Author: Carl Stalhood

StoreFront Favorites/Subscriptions

Last Modified: Sep 23, 2020 @ 7:12 am

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Favorites/Subscriptions Overview

By default, StoreFront allows users to select applications as their Favorites. These subscribed applications are then displayed in the Favorites view of Receiver. Administrators can also use KEYWORDS in published application descriptions to auto-favorite an application.

The Favorites (subscriptions) are stored in a file database on each StoreFront server and are automatically replicated to every StoreFront server in a local Server Group. For StoreFront servers in multiple datacenters, you can configure replication of subscriptions between Server Groups. This provides a consistent user interface no matter which datacenter the user connects to.

Multi-datacenter – Favorites/Subscriptions Replication

If you have different StoreFront clusters (server groups) in multiple datacenters, you probably want to replicate subscriptions between them. For more information, see What Subscriptions and Server Groups Mean for StoreFront Designs

  1. The store names must be identical in each StoreFront server group.
  2. When adding farms (Manage Delivery Controllers) to StoreFront, make sure the farm names are identical in each StoreFront cluster (server group).
  3. Load balance TCP 808 for each StoreFront cluster. Use the same VIP you created for SSL Load Balancing of StoreFront. Each datacenter has its own VIP.
  4. Run the PowerShell commands detailed at Configure subscription synchronization at Citrix Docs. When adding the remote cluster, enter the TCP 808 Load Balancing VIP (FQDN) in the other datacenter. Run these commands on both StoreFront clusters.
  5. Minesh at Subscriptions Replication same site different server group at Citrix Discussions says the following:
    1. FQDN to the Load Balanced VIP works, but IP does not.
    2. Manage Delivery Controllers > Edit > Display Name must be identical in both StoreFront Server Groups.
    3. The Reoccurring schedule command should be the following: 
      Add-DSSubscriptionsSyncReoccuringSchedule -scheduleName scheduleOnSiteB -startTime 01:00:00 -repeatMinutes 30
  6. Don’t forget to add the StoreFront server computer accounts to the local group CitrixSubscriptionSyncUsers on each StoreFront server.

Share Favorites/Subscriptions with Multiple Stores

Docs.citrix.com – Configure two StoreFront stores to share a common subscription datastore: It is common for administrators to configure StoreFront with two distinct stores; one for external access to resources using Netscaler Gateway and another for internal access using the corporate LAN. You can configure both “external” and “internal” stores to share a common subscription datastore by making a simple change to the store web.config file.

For two stores to share a subscription datastore, you need only point one store to the subscription service end point of the other store. Note: The XenApp, XenDesktop and AppC controllers configured on each store must match exactly; otherwise, an inconsistent set of resource subscriptions on one store might occur. Sharing a datastore is supported only when the two stores reside on the same StoreFront server or server group deployment.

Open the external store web.config file (C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\ExternalStore\web.config) using Notepad and search for the clientEndpoint. For example:

<subscriptionsStoreClient enabled="true">
<clientEndpoint uri="net.pipe://localhost/Citrix/Subscriptions/1__Citrix_External" authenticationMode="windows" transferMode="Streamed">
<clientCertificate thumbprint="0" />
</clientEndpoint>
</subscriptionsStoreClient>

Change the external to match the internal store endpoint. Then Propagate Changes.

<subscriptionsStoreClient enabled="true">
<clientEndpoint uri="net.pipe://localhost/Citrix/Subscriptions/1__Citrix_Internal" authenticationMode="windows" transferMode="Streamed">
<clientCertificate thumbprint="0" />
</clientEndpoint>
</subscriptionsStoreClient>

Delete Favorites/Subscriptions

You can delete subscriptions using the subscription store PowerShell API and some file editing:

  1. If StoreFront 3.5 or newer, run the following (from Citrix CTX216295 How to Export and Import StoreFront Subscription Database on Storefront 3.6): 
    $store = Get-STFStoreService
Export-STFStoreSubscriptions -Store $store -FilePath "$env:userprofile\desktop\subscriptions.txt"
    1. If StoreFront 3.0.1 or older, run the following PowerShell (using ‘Run As Administrator’ when opening the PowerShell Console and not missing the ‘. ‘ (i.e. dot space) at the start of the first command): 
      . 'C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\Scripts\ImportModules.ps1'
Export-DSStoreSubscriptions -StoreName MyStore -FilePath .\subscriptions.txt
  2. Stop the “Citrix Subscriptions Store” Service on all StoreFront servers in the deployment.
  3. Find the subscription store database folder: “C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\Roaming\Citrix\SubscriptionsStore\1__Citrix_Store” on each StoreFront server. Delete the contents of this folder (do not delete the folder itself). Note: If UAC is enabled then you might have to go to C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService first and then drill down into the remaining folders. AppData is a hidden folder.
  4. Restart the “Citrix Subscriptions Store” Service on all StoreFront servers in the deployment. Open Event Viewer and, in the left pane, navigate to Applications and Services Logs > Citrix Delivery Services. Search for events logged by the Citrix Subscriptions Store Service with an Event ID of 3 and a Task Category of 2901. Ensure that an entry is logged for each store on every server in the deployment before continuing.
  5. Backup subscriptions.txt, then edit to remove any entries you want to delete.
  6. If StoreFront 3.5 or newer, run the following PowerShell commands to restore your subscriptions: 
    $store = Get-STFStoreService
Import-STFStoreSubscriptions -Store $store -FilePath "$env:userprofile\desktop\subscriptions.txt"
    1. If StoreFront 3.0.1 or older, run the following PowerShell: 
      Import-DSStoreSubscriptions -StoreName MyStore -FilePath .\subscriptions.txt

Each row of the exported subscriptions file is a tab-separated list of user-sid, resource-id, subscription-id, subscription-status followed by zero or more subscription-property name-value pairs.

To delete all subscriptions for a particular user, you will need to find the user’s SID and then delete all rows starting with that value.

NetScaler 10.5 Certificates

Last Modified: Nov 6, 2020 @ 7:04 am

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Convert .PFX Certificate to PEM Format

You can export a certificate from Windows and import it to NetScaler. However, Windows certificates can’t be imported on NetScaler in their native PFX format and must first be converted to PEM as detailed below:

  1. On the Windows server that has the certificate, run mmc.exe, and add the certificates snap-in.
  2. Right-click the certificate and click Export.
  3. On the Export Private Key page, select Yes, export the private key and click Next.
  4. On the Export File Format page, ensure Personal Information Exchange is selected and click Next.
  5. Save it as a .pfx file. Don’t put any spaces in the filename.

    1. Back in the NetScaler Configuration GUI, on the left expand Traffic Management and click SSL. If the SSL feature is disabled, right-click it and click Enable Feature.
  6. On the right pane, click Import PKCS#12 in the Tools section.
  7. In the Import PKCS12 File dialog box:
    1. In the Output File Name field, enter a name (e.g. Wildcard.cer) for a new file where the PEM certificate and key will be placed.
    2. In the PKCS12 File field, click Browse and select the previously exported .pfx file.
    3. In the Import Password field, enter the password you specified when you previously exported the .pfx file.
    4. Change the Encoding Format selection to DES3. This causes the new Output file to be encrypted.
    5. Enter a password for the Output file and click OK.
  8. If you browse to the /nsconfig/ssl directory on the NetScaler and view the new .cer file you just created, you’ll see both the certificate and the private key in the same file. You can use the Manage Certificates / Keys / CSRs link to view the files.

  9. Notice that the file contains both the certificate and the RSA Private key.
  10. On the left side of the NetScaler Configuration GUI, expand Traffic Management > SSL, and click Certificates.
  11. On the right, click Install.
  12. In the Install Certificate dialog box:
    1. In the Certificate-Key Pair Name field, enter a friendly name for this certificate.
    2. In the Certificate File Name field, browse the appliance and select the .cer file you just created.
    3. In the Key File Name field, browse the appliance and select the same .cer file you just created. Both the certificate and the private key are in the same file.
    4. If the private key is encrypted, enter the password.
    5. Click Install. You can now link an intermediate certificate to this SSL certificate and then bind this SSL certificate to SSL Offload and/or NetScaler Gateway Virtual Servers.
  13. To automatically backup SSL certificates and receive notification when the certificates are about the expire, deploy Citrix Command Center or NetScaler Management and Analytics System. Also see Citrix CTX213342 How to handle certificate expiry on NetScaler.

Create Key and Certificate Request

You can create a key pair and Certificate Signing Request directly on the NetScaler appliance. The Certificate Signing Request can then be signed by an internal or public Certificate Authority.

Most Certificate Authorities let you add Subject Alternative Names when submitting the Certificate Signing Request to the Certificate Authority and thus there’s no reason to include Subject Alternative Names in the Certificate Signing Request. You typically create a Certificate Signing Request with a single DNS name. Then when submitting the Certificate Signing Request to the Certificate Authority you type in additional DNS names. For a Microsoft Certificate Authority, you can enter Subject Alternative Names in the Attributes box of the Web Enrollment wizard. For public Certificate Authorities, you purchase a UCC certificate or purchase a certificate option that lets you type in additional names.

If you instead want to create a Certificate Signing Request on NetScaler that has Subject Alternative Names embedded in it as request attributes, see Citrix Blog Post How to Create a CSR for a SAN Certificate Using OpenSSL on a NetScaler Appliance. These instructions are performed on the NetScaler command line using OpenSSL. Or you can instead create a Subject Alternative Name certificate on Windows.

  1. On the left, expand Traffic Management, and click SSL.
  2. On the right, in the left column, click Create RSA Key.
  3. Give the new .key file a descriptive name.
  4. Set the Key Size to 2048 bits
  5. Set the PEM Encoding Algorithm to DES3 and enter a password. This encrypts the key file.
  6. Click OK. You will soon create a certificate using the keys in this file.
  7. On the right, in the right column, click Create CSR (Certificate Signing Request).
  8. In the Request File Name field, enter the name of a new .csr file.
  9. In the Key Filename field, browse to the previously created .key file.
  10. If the key file is encrypted, enter the password.
  11. In the State field, enter your state name without abbreviating.
  12. In the Organization Name field, enter your official Organization Name.
  13. Enter the City name.
  14. Enter IT or similar as the Organization Unit.
  15. In the Common Name field, enter the FQDN of the SSL enabled-website. If this is a wildcard certificate, enter * for the left part of the FQDN.
  16. Scroll down, and click OK.
  17. On the right side of the right pane, click Manage Certificates / Keys / CSRs.
  18. Find the .csr file you just created, and View it.
  19. Copy the contents of the file, and send it to the certificate administrator. Request the signed certificate to be returned in Apache or Base64 format.
  20. After you get the signed certificate, on the left side of the NetScaler Configuration GUI, expand Traffic Management > SSL, and click Certificates.
  21. On the right, click Install.
  22. In the Install Certificate dialog box:
    1. In the Certificate-Key Pair Name field, enter a friendly name for this certificate.
    2. In the Certificate File Name field, browse Local and select the Base64 (Apache) .cer (or .crt, or .cert) file you received from the Certificate Authority.
    3. In the Private Key File Name field, browse the appliance and select the key file you created earlier.
    4. If the key file is encrypted, enter the password.
    5. If desired, check the box next to Notify when expires.
    6. Click Install.
  23. The certificate is now added to the list. Notice the Days to Expire. You can now bind this certificate to any SSL Load Balancing, NetScaler Gateway, or SSL Content Switching Virtual Server.
  24. To automatically backup SSL certificates and receive notification when the certificates are about the expire, deploy Citrix Command Center or Citrix NetScaler Management and Analytics. Also see Citrix CTX213342 How to handle certificate expiry on NetScaler.

