApp evaluation Licenses, so there are no other downloads or registrations required. Once you set up an Amazon account and start the server you only need to install your own apps in the image and click to publish to any user with any device.
This video walks you through every step to get started in 15 minutes.
( thanks to Simon Waterhouse for building the image )
Let us know of any questions or idea's on your use case in the comments below.
Last month we released the Power and capacity management tech preview for XenApp. If you're using server-side application virtualization and delivery with XenApp, then you'll want to check it out. We've put out a couple of blog posts (1 | 2), a demo, and a couple of videos on it including a XenApp Expert Series video and audio episode with Sridhar Mullapudi (Product Manager). We also have a new episode coming up in July with Juliano Maldaner (the Architect). What's more, both of these rock stars are getting together to do a TechTalk on this same topic.
The TechTalk is going to cover the features, functions and components of Power and capacity management and the guys will also talk about how to deploy it for virtual server infrastructures or physical machines using Wake on LAN. They'll even provide some tips on using this technology to help with migrations.
The great thing about this vs. the other content we've created already is that there's a Q&A at the end so if you're interested in the technology, now's the time to ask your questions.
 | Stay Updated! Follow XenApp... |
Check out the newest Branch Repeater customer case study posted on citrix.com at http://citrix.com/English/aboutCitrix/caseStudies/caseStudy.asp?storyID=1855157
Lately I have been discussing with partners and customers about how enterprises pursuing M&A strategy or with distributed branch offices often face the kind of challenges that Consolidated Graphics faced. Enterprises with far flung offices and locations are now looking at ways to reduce the cost of delivering applications to branch offices while improving user experience and productivity. Check out the case study to see how Consolidated Graphics:
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- Enabled datacenter consolidation for cost savings
- Simplified IT administration
- Doubled throughput on existing T1 lines, avoiding need for network upgrades
- Improved the user experience at branches
Happy reading!
Sai
Twitter:@SaiAllavarpu
Citrix Branch Repeater: http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/product.asp?contentID=1350184
XenApp Expert Series - Profile Management Part 1 - Informational, News, Interviews (2009) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest research and technology news on XenApp application virtualization. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews Citrix Product Manager Dave Wagner on the Profile Management feature of Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop and why this is key technology in the application and desktop virtualization stack. This is part 1 of 2 where we will bring Dave and/or another expert in to dive deeper into Profile Management. Episode 2, Season 1.
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND: My intro would have been funnier but I totally screwed it up. I have a strict one take policy on the show though so it stayed as is. 
Dave is a great character. He has been with Citrix for 8 years 6 months 15 days and 7 hours by the start of this recording. While here, he has managed a number of products including Access Essentials, MetaFrame for UNIX, Conferencing Manager, MetaFrame x64, Desktop Broker/Server, Password Manager, Profile management, Web Interface, and the Linux Client. He doesn't have a Twitter account (yet!). He says he's still too busy jumping on the JAVA/Linux Desktops/Webify Everything bandwagons. After which he needs to jump on the Facebook bandwagon. He loves photography followed closely by video games ... xBox addict at the moment but that usually shifts around every few months. Why? He says he likes video games primarily because it annoys everyone else to think that it's a total waste of his time. Join us for this interesting episode with David Wagner.
- Listen to archived episodes:
XenApp Expert Series - Profile Management Part 1 - Informational, News, Interviews (2009) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest research and technology news on XenApp application virtualization. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews Citrix Product Manager Dave Wagner on the Profile Management feature of Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop and why this is key technology in the application and desktop virtualization stack. This is part 1 of 2 where we will bring Dave and/or another expert in to dive deeper into Profile Management. Episode 2, Season 1.
