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OK, actually it's 12.5 cents and it might take you a few minutes longer, but compared to the traditional methods of building/configuring servers the cost and time savings is dramatic. It is now possible to launch a pre-built XenApp image in the Amazon Web Service offering called EC2. The image includes XenApp 5.0 on Windows 2003 Server ready to run and is accessible as an Admin or user. Also included is the Citrix 2 CCU Developer license bundled into the image so you can be ready for test, dev, and demo's in minutes. In this demo image we have NOT included Secure Gateway or Access Gateway so we do not recommend this image for production environments. The actual minimum cost for EC2 with Windows Server is 12.5 cents per hour with no minimum or commitment, so you can actually run it for an hour, terminate the image and that's all you owe. In reality you will likely want to install apps, customize your image and run it for some length of time. It is also very easy to save your image after you have customized it and terminate the image so the EC2 charges stop. The associated S3 Storage cost is only 15 cents per Gig per month, again very cheap and easy. New VM instances can then be started from saved images at anytime. As you may know the magic that powers this service is based on the Xen Hypervisor and the business model that Amazon has put together makes this a very attractive solution for many scenario's, in this case starting with demos, test, dev, PoC's etc. Many thanks to Vishal Ganeriwala for putting this image together and leading the way for more to come.
Here is a VideoTip to walk you through every step ( also available at our VideoTip site http://citrix.utipu.com/app/tip/id/6236/ )
Step 1.
Go to http://aws.amazon.com and get an account with EC2
Step 2.
Go to http://console.aws.amazon.com to access the AWS management console
Step 3.
Setup Security Groups per the video
Step 4.
Find the publicly listed XenApp Amazon Image, Right click and Launch
( citrix-c3-lab/XenApp5.0_32bit_v1.4.manifest.xml )
Step 5.
Enter the IP address provided into your browser http://xx.yy.zz.tt; and you are ready to go !
( ID: administrator, PW: Citrix123, Domain: CTXSLic1 )
Tip : When saving " Bundling " your AMI image remember to register it so you can relaunch it.
| Do you plan to get your own XenApp Server in the Cloud ? | Choose |
|---|---|
| If it's really this cheap and easy, I am definitely going to try it. |  |
| No, I don't trust the cloud for anything .. | |
Comments (38)
Feb 06, 2009
Simon Bramfitt says:
This is outstanding Chris, thanks for sharing. I've been using this for the las...This is outstanding Chris, thanks for sharing.
I've been using this for the last few weeks, and it's been a bit of an eye-opener to what's possible. It took me less than 15 minutes to build my first server last month (most of that time was spent hunting for my credit card). I've built out a about 15 servers for crash and burn testing activity for less than the price of a stack of blank CDs and not had a single problem.
While I don't think I'd like to host any of my production systems in the cloud just yet, I'm interested enough to start exploring the steps along the road to wider adoption.
I've been spending a lot of time exploring the intersection of XenApp and data center power management in my blog [www.xencentric.com] and will be looking at the part that moving some types of workload into the cloud could play shortly.
Simon
Feb 08, 2009
Anonymous says:
I can't believe how easy you just made this ! I can now run demo's and test ...I can't believe how easy you just made this ! I can now run demo's and test apps without the pain I usually need to go though. Like Simon says the possibilities are really broad. Right now I'm just happy I dont need to buy another lab server.
Feb 09, 2009
Rene Vester says:
Very interesting Chris, i agree with Simon, it might not be time to move your en...Very interesting Chris, i agree with Simon, it might not be time to move your entire production environment into the cloud, but i think it is great to see new cloud-possibilities emerge
and THIS easy.. works
Rene Vester
Feb 11, 2009
Anonymous says:
Great work on the AMI and the video. This was super easy. Now, I'm not ab...Great work on the AMI and the video. This was super easy.
Now, I'm not able to open ICA connections to the EC2 instance - I get error "There is no Citrix MetaFrame server configured on the specified address.". However, I am able to RDP into the instance. What could be the problem?
Thanks,
GermanSaint
Feb 11, 2009
Jacob Berg says:
Great article. There is one more step to make it work from the WI You need to...Great article.
There is one more step to make it work from the WI
You need to set the alternate address of the Citrix server, to match the IP-adress of your Public DNS address.
This is done using the ALTADDR command.