Intermediate Certificate

If your Server Certificate is signed by an intermediate Certificate Authority, then you must install the intermediate Certificate Authority’s certificate on the NetScaler. This Intermediate Certificate then must be linked to the Server Certificate.

  1. Sometimes the public Certificate Authority will give you the Intermediate certificate as one of the files in a bundle. If not, log into Windows and double-click the signed certificate.
  2. On the Certification Path tab, double-click the intermediate certificate (e.g. Go Daddy Secure Certificate Authority. It’s the one in the middle).
  3. On the Details tab, click Copy to File.
  4. In the Welcome to the Certificate Export Wizard page, click Next.
  5. In the Export File Format page, select Base-64 encoded and click Next.
  6. Give it a file name and click Next.
  7. In the Completing the Certificate Export Wizard page, click Finish.
  8. In the NetScaler configuration GUI, expand Traffic Management, expand SSL, and click Certificates.
  9. On the right, click Install.
  10. Name it Intermediate or similar.
  11. Browse locally for the Intermediate certificate file.
  12. Click Install. You don’t need a key file.
  13. Highlight the server certificate, open the Action menu, and click Link.
  14. The previously imported Intermediate certificate should already be selected. Click OK.

Create Certificate with NetScaler as Certificate Authority

If you don’t have an internal Certificate Authority, you can use NetScaler as a Certificate Authority. The NetScaler Certificate Authority can then be used to sign Server Certificates. This is a simple method for creating a new management certificate. The main problem with this method is that the NetScaler root certificate must be manually installed on any machine that connects to the NetScaler.

  1. On the left, expand Traffic Management, and click SSL.
  2. On the right, in the left column, click Root-CA Certificate Wizard.
  3. In the Key Filename field, enter root.key or similar. This is a new file.
  4. In the Key Size field, enter at least 2048.
  5. Optionally, to encrypt the key file, change the PEM Encoding Algorithm to DES3, and enter a new password.
  6. Click Create.
  7. In the Request File Name field, enter root.csr or similar. This is a new file.
  8. If the key file is encrypted, enter the password.
  9. Scroll down.
  10. In the State field, enter the non-abbreviated state name.
  11. In the Organization Name field, enter the name of your organization.
  12. Fill in other fields as desired.
  13. In the Common Name field, enter a descriptive name for this Certificate Authority.
  14. Click Create .
  15. In the Certificate File Name field, enter root.cer or similar. This is a new file.
  16. Change the Validity Period to 3650 (10 years) or similar.
  17. If the key file is encrypted, enter the password in the PEM Passphrase field.
  18. Click Create.
  19. In the Certificate-Key Pair Name field, enter a friendly name for this Certificate Authority certificate.
  20. If the key file is encrypted, enter the password in the Password field.
  21. Click Create.
  22. Click Done.
  23. In the right pane, in the left column, click Server Certificate Wizard.
  24. In the Key Filename field, enter mgmt.key or similar. This is a new file.
  25. In the Key Size field, enter at least 2048.
  26. Optionally, to encrypt the key file, change the PEM Encoding Algorithm to DES3, and enter a new password.
  27. Click Create.
  28. In the Request File Name field, enter mgmt.csr or similar. This is a new file.
  29. If the key file is encrypted, enter the password.
  30. Scroll down.
  31. In the State field, enter the non-abbreviated state name.
  32. In the Organization Name field, enter the name of your organization.
  33. Fill in other fields as desired.
  34. In the Common Name field, enter the hostname (FQDN) of the appliance.
  35. Click Create.
  36. In the Certificate File Name field, enter mgmt.cer or similar. This is a new file.
  37. Change the Validity Period to 3650 (10 years) or similar.
  38. Scroll down.
  39. In the CA Certificate File Name field, browse to the root.cer file.
  40. In the CA Key File Name field, browse to the root.key file.
  41. If the key file is encrypted, enter the password.
  42. In the CA Serial File Number field, enter the name of a new file that will contain serial numbers.
  43. Click Create.
  44. In the Certificate-Key Pair Name field, enter a friendly name for this management certificate.
  45. If the key file is encrypted, enter the password in the Password field.
  46. Click Create.
  47.  Click Done.

Default Management Certificate Key Length

In older NetScaler builds, the default management certificate (ns-server-certificate) key size is only 512 bits. To see the key size, right-click ns-server-certificate, and then click Details.


If you try to use Internet Explorer to connect to the NSIP using SSL, Internet Explorer will consider 512 bits to be unsafe and probably won’t let you connect. Notice there’s no option to proceed.

You can configure Internet Explorer to accept the 512-bit certificate by running Certutil ?setreg chain\minRSAPubKeyBitLength 512 on the same machine where Internet Explorer is running.

When you upgrade NetScaler, the management certificate remains at whatever was installed previously. If it was never replaced, then the management certificate is still only 512 bits. To replace the certificate with a new 2048-bit self-signed certificate, simply delete the existing ns-server-certificate certificate files and reboot.

  1. Go to Traffic Management > SSL.
  2. On the right, in the right column, click Manage Certificates / Keys / CSRs.
  3. Highlight any file named ns-* and delete them. This takes several seconds.
  4. Then go to System and reboot.
  5. After a reboot, if you view the Details on the ns-server-certificate, it will be recreated as self-signed with 2048-bit key size.

Replace Management Certificate

You can replace the default management certificate with a new trusted management certificate.

Only one certificate will be loaded on both nodes in a High Availability pair so make sure the management certificate matches the names of both nodes. This is easily doable using a Subject Alternative Name certificate. Here are some names the management certificate should match (note: a wildcard certificate won’t match all of these names):

  • The FQDN for each node NSIP in a High Availability pair. Example: ns01.corp.local and ns02.corp.local
  • The shortnames (left label) for each node NSIP in a High Availability pair. Example: ns01 and ns02
  • The NSIP IP address for each node in a High Availability pair. Example: 192.168.123.14 and 192.168.123.29
  • If you enabled management access on your SNIPs, add names for the SNIPs:
    • FQDN for the SNIP. Example: ns.corp.local
    • Shortname for the SNIP. Example: ns
    • SNIP IP address. Example: 192.168.123.30

If you are creating a Subject Alternative Name certificate, it’s probably easiest to do the following:

  1. Create the certificate using the Certificates snap-in on a Windows box. You can add the Subject Alternative Names in the certificate request wizard. The Subject Alternative Names for the IP addresses must be added as IP address (v4). The other Subject Alternative Names are added as DNS.
  2. Export the certificate and Private Key to a .pfx file.
  3. On the NetScaler, use the Import PKCS#12 tool to convert the .pfx to PEM format. Then follow one of the procedures below to replace the management certificate.

There are two methods of replacing the management certificate:

  • Use the Update Certificate button for ns-server-certificate in the NetScaler GUI. This automatically updates all of the Internal Services bindings too.
    • You cannot rename the certificate in the NetScaler GUI. It remains as ns-server-certificate.
    • If your new management certificate is a wildcard that you need to use for other SSL entities, then you will bind ns-server-certificate to those entities instead of a more descriptive name. You can’t re-upload the wildcard certificate again with a different GUI name.
  • Or manually Bind the new certificate to the Internal Services.

Update Certificate Method

The Update Certificate button method is detailed below:

  1. You can’t update the certificate while connected to the NetScaler using https so make sure you connect using http.
  2. On the left, expand Traffic Management, expand SSL, and click Certificates.
  3. On the right, highlight ns-server-certificate, and click Update.
  4. Check the box next to Click to update the Certificate/Key.
  5. Browse to the new management certificate. It could be on the appliance or it could be on your local machine.
  6. Click Yes when asked to update the existing certificate.
  7. If the PEM certificate is encrypted, enter the password.
  8. Check the box next to No Domain Check. Click OK.
  9. You can now connect to the NetScaler using https protocol. The certificate should be valid and it should have a 2048 bit key.
  10. On the left, expand Traffic Management, expand Load Balancing, and click Services.
  11. On the right, switch to the Internal Services tab.
  12. You will see multiple services. Edit one of them.
  13. On the right, in the Advanced column, click SSL Ciphers.
  14. On the left, in the SSL Ciphers section, bind a custom cipher group that has RC4 ciphers removed. Click OK.
  15. Scroll down to the SSL Parameters section, and click the pencil icon.
  16. Uncheck the box next to SSLv3. NetScaler VPX 10.5 build 57 and newer lets you enable TLSv11 and TLSv12. Click OK.
  17. Repeat for the rest of the internal services.

Manual Binding Method

The manual Binding to Internal Services method is detailed below:

  1. You can’t update the certificate while connected to the NetScaler using https so make sure you connect using http.
  2. On the left, expand Traffic Management, expand SSL, and click Certificates.
  3. On the right, use the Install button to install the certificate if you haven’t already done so.
  4. On the right, highlight the new management certificate, open the Action menu, and click Details.
  5. Verify that the Public Key Size is 2048. Click OK.
  6. On the left, expand Traffic Management, expand Load Balancing, and click Services.
  7. On the right, switch to the Internal Services tab.
  8. You will see multiple services. Edit one of them.
  9. Scroll down and click where it says 1 Client Certificate.
  10. Highlight the existing management certificate, and click Unbind.
  11. Click Yes to remove the selected entity.
  12. Click Add Binding.
  13. Click where it says Click to select.
  14. Select the new management certificate, and click OK.
  15. Click Bind.
  16. Click OK.
  17. On the right, in the Advanced column, click SSL Ciphers.
  18. On the left, in the SSL Ciphers section, bind a custom cipher group that has RC4 ciphers removed. Click OK.
  19. Scroll down to the SSL Parameters section, and click the pencil icon.
  20. Uncheck the box next to SSLv3. NetScaler VPX 10.5 build 57 and newer lets you enable TLSv11 and TLSv12. Click OK.
  21. Repeat for the rest of the internal services.

Force Management SSL

By default, administrators can connect to the NSIP using HTTP or SSL. This section details how to disable HTTP. Connecting to the NSIP using SSL also causes Java communication to use SSL (TCP 3008).

  1. Connect to the NSIP using https.
  2. On the left, expand System, expand Network, and click IPs.
  3. On the right, highlight your NetScaler IP, and click Edit.
  4. Near the bottom, check the box next to Secure access only, and then click OK.
  5. Repeat this on the secondary appliance.
  6. Repeat for any SNIPs that have management access enabled.

SSL Certificate – Update

If your certificate is about to expire, do the following:

  1. Create updated certificate files in PEM format. One option is to create a key file and Certificate Signing Request directly on the NetScaler. Another option is to convert a PFX file to a PEM file. Don’t install the certificate yet, but instead, simply have access to the key file and certificate file in PEM format.
  2. In NetScaler, navigate to Traffic Management > SSL > Certificates.
  3. On the right, highlight the certificate you intend to update, and click Update.
  4. Check the box next to Click to update the Certificate/Key.
  5. Browse to the updated certificate file.
  6. Click Yes when asked to update the existing certificate.
  7. Browse to the updated key file.
  8. If the key file is encrypted, enter the password.
  9. Check the box next to No Domain Check.
  10. Click OK. This will automatically update every Virtual Server on which this certificate is bound.
  11. Certificates can also be updated in Citrix Command Center or NetScaler Management and Analytics System.

