Overview
The Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent for macOS (Citrix VDA for macOS) enables HDX access to macOS Remote desktop from any device with the Citrix Workspace App installed. The Citrix VDA for macOS is designed and engineered as “yet another VDA” backed by Citrix's leading HDX technologies within the DaaS/CVAD product family. It adheres to the existing Citrix product architecture. It follows all the common roadmap of HDX features and all interfaces defined between critical components in DaaS/CVAD to ensure that our customers' knowledge and experience can be fully reused in this new VDA.
This deployment guide provides the steps to Install and configure the Citrix VDA for macOS to a non-Active Directory joined macOS desktop. The following steps are covered in the guide:
- Prepare the installation of the non-domain joined VDA.
- Install the Citrix VDA for macOS.
- Create the Delivery Group
- Connect via Citrix Gateway Service to the Citrix VDA for macOS.
Note:
The Citrix VDA for macOS is currently in public tech preview. This guide will be updated once this feature is Generally Available..
Prerequisites
- Any Apple Silicon (M1, M2, and M3 families) based macOS device.
- macOS Venture 13 or Sonoma 14.
-
The following network ports must be open on the macOS device:
- 443 (TCP/UDP for outbound traffic to Citrix Cloud).
- 1494 and 2598 (Optional. TCP/UDP inbound. Not required while CWA connects via Citrix Gateway Service; Only required when CWA connects to Citrix VDA for macOS directly or via on-premise NetScalar gateway)
- An existing Citrix DaaS subscription
- Citrix Workspace app 2402 or later (Windows, Linux, Mac)
- Citrix VDA for macOS is downloaded to your macOS device from Citrix Downloads.
Note:
The EAR for Citrix VDA for macOS should not be used in any production environment under any circumstances. .
Prepare the Installation
1. Login to Citrix DaaS, open Web Studio, and select Machine Catalogs.
2. Click Create Machine Catalog.
3. Select Remote PC Access and click Next. (The Single-session OS option is also supported.)
4. Select "I want users to connect to the same (static) desktop each time they log on" and click Next.
5. Select the minimum functional level for this catalog and click Next on the Machine Accounts page.
6. Click Next on the Scopes page.
7. Click Next on the Workspace Environment Management (Optional) page.
8. Leave the "Enable VDA upgrade" unchecked and click Next.
9. Name your Machine Catalog and click Finish.
10. The Machine Catalog is now created.
11. Right-click on the Citrix VDA for macOS Machine Catalog and select Manage Enrollment Tokens.
12. Click Generate.
13. Enter your Token name, select Use current date and time for start, enter 100 into the Specify how many times the token can register VDAs, choose an appropriate end date for the token to allow VDA registrations, and click Generate.
14. Click Copy.
15. Optionally, click Download to download this token for later usage.
16. You will now see your active Enrollment token. Click Close.
Install the VDA
1. On your macOS device, download .Net 6.0 from https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/6.0.
2. Select .NET Runtime v 6.0.29 and choose the macOS Arm64 download link.
3. Install the Arm64 .Net Runtime package for macOS and check the installation directory path using the command:
which dotnet
4. To begin the VDA installation, select the Citrix VDA for macOS installer and double-click it.
5. Click Continue.
6. Click Continue on the License Agreement.
7. Click Agree.
8. Select Install for all users of this computer and click Continue.
9. Click Install.
10. Enter the administrator password and click Install Software if prompted.
11. The Citrix VDA for macOS installs.
12. Choose the required option on the vdaconfig UI and click Open Screen Recording Preference to enable Citrix Graphics Service. Then click Open System Settings.
13. Enable Citrix Graphics Service and close the window.
14. Click Open Accessibility Preferences.
15. Enabled the Citrix Input Service.
16. Validate that .NET 6.0 is installed correctly.
17. Copy the Enrollment Token from Notepad, paste it into Enroll with Token, then click Enroll.
18. Enter the administrator password if prompted and click OK.
19. Once your enrollment is successful, you will receive the enrolled successfully message as seen here:
20. Click Close. Your Citrix VDA for macOS has been installed.
21. Return to Citrix DaaS Web Studio console and verify that the macOS device is registered with the Machine Catalog.
Create Delivery Group
1. Within Citrix DaaS Web Studio, select Delivery Groups, then click Create Delivery Group.
2. Select your Citrix VDA for macOS Machine Catalog and click Next.
3. Select which users can access the Delivery Group and click Next.
4. Add the required Desktop Assignment Rule and click Next.
5. Select Next on the App Protection screen.
6. Click Next on the Scopes window.
7. Select the appropriate License Assignment for your Citrix DaaS deployment and click Next.
8. Click Next on the Policy Set window.
9. Provide a name for your Delivery Group and click Finish.
10. Your Delivery Group is now created and ready for user access.
Enable Rendezvous
Our deployment will contain non-domain-joined macOS devices. The Rendezvous v2 protocol is used in this scenario, so no Cloud Connectors are required. However, we must enable the Rendezvous Citrix policy for our deployment to work.
1. Within Citrix Web Studio, select Policies and then click Create Policy.
2. Select ICA within View by Category, then scroll to and select Rendezvous Protocol. Click Allow.
3. Click Next.
4. Select Filtered users and computers and expand the Delivery Group.
5. Select Allow in the Mode drop-down menu, and then choose your Citrix VDA for macOS Delivery Group, select Enable, and click Save.
6. review your filters, then click Next.
7. Select Enable policy, provide a Policy name, then click Finish.
8. The Rendezvous policy is now active and enabled.
Launch the macOS VDA
1. Open your Citrix Workspace app or browser, enter your Citrix Workspace URL, and log in. Your Citrix VDA for macOS desktop will be available for launch.
2. Launch the Desktop.
3. Your remote session via Citrix HDX to your macOS device will begin.
Summary
This guide walked you through the installation and configuration of the Citrix VDA for macOS. This consisted of preparing the Citrix DaaS environment by creating a Machine Catalog and capturing an Enrollment Token, installing and registering the Citrix VDA on macOS device, and creating a Delivery Group with user assignments. As a reminder, the Citrix VDA for macOS is currently in Public Tech Preview. This deployment guide will be updated during the preview period and when the feature goes GA. For more information, please visit the Citrix VDA for macOS product documentation.
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