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND: My intro would have been funnier but I totally screwed. I have a strict one take policy one the show though so it stayed as is. Dave is a great character. He has been with Citrix for 8 years 6 months 15 days and 7 hours by the start of this recording. While here, he has managed a number of products including Access Essentials, MetaFrame for UNIX, Conferencing Manager, MetaFrame x64, Desktop Broker/Server, Password Manager, Profile management, Web Interface, and the Linux Client. He doesn't have a Twitter account (yet!). He says he's still too busy jumping on the JAVA/Linux Desktops/Webify Everything bandwagons. After which he needs to jump on the Facebook bandwagon. He loves photography followed closely by video games ... xBox addict at the moment but that usually shifts around every few months. Why? He says he likes video games primarily because it annoys everyone else to think that it's a total waste of his time. Join us for this interesting episode with David Wagner.
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So this is an interesting tidbit I heard today. The Receiver for iPhone which came out in May does something really neat. It reports a unique device name to the XenApp server when it attempts to connect to applications. The name always starts with Xen_iPhone and is quickly proceeded by what appears to be a random number. This is similar to connections from Web Interface (Receiver for Web) where all connections through there begin with WI_. In our case, if you are using XenApp for application virtualization and allowing users to access server-hosted applications using their iPhone (via Citrix Receiver for iPhone), then you can apply device policies that prevent these users from doing certain things or to change the user experience. With Receiver for iPhone users only have access to your apps, not directly to the network so if you control access to apps then you control access to the network. For example, I can change encryption settings for devices whose names begin with Xen_iPhone. I can have a dedicated server with just the applications I want these folks to be able to access and prevent iPhones from connecting to anything but that dedicated server and the apps available from it. First, you would create a policy in the Policies pane of the Advanced Configuration Tool (aka Citrix Management Console). Then do the following: |
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- In the left pane of the Advanced Configuration tool, select Policies.
- From the Contents tab, select the policy you want to apply.
- From the Actions menu, select Policy > Apply this policy to.
- In the Policy Filters dialog box, select Client Name.
- Select Filter based on client name.
- Select Add to add specific client names. Type Xen_iPhone* and enter. Make sure Allow is selected in the Client Name filters window.
Here are some example of things you can change, control and optimize for iPhone users:
- Remove Visual Effect like wallpaper
- Control session limits (e.g. virtual channel controls for clipboard, sound, com, display, etc.)
- Control client devices (Audio, drives, ports, etc.)
- Control encryption
- Assign a service level
Now, bear in mind... I haven't played with this extensively so some of these settings may not even affect the iPhone user simply because the feature is not available for Receiver for iPhone (e.g. some SpeedScreen/HDX settings). It doesn't hurt to turn some of these off though and experiment. And the ultimate of course is controlling encryption and security settings. Also, once we release our next rev of the Receiver for iPhone which will have improved support for Access Gateway, I am hoping it will allow the assignment of policies based on Access Gateway connections. So at that point you can filter applications for iPhone users as well as control the experience they have with applications when they connect to a XenApp server.
KEWL!
This is a tech talk that will be taking place on July 9, 2009. One of our propeller heads will be geeking out on how Citrix ICA (a key feature of Citrix HDX Broadcast) and the CGP protocol function. The discussion, from what I hear, is also going to dissect ICA packets and include best practices for ICA acceleration that will make your overall network traffic more efficient. One of the things I'm particularly interested in hearing about is why single session bandwidth testing isn't accurate.
~snip
In this TechTalk, you'll learn about:
*ICA protocol overview
*ICA bandwidth requirements and testing recommendations
*How Common Gateway Protocol (CGP) relates to ICA
*ICA Performance across the WAN with and without Citrix Repeater
Registration Info
Date: Thursday, July 9, 2009
Time: 1:00pm Eastern/10:00am Pacific
Register for "Decoding the Mysteries of ICA"
Other Information
Hopefully by now you will have noticed that the Access Essentials name has changed to XenApp Fundamentals, so the big question is - why didn't we just call it XenApp Essentials ?
It might not surprise you that I've been asked this a LOT over the last couple of months. The answer however is a little more surprising - it is all down to going global! Whilst the global economy is the worst that we've experienced since the birth of modern computing, it's a well kept secret that SMB customers are still spending on IT. It was recently noted by Forrester that "SMB IT spending will grow 3.2% in 2009 (vs. a decline of 3% overall)".
