Cannot type in search bar or settings app

[Josh James]

No characters show up when you try to type in start menu or settings app and no results appear after upgrade to 20.1.0.15.   Happens with old and fresh profiles.  Also tried without compositing enabled before rolling back, no luck.  Rolling back to 19.8.0.11 and republishing resolves the issue.  Exact same image was published just before upgrade and does not have the issue.  I jumped from 19.8.0.11 so it may have started earlier. W10 1709 Ent vSphere 6.7 U3  Horizon View 7.9 client / View 7.7 servers.

 

Thanks

[Richard Buffone]

Do you have elastic user layers enabled? If you try connecting with a fresh user layer does this fix the issue?

 

Do you see the same issue if you publish the image direct to vSphere and login through the hypervisor console as a local administrator?

[Josh James]

Full elastic user layers.   Doesn't matter if they're a new clean user layer or existing.

 

I'll have to check w/ local.

[Richard Buffone]

Also check if you see the same thing with just the OS layer published to vSphere in addition to the OS layer and Platform layer only.

[Wojciech Kruczkowski]

Hi,

 

If you have User Layering enabled this is normal, at least for latest version of ELM and W10 1909 build.

Fix:

add ctfmon.exe to startup.

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

 

REG_SZ 

C:\Windows\System32\ctfmon.exe

[Michael Shirtcliff1709159619]

I can confirm that the issue impacts Windows 10 1909 with VDA 1912/2003 and Full User Layers on the current latest and prior App Layering versions.

 

Presenting the same OS Layer and Platform layer to 2 separate random pooled catalogs. 1 with Full User Layers and 1 without.

 

User Layer image has no running process instance for CTFMON.exe and start menu/cortana does not work. Launch CTFMON.exe and issue is resolved.

Non-persistent image has running process instance for CTFMON.exe and start menu/cortana works.

 

Both images have the same Elastic Layers enabled and the same consolidated layers (O365 and Adobe) and use FSLogix for profiles. Only difference is the broken image additionally uses Full User Layers.

 

Have raised a Citrix support incident and will pass on the findings.

[Josh James]

Thanks.  Adding ctfmon to run at start seems to be an effective workaround on W10 1709 as well.  Tested with 2003 no other changes other than updating ELM 19.8.0.11 -> 20.3.0.12

 

On 3/25/2020 at 11:04 AM, Wojciech Kruczkowski said:

Hi,

 

If you have User Layering enabled this is normal, at least for latest version of ELM and W10 1909 build.

Fix:

add ctfmon.exe to startup.

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

 

REG_SZ 

C:\Windows\System32\ctfmon.exe

 

[Michael Shirtcliff1709159619]

It appears that an "optimization" is applied during publishing of the image.

 

Same OS Layer and Platform Layer published as 2 images, 1 with Full User Layer enabled, 1 without Full User Layer.

 

During publishing of the Full User Layer enabled image the TabletInputService is changed from Automatic to Disabled. If this service is enabled CTFMON.exe will start at login (no requirement for Run regkey).

 

For testing i deployed the images to the same OU so the exact same GPO are applied. The only difference is the enabling of the User Layer in the image prior to publishing, the service is set to Automatic in both the OS Layer and Platform Layer. It is also still set to Automatic after the image is deployed via MCS except on the Full User Layer image where it is disabled.

 

At this stage it seems that this is a defect in the scripts that are run during the publishing process from the App Layering Appliance when the User Layer is enabled. It has been documented that there is a known issue that causes this if running optimizations.cmd. As recommended though we do not run optimizations.cmd but rather use the Citrix Optimizer as recommended https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2018/01/08/optimizing-windows-and-citrix-app-layering/ 

 

It would therefore appear that this incorrect state is being set during publishing only if enabling Full User Layer.

 

https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/citrix-app-layering/4/known-issues.html#windows-10-support 

Quote

The Windows 10, v1909 Pro edition Search option (on the Start menu) does not work as expected. To avoid or resolve this issue, add a new version to the OS layer, and open the c:\windows\setup\scripts\Optimizations.cmd file for editing. Deselect Disable tablet input service (Section 6, Option M), run the Optimizations.cmd script, and finalize the new OS layer version.

 

Currently i have updated my mitigation of the defect by setting the service to Automatic and start via GPO rather than the GPP CTFMON Run option i was previously using. I'm currently awaiting a response from engineering for my support case.