1. Delete the old IP-address (the one used when the image was created): ALTADDR /delete
2. Set your own external IP-adress (try to resolve the public dns to get it) ALTADDR /set xx.yy.zz.tt
That should do the trick.
Thanks for a great article
Jacob Berg
Feb 12, 2009
Vishal Ganeriwala says:
Hi Jacob Apologies for the confusion caused. I have created the original AMIS. ...Hi Jacob
Apologies for the confusion caused. I have created the original AMIS. I am not sure how this error slipped by but I have fixed the problem now. I have a windows service installed into the AMI which would actually perform the steps you described in the above comment and set the machine altaddr without going through the manual steps.
Please try to launch another instance and you should be able to launch applications without any manual steps. The idea is to have XenApp machines ready to go when you launch an instance.
Feb 11, 2009
Christian Fenneberg says:
Great!!! Thanks Jacob for making the last bit work. Regards Chri...Great!!!
Thanks Jacob for making the last bit work.
Regards
Christian
Feb 12, 2009
Vishal Ganeriwala says:
Hi Christian Please see my above comment. The altaddr should get set automatical...Hi Christian
Please see my above comment. The altaddr should get set automatically without any manual steps.
Vishal ganeriwala
Feb 14, 2009
Anonymous says:
Thank you, Vishaji, - Great Job! It works flawlessly 'out of the cloud' now ...Thank you, Vishaji, - Great Job! It works flawlessly 'out of the cloud' now without any additional configuration.
-GermanSaint
Feb 13, 2009
Anonymous says:
would be great to have the installation media also in the ami. this could help i...would be great to have the installation media also in the ami. this could help in installing securegateway afterwards.
Feb 14, 2009
Anonymous says:
OK, now there's a new error dialog that pops up when you log into the published ...OK, now there's a new error dialog that pops up when you log into the published desktop:
---------------------------
Windows Service Start Failure
---------------------------
Cannot start service from the command line or a debugger. A Windows Service must first be installed (using installutil.exe) and then started with the ServerExplorer, Windows Services Administrative tool or the NET START command.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------
I think that the new service added to change the ALTADDR is causing this somehow... perhaps its not configured correctly. How can we get rid of this error on logging in?
-GermanSaint
Feb 15, 2009
Chris Fleck says:
Hi GermainSaint, I just launched a new instance from the latest public image on...Hi GermainSaint,
I just launched a new instance from the latest public image on AWS and it worked without an error. Are you logging on via RDP or ICA on Web Interface ? ( I had no error with ICA )
Feb 15, 2009
Anonymous says:
Hi Chris, I am logging in via ICA - I also get this through RDP. It comes up to...Hi Chris,
I am logging in via ICA - I also get this through RDP. It comes up to a minute after logging in.
-GermanSaint
Feb 19, 2009
Chris Fleck says:
Your right ... This is now resolved. Thanks for pointing out and providing input...Your right ... This is now resolved. Thanks for pointing out and providing input.
Mar 03, 2009
Edward Milgram says:
Great Job! This appliance works very well and I was able to test it with the cli...Great Job! This appliance works very well and I was able to test it with the client plugin for hosted apps. However when I try to stream an application to a client that has the plugin for streaming apps I get a licensing error message.
It appears that a separate license is needed to stream to the client. I found the following KB articles that explain the problem I am having and how to solve it:
http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX112987
http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX112636
However I would like to know if there is an eval license available for the streaming client and if not, if one can purchase a commercial one and test it along with the XenApp appliance in EC2. This is what I am referring to:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Server_Applications/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=A1233563
Regards,
Edward
Apr 02, 2009
Anonymous says:
I'm getting an error message when connecting. "To log on to this remote co...I'm getting an error message when connecting. "To log on to this remote computer, you must have Terminal Server User Access permissions on this computer. ......."
I am using the Administrator, citrix123, amazonxenapp credentials.
I can not rdp into the server either.
Ideas ?
Apr 04, 2009
Anonymous says:
I get the "Terminal Server User Access permissions" error as well. It was all go...I get the "Terminal Server User Access permissions" error as well. It was all going well up to that point ( using XenApp Plugin 11.0.0.5357 on Windows Vista ).
This sounds like a server side permission error... but that doesn't make much sense does it.