NetScaler 10.5 System Configuration

Last Modified: Jan 15, 2021 @ 6:23 am

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This page contains the following topics:

Java Security

Citrix docs.citrix.com has information on configuring browsers for Java

When performing operations on NetScaler that require Java, you might see the message “Java Applet could not be loaded”. To fix it, do the following:

  1. Java uses TCP 3008 and TCP 3010 to communicate with the NetScaler NSIP (and/or SNIP). Make sure these ports are open on any firewall between the administrator workstations and the NetScaler management IPS.
  2. Go to Control Panel and open the Java applet.
  3. Switch to the Security
  4. Click Edit Site List.
  5. Click Add.
  6. Type in a URL to a NetScaler management IP. You must prepend http and/or https. The management IP is NSIP and/or SNIP.
  7. If you enter an http URL then you will see a warning message. Click Continue.
  8. Continue adding NetScaler management URLs to the list. Add both http and https so you can use either. Click OK when done.
  9. Then click OK to close the Java Control Panel applet.
  10. The Java site exception list is stored in %userprofile%\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment\security\exception.sites and can be transferred to other users.

VPX – vSphere 5.1 and 5.5 issue

If you are licensed for VPX-1000 or higher, see Citrix Knowledgebase Article CTX139485 (Resource Requirements for Optional Multi-PE Configuration for NetScaler VPX) for correct vCPU and Memory configuration.

From VMware knowledgebase article 2092809: After applying patches to an ESXi 5.1/5.5 host, Citrix NetScaler virtual machine with e1000 vNIC loses network connectivity: After patching your ESXi host to version 5.5 Update 2 (build 2143827) or 5.1 Patch 6 (build 2191751), you experience these symptoms:

  • Some Citrix NetScaler virtual machine appliance running the guest Operating System with e1000 vNIC driver loses network connectivity
  • Cannot access the console after applying the patches

See VMware’s article for their workaround.

From Citrix Knowledgebase article CTX200278 – NetScaler VPX Loses Network Connectivity on VMware ESXi 5.1.0 2191751 and VMware ESXi 5.5 2143827:

  1. Log in to the Citrix NetScaler virtual machine appliance as nsroot
  2. Type shell.
  3. Type the following command:
    cd /flash/boot
  4. Type the following command:
    touch /flash/boot/loader.conf.local
  5. Edit (vi) the file conf.local and add the following line to the end of it:
    hw.em.txd=512
  6. Save the changes
  7. Restart the NetScaler virtual machine appliance

Licensing – VPX Mac Address

To license a NetScaler VPX appliance, you will need its MAC address.

  • One method is to look in the GUI.

    • In the right pane, look down for the Host Id This is the MAC address you need for license allocation.
  • Another option is to SSH to the appliance and run shell.
    • Then run lmutil lmhostid. The MAC address is returned.

Licensing – Citrix.com

  1. Login to citrix.com.
  2. Click Activate and Allocate Licenses.
  3. Check the box next to a Citrix NetScaler license and click Continue.
  4. If this is a NetScaler MPX license then there is no need to enter a host ID for this license so click Continue. If this is a NetScaler VPX license, enter the lmutil lmhostid MAC address into the Host ID field and click Next.

    For a VPX appliance, you can also get the Host ID by looking at the System Information page.
  5. Click Confirm.
  6. Click OK when asked to download the license file.
  7. Click Download.
  8. Click Save and put it somewhere where you can get to it later.
  9. If you purchased NetScaler Gateway Universal Licenses, allocate them. These licenses can come from XenMobile Enterprise, XenApp/XenDesktop Platinum Edition, NetScaler Platinum Edition, or a la carte.
  10. Enter your appliance hostname as the Host ID for all licenses.
  11. Click Confirm.
  12. Click OK when prompted to download your license file.
  13. Click Download.
  14. Click Save.
  15. If you have two appliances in a High Availability pair with different hostnames then you will need to return the NetScaler Gateway Universal licenses and reallocate them to the other hostname.

Install Licenses on Appliance

  1. In the NetScaler Configuration GUI, on the left, expand System and click Licenses.
  2. On the right, click Manage Licenses.
  3. Click Add New License.

    License files are stored in /nsconfig/license.
  4. If you have a license file, select Upload license files from a local computer, and then click Browse.
  5. Click Reboot when prompted. Login after the reboot.
  6. After rebooting, the Licenses node should look something like this. Notice that Maximum ICA Users Allowed is set to Unlimited.
  7. Note: the NetScaler SNMP counter allnic_tot_rx_mbits must remain less than the licensed bandwidth or packets will drop.

Upgrade Firmware

Citrix CTX127455 – How to Upgrade Software of the NetScaler Appliances in a High Availability Setup:

  1. Download firmware. Ask your Citrix Partner or Citrix Support TRM for recommended versions and builds. At the very least, watch the Security Bulletins to determine which versions and builds resolve security issues. You can also subscribe to the Security Bulletins at http://support.citrix.com by clicking the Alerts link on the top right.
    Note: Citrix sometimes refreshes firmware builds (e.g 10.1 build 130.13 replaces 10.1 build 130.10). If this happens, make sure you install the refreshed version since the original version can no longer be downloaded. If you have an HA pair running 130.10, and if one of the appliances needs to be replaced, you can’t download 130.10 and thus can’t install it on the new secondary, and thus the config won’t replicate when you join the HA pair since the node firmware versions will be different. If you don’t have access to the 130.10 firmware, your only option is to upgrade the primary to 130.13 before joining the new secondary running 130.13.
  2. Make sure you Save the config before beginning the upgrade.
  3. If you configured NetScaler Gateway to use a Custom theme, change the theme back to Default (or Green Bubble). You will have to re-create the customtheme.tar.gz file after you upgrade.
  4. Transferring the firmware upgrade file to the appliance will be slow unless you license the appliance first. An unlicensed appliance will reduce the maximum speed to 1 Mbps.
  5. Start with the Secondary appliance.
  6. Before upgrading the appliance, consider using WinSCP or similar to back up the /flash/nsconfig directory.
  7. In the NetScaler GUI, with the top left node (System) selected, click System Upgrade.
  8. Browse to the build…tgz file. If you haven’t downloaded firmware yet, then you can click the Download Firmware link.
  9. Click More and then check the box next to Automatically move files to create space. Click Yes to acknowledge the prompt.
  10. Click Upgrade.

  11. The firmware will upload.
  12. You should eventually see a System Upgrade window with text in it. It will reboot automatically.
  13. Or if older than 10.5 build 56, click Upgrade Wizard
  14. In the Introduction page, click Next.
  15. In the Upload Software page, browse to the build…tgz file and click Next.
  16. In the Manage Licenses page, click Next.
  17. In the Clean Up / Reboot page, check both boxes and then click Next.
  18. If you select the option to automatically move files, you will be asked to delete unused kernels. Click Yes.
  19. In the Summary page, click Finish. The upgrade will begin. Do not disturb your browser session until you see that it is rebooting. It will run several commands after uploading the files.
  20. If you are asked to enable Call Home, select Yes, and click Go.
  21. When you see the message Rebooting… it is then safe to close the window.
  22. Once the Secondary is done, login and failover the pair.
  23. Then upgrade the firmware on the former Primary.

 

To install firmware by using the command-line interface

  1. To upload the software to the NetScaler Gateway, use a secure FTP client (e.g. WinSCP) to connect to the appliance.
  2. Create a version directory under /var/nsinstall (e.g. /var/nsinstall/10.5.63).
  3. Copy the software from your computer to the /var/nsinstall/<version> (e.g. /var/nsinstall/11.5.63) directory on the appliance.
  4. Open a Secure Shell (SSH) client (e.g. Putty) to open an SSH connection to the appliance.
  5. At a command prompt, type shell.
  6. At a command prompt, type cd /var/nsinstall to change to the nsinstall directory.
  7. To view the contents of the directory, type ls.
  8. To unpack the software, type tar -xvzf build_X_XX.tgz, where build_X_XX.tgz is the name of the build to which you want to upgrade.
  9. To start the installation, at a command prompt, type ./installns.
  10. When the installation is complete, restart NetScaler.
  11. When the NetScaler restarts, at a command prompt type what or show version to verify successful installation.

High Availability

Configure High Availability as soon as possible so almost all configurations are synchronized across the two appliances. The exceptions are mainly network interface configurations.

High Availability will also sync files between the two appliances. See CTX138748 File Synchronization in NetScaler High Availability Setup for more information.

  1. Prepare the secondary appliance:
    1. Configure a NSIP.
    2. Don’t configure a SNIP. You can click Do It Later to skip the wizard.
    3. Configure Hostname and Time Zone. Don’t configure DNS since you’ll get those addresses when you pair it.
    4. License the secondary appliance.
    5. Upgrade firmware on the secondary appliance. The firmware of both nodes must be identical.
  2. On the secondary appliance, go to System > High Availability, double-click the local node, and change High Availability Status to STAY SECONDARY. If you don’t do this, then you run the risk of losing your config when you pair the appliances. See Terence Luk Creating a Citrix NetScaler High Availability pair without wiping out an existing configuration for more information.


    set ha node -hastatus STAYSECONDARY
  3. On the primary appliance, on the left, expand System, expand Network and click Interfaces.
  4. On the right, look for any interface that is currently DOWN. You need to disable those disconnected interfaces before enabling High Availability. Right-click the disconnected interface, and click Disable. Repeat for the remaining disconnected interfaces.

    show interface
disable interface 1/1
  5. On the left, expand System, and click High Availability.
  6. On the right, click Add.
  7. Enter the other NetScaler’s IP address.
  8. Enter the other NetScaler’s login credentials, and click Create.

    add ha node 1 192.168.123.14
    Note: this command must be run separately on each appliance.
  9. If you click the refresh icon near the top right, Synchronization State will probably say IN PROGRESS.
  10. Eventually it will say SUCCESS.
  11. To enable Fail-safe mode, on the right, edit Node ID 0 (the local appliance).
  12. Under Fail-safe Mode, check the box next to Maintain one primary node even when both nodes are unhealthy. Scroll down and click OK.

    set ha node -failSafe ON
  13. If you login to the Secondary appliance, you might see a message warning you against making changes. Always apply changes to the Primary appliance.
  14. On the secondary appliance, go to System > High Availability, edit the local node, and change it from STAY SECONDARY to ENABLED.
  15. From the CLI, run “sh ha node” to see the status. You should see heartbeats on all interfaces. If not, configure VLANs as detailed in the next section.
  16. You can Force Failover of the primary appliance by opening the Actions menu, and clicking Force Failover.

    force ha failover
    If your firewall (e.g. Cisco ASA) doesn’t like the Gratuitous ARP, see CTX112701 – The Firewall Does not Update the Address Resolution Protocol Table

Multiple Interfaces – VLANs

Citrix CTX214033 Networking and VLAN Best Practices for NetScaler discusses many of the same topics detailed in this section.

 

You should never connect multiple interfaces to a single VLAN unless you are bonding the interfaces using LACP, Channel, or the new Redundant Interface Set feature in 10.5.e. See Webinar: Troubleshooting Common Network Related Issues with NetScaler

NetScaler VPX defaults to two connected interfaces, so if you only have one subnet, disconnect one of those interfaces.

 

Common interface configuration: Here is a common NetScaler networking configuration for a NetScaler that is connected to both internal and DMZ.

Note: If the appliance is connected to both DMZ and internal then be aware that this configuration essentially bypasses (straddles) the DMZ-to-internal firewall. That’s because if a user connects to a public/DMZ VIP, then NetScaler could use an internal SNIP to connect to the internal server. A more secure approach is to have different appliances for internal and DMZ. Or use NetScaler SDX, partitioning, or traffic domains.