That's why we are defying the recession and expanding our markets with XenApp Fundamentals. By taking XenApp Fundamentals to China, we are localising a Citrix product in Chinese for the first time, and quite simply Fundamentals translated better than Essentials!
Coming back to the point of SMBs defying the recession, it's a theory I've had for a while (well, actually borrowed from Darwin) and one which was recently validated by a partner so I thought it was worth sharing. There are over 50 million SMBs worldwide, and in times like these one of Darwin's strongest theories comes into play - survival of the fittest. SMBs that grasp the opportunity, and use technology to gain a competitive edge, are the ones that will win. Those that drastically cut costs in an attempt to maintain profitability are unlikely to survive as customer service generally suffers.
Many of our XenApp Fundamentals customers demonstrate the fundamental - (pun intended 
) impact that delivering real-time application access to anyone, anywhere can have. For example, Trevor Jones, a thriving accountancy firm in the UK, increased its billable hours by 33% by enabling greater employee productivity. Another SMB, a recruitment company, increased its connectivity by 40% even though they already had a VPN, which had a significant impact on their customer service. The stats sound great don't they, but put simply, SMB customers can actually gain strength and market share by using technology that enables its people to work more productively.
So back to that partner who confirmed my theory - they had a customer that purchased XenApp Fundamentals and it had such a positive impact on their business, they were able to gain a significant competitive advantage. They went on to use the solution as part of their expansion strategy by delivering their existing systems to their newly acquired competitors. It is no surprise, they've quickly outgrown the 75 user limit and are now upgrading to XenApp Enterprise!
So there you have it, the secret is out. SMBs are where it's at, especially those who have the vision to see this downturn through. My other secret is that we have recently launched a new Citrix SMB partner portal (well, it's not so much of a secret now that 400 of you are already using it). Here you'll find everything you need to sell XenApp Fundamentals, including some fantastic new technical training and marketing campaigns. Check it out at www.citrix.com/partners/smb and if you have a XenApp Fundamentals customer you would like to shout about, let's do it! Just let us know !!!
Follow XenApp Fundamentals on twitter @ http://twitter.com/CitrixSMB \\
XenApp Expert Series - Informational, News, Interviews (2009) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest news on XenApp application virtualization. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews XenApp Product Manager Sridhar Mullapudi (@sridharcitrix) on the new technology preview for Power and Capacity Management and why the technology is such a boone for customers. Episode 1, Season 1.
Download XenApp technology previews
View the Demo of Power and Capacity Management Install, Configuration, and Function
XenApp Expert Series - Informational, News, Interviews (2009) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest news on XenApp application virtualization. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews XenApp Product Manager Sridhar Mullapudi (@sridharcitrix) on the new technology preview for Power and Capacity Management and why the technology is such a boone for customers. Episode 1, Season 1.
View this Episode and Subscribe to the XenApp Expert Series
Download XenApp technology previews
View the Demo of Power and Capacity Management Install, Configuration, and Function
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Customers who use XenApp for application management frequently use MFCOM and the Windows command line interface to control XenApp and even to create scripts and batch files. With PowerShell being adopted quickly, customers have asked us for support here as well. For the past few months, we have been working on just that and we recently finished out a phase 1 private tech preview that helped provide some much needed feedback on the direction we were going. We solicited feedback from some close members of our Citrix community and they provided the insight we needed to really make this work well for customers. You can still see those threads in the support forum. I'm happy to announce that we've just released the Commands for XenApp Technology Preview. PowerShell Commands for XenApp allow you to access most aspects of XenApp including MFCOM functionality, Access Management Console features, and even functions found in the Advanced Configuration Tool (aka Citrix Management Console) and will work for XenApp 5 on W2K8 and on Presentation Server 4.5 with HRP03 running on Windows Server 2003 (aka XenApp 5 on W2K3). Commands for XenApp are an initial step towards the next generation of the Management SDK for XenApp. They will replace the current XenApp Management SDK (MPSSDK/MFCOM) in future releases so it's very important to us that customers that use the SDK's take a look at Commands and provide feedback before we release the final version. All customers and partners who currently use MFCOM can now experiment with this release and participate with us in the creation of the official release. We are looking forward to that feedback. |
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This Tech Preview is open to everyone with a MyCitrix account (Create a MyCitrix account if you don't have one yet). Download the tech preview from our new tech preview site and access the support forum if you need help and to provide feedback. The forum has separate sections for bugs, enhancement requests, scripts, and general questions and discussion.
