I met Hal Rottenberg at TechEd this year and found out about his podcast on PowerShell (among the many other things he works on.) He mentioned Workflow Studio on episode 30 (at about 22:50 in):

http://powerscripting.wordpress.com/2008/06/22/episode-30-teched-report/

I am going to do an interview with Hal on Workflow Studio for an upcoming show so stay tuned...

In my last post I walked you through creating a workflow based on a template (the included "Start Stopped Services" workflow.) In that post I mentioned that you might want to modify the workflow to only show services that are not in the disabled state and suggested you try to figure out how to do that on your own: Previous Post

 Let's take a look at the previous workflow we created to see how it is structured:
 

 This workflow has 5 basic steps:

1. Get all the installed services (Get-Service)
2. Filter out all the stopped services (Where-Object)
3. Sort the list of services in alphabetical order for display to the user (Sort-Object)
4. Display the sorted list to the user and allow them to choose a subset of services to start (User Option)
5. Start the services that were selected by the user (For Each Object)

 It should be obvious that if we modify the "Where-Object" task to also filter out services that are Disabled in addition to the Stopped ones we can achieve the desired result. Unfortunately, the Status property only returns two different values - "Running" and "Stopped". We need to take a look at what other properties there are on the Get-Service task that we could use. The easiest way to do this is to just output the entire object to a file and take a look at what is there. We include two tasks with Workflow Studio that allow you to send objects to a file - "Export To CSV" and Export To XML". Both of these tasks also include a property to auto-generate an HTML wrapper for the data so you can quickly view the data as well.

 To use this debugging technique, just add the additional task from the Input/Output folder (either CSV or XML) and connect it to the "Get-Service" task:

 There is no need to delete the other tasks as Workflow Studio will only run the tasks that are connected in the workflow. On the newly added task you will have to set the "Input Variable" property to "$Services" and the "Output XML File" property to a valid local path and pick a filename. I also set the "Save As HTML" and "Show HTML" properties to TRUE so that I get an immediate, readable HTML report of the object like this:
 

 If you have followed along this far I hope that this helps you understand how you can output objects to a file for debugging purposes (or you may need to do it to provide files to other processes.) When you look at the properties that are available from the Get-Service task you will find that there is not a property available that will allow you to determine if a service is Disabled. The Get-Service task is based directly on the Get-Service PowerShell cmdlet and this is a limitation of that cmdlet. So we went through this whole process and have hit a dead end with our goal of filtering out disabled services. Next time I will provide the solution to this problem, but in the mean time here is a good hint:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394418(VS.85).aspx

Building your first workflow with Citrix Workflow Studio is incredibly easy. We include many templates with the Tech Preview that allow you to see how the product works quickly and easily.

First go download the product - http://www.citrix.com/wfsinsider (MyCitrix login required, but it is painless to get one.)

Once you download and install the product you will see the following the first time you launch it:

Just click the box where it says "Create a new workflow based on a Workflow Template" and you will see the following:

Provide a name for your new workflow and select one of the workflow templates that we included with the product. The easiest one to set up and understand for your first time is the one under "Windows Management" called "Start Stopped Services". Select that one from the list and click "OK". You should see the Workflow Studio Designer interface with the template loaded like this:

 You now have built your first workflow. Click "Start" to run the workflow and you should be presented with a list of the services that are currently in a stopped state on your machine. Much like the following:

If you select one or more services and click "OK" Workflow Studio will attempt to start those services.

Note: If the service is disabled Workflow Studio will not be able to start it and will return an error. Take a look at the workflow and see if you can modify it to exclude the services that are in a disabled state.

I would love to see comments on what people think about Workflow Studio and what they would like to use it for in their environment. I plan to post some more advanced workflow samples in coming weeks, so let me know what you would like to see.

In May I took an internal transfer to the Workflow Studio team as Technical Product Manager. I am really excited about this new product. If you haven't downloaded it yet you can get more information here. Look for more information and some tips and tricks coming here on the blog in the coming weeks.

Citrix is pleased to announce the availability of Workflow Studio 1.0 Tech Preview which is our Community Technology Preview for the product.
You can download the product from the below link once you have a My Citrix account (Which you should. It only takes a minute. We promise.)

Continue to Download: Citrix Workflow Studio 1.0 Tech Preview

I have taken all the posts in the series that I released on the Citrix Workflow Studio Partner Tech Preview, and have incorporated them into a single document.

After receiving many requests from people to make the entire series of articles available as a downloadable document, how could I not make one available.

So here it is by popular demand, enjoy!

Download: Introducing Citrix Workflow Studio - The Complete Introduction
 

Provisioning Server and the soon to be released Citrix Workflow Studio Customer Tech Preview will have Workflow Tasks for Provisioning Server included in the Customer Tech Preview.

Stay Tuned Here: Citrix Developer Network - Citrix Workflow Studio

Get Updates Here: Citrix Updated - Citrix Workflow Studio

The soon to be released Citrix Workflow Studio Customer Tech Preview might have Workflow Tasks for VMware included in the Customer Tech Preview.

What The? Yes you read that right, Citrix might be going to include support for VMware in Citrix Workflow Studio. I am not saying they are or are not going to, but it is a very real possibility!

Stay Tuned Here: Citrix Developer Network - Citrix Workflow Studio

Get Updates Here: Citrix Updated - Citrix Workflow Studio

Virtual Machine Manager and the soon to be released Citrix Workflow Studio Customer Tech Preview will have Workflow Tasks for Microsoft Virtual Machine Manager included in the Customer Tech Preview.