  • 0/1 connected to a dedicated management network. NSIP is on this network.
    • 0/1 is not optimized for high throughput so don’t put data traffic on this interface. If you don’t have a dedicated management network, then put your NSIP on one of the other interfaces (1/1, 10/1, etc.) and don’t connect any cables to 0/1.
    • To prevent NetScaler from using this interface for outbound data traffic, don’t put a SNIP on this network, and configure the default gateway to use a different data network. However, if there’s no SNIP, and if default gateway is on a different network,  then there will be asymmetric routing for management traffic since inbound is 0/1 but outbound is LA/1. To work around this problem, enable Mac Based Forwarding. Or create a Policy Based Route.
    • It’s easiest if the switch port for this interface is an Access Port (untagged). If VLAN tagging is required, then NSVLAN must be configured on the NetScaler.
  • 10/1 and 10/2 in a LACP port channel (LA/1) connected to internal VLAN(s). Static routes to internal networks through a router on one of these internal VLANs.
    • If only one internal VLAN, configure the switch ports/channel as an Access Port.
    • If multiple internal VLANs, configure the switch ports/channel as a Trunk Port. Set one of the VLANs as the channel’s Native VLAN so it doesn’t have to be tagged.
    • If the networking team is unwilling to configure a Native VLAN on the Trunk Port, then NetScaler needs special configuration (tagall) to ensure HA heartbeat packets are tagged.
  • 1/1 and 1/2 in a LACP port channel (LA/2) connected to DMZ VLAN(s). Default gateway points to a router on a DMZ VLAN so replies can be sent to Internet clients.
    • If only one internal VLAN, configure the switch ports/channel as an Access Port.
    • If multiple internal VLANs, configure the switch ports/channel as a Trunk Port. Set one of the VLANs as the channel’s Native VLAN so it doesn’t have to be tagged.
    • If the networking team is unwilling to configure a Native VLAN on the Trunk Port, then NetScaler needs special configuration (tagall) to ensure HA heartbeat packets are tagged.

 

SNIPs: You will need one SNIP for each connected subnet. VLAN objects (tagged or untagged) bind the SNIPs to particular interfaces. NetScaler uses the SNIP’s subnet mask to assign IP addresses to particular interfaces.

 

NSIP: The NSIP subnet is special so you won’t be able to bind it to a VLAN. Use the following SNIP/VLAN method for any subnet that does not have the NSIP. The remaining interfaces will be in VLAN 1, which is the VLAN that the NSIP is in. VLAN 1 is only locally significant so it doesn’t matter if the switch is configured with it or not. Just make sure the switch has a native VLAN configured, or configure the interface as access port. If you require trunking of every VLAN, including the NSIP VLAN, then additional configuration is required (NSVLAN or Tagall).

 

To configure multiple connected subnets:

  1. On the left, expand System, and click Settings.
  2. On the right, in the left column, click Configure modes.
  3. Check the box next to MAC Based Forwarding and click OK. This configures the NetScaler to respond on the same interface the request came in on and thus bypasses the routing table. This setting can work around misconfigured routing tables. More info on MAC Based Forwarding can be found at Citrix CTX1329532 FAQ: Citrix NetScaler MAC Based Forwarding (MBF).

    enable mode mbf
  4. Add a subnet IP for every network the NetScaler is connected to, except the dedicated management network. Expand System, expand Network, and click IPs.
  5. On the right, click Add.
  6. Enter the Subnet IP Address for this network. This is the source address the NetScaler will use when communicating with any other service on this network. The Subnet IP can also be referred to as the Interface IP for the network. You will need a separate SNIP for each connected network (VLAN).
  7. Enter the netmask for this network. When you create a VLAN object later, all IPs on this subnet will be bound to an interface.
  8. Ensure the IP Type is set to Subnet IP. Scroll down.

    add ns ip 172.16.1.11 255.255.255.0 -type SNIP
  9. Under Application Access Controls decide if you want to enable GUI management on this SNIP. This is particularly useful for High Availability pairs, because when you point your browser to the SNIP only the primary appliance will respond. However, enabling management access on the SNIP can be a security risk, especially if this is a SNIP for the DMZ network.
  10. Click Create when done. Continue adding SNIPs for each connected network (VLAN).

    set ns ip 172.16.1.11 -mgmtAccess ENABLED -telnet DISABLED -ftp DISABLED
  11. On the left, expand System, expand Network and click VLANs.
  12. On the right, click Add.
  13. Enter a descriptive VLAN ID. The actual VLAN ID only matters if you intend to tag the traffic. If not tagged then any ID will work.
  14. Check the box next to one physical interface or channel (e.g. LA/1) that is connected to the network.
  15. If this is a trunk port, select Tagged if the switch port/channel is expecting the VLAN to be tagged.
  16. If you don’t tag the VLAN, then the NetScaler interface/channel is removed from VLAN 1 and instead put in this VLAN ID.
  17. Switch to the IP Bindings tab.
  18. Check the box next to the Subnet IP for this network. This lets NetScaler know which interface is used for which IP subnet. Click Create when done.

    add vlan 50
bind vlan 50 -ifnum 1/1 -IPAddress 172.16.1.11 255.255.255.0
  19. The default route should use the router in the DMZ, not the internal router. Most likely the default route is set to an internal router. On the left, expand System, expand Network, and click Routes.
  20. On the right, click Add.
  21. Internal networks are only accessible through an internal router. Add a static route to the internal networks, and set the Gateway to an internal router. Then click Create.

    add route 192.168.0.0 255.255.0.0 192.168.123.1
  22. Before deleting the existing default route, either enable Mac Based Forwarding, or create a Policy Based Route, so that the replies from NSIP can reach your machine. To create a PBR, go to System > Network > PBRs.
  23. The source IP is the NSIP, and next hop is a router on the same network as the NSIP. Destination is not needed.
  24. Then open the Action menu, and click Apply.

    add ns pbr NSIP ALLOW -srcIP = 10.2.2.59 -nextHop 10.2.2.1
apply ns pbrs
  25. Go back to System > Network > Routes. On the right, delete the 0.0.0.0 route. Don’t do this unless the NetScaler has a route to the IP address of the machine you are running the NetScaler Configuration Utility on.

    rm route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.123.1
  26. Then click Add.
  27. Set the Network to 0.0.0.0, and the Netmask to 0.0.0.0.
  28. Make sure NULL Route is set to No.
  29. Enter the IP address of the DMZ (or data) router, and click Create.

    add route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 172.16.1.1

DNS Servers

  1. To configure DNS servers, expand Traffic Management, expand DNS, and click Name Servers.
  2. On the right, click Add.
  3. Enter the IP address of a DNS server and click Create.
  4. Note: The NetScaler must be able ping each of the DNS servers or they will not be marked as UP. The ping originates from the SNIP. 
    add dns nameServer 192.168.123.11

NTP Servers

  1. On the left, expand System, and click NTP Servers.
  2. On the right, click Add.
  3. Enter the IP Address of your NTP Server (or pool.ntp.org) and click Create.

    add ntp server pool.ntp.org
  4. Open the Action menu and click NTP Synchronization.
  5. Select ENABLED and click OK.

    enable ntp sync
  6. You can click the System node to view the System Time.
  7. If you need to manually set the time, SSH (Putty) to the NetScaler appliances. Run date to set the time. Run date –help to see the syntax.
  8. Ntpdate –u pool.ntp.org will cause an immediate NTP time update.

 

Citrix Knowledgebase article CTX200286 – NTP Configuration on NetScaler to Avoid Traffic Amplification Attack:

  1. Replace the following line in /etc/ntp.conf file, if it exists: 
    >  restrict default ignore
  2. Add the following lines in file /etc/ntp.conf: 
    # By default, exchange time with everybody, but don't allow configuration:
restrict -4 default kod notrap nomodify nopeer noquery
restrict -6 default kod notrap nomodify nopeer noquery

# Local users may interrogate the ntp server more closely:

restrict 127.0.0.1
restrict ::1
  3. Restart NTP using the following commands: 
    > shell
root@ns# ps -aux |grep "ntp"
root@ns# kill <PID obtained from step above>
root@ns# /usr/sbin/ntpd -g -c /flash/nsconfig/ntp.conf

 

Citrix Knowledgebase Article CTX200355 – Citrix Security Advisory for NTP Vulnerabilities: By default, NTP is disabled on the NetScaler and, as such, is not vulnerable to CVE-2014-9293, CVE-2014-9294, CVE-2014-9295 and CVE-2014-9296. However, in deployments where customers have enabled NTP on the appliance, it is likely that these vulnerabilities will impact NetScaler.

We recommend that customers apply the following remediation:

Open the NetScaler’s ntp.conf file in /etc and add the following lines:

restrict -4 default notrap nopeer nomodify noquery
restrict -6 default notrap nopeer nomodify noquery

In addition to adding the above two lines, all other ‘restrict‘ directives should be reviewed to ensure that they contain both ‘nomodify‘ and ‘noquery‘ and that the file contains no ‘crypto‘ directives.

When this editing is complete, save the file and copy it to the /nsconfig directory. The NTP service must then be restarted for the changes to take effect. As with all changes, Citrix recommends that this is evaluated in a test environment prior to releasing to production.

SYSLOG Server

Citrix CTX120609 NetScaler Log Rotation and Configuration Using Newsyslog

The NetScaler will by default store a few syslogs on the local appliance. You can create a syslog policy to also send the syslog entries to an external server, like Citrix Command Center.

  1. On the left, expand System, expand Auditing, and click Syslog.
  2. On the right, switch to the Servers tab and click Add.
  3. Enter a name for the Syslog server.
  4. Specify the IP Address of the SYSLOG server, 514 as the port, and the Log Levels you’d like to send to it.
  5. Check the box for TCP Logging if you want the client IP. Note: TCP Logging requires significant disk space on the Syslog server.
  6. Select your desired Time Zone and then click Create.

    add audit syslogAction CommandCenter 192.168.123.12 -logLevel ALL -timeZone LOCAL_TIME
  7. On the right, switch to the Policies tab, and then click Add.
  8. Give the policy a descriptive name, select the Syslog server, and then click Create.

    add audit syslogPolicy CommandCenter ns_true CommandCenter
  9. While still on the Policies tab, open the Actions menu and click Global Bindings.
  10. Click Bind.
  11. Check the box next to the Syslog policy you want to bind and click Insert.
  12. Then click OK.

    bind system global CommandCenter -priority 100

SNMP – MIB, Traps, and Alarms

  1. On the left, expand System, and click SNMP.
  2. On the right, click Change SNMP MIB.
  3. Change the fields as desired. Your SNMP tool (e.g. NetScaler Management and Analytics System) will read this information. Click OK.
  4. This configuration needs to be repeated on the other node.

    set snmp mib -contact NSAdmins@corp.com -name ns02 -location Corp
  5. Expand System, expand SNMP, and click Community.
  6. On the right, click Add.
  7. Specify a community string and the Permission and click Create.

    add snmp community public GET
  8. On the left, under SNMP, click Traps.
  9. On the right, click Add.
  10. Specify a trap destination and Community Name and click Create.

    add snmp trap generic 192.168.123.12 -communityName public
add snmp trap specific 192.168.123.12 -communityName public
  11. On the left, under SNMP, click Managers.
  12. On the right, click Add. Note: if you do not add a manager then the NetScaler will accept SNMP queries from all SNMP Managers on the network.
  13. Change the selection to Management Network.
  14. Specify the IP of the Management Host and click Create.

    add snmp manager 192.168.123.12
  15. The Alarms node allows you to enable SNMP Alarms and configure thresholds.
  16. You can open an alarm to set thresholds. For example, CPU-USAGE can be set to 90% alarm and 50% normal with a Critical severity.

    set snmp alarm CPU-USAGE -thresholdValue 90 -normalValue 50 -severity Critical
  17. You can also configure the MEMORY alarm.

    set snmp alarm MEMORY -thresholdValue 90 -normalValue 50 -severity Critical

From http://www.slideshare.net/masonke/net-scaler-tcpperformancetuningintheaolnetwork: In addition to the usual OIDs, we have found these very useful to warn of potential problems.