Special thanks to Brandon Shell, Nick Holmquist, Jeroen van de Kamp and Tony Zhang for their suggestions and bug reports - their feedback was crucial for this second version. We are looking forward to your participation as well.
If you are interested in participating in future private previews of the XenApp SDK's, please contact me at twitter at @aurelianolopez.
Sncerely,
The XenApp Commands team
Check out these Other Links and Resources
XenApp Tech Preview Page
XenApp on Twitter
XenApp blogs
XenApp Videos and TV
We've recently announced a cool new feature for XenApp, called Power and Capacity Management (PCM). Here's a video demonstrating PCM in action:
Architectural Overview
Power and Capacity Management uses an agent/manager architecture. The agent is installed at all XenApp servers you wish to power manage. The manager - called the Concentrator - is responsible for monitoring, storing data, and issuing power operations to the agents. The Tech Preview doesn't have high-availability implemented yet, so you should install only one concentrator. In the final version you can have multiple concentrators to enable high availability. Another thing to note is that we've decided to implement Power and Capacity Management outside of XenApp IMA (Independent Management Architecture) partially because we wanted PCM to manage multiple XenApp farms. You can install the PCM concentrator alongside your Data Collectors if you only want to manage a single farm.
Installation and Communications
During agent installation, you will be asked for a farm and workload name. The concentrator manages a single Power and Capacity Management farm - note that this is not the XenApp IMA farm name, it's just a namespace for PCM. This setting is stored at HKLM:/Software/Policies/Citrix/XenAppPCM, which is good if you want to install the agent using dummy data and then use an ADM/X file and Group Policies to manage this setting across multiple XenApp servers later on. We plan on integrating this configuration into the XenApp configuration interface and SDK's as well.
The other configuration setting for the agent is the workload name. This represents a server silo or group. All configuration for Power and Capacity Management is related to a workload, so you want to make sure all XenApp servers in the same workload have similar or even identical configuration. You can also define tiers of servers within a workload, telling PCM which servers should be powered on first, and which ones to power on only when necessary.
Once you install the agent on your target XenApp server(s), it will register with the concentrator and its defined workload group will automatically appear in the PCM console. This is possible because the concentrator creates a Service Connection Point (SCP) under the computer Active Directory (AD) account during installation. This is done using the computer network account, so no special AD authority is required. The agent queries AD for these SCP to find the its concentrators. Since all PCM communications are Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)-based, all power-managed XenApp servers computers must be in the same domain as the concentrator that is controlling the farm they are joined to.
Configuration
Before Power and Capacity Management can manage the servers you've added to the workload, you need to enter the server capacity and policy schedule. The server capacity is related to the Load Evaluator, but they don't have to be the same. You will enter how many sessions are expected for each "hardware specification" in the workload. The hardware specification is automatically displayed when the agent registers, you just have to enter the capacity value. This setting is used to calculate the "session buffer", i.e., how many new sessions are currently available on the workload. If you under-estimate this number, then PCM will start more servers than necessary. If you over-estimate this number, PCM may not realize that the workload is running out of capacity. The Tech Preview version requires this manual configuration, at product release we plan to introduce some automatic adjustments to simplify this configuration.