Tips appreciated
Apr 03, 2009
Edward Milgram says:
Chris: I am also having problems. I get the Terminal Server licensing message a...Chris:
I am also having problems. I get the Terminal Server licensing message and then getting disconnected. It happened to an IMA I had bundled with some customizations. After too much struggle I decided to start from scratch but it also happens with your out-of-the-box XenApp demo AMI. Is there a way you can correct this? I was already building some excitement around the potential of this product with Office 2007 streaming and was just about to demo it along with the iPhone Receiver...
This is the actual message that shows in the AWS System Log:
4/3/2009 10:26:47 AM: EventLogEntry: Error 4/3/2009 10:26:42 AM TermService The terminal server licensing grace period has expired and the service has not registered with a license server with installed licenses. A terminal server license server is required for continuous operation. A terminal server can operate without a license server for 120 days after initial start up.
<RDPCERTIFICATE>
<DN>CN=i-ccc3a2a5, OU=EC2, O=Amazon.com</DN><THUMBPRINT>832F9D139010141247E4D221A80623F6B63EBA16</THUMBPRINT>
</RDPCERTIFICATE>
Edward
Apr 12, 2009
Chris Fleck says:
Yes, we confirmed there were some licensing issues with this template. These hav...Yes, we confirmed there were some licensing issues with this template. These have been resolved. The XenApp demo template should work correctly now.
Apr 08, 2009
Anonymous says:
Chris, What are your reservations of using XENAPP in the EC2 cloud in a product...Chris,
What are your reservations of using XENAPP in the EC2 cloud in a production environment. I work for a application provider that is thinking about hosting our application in cloud and using XENAPP as the presentation layer. I have read numerous posts\blogs stating no one would do it for a production environment but no one has given specific reasons other than it is new.
Thanks
TB
Apr 09, 2009
Chris Fleck says:
Hi TB, While the EC2 Windows offering is fairly new, AWS has been in production ...Hi TB, While the EC2 Windows offering is fairly new, AWS has been in production for many years and is looking very good. We have not seen any technical reasons that would prevent an application offering based on XenApp running in EC2. However, there are lots of considerations that would need to be addressed. I would be happy to talk with you ( or others ) to discuss the scenario you are evaluating. chris.fleck @ citrix.com
Apr 10, 2009
Edward Milgram says:
Chris: I saw an article about a large scale production implementation on EC2. I...Chris:
I saw an article about a large scale production implementation on EC2. It is not XenApp specific but I thought may represent a good experience that may calm the Cloud fears that many IT professionals have.
http://agiletesting.blogspot.com/2009/04/experiences-deploying-large-scale.html
Edward
Apr 12, 2009
Chris Fleck says:
Thanks Edward, great link/blog that describes some real production experience.Thanks Edward, great link/blog that describes some real production experience.
Apr 17, 2009
Anonymous says:
I am also getting the error "There is no Citrix MetaFrame server configured on t...I am also getting the error "There is no Citrix MetaFrame server configured on the specified address.". However, I am able to RDP into the instance. What esle could be the problem. I am using the latest AMI for Xenapp 5. ANy help would be appreciated.
Apr 18, 2009
Anonymous says:
Well after about an hour of troubleshooting yeah i know, even when you run RDP t...Well after about an hour of troubleshooting yeah i know, even when you run RDP to the remote server you cannot launch any citrix sessions locally, same error occured, altaddr showed the correct public IP and all, recreated everything web interface and pnagent, restarted IIS Admin and WWW services nothing worked then something jumped at me to restart the IMA service**ding ding ding* that was it I was then able to launch the xenapp apps locally and then externally. Oh yeah the error it threw in the event logs on the server was pointing to an diiferent public IP than what was the server. Just food for thought, it worked for me, and this is after trying 3 different xenapp servers.
I like the whole idea when working this can be very useful tool.
Apr 24, 2009
Anonymous says:
Great demo. Now I'm ready to buy XenApp server and want to run it on EC2. Do I j...Great demo. Now I'm ready to buy XenApp server and want to run it on EC2. Do I just buy it from Citrix.com and add my license codes to the AMI you've created? or do I have to install it myself on top of a windows AMI? my email is alikhajeh1 (at) googlemail.com . Thanks.