  • ifTotXo?Sent – .1.3.6.1.4.1.5951.4.1.1.54.1.43
  • ifnicTxStalls – .1.3.6.1.4.1.5951.4.1.1.54.1.45
  • ifErrRxNoBu?s – .1.3.6.1.4.1.5951.4.1.1.54.1.30
  • ifErrTxNoNSB – .1.3.6.1.4.1.5951.4.1.1.54.1.31

Call Home

Citrix Blog Post – Protect Your NetScaler From Disaster With Call Home!: If you have a physical NetScaler (MPX or SDX) with an active support contract, you many optionally enable Call Home to automatically notify Citrix Technical Support of hardware and software failures.

  1. On the left, expand System and click Diagnostics.
  2. On the right, in the left column, in the Technical Support Tools section, click Call Home.
  3. Check the box next to Enable Call Home.
  4. Optionally enter an email address to receive notifications from Citrix Technical Support. Click OK.
  5. If you go back into Call Home, it should indicate if registration succeeded or failed. Successful registration requires an active support contract.

Change nsroot Password

  1. Expand System, expand User Administration and click Users.
  2. On the right, select nsroot, and click Change Password.
  3. Specify a new password and click OK.

    set system user nsroot Passw0rd

TCP, HTTP, SSL, and Security Settings

Citrix Knowledgebase articles:

 

  1. On the left, expand System and click Settings.
  2. On the right side of the right pane, click Change TCP parameters.
  3. Check the box for Window scaling (near the top).
  4. Scroll down and check the box for Selective Acknowledgement. Click OK.

    set ns tcpParam -WS ENABLED -SACK ENABLED
  5. On the right, click Change HTTP parameters.
  6. Under Cookie, change the selection to Version1. This causes NetScaler to set Cookie expiration to a relative time instead of an absolute time.

    set ns param -cookieversion 1
  7. Check the box next to Drop invalid HTTP requests and click OK.

    set ns httpParam -dropInvalReqs ON
  8. You can run the following command to see statistics on the dropped packets: 
    nsconmsg -g http_err_noreuse_ -d stats
  9. On the left, under Traffic Management, click SSL.
  10. On the right, in the right column, click Change advanced SSL settings.
  11. Change the Deny SSL Renegotiation selection to NONSECURE. Click OK.

    set ssl parameter -denySSLReneg NONSECURE
  12. See CTX209398 Addressing false positives from CBC and MAC vulnerability scans of SSHD to harden SSHD by editing /nsconfig/sshd_config with the following. Then run kill -HUP `cat /var/run/sshd.pid` to restart SSHD. 
    Ciphers aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr
MACs hmac-sha1,hmac-ripemd160
  13. Implement Responder policies to prevent Shellshock attack against back-end web servers. See Citrix CTX200277 NetScaler Defends Against Shellshock Attack. 
    add audit messageaction ShellShock_Log CRITICAL "\"The request was sent from \" +CLIENT.IP.SRC + \" Bash Code Injection Vulnerability\"" -bypassSafetyCheck YES

add responder policy ShellShock_policy "HTTP.REQ.FULL_HEADER.REGEX_MATCH(re/\(\)\s*{/) || HTTP.Req.BODY(1000).REGEX_MATCH(re/\(\)\s*{/) || HTTP.REQ.URL.QUERY.REGEX_MATCH(re/\(\)(\s*|\++){/) || HTTP.REQ.BODY(1000).REGEX_MATCH(re#%28%29[+]*%7B#)" DROP ?logAction ShellShock_Log

bind responder global ShellShock_policy 10 END -type REQ_DEFAULT

The following security configurations are detailed by Jason Samuel at Mitigating DDoS and brute force attacks against a Citrix Netscaler Access Gateway:

  • Maximum logon attempts on NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server
  • Rate Limiting for IP.SRC and HTTP.REQ.URL.
  • nstcp_default_XA_XD_profile TCP profile on the NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server.
  • Syslog logging
  • External website monitoring
  • Obfuscate the Server header in the HTTP response
  • Disable management access on SNIPs
  • Change nsroot strong password, use LDAP authentication, audit local accounts
  • Don’t enable Enhanced Authentication Feedback
  • SSL – disable SSLv3, deny SSL renegotiation, enable ECDHE ciphers, disable RC4 ciphers. Also see Anton van Pelt Make your NetScaler SSL VIPs more secure (Updated) .
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Command Center and Insight Center
  • Review IPS/IDS & Firewall logs

Management Authentication

Load balancing of authentication servers is strongly recommended since during an authentication attempt only one LDAP server is chosen. If you instead bound multiple LDAP servers it would try all of them and for incorrect passwords will lock out the user sooner than expected.

  1. Expand System, expand Authentication, and then click LDAP.
  2. On the right, switch to the Servers tab. Then click Add.
  3. Enter LDAPS-Corp-Mgmt or similar as the name. If you have multiple domains, you’ll need a separate LDAP Server per domain so make sure you include the domain name. Also, the LDAP policy used for management authentication will be different than the LDAP policy used for NetScaler Gateway.
  4. Change the selection to Server IP. Enter the VIP of the NetScaler load balancing vServer for LDAP.
  5. Change the Security Type to SSL.
  6. Enter 636 as the Port. Scroll down.
  7. In the Connection Settings section, enter your Active Directory DNS domain name in LDAP format as the Base DN.
  8. Enter the credentials of the LDAP bind account in userPrincipalName format.
  9. Check the box next to BindDN Password and enter the password. Scroll down.
  10. In the Other Settings section, use the drop-down next to Server Logon Name Attribute, Group Attribute, and Sub Attribute Name to select the default fields for Active Directory.
  11. On the right, check the box next to Allow Password Change.
  12. It is best to restrict access to only members of a specific group. In the Search Filter field, enter memberOf=<GroupDN>. See the example below:
    memberOf=CN=NetScaler Administrators,OU=Citrix,DC=corp,DC=local
    You can add :1.2.840.113556.1.4.1941: to the query so it searches through nested groups. Without this users will need to be direct members of the filtered group.
    memberOf:1.2.840.113556.1.4.1941:=CN=NetScaler Administrators,OU=Citrix,DC=corp,DC=local
    Citrix 132802 How to Use the ldapsearch Utility on the NetScaler Gateway Enterprise Edition Appliance to Validate a Search Filter
    An easy way to get the full distinguished name of the group is through Active Directory Administrative Center. Double-click the group object and switch to the Extensions page. On the right, switch to the Attribute Editor tab.
    Scroll down to distinguishedName, double-click it and then copy it to the clipboard.

    Back on the NetScaler, in the Search Filter field, type in memberOf= and then paste the Distinguished Name right after the equals sign. Don’t worry about spaces.
  13. Scroll down and click Nested Group Extraction to expand it.
  14. If desired, change the selection to Enabled.
  15. Set the Group Name Identifier to samAccountName.
  16. Set the Group Search Attribute to memberOf.
  17. Set the Group Search Sub-Attribute to CN.
  18. Example of LDAP Nested Group Search Filter Syntax

  19. Scroll down and click Create.

    add authentication ldapAction Corp-Mgmt -serverIP 10.2.2.210 -serverPort 636 -ldapBase "dc=corp,dc=local" -ldapBindDn "corp\\ctxsvc" -ldapBindDnPassword Passw0rd -ldapLoginName samaccountname -searchFilter "memberOf=CN=NetScaler Admins,CN=Users,DC=corp,DC=local" -groupAttrName memberOf -subAttributeName CN -secType SSL -passwdChange ENABLED
  20. Switch to the Policies tab and click Add.
  21. Enter the name LDAPS-Corp-Mgmt or similar.
  22. Select the previously created LDAPS-Corp-Mgmt server.
  23. On the bottom, in the Expressions area, type in ns_true.
  24. Click Create.

    add authentication ldapPolicy Corp-Mgmt ns_true Corp-Mgmt
  25. Click Global Bindings in the right pane.
  26. Click where it says Click to select.
  27. Select the newly created LDAP policy, and click OK.
  28. Enter 100 for the priority, and click Bind.
  29. Click Done.

    bind system global Corp-Mgmt
  30. Under System, expand User Administration and click Groups.
  31. On the right, click Add.
  32. In the Group Name field, enter the case sensitive name of the Active Directory group containing the NetScaler administrators.
  33. In the Command Policies section, click Insert.
  34. Select the superuser policy, and click Insert.
  35. Click Create.

    add system group "NetScaler Admins" -timeout 900
bind system group "NetScaler Admins" -policyName superuser 100
  36. If you logout:
  37. You should be able to login to NetScaler using an Active Directory account.

CLI Prompt

  1. When you connect to the NetScaler CLI prompt, by default, the prompt is just a >.
  2. You can run set cli prompt %u@%h to make it the same as a UNIX prompt. See Citrix Docs for the cli prompt syntax.

Next Steps

Return to NetScaler Procedures list

Citrix ADC and CVAD Firewall Rules

Last Modified: Jul 8, 2021 @ 6:45 am

113 Comments

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See CTX101810 Communication Ports Used by Citrix Technologies