The last piece of configuration is to define a policy schedule. You will enter the policy configuration and how it will vary during the day and throughout the week. The policy defines the minimum number of servers that must be online and how many spare sessions to maintain. Spare sessions are calculated as the difference of the workload server capacity and the number of connected sessions. Spare sessions are a buffer of capacity. The higher the number, the more idle capacity you will have on your servers. this is good when you have a very active user base or during times when many users login very rapidly. The lower the number the less idle capacity you will have. Setting the number too low may result in reduced performance or response while users wait for additional capacity to power on.
That's it! Now select the workload and "Enable Power Management" and PCM will start enforcing the policy schedule. You might notice that some servers power down immediately. That is normal operation if the current policy settings require less capacity than what is currently powered on.
Stay tuned for more posts from me on Power and Capacity Management. In the coming days and weeks, I'll go in depth on more advanced features like load consolidation, SDK's and some interesting possibilities that are afforded to us and that we are considering developing with PCM.
Download the technology preview of power and capacity management at the XenApp Technology Preview Center. Also, stay updated by following XenApp on Twitter.
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jmaldaner
While it may seem a bit callus to underscore Citrix's products and services in a time when people are sick and in some cases dying from Swine Flu (H1N1 Virus); I would be remiss in my duty as a Citrite if I did not offer the help and resources of our local DC & MD Sales Team. We are fielding many quote and order requests from new and existing Citrix customers, looking to enable and protect their businesses via Citrix. If you have ANY questions about how to size and scope what your company will need to either implement or expand your Citrix environment please call us so we can help you sort it out!
An in-depth look at Citrix XenApp ::: How XenApp application virtualization and application delivery works
2:24 Whiteboard Video | http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/feature.asp?contentID=1684340
XenApp is an application delivery system that virtualizes applications in the datacenter and delivers them as an on-demand service to users anywhere. With XenApp, organizations can deliver any 32-bit or 64-bit Windows or UNIX application to any device including Windows, Mac and Linux PC's---and even Smart Phones.
Inside Sales Representative: Jose Parada | 954.229.6849 | jose.parada@citrix.com
Thank You,
Jessica Demers
Secure Selected Pages
The Citrix NetScaler can be placed in front of a webserver farm that is running Apache. The same re-write rules that run on Apache, can be implemented on the Citrix NetScaler.
In situations where you want to make sure that for some selected pages only the secure server is used, the following can be used.
Apache rewrite:
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} !^443$
RewriteRule ^/?(page1|page2|page3|page4|page5)$ https://www.example.com/%1 [R,L]
AppExpert rewrite example 1:
Add responder action res_redirect redirect '"https://www.example.com"+HTTP.REQ.URL' -bypassSafetyCheck yes
Add responder policy pol_redirect '!CLIENT.TCP.DSTPORT.EQ(443)&&HTTP.REQ.URL.REGEX_MATCH(re/page[1-5]/)' res_redirect
Bind responder global pol_redirect 100 END
AppExpert rewrite example 2:
Add patset pat1 Bind patset pat1 page1 Bind patset pat1 page2 Bind patset pat1 page3 Bind patset pat1 page4 Bind patset pat1 page5 Add responder action res_redirect redirect '"https://www.example.com"+HTTP.REQ.URL' -bypassSafetyCheck yes Add responder policy pol_redirect '!CLIENT.TCP.DSTPORT.EQ(443)&&HTTP.REQ.URL.CONTAINS_ANY("pat1")' res_redirect Bind responder global pol_redirect 100 END
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Redirecting a URI to a new format
The Citrix NetScaler can be placed in front of a webserver farm that is running Apache. The same re-write rules that run on Apache, can be implemented on the Citrix NetScaler.
Let's say, for example, that you've got a set of working URLs that look like this: /index.php?id=nnnn. However, you'd really like to change them to /nnnn and make sure search engines update their indexes to the new URI format. First, you'd have to redirect the old URIs to the new ones so that search engines update their indexes, but you still have to rewrite the new URI back to the old one so that the index.php script would run.
Example: The trick here is to place into the query string a marker code that will not be seen by visitors. We redirect from the old link to the new format only if the "marker" is not present in the query string. Then we rewrite the new format link back to the old format, and add a marker to the query string.
