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Added by Ruiguo Yang, last edited by Ruiguo Yang on May 30, 2008  (view change)
Permalink | Twitter Post to Twitter | Comments (11) | Views (35664) |
30 May 2008 05:29 PM EDT
List ICA client in Ubuntu Application Repository
[ Tags: xenapp ]
posted by Ruiguo Yang

Would you like to download and install the correct version of ICA client directly into your client machine without having to open a browser? If you do, please read on.

More applications nowadays have started to communicate to web services directly to enhance their functionalities.  ITune is a good example. Recently, I installed the latest version of Ubuntu Linux, version 8.04. And this version of Ubuntu allows you to search applications that work with Ubuntu and install them easily, without opening a browser. I made a short video demo of this feature. You can find it at http://citrix.utipu.com/app/tip/id/2507/  .

Unfortunately, Citrix ICA client is not listed in this directory yet.  I think it will be great if it is. The Citrix download site has improved. But I still need to navigate the site and download the correct version. And different clients may have different installation requirements. The Linux ICA client has different packages to be selected and may depend on other third party packages which need to be installed first. (I plan to write another post about the details.) It's much easier if programs can help me with that task.  It takes some work and justifications to make ICA client listed in Ubuntu application repository.  What do you think? Is it worth doing?

More broadly, I think it will be useful to make more Citrix products communicate with back end web services. One example is to be able to browse and install compatible virtual appliances directly from XenCenter.  Can you think of other examples that can make your life easier?

I'd love to hear your comments.

As a reference, I wrote a blog earlier asking for input about web service APIs Citrix should expose. That blog focuses more on another aspect of web services.

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Comments (11)

 

  1. May 31, 2008

    Benjamin Eavey says:

    Holy cow!  If you could get the client into Ubuntu's repositories, I'd ...

    Holy cow!  If you could get the client into Ubuntu's repositories, I'd flip with happiness.  We manage a LOT of customer server farms, and I'm always stuck walking end users through the installation process for the Linux client.  It's a major pain in the buttocks right now, especially when dealing with customers who aren't very tech-savvy.  If I could just walk them through something graphically, using Ubuntu's Add/Remove or even Synaptic, that would be fantastic.

    Make it happen!  Please?

    And while you're at it, could you request that Thawte's root cert gets added to the Linux client so we don't have to manually put it in there all the time?   Most of our customers use Thawte for SSL.  It's a popular authority, and I've always been surprised that the Linux client doesn't support it by default.

    Thanks!

    -Ben

    1. Jun 02, 2008

      Ruiguo Yang says:

      Hi Ben, Thanks for your comment! I will do more research and  try to m...

      Hi Ben,

      Thanks for your comment! I will do more research and  try to make it happen.

      Do you see many deployments of Linux desktops, Ubuntu Linux in particular? What's the trend? Are you aware of an alternative way to push out Linux ICA clients instead of asking end users to install themselves?

      I will also look into Thawte root certificate you mentioned.

      Thanks

      Ray

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      1. Jul 07, 2008

        Ruiguo Yang says:

        Hi Ben, I've forwarded your Thawte root certificate request to ICA client team....

        Hi Ben,

        I've forwarded your Thawte root certificate request to ICA client team. Hopefully you will see it added soon.

        Thanks

        Ray

  2. Jun 02, 2008

    Austin Holdsworth says:

    Hello Ruiguo, I'm a regular user of Ubuntu Desktop OS and I understand the need...

    Hello Ruiguo,

    I'm a regular user of Ubuntu Desktop OS and I understand the need to get this included into a repository (repo).

    However, the ICA client would need to be packaged into the DEB format (rather than the current binary install) and Ubuntu would need to host it within the repositories. Packaging applications is mostly achieved via the community efforts, so you need to find somebody in the Ubuntu community willing to do it.

    Unfortunately, the ICA client will never make it into the Ubuntu repos because its not open source software, a prerequisite for inclusion. This is only going to change if Citrix wants to release the source code for ICAClient under a licence similar to the GNU GPL.

    However, other closed source software such as Skype and Google-earth have been distributed via Medibuntu; the sister repository which can be added to the synaptic package manager via the software sources option. It would be more advised to petition the Medibuntu team to include the Citrix client software.

    Another alternative would be for Citrix to host their own third party Ubuntu repository, but I doubt this would happen unless Ubuntu was considered to be of strategic benefit by the exec team, and resources could be allocated to maintaining the client versions.

    There may also be some conditions in the Citrix ICA Client end-user licence which forbid third-party public distribution of the binary code (its worth checking it out before you spend to much time on this).

    I've also developed a linux / Citrix thin-client live CD, but I'm not sure the legalities of including the binary software (for public distribution) at the moment, so I'm watching your efforts with interest.

    Kind Regards,

    Austin.

    1. Jun 02, 2008

      Ruiguo Yang says:

      Hi Austin, Thanks for the information and suggestions! It's very helpful. ...

      Hi Austin,

      Thanks for the information and suggestions! It's very helpful.

      I will check out your suggestions.

      Ray

    2. Jun 19, 2008

      Benjamin Eavey says:

      Austin, Ubuntu does allow binary-only 3rd-party applications to be distributed ...

      Austin, Ubuntu does allow binary-only 3rd-party applications to be distributed through its repositories. That's what the "partner" repository is for, I believe. It should be possible for Citrix to have the ICA Client included and available for Ubuntu users...

  3. Jun 08, 2008

    Jim Wallentine says:

    OMG.  this would be fabulous.  I can't imagine anyone that  would...

    OMG.  this would be fabulous.  I can't imagine anyone that  would not like to see this.

    When I had to manually do this in UB 7.10 is was fairly educational, but not timely.  If I was a Linux expert, it could have been probably.  My comment, or complain to Citirx was that they were not spending enough time and resources on their Linux and MAC environements.  What progress could be made in this environment would be terrific.

    1. Jun 09, 2008

      Ruiguo Yang says:

      Hi Jim, Thanks for your comment! I heard there are plans to put more resou...

      Hi Jim, Thanks for your comment! I heard there are plans to put more resources to Linux clients. Now I have more data to bring to the product management team. Thanks! Ray

      1. Sep 04, 2008

        Anonymous says:

        It would be greeat if the citrix client install would be part of the application...

        It would be greeat if the citrix client install would be part of the applications that vere installable via Synaptic.
        We are about to distribute a couple of hundred EEE pc's with Ubuntu for our roaming work force. They still need to login via a Citrix Secure Gateway
        with verufications via a RSA key. It is really a pain  to get this working today. So a installation with correct certificates etc. in the right directories would be great

        Jens

  4. Jun 13, 2008

    Anonymous says:

    The Citrix ICA Client sucks. So does the Windows ICA client for that matter.&nbs...

    The Citrix ICA Client sucks. So does the Windows ICA client for that matter.  I've had to switch to Seamless RDP.  At least with it, my Thin Client apps don't vanish without a trace and the RDesktop client is already part of many Linux distros. Citrix needs to focus on making their core products less problematic instead of introducing the multitude of mediocre products that they hope will improve their bottom line.  I don't believe they're strategy is working.  I've watched two large Gov. departments walk away from they're costly, complex, multi-million dollars Citrix installations and I believe my department will be the next.  People are beginning to realize the benefits of the KISS method and are switching to alternatives like Nomachine, 2X and simply Windows Terminal Services.  Citrix is not simple!

  5. Jul 05, 2008

    Anonymous says:

    it would be VERY helpful if there was even a .deb file

    it would be VERY helpful if there was even a .deb file

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