💡 = Recently Updated

Change Log

Citrix ADC Firewall Rules

From To Protocol / Port Purpose
Administrator machines NSIPs (and/or SNIPs) TCP 22
TCP 80
TCP 443
TCP 3010
TCP 3008		 SSH and HTTP/SSL access to NetScaler configuration GUI. TCP 3008/3010 is Java and 3008 is used if traffic is encrypted. Java not needed in 10.5 build 57 and newer.
Administrator machines NetScaler SDX SVM, XenServer TCP 22
TCP 80
TCP 443		 To administer NetScaler SDX
Administrator machines NetScaler Lights Out Module TCP 443
TCP 623
TCP 5900		 CTX200367
NSIP
SNIP		 DNS servers Ping
UDP 53
TCP 53		 Ping is used for monitoring. Can be turned off by load balancing on the same appliance.
NSIPs
SNIP		 NetScaler MAS TCP 27000
TCP 7279		 Pooled Licensing
NSIPs
SNIP		 NTP servers UDP 123 NTP
NSIPs
SNIP		 Syslog server UDP 514 Syslog
NSIPs callhome.citrix.com
cis.citrix.com
taas.citrix.com		 TCP 443 Call Home
NSIPs (default)
SNIP		 LDAP Servers(Domain Controllers) TCP 389 (Start TLS)
TCP 636 (Secure LDAP)		 Secure LDAP requires certificates on the Domain Controllers. Secure LDAP enables password changes when they expire.SNIP if Load Balanced on same appliance
NSIPs LDAP Servers TCP 389
TCP 636		 Monitor Domain Controllers
NSIPs (default)
SNIP		 RADIUS servers UDP 1812 RADIUS is used for two-factor authentication. SNIP if Load Balanced on same appliance
SNIP RADIUS servers UDP 1812
Ping		 Monitor RADIUS servers
NetScaler SDX Service virtual machine NSIPs Ping
TCP 22
TCP 80
TCP 443		 Only if NetScaler VPX runs as a virtual machine on top of NetScaler SDX
Local GSLB Site IP
SNIP		 GSLB Site IP (public IP) in other datacenter TCP 3009
TCP 3011		 GSLB Metric Exchange Protocol between appliance pairs
NSIPs GSLB Site IP (public IP) in other datacenter TCP 22
TCP 3008
TCP 3010		 GSLB Configuration Sync
Local GSLB Site IP
SNIP		 All Internet Ping
UDP 53
TCP (high ports)		 RTT to DNS Servers for Dynamic Proximity determination
SNIP StoreFront Load Balancing VIP TCP 443 NetScaler Gateway communicates with StoreFront
SNIP StoreFront servers TCP 80
TCP 443
TCP 808		 StoreFront Load Balancing
NSIPs StoreFront servers TCP 80
TCP 443		 Monitor StoreFront servers
StoreFront servers NetScaler Gateway VIP (DMZ IP) TCP 443 Authentication callback from StoreFront server to NetScaler Gateway.
SNIP Each individual Delivery Controller in every datacenter TCP 80
TCP 443		 Secure Ticket Authorities. This cannot be load balanced.
TCP 443 only if certificates are installed on the Delivery Controllers.
SNIP All internal virtual desktops and session hosts (subnet rule?) TCP 1494
TCP 2598
UDP 1494
UDP 2598
UDP 16500-16509		 HDX ICA
Enlightened Data Transport
Session Reliability
UDP Audio
All Internet
All internal users		 NetScaler Gateway VIP (public IP) TCP 80
TCP 443
UDP 443		 Connections from browsers and native Receivers
DTLS for UDP Audio
All Internet
All internal DNS servers		 SNIP ADNS Listener (Public IP) UDP 53
TCP 53		 ADNS (for GSLB)
Web logging server NSIPs TCP 3010 Web logging polls the NetScalers.
NSIPs NetScaler MAS or other SNMP Trap Destination UDP 161
UDP 162		 SNMP Traps
NSIPs
SNIP		 NetScaler MAS or other AppFlow Collector UDP 4739
TCP 5557, 5558
TCP 5563		 AppFlow (IPFIX, Logstream, and Metrics)
NSIP mfa.cloud.com
trust.citrixworkspacesapi.net		 TCP 443 Native OTP Push (DNS required)
  • Authentication traffic uses NSIPs by default. This can be changed by creating a local Load Balancing Virtual Server on the same appliance and sending authentication traffic through the Load Balancing VIP.
  • Several of the Load Balancing monitors run as Perl scripts, which are sourced from the NSIPs, not SNIP. But actual load balancing traffic uses SNIP as the source IP.
  • DNS Name Servers use ping for monitoring. This can be disabled by creating a local Load Balancing Virtual Server on the same appliance and sending DNS traffic through the load balancer.
  • In a ADC with a dedicated management network and default route on a different data network, configure Policy Based Routes (PBRs) to send NSIP-sourced traffic through a router on the NSIP subnet.
  • Logstream defaults to SNIP as source but can be changed to NSIP. See CTX286215.

Citrix ADM Firewall Rules

Citrix Application Delivery Management (ADM) monitors and manages the ADC appliances.

From To Protocol / Port Purpose
ADM Floating IP
ADM Agent		 NSIPs Ping
TCP 22
TCP 80
TCP 443		 Discovery and configuration of ADC devices
NSIPs ADM Floating IP
ADM Agent		 TCP 80
TCP 443		 Nitro
ADM (Primary, Secondary) NSIPs UDP 161 SNMP
ADM Agents ADM Floating IP TCP 443
TCP 7443
TCP 8443		 Agent Communication
NSIPs ADM Floating IP
ADM Agent		 UDP 4739 AppFlow
SNIP ADM Floating IP
ADM Agent		 TCP 5563 Metrics Collector
NSIPs
SNIP		 ADM Floating IP
ADM Agent		 TCP 5557, 5558 Logstream (ULFD)
NSIPs ADM Floating IP
ADM Agent		 UDP 161
UDP 162		 SNMP Traps
NSIPs ADM Floating IP
ADM Agent		 UDP 514 Syslog
CPX NSIPs
VPX NSIPs		 ADM Floating IP
ADM Agent		 TCP 27000
TCP 7279		 Pooled Licensing
Administrator Machines ADM Floating IP
ADM Agent		 TCP 22
TCP 80
TCP 443		 Web-based GUI
Director Servers ADM Floating IP TCP 80
TCP 443		 Insight Integration with Director
ADM LDAP(S)
LDAP(S) VIP		 TCP 389
TCP 636		 LDAP authentication
ADM Mail Server TCP 25 Email alerts
ADM NTP Server UDP 123 NTP
ADM Syslog Server UDP 514 Syslog

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Firewall Rules

From To Protocol / Port Purpose
Administrator machines Delivery Controllers TCP 80/443
TCP 3389		 PowerShell
RDP
Delivery Controllers SQL Server TCP 1433
UDP 1434
Other static port		 SQL database
Delivery Controllers vCenter TCP 443 vCenter
Delivery Controllers SCVMM (Hyper-V) TCP 8100 SCVMM
Delivery Controllers Citrix Licensing TCP 27000
TCP 7279
TCP 8082-8083		 Citrix Licensing
StoreFront servers Delivery Controllers TCP 80
TCP 443		 XML
Secure Ticket Authority
StoreFront servers StoreFront servers TCP 808 Subscription Replication
StoreFront servers Domain Controllers in Trusted Domains TCP 88
TCP 135
TCP 445
TCP 389/636
TCP 49151-65535		 RPC
Discussions
Administrator machines StoreFront servers TCP 3389 RDP
Administrator machines Citrix Licensing TCP 8082-8083
TCP 3389		 Web-based administration GUI
RDP
Delivery Controllers All VDAs TCP 80 Brokering
All VDAs Delivery Controllers TCP 80 Registration
All VDAs Global Catalogs
(Domain Controllers)		 TCP 3268 Registration
All Server OS VDAs Remote Desktop Licensing Server RPC and SMB Remote Desktop Licensing
All Workspace apps
(Internal)		 StoreFront SSL Load Balancing VIP TCP 80
TCP 443		 Internal access to StoreFront
All Workspace apps Citrix Gateway VIP TCP 80
TCP 443		 External (or internal) access to Citrix Gateway
All Workspace apps
(Internal)		 All VDAs TCP 1494
UDP 1494
TCP 2598
UDP 2598
UDP 16500-16509		 ICA/HDX
EDT
Session Reliability
UDP Audio
Administrator machines Director TCP 3389 RDP
Administrator machines
Help Desk machines		 Director TCP 80
TCP 443		 Web-based GUI
Director Delivery Controllers TCP 80
TCP 443
Director
Administrator machines
Help Desk machines		 All VDAs TCP 135
TCP 3389		 Remote Assistance

Also see Microsoft Technet Which ports are used by a RDS 2012 deployment?

Citrix Provisioning Firewall Rules

From To Protocol / Port Purpose
Provisioning Servers SQL Server TCP 1433
UDP 1434
Other static port		 SQL database for Provisioning Services
Provisioning Servers Provisioning Servers SMB File copy of vDisk files
Provisioning Servers Provisioning Servers UDP 6890-6909 Inter-server communication
Provisioning Servers Citrix Licensing TCP 27000
TCP 7279
TCP 8082-8083
TCP 80		 Citrix Licensing
Provisioning Servers Controllers TCP 80
TCP 443		 Setup Wizards to create machines
Provisioning Servers vCenter TCP 443 Setup Wizards to create machines
Provisioning Servers Target Devices UDP 6901
UDP 6902
UDP 6905		 Provisioning Services Console Target Device power actions (e.g. Restart)
Administrator machines Provisioning Servers TCP 3389
TCP 54321
TCP 54322
TCP 54323		 RDP
SOAP
Controllers Provisioning Servers TCP 54321
TCP 54322
TCP 54323		 Add machines to Catalog
Target Devices DHCP Servers UDP 67 DHCP
Target Devices KMS Server TCP 1688 KMS Licensing
Target Devices Provisioning Servers UDP 69
UDP 67/4011
UDP 6910-6969		 TFTP
PXE
Streaming (expanded port range)
Target Devices Provisioning Servers UDP 6969
UDP 2071		 Two-stage boot (BDM)
Target Devices Provisioning Servers TCP 54321
TCP 54322
TCP 54323		 Imaging Wizard to SOAP Service

StoreFront Basic Configuration

Last Modified: Sep 27, 2022 @ 5:36 pm

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This article applies to StoreFront 3.0.9000 and older. For newer versions, see the newer article.

💡 = Recently Updated

Change Log

Installation / Upgrade

StoreFront Versions – The following StoreFront versions have very similar configurations:

  • XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6.9000 (LTSR CU9) comes with StoreFront 3.0.9000.
  • StoreFront 3.0.8001. – fixes a security vulnerability
  • XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6.8000 (LTSR CU8) comes with StoreFront 3.0.8000. – 3.0.8000 was released early to fix a security vulnerability
  • XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6.7000 (LTSR CU7) comes with StoreFront 3.0.7000.
  • XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6.6000 (LTSR CU6) comes with StoreFront 3.0.6000.
  • XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6.5000 (LTSR CU5) comes with StoreFront 3.0.5000.
  • XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6.4000 (LTSR CU4) comes with StoreFront 3.0.4000.
  • XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6.3000 (LTSR CU3) comes with StoreFront 3.0.3000.
  • XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6.2000 (LTSR CU2) comes with StoreFront 3.0.2000.
  • XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6.1000 (LTSR CU1) comes with StoreFront 3.0.1000.
  • XenApp/XenDesktop 7.7 ISO comes with StoreFront 3.0.1. You can upgrade it from the 7.6 LTSR CU3 media.
  • The XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6.0 ISO comes with StoreFront 2.6. If you installed StoreFront on your Delivery Controllers, then it is version 2.6, and you can upgrade it to 3.0.8000.

Server Selection – StoreFront can be installed directly on your Delivery Controllers. When installing Delivery Controller, simply leave the box checked to install StoreFront. If you let Delivery Controller install StoreFront, it will create a default store named /Citrix/Store. See below to rename this store.

Or you can install StoreFront 3.0.9000 on separate servers. You can even install StoreFront on your existing Web Interface servers (make sure Web Interface is installed first).

Citrix Blog Post StoreFront 3.0 Scalability recommends StoreFront servers to be sized with 4 vCPU and 8 GB RAM.

After installation, NT SERVICE\CitrixConfigurationReplication and NT SERVICE\CitrixClusterService must remain in the Administrators group on both StoreFront servers or propagation will fail.

Install / Upgrade StoreFront 3.0.9000

Download StoreFront 3.0.9000.

  1. For new installs, there’s no need to install prerequisites (e.g. IIS) since the StoreFront installer will do it for you.
  2. If upgrading from older StoreFront:
    1. Other Users – Use Task Manager > Users tab to logoff any other user currently logged into the machine.
    2. Close all MMC and PowerShell consoles.
    3. Stop the World Wide Web Publishing Service.
    4. Stop all StoreFront services.
  3. Go to the downloaded and extracted RcvrSF_3_0_8001 folder and run CitrixStoreFront-x64.exe.
  4. In the License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the terms, and click Next.
  5. In the Review prerequisites page, click Next.
  6. In the Ready to install page, click Install.
  7. In the Successfully installed StoreFront page, click Finish.
  8. If this is a new install, skip to the next section (Initial Configuration).
  9. After upgrading, in StoreFront Console, go to Receiver for Web and Disable Classic Receiver Experience.

  10. Click Disable.
  11. Go to Stores and on the right, click Set Unified Experience as Default.
  12. Check the box next to Set the unified Receiver experience as the default for this store and click OK.
  13. Go back to Receiver for Web and use the Configure Receiver Appearance and Manage Featured App Groups links to customize the webpage.