Apache rewrite:
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !marker
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} id=([-a-zA-Z0-9_+]+)
RewriteRule ^/?index\.php$ %1? [R,L]
RewriteRule ^/?([-a-zA-Z0-9_+]+)$ index.php?marker&id=$1 [L]
AppExpert rewrite:
Add responder action act_redirect redirect 'HTTP.REQ.URL.PATH.BEFORE_STR("index.php")+HTTP.REQ.URL.QUERY.VALUE("id")' -bypassSafetyCheck yes Add responder policy pol_redirect '!HTTP.REQ.URL.QUERY.CONTAINS("marker")&& HTTP.REQ.URL.QUERY.VALUE("id").REGEX_MATCH(re/[-a-zA-Z0-9_+]+/) && HTTP.REQ.URL.PATH.CONTAINS("index.php")' act_redirect Bind responder global pol_redirect 100 END Add rewrite action act1 replace 'HTTP.REQ.URL.PATH.SUFFIX(\'/\',0)' '"index.phpmarker&id="+HTTP.REQ.URL.PATH.SUFFIX(\'/\',0)' -bypassSafetyCheck yes Add rewrite policy pol1 '!HTTP.REQ.URL.QUERY.CONTAINS("marker")' act1 Bind rewrite global pol1 100 END
Tap into the power of AppExpert!
Creating Extensionless links
The Citrix NetScaler can be placed in front of a webserver farm that is running Apache. The same re-write rules that run on Apache, can be implemented on the Citrix NetScaler.
Sometimes you may want to support extension less links, either to hide extensions from end users or to make URLs easy to remember.
Example 1: add .php extension to all requests
Apache rewrite:
RewriteRule ^/?([a-z]+)$ $1.php [L]
AppExpert rewrite:
Add rewrite action act1 insert_after 'HTTP.REQ.URL' '".php"'
Add rewrite policy pol1 'HTTP.REQ.URL.PATH.REGEX_MATCH(re#^/([a-z]+)$#)' act1
Bind rewrite global pol1 100
Example 2: if we have a mixture of both .html and .php files, the following can be used
Apache rewrite:
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.php -f
RewriteRule ^/?([a-zA-Z0-9]+)$ $1.php [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.html -f
RewriteRule ^/?([a-zA-Z0-9]+)$ $1.html [L]
AppExpert rewrite:
Here HTTPCallout would be used, script file_check.cgi hosted on 10.102.59.101 is used to check wether provided argument is avalid file name or not.
add HTTPCallout Call_html add HTTPCallout Call_php set policy httpCallout Call_html -IPAddress 10.102.59.101 -port 80 -hostExpr '"10.102.59.101"' -returnType BOOL -ResultExpr 'HTTP.RES.BODY(100).CONTAINS("True")' -urlStemExpr '"/cgi-bin/file_check.cgi"' -parameters query=http.req.url+".html" set policy httpCallout Call_php -IPAddress 10.102.59.101 -port 80 -hostExpr '"10.102.59.101"' -returnType BOOL -ResultExpr 'HTTP.RES.BODY(100).CONTAINS("True")' -urlStemExpr '"/cgi-bin/file_check.cgi"' -parameters query=http.req.url+".php" Add patset pat1 Bind patset pat1 .html Bind patset pat1 .php Bind patset pat1 .asp Bind patset pat1 .cgi Add rewrite action act1 insert_after 'HTTP.REQ.URL.PATH' '".html"' Add rewrite action act2 insert_after "HTTP.REQ.URL.PATH" '".php"' Add rewrite policy pol1 '!HTTP.REQ.URL.CONTAINS_ANY("pat1") && SYS.HTTP_CALLOUT(Call_html)' act1 Add rewrite policy pol2 '!HTTP.REQ.URL.CONTAINS_ANY("pat1") && SYS.HTTP_CALLOUT(Call_php)' act2 Bind rewrite global pol1 100 END Bind rewrite global pol2 101 END
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