No Way! Yes you read that right, Citrix is going to include support for Microsoft Virtual Machine Manager in Citrix Workflow Studio.

Stay Tuned Here: Citrix Developer Network - Citrix Workflow Studio

Get Updates Here: Citrix Updated - Citrix Workflow Studio

WanScaler and the soon to be released Citrix Workflow Studio Customer Tech Preview will not have Workflow Tasks for WanScaler included in the Customer Tech Preview.

A future release of Citrix Workflow Studio after the release of the Citrix Workflow Studio Customer Tech Preview will have support for WanScaler.

Stay Tuned Here: Citrix Developer Network - Citrix Workflow Studio

Get Updates Here: Citrix Updated - Citrix Workflow Studio

NetScaler and the soon to be released Citrix Workflow Studio Customer Tech Preview will have Workflow Tasks for NetScaler included in the Customer Tech Preview.

Stay Tuned Here: Citrix Developer Network - Citrix Workflow Studio

Get Updates Here: Citrix Updated - Citrix Workflow Studio

XenDesktop and the soon to be released Citrix Workflow Studio Customer Tech Preview will not have Workflow Tasks for XenDesktop included in the Customer Tech Preview.

A future release of Citrix Workflow Studio after the release of the Citrix Workflow Studio Customer Tech Preview will have support for XenDesktop.

Stay Tuned Here: Citrix Developer Network - Citrix Workflow Studio

Get Updates Here: Citrix Updated - Citrix Workflow Studio

XenServer and the soon to be released Citrix Workflow Studio Customer Tech Preview will have Workflow Tasks for XenServer included in the Customer Tech Preview.

Stay Tuned Here: Citrix Developer Network - Citrix Workflow Studio

Get Updates Here: Citrix Updated - Citrix Workflow Studio

XenApp and the soon to be released Citrix Workflow Studio Customer Tech Preview will have Workflow Tasks for XenApp included in the Customer Tech Preview.

Stay Tuned Here: Citrix Developer Network - Citrix Workflow Studio

Get Updates Here: Citrix Updated - Citrix Workflow Studio

Citrix Workflow Studio unlocks the potential in Microsoft PowerShell and the Windows Workflow Foundation by providing an easy to use, graphical interface for workflow composition that virtually eliminates scripting. Citrix WFS can now leverage the use of PowerShell to manage IIS7 7.0 through the use of the IIS 7.0 PowerShell Provider.

If you want to use the IIS 7.0 PowerShell Provider in an existing PowerShell command window you have to register the IIS snap-in manually. You can do this by simply executing the IISConsole.PSC1 file located in the "$env:programfiles\IIS\PowerShellProvider" directory:

PS C:\> & "$env:programfiles\IIS\PowerShellProvider\iisConsole.psc1"

The IIS 7.0 PowerShell Provider is a PowerShell Snap-In that allows you to manage IIS7 configuration and run-time data. It gives easy access to Web-Sites, Application Pools, Web Applications, Virtual Directories, request in flight, Worker Processes and .NET Application Domains within Worker Processes.

• Create Web-Sites, Web Applications, Virtual Directories and Application Pools
• Change Simple Configuration Properties on Web-Sites, Application Pools, Web Applications and Virtual Directories
• Add and Change Complex Configuration Settings
• Query Run-time Data (Web-Site State, Application Pool State, Currently Executing Requests)
• Execute Advanced Configuration Tasks, Scripting, Integration with other PowerShell Snap-Ins and features
• Search and Discover Configuration Settings

You can use the IIS 7.0 PowerShell Provider in Citrix Workflow Studio through the use of the built in task support for Windows PowerShell. The "Add-PSSnapin", "PowerShell Command", and "PowerShell Script" tasks are provided as out of the box tasks for the use of interacting with Windows Powershell in Citrix Workflow Studio.

Download at Source:

PowerShell Provider for IIS 7.0 (x86)
PowerShell Provider for IIS 7.0 (x64)

Gus Pinto and I caught Derek Slayton Product manager for Citrix Workflow Studio who just came down to Ft Lauderdale and we couldn't pass the opportunity to learn more about WFS and share with CDN members.

Watch this short video on Frameworkx site.

http://frameworkx.com/blogpost.aspx?id=1&c=1389

 Citrix Workflow Studio is an IT process automation solution that enables administrators to compose, automate, and orchestrate rule-based workflows across the Citrix application delivery infrastructure stack. I've found a great Blog from Rich Crusco regarding Citrix Workflow Studio. http://www.frameworkx.com/blogpost.aspx?id=2&c=1128 . Rich provided excellent content and How To's.
 

For CeBit preparation I decided to record a small video for my SE colleagues, CSN Partners and customers in Germany.
YouTube Link: http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=67E7ImMC-R4

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Citrix Workflow Studio has gained popularity in just few days and technology preview hasn't been released yet!. Google has over 44,000 results for "citrix workflow studio".

Stay tuned for more workflow studio videos and news.

We have integrated the Citrix Developer Network blog with the official Citrix blog. Please update your CDN RSS feed link to
http://feeds.citrix.com/officialcitrixblog/group/cdn . The integration provides better stats on blog postings and provides a single interface to post blogs. Here are some stats on the popular CDN blogs

This integration also makes it easier for our readers as well to get all blogs at a central place. I am planning to post couple of blogs this week so don't forget to update the feed URL.