Initial Configuration

If this is a new install of StoreFront, do the following:

  1. In PowerShell, run Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted.
  2. The management console should launch automatically. If not, launch Citrix StoreFront from the Start Menu.
  3. In the middle, click Create a new deployment.
  4. In the Base URL page, if you installed an SSL certificate on the StoreFront server, then the Hostname should already be filled in. If SSL is not configured yet then you can leave it set to the server name and change it later once you setup SSL and load balancing. Click Next.
  5. In the Store Name page, enter a name for the store and click Next. The Store name entered here is part of the URL path. And users see this name in their local Receiver Accounts list.
  6. In the Delivery Controllers page, you can one set of Delivery Controllers per XenApp farm or XenDesktop site. Click Add.
  7. Change the Type to XenDesktop.
  8. Enter a descriptive name for the XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6 or newer site/farm. This name does not need to match the actual site/farm name. And users don’t see this name.
  9. Add the two Controllers. Change the Transport Type to HTTP. Click OK. It’s also possible to set the Transport type to HTTPS if certificates are installed on your Delivery Controllers.
  10. If you have multiple XenDesktop sites/farms feel free to add them now. Or you can add older XenApp farms. Click Next when done.
  11. In the Remote Access page, select None and click Create. You can configure StoreFront to use NetScaler Gateway later.
  12. In the Created Successfully page, click Finish.

Second StoreFront Server

After installation of the second server, NT SERVICE\CitrixConfigurationReplication and NT SERVICE\CitrixClusterService must remain in the Administrators group on both StoreFront servers or propagation will fail.

  1. Install StoreFront 3.0.9000 on the second server.
  2. On the 2nd server, create/import the SSL certificate and bind it to the Default Web Site.
  3. Login to the first StoreFront server. In the StoreFront management console, right-click Server Group, and click Add Server.
  4. Copy the Authorization code.
  5. Login to the second StoreFront server and launch the StoreFront Console. In the middle, click Join existing server group.
  6. In the Join Server Group page, enter the name of the first StoreFront server and enter the Authorization code copied earlier. Click Join.
  7. Then click OK.
  8. Go back to the first server. Click OK.
  9. All changes made on one StoreFront server must be propagated to the other StoreFront server. When changing StoreFront web.config files, change them on one StoreFront server use the StoreFront Console to Propagate Changes to the other StoreFront servers.

Store Name – Rename

When you install XenDesktop Delivery Controller, you are given the option of installing StoreFront on the same server. If you let the Delivery Controller installer also install StoreFront then the StoreFront on the Controller will have a default store name of /Citrix/Store. If you don’t like the default Store Name then you will need to remove the store and re-add it.

  1. In the StoreFront console, on the left click Stores.
  2. Highlight the store and on the bottom right click Remove Store.
  3. Click Remove.
  4. On the left, right-click Stores and click Create Store.
  5. In the Store Name page, enter a name. This name becomes part of the path (/Citrix/StoreName) and is displayed in Receiver. Click Next.
  6. In the Delivery Controllers page, add farms and click Next.
  7. In the Remote Access page, leave it set to None and click Create.
  8. In the Created Successfully page, click Finish.

HOSTS File

StoreFront 3.0 is smart enough to do a loopback connection to the local StoreFront server instead of sending traffic through the load balancer. For more information see No More Editing of Hosts File at Citrix Blog Post What’s New in StoreFront 3.0.

However, if you have StoreFront servers in multiple datacenters then you are probably using GSLB-enabled DNS names and StoreFront needs to resolve these names to VIPs in the local datacenter. Edit the HOSTS file (C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc\HOSTS) on each StoreFront server with the following entries:

  • StoreFront Load Balancing FQDN (e.g. Citrix.corp.com) = Load Balancing VIP in the local datacenter.
  • NetScaler Gateway Callback FQDN (e.g. CitrixCB.corp.com) = NetScaler Gateway VIP in the local datacenter.

SSL Certificate

StoreFront requires SSL. You will save yourself much heartache if you install valid, trusted certificates. There are two options for StoreFront SSL:

  • SSL Offload: Use NetScaler to do SSL Offload and load balancing. In this scenario NetScaler does SSL encryption on the client side but uses clear-text HTTP on the StoreFront side and thus there is no need for certificates on the StoreFront servers. The SSL certificate on the NetScaler must match the DNS name that resolves to the load balancing VIP for StoreFront.
  • SSL End-to-end: In this scenario, NetScaler does encryption on the client-side but also re-encrypts before sending traffic to the StoreFront servers. This requires certificates on the StoreFront servers.

NetScaler usually does not verify server-side certificates so it doesn’t matter what name is in the cert that is installed on the StoreFront servers. However, some other load balancers do verify the cert and thus the cert on the StoreFront servers should match the FQDN of the StoreFront server.

If StoreFront is installed on your Delivery Controllers then both functions share the same IIS website and the same SSL certificate. If you want to enable SSL for the Delivery Controller (XML) connection, then the cert name on each server must match the FQDN of the Delivery Controller. One option is to create an SSL certificate with the following Subject Alternative Names: the StoreFront load balanced DNS name and each of the Delivery Controller FQDNs. Then import this one certificate on all StoreFront/Delivery Controllers servers and load balancers. Or a wildcard certificate could match all of these names.

In any case, be aware of the Subject Alternative Name requirements for email-based discovery in Citrix Receiver. Email discovery in Citrix Receiver requires the certificate to not only match the StoreFront load balanced DNS name but the certificate must also match discoverReceiver.email.suffix. Usually the only option to match both names is with Subject Alternative Names. If you have multiple email suffixes then you will need multiple Subject Alternative Names, each beginning with discoverReceiver.email.suffix. If you configure Subject Alternative Names, don’t forget to add the load balanced name as one of the Subject Alternative Names.

When you view a Subject Alternative Name certificate, on the Details tab, click Subject Alternative Name to verify that all names are listed, including the DNS name that resolves to the load balancing VIP.

When attempting email discovery in Receiver, if the certificate does not match discoverReceiver.email.suffix then users will see this message:

  1. The Certificates MMC snap-in can be used to create an internal certificate signed by a Microsoft Certificate Authority. The MMC method allows you to specify Subject Alternative Names.

  2. Or use the Server Certificates feature in IIS Manager to create or import a certificate.
  3. After the certificate has been created/imported on the StoreFront Server, in IIS Manager, right-click the Default Web Site and click Edit Bindings.
  4. Click Add.
  5. Change the Type to https and select the SSL certificate. Click OK and then click Close.
  6. Next step: change the Base URL inside StoreFront Console.

Delivery Controllers – SSL

Delivery Controllers can be SSL enabled by using one of two methods:

Once SSL certificates are installed on the Delivery Controller servers, then you can configure the Store to use SSL when communicating with the Delivery Controllers.

  1. In the StoreFront Console, on the left click Stores.
  2. On the bottom-right, click Manage Delivery Controllers.
  3. Highlight the deployment and click Edit.
  4. Change the Transport type to HTTPS.
  5. Make sure the Delivery Controller servers are entered using their FQDNs. These FQDNs must match the certificates installed on those servers.
  6. Click OK twice.

Base URL – Change

The StoreFront Base URL should point to a URL with a FQDN that resolves to a load balancing VIP that load balances the StoreFront servers. Receiver uses this Base URL to connect to StoreFront. If remote, Receiver will first connect to NetScaler Gateway and then use Gateway to proxy a connection to the Base URL.

If you are not following the Single FQDN procedure then the FQDN used for load balancing of StoreFront (Base URL) must be different than the FQDN used for NetScaler Gateway.

The StoreFront Base URL must be https. Receivers will not accept clear-text http URLs. This is true even for remote connections that are proxied through NetScaler Gateway.

  1. Configure load balancing of the StoreFront servers, including SSL certificate.
  2. In the Citrix StoreFront console, right-click Server Group and click Change Base URL.
  3. Enter the new Base URL in https://citrix.corp.com format. This must be https. Receivers will not accept http URLs.
  4. If the Base URL is https but you don’t have certificates installed on your StoreFront servers (aka SSL Offload) then you’ll need to run the following commands on the StoreFront servers. See No More Editing of Hosts File at Citrix Blog Post What’s New in StoreFront 3.0. 
    & "C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\Scripts\ImportModules.ps1"

Set-DSLoopback -SiteId 1 -VirtualPath /Citrix/StoreWeb -Loopback OnUsingHttp

Authentication Configuration

If StoreFront is not in the same domain (or trusted domain) as the users, then you can configure StoreFront 3.0 to push authentication to the Delivery Controllers. See XML service-based authentication at docs.citrix.com. Note: StoreFront must still be a member of domain but the particular domain doesn’t matter.

  1. In the Citrix StoreFront console, on the left, right-click Authentication and click Add/Remove Methods.
  2. Check the boxes next to Domain pass-through and Pass-through from NetScaler Gateway. Click OK.
  3. If you intend to enable pass-through authentication from Receiver Self-Service or from Receiver for Web, run the command
    Set-BrokerSite -TrustRequestsSentToTheXmlServicePort $True from a Windows PowerShell command prompt on a Controller.

    In XenApp 6.5, this is a Citrix Policy > Computer > Trust XML Requests.
  4. With User name and password highlighted in the middle, click Configure Trusted Domains on the bottom-right.
  5. Select Trusted domains only, click Add, and enter the domain names (NetBIOS and DNS). The DNS suffix is needed if doing userPrincipalName authentication.
  6. Select one of the domains as the default.
  7. If desired, check the box next to Show domains list in logon page. Click OK.
  8. With User name and password highlighted in the middle, click Manage Password Options in the bottom right.
  9. Make your selection and click OK.
  10. From Feng Huang at discussions.citrix.com: you can change the password expiration warning period by editing /Citrix/Authentication/web.config. Set showPasswordExpiryWarning to Custom and set passwordExpiryWarningPeriod to your desired number of days.
  11. Be careful with password changes. Any time somebody changes their password through StoreFront, a profile will be created for that user on the StoreFront server. Use a tool like delprof2.exe to periodically delete these local profiles.

Citrix Online Integration

  1. StoreFront might be configured to add the Citrix Online icons to Receiver. To remove them, on the left click Stores and on the right click Integrate with Citrix Online.
  2. Uncheck all three boxes and click OK.

Receiver for HTML5 – Enable and Upgrade

By default, Receiver for HTML5 is not enabled.

  1. In the StoreFront console, on the left, click Receiver for Web.
  2. On the bottom right, click Deploy Citrix Receiver.
  3. Change the option to Use Receiver for HTML5 if local install fails, and then click OK.
  4. To see the installed version of HTML5 Receiver, click the Receiver for Web node on the left. The version is displayed in the middle pane, in the bottom half.
  5. Download the latest Receiver for HTML5 and install it on one of the StoreFront servers. It installs silently. When you propagate changes, the Receiver for HTML5 should be copied to the other server.

  6. Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) is enabled by default. To disable it, edit the file “C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\HTML5Client\configuration.js”.
  7. Search for the ceip section and change it to false.
  8. HTML5 Receiver 2.6.4 adds an experimental multimonitor feature. You can enable it by setting multiMonitorto true.
  9. HTML5 Receiver 2.6.4 improves PDF printing in Chrome and Firefox. Enable it by setting supportedBrowsersto true.
  10. HTML5 Receiver 2.6.2 has an experimental printing feature where in the remote app, after printing to the Citrix PDF printer, the second print dialog opens in the current tab instead of a different tab. To enable this feature, on the StoreFront server, edit C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\HTML5Client\configuration.js and set openWithinSession to true. Note: this setting changed in 2.6.4 and newer.
  11. When printing from HTML5 Receiver to the Citrix PDF Printer, the user must click Continue to show the PDF. You can get rid of this prompt in 2.5.1 and newer. In the configuration.js file, scroll down to the line containing printDialog and set it to true.