Apr 26, 2009
Chris Fleck says:
You should be able to just add your license to the AMI that you have created. Yo...You should be able to just add your license to the AMI that you have created. You can can buy XenApp from any of our local partners http://www.citrix.com/partners/locator
May 19, 2009
Systems Administrator says:
Hi Chris - any chance you have info or can point me to someone that can give mor...Hi Chris - any chance you have info or can point me to someone that can give more details on C3? Specifically I'm looking for info on the new pricing model of XenApp ... I read it's now subscription based and "pay as you go", so your comment here about adding a license to the existing AMI doesn't really fit anymore. I tried emailing both Support and Sales at Citrix with no response from either. Any help you could provide would be great.
Thanks,
Keith
Jul 17
Mandeep Batra says:
Hi, I've successfully setup the accounts and created the image, launched it. I a...Hi, I've successfully setup the accounts and created the image, launched it. I am however, having troubles logging into the newly created citrix Xeanapp server. I've used the published credentials, i.e. administrator, citrix123 & amazonxenapp.
Anyhelp would be appreciated as the 'clock' is ticking away.
Regards
Mandeep
Jul 17
Chris Fleck says:
try domain name : XenAppdemotry domain name : XenAppdemo
Jul 27
Mandeep Batra says:
Many thanks, that worked.Many thanks, that worked.
Jul 31
Anonymous says:
I've sucessfully RDP'ed into my ip address and installed my app, but I am not ab...I've sucessfully RDP'ed into my ip address and installed my app, but I am not able to connected to it via an outside browser. I still get the "No Citrix XenApp server configured on the specified address" error message.
While remoted in, I opend a command prompt and issued the following:
altaddr /delete
altaddr /server:xenappdemo /set 10.246.78.116 174.129.149.78.
When I check using altaddr I have three lines. Note 10.246.78.116 is my internal ip address
Default 174.129.149.78
xenappdemo 174.129.149.78
10.246.78.116 174.129.149.78
I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Aug 25
Anonymous says:
hi, thanks for the article. When I attempt to launch an application (e.g. wordpa...hi, thanks for the article. When I attempt to launch an application (e.g. wordpad) from the InstalledApps screen I get 'You have chosen to open launch.ica ... what should Firefox do with this file'. It then gives the option of either opening with an application on my local windows machine or saving to my local windows machine - neither of which affects the application running on the Citrix XenApp instance. I also tried to 'Download Citrix XenApp Plugin for Streamed Apps' and had a similar problem - I'm re-directed to the Citrix download page via the browser on my windows client - thus any 'downloads' are made to my physical client machine. How can I get past this?
Aug 25
Tedd Fox says:
There are two possible ways to remedy this: 1.) If the browser is trying to det...There are two possible ways to remedy this:
1.) If the browser is trying to detect the plug-in (and you already have it installed), make sure you click the link that states something like "End detection process".
2.) During the "What should Firefox do with this file" dialogue, choose the Xenapp Plugin as the application to open the file. Then, make sure you check the box that say "Remember my selection." so the XenApp plugin will be associated with that file type.
Sometimes, with certain browsers like FireFox and Safari, you may have to download the file and manually click on it to launch the XenApp plugin (for the first time). After that it should be smooth sailing.
See if this helps. If not, let us know.
Tedd
Sep 16
Anonymous says:
Hi together, I don't know if I'm right here.. but I have one (simple?) question...Hi together,
I don't know if I'm right here.. but I have one (simple?) question: Is it also possible to install a VDI environment with XenDesktop in the EC2? If yes, will you provide an AMI for that in the future?
Thanks in advance,
Daniel
Sep 30
Chris Fleck says:
Currently Amazon EC2 does not support Client OS's ( XP, Vista, Win7 ) so XenDesk...Currently Amazon EC2 does not support Client OS's ( XP, Vista, Win7 ) so XenDesktop / VDI is not possible.
Oct 26
Anonymous says:
I am using exactly same image today, and using the user/pw/domain. But the image...I am using exactly same image today, and using the user/pw/domain. But the image is refusing to log me in. Can someone help ASAP?
Thanks,
Mukund
Oct 26
Chris Fleck says:
Try these Credentials ID: Administrator PW: Citrix123 Domain: CTXSLic1 ( blog h...Try these Credentials
ID: Administrator
PW: Citrix123
Domain: CTXSLic1
( blog has been updated, thanks )
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