  12. From Configuring toolbar at Citrix Docs: The new toolbar can be disabled or customized by editing the file C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\HTML5Client\configuration.js.
  13. From Enhanced clipboard support at Citrix Docs: To enable enhanced clipboard support, on every VDA set the registry value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Citrix\wfshell\Virtual Clipboard\Additional Formats\HTML Format\Name=”HTML Format”. Create any missing registry keys. This applies to both virtual desktops and Remote Desktop Session Hosts.
  14. Citrix Blog Post Receiver for HTML5 and Chrome File Transfer Explained:
    • How to use the toolbar to transfer files
    • Citrix Policy settings to enable/disable file transfer
    • VDA registry settings to control file transfer
    • HTML5Client\Configuration.js settings for client-side configuration
    • How to view HTML5Client log file
  15. In the StoreFront console, on the left, right-click Server Group, and click Propagate Changes.
  16. Optionally, install Citrix PDF Printer on the VDAs. The PDF printer is in the Additional Components section of the HTML5 Receiver download page. This PDF printer is only used with Receiver for HTML5, and not with regular Receiver.

    1. Note: as of Receiver for HTML 2.0, it’s no longer necessary to install App Switcher on the VDAs.
  17. StoreFront can be configured to launch HTML5 applications in the same Receiver for Web tab instead of creating a new tab. See Configure Citrix Receiver for HTML5 use of browser tabs at Citrix Docs for more information.

Receiver for Web Timeout

  1. On the left, click Receiver for Web.
  2. On the right, click Set Session Timeout

  3. Set the timeout as desired and click OK.
  4. The session timeout in StoreFront 3.0 is not being reset correctly when a user launches an application. See Michael Bednarek’s code at discussions.citrix.com that fixes the problem.
  5. If you are using a NetScaler, you will need to change the Global Session Timeout located at NetScaler Gateway > Global Settings > Change Global Settings > Client Experience > Session Time-out (mins).

Receiver for Web Pass-through Authentication

If you enabled Pass-through auth in the Authentication node it does not enable it from Receiver for Web. If you enable it in Receiver for Web, additional configuration is required on the Receiver side to fully enable pass-through auth.

  1. On the left, click Receiver for Web
  2. On the right, click Choose Authentication Methods.

  3. If desired, check the box next to Domain pass-through. Click OK.
  4. If the StoreFront URL is in the browser’s Local Intranet zone then you’ll see a prompt to automatically Log On. This only appears once.
  5. If you try to launch an icon it will ask you to login to Windows. To fix this, you must also enable pass-through authentication on the client side (Receiver).

Unified Receiver Experience

If you did a clean install of StoreFront 3.0 or newer then the newer Receiver UI will already be enabled and you can skip this section.

If you upgraded from an older StoreFront then you can disable the Classic UI to enable the newer UI.

  1. On the left, click Receiver for Web.
  2. On the right, click Disable Classic Receiver Experience.
  3. Click Disable.
  4. On the left, click Stores. On the right, click Set Unified Experience as Default.
  5. Check the box next to Set the unified Receiver experience as the default for this store and click OK.

Customize Receiver Appearance

If the Unified Receiver appearance is enabled, you can go to Receiver for Web > Customize Receiver Appearance to change logos and colors. Additional customization can be performed using the SDK.

You can also Manage Featured App Groups.

These Featured App Groups are displayed at the top of the Apps > All page.

By default, Featured App Groups are displayed with continual horizontal scrolling. This is OK if you have several Featured App Groups but doesn’t look right if you only have one Featured App Group.

Michael Bednarek has posted some code at Citrix Discussions to disable the continuous horizontal scrolling. Also see CTX202415 StoreFront Featured Apps Group Appears More Than Once.

Additional StoreFront and Receiver customizations are available through the StoreFront APIs.

Default Tab

  1. By default, when a user logs in to StoreFront, the Favorites tab is selected. Users can go to other tabs to add icons to the list of Favorites.



  2. You can change the default tab to something other than Favorites by editing C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreWeb\web.config in an elevated text editor.
  3. Search for defaultView or scroll to line 61. Change the defaultView to apps or desktops, or leave it set to the default of auto. Auto will select a tab in the following priority order depending on which tabs (views) are enabled: Favorites > Apps > Desktops.
  4. If you change it to default to the Apps view, then you might also want to default to the Categories view instead of the All view.
  5. You can do this by adding the following code to C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreWeb\custom\script.js. More details at discussions.citrix.com. 
    CTXS.Extensions.afterDisplayHomeScreen = function (callback) {
     CTXS.ExtensionAPI.navigateToFolder('/');
};

CTXS.Extensions.onViewChange = function (viewName) {
  if (viewName == 'store') {
    window.setTimeout(function () {
    CTXS.ExtensionAPI.navigateToFolder('\\');
    }, 0);
  }
};

  6. Then when you login to StoreFront you’ll see Apps > Categories as the default view. This works in Receiver too.
  7. To completely remove the Favorites tab, in the StoreFront Console, go to Stores > Disable User Subscriptions.
  8. When publishing applications in Studio, specify a Category so the applications are organized into folders.

Propagate Changes

Any time you make a change on one StoreFront server, you must propagate the changes to the other StoreFront server.

  1. In the StoreFront console, on the left, right-click Server Group and click Propagate Changes.
  2. You might see a message saying that you made changes on the wrong server.
  3. Click OK when asked to propagate changes.
  4. Click OK when done.

IIS Default Web Page

Citrix CTX133903 How to Make Storefront the Default Page within the IIS Site. To make a Storefront Web site the default page within the IIS site, complete the following procedure:

  1. Open Notepad and paste the following text: 
    <script type="text/javascript">
<!--
window.location="/Citrix/StoreWeb";
// -->
</script>

    Note: Replace /Citrix/StoreWeb to the correct path to your Store’s Web site, if required. You can also put https://StoreFrontFQDN in the location field.

  2. Select File > Save As and browse to the IIS folder, by default the C:\inetpub\wwwroot is the IIS folder.
  3. Select the Save as type to All types.
  4. Type a file name with an html extension, and select Save.
  5. Open IIS Manager.
  6. Select the SERVERNAME node (top-level) and double-click Default Document, as shown in the following screen shot:
  7. Select Add…,
  8. And enter the file name of the .html file provided in Step 4.
  9. Ensure the .html file is located at the top of the list, as shown in the following screen shot:
  10. Repeat these steps on every StoreFront server.

Deploy Citrix Receiver from StoreFront

If you performed a standalone install of StoreFront, then it is configured to tell users to pull Receivers from Citrix’s website. Follow this section to configure StoreFront to download Receivers directly from the StoreFront server.

Or if you installed StoreFront 2.6 using the XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6 autoselect.exe and later upgraded it to StoreFront 3.0.9000, then StoreFront will probably have local Receiver clients that need to be upgraded. Both procedures are covered in this section.

  1. Go to C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\Receiver Clients\. Create a Windows folder if it doesn’t exist.
  2. In the Windows folder, paste the downloaded Receiver 4.9.9002 LTSR for Windows, overwriting the existing file if one exists. Rename the file the CitrixReceiver.exe if it isn’t already. Do this on both StoreFront servers.
  3. Go back up to the Receiver Clients folder and create a Mac folder if one doesn’t exist.
  4. Copy the downloaded Receiver for Mac 12.9.1 to C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\Receiver Clients\Mac. Overwrite the existing file if one exists. Rename the file to CitrixReceiver.dmg.
  5. Go to C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreWeb and edit the file Web.config. If UAC is enabled you’ll need to run your text editor elevated.
  6. Scroll down to the pluginAssistant section (line 52). If desired, change upgradeAtLogin to true. This will enable StoreFront to check the installed version of Receiver and offer to upgrade.
  7. If the win32 and macOS paths point to downloadplugins.citrix.com, you can change the paths to a local folder so that the Receiver is downloaded directly from StoreFront instead of from Citrix.com. Simply change http://downloadplugins.citrix.com to clients. Also, change the file names so they match the ones on your StoreFront servers.
  8. Close and save the file.
  9. Propagate Changes to the other StoreFront servers.
  10. When users connect to Receiver for Web, they will be prompted to install or upgrade. Note: this only applies to Receiver for Web. Receiver Self-Service will not receive this prompt.

Auto-Favorite

To force a published application to be favorited (subscribed), use one of the following keywords in the published application description:

  • KEYWORDS: Auto = the application is automatically subscribed. But users can remove the favorite.
  • KEYWORDS: Mandatory = the application is automatically subscribed and users cannot remove the favorite.

With Mandatory applications there is no option to remove the application from Favorites.

Related Topics

StoreFront Subscriptions – disable, control, replicate, etc.

StoreFront Tweaks – customize RFWeb, SSON for PNAgent, etc.

Install and Configure Citrix Receiver

Citrix Workspace app 2405.10

Last Modified: Aug 16, 2024 @ 8:05 am

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Navigation

Workspace app is the new name for Receiver. This post applies to all Workspace app versions, including the Current Release version 2405.10 and the LTSR version 2402 CU1.

💡 = Recently Updated

Change Log

Workspace app Versions

Citrix Workspace app uses a YYMM (year/month) versioning format, of which version 2405.10 (24.5.10) is the newest Current Release. See Citrix Docs for the list of new features, some of which only apply to Citrix Cloud.

Workspace app 2311 and newer have a new installer interface. 

Workspace app 2303 and newer automatically install the App protection components with an option to start them after installation. Older Workspace apps have an option to install App protection and if you don’t select this and later want App protection then you must uninstall Workspace app and reinstall it.


  • See App Protection at Citrix Docs to enable App protection for the authentication screen. Workspace app 2305.1 and newer automatically start it for authentication if you have selected the Start App Protection check box during installation.

The newest Current Release version of Workspace app is version 2405.10.

The newest LTSR (Long Term Service Release) version of Workspace app is version 2402 Cumulative Update 1.

Workspace app Modules

The Workspace app installer deploys multiple modules. Here are the important ones:

  • ICA Engine (wfica.exe) – process that uses the ICA protocol to connect to published apps and desktops.
  • Self-Service (selfservice.exe) – gets icons from StoreFront and displays them in a Window. When an icon is clicked, Self-service passes the ICA file to the ICA Engine to establish a connection.
  • Single Sign-on (SSON) for ICA (ssonsvr.exe) – captures user credentials and submits them to VDAs after an ICA connection is established
  • Workspace Auto-Update (CitrixReceiverUpdater.exe) – Notifies users of Workspace app updates. The most recent name for this component is Citrix Workspace Update.

Custom ICA files are no longer supported. However, Ryan Butler has created a script that asks StoreFront for an ICA file. Explicit credentials are supported. Find the script at Github.

Workspace app Discovery and Beacon Process

If you are using Workspace app’s built-in user interface (instead of a web browser), then Workspace app first prompts you to perform discovery, which is also called Add Account.

Workspace app will contact the FQDN and request download of the StoreFront Provisioning File.

  • If you entered a StoreFront FQDN, then Workspace app will download the Provisioning File directly from the StoreFront server.
  • If you entered a Gateway FQDN, then Gateway will first prompt the user to authenticate. After authentication, Gateway will connect to its configured Account Services address, and download the Provisioning File from StoreFront. The Account Services address is configured in the NetScaler Gateway Session Profile on the Published Applications tab.

If your StoreFront server is configured with multiple stores, then the user will be prompted to select a store. Unfortunately, there’s no configuration option in NetScaler Gateway to force a particular store.

The Provisioning File downloaded from StoreFront is an XML document containing values for several items configured in the StoreFront console. You can export the Provisioning File from the StoreFront console by right-clicking a Store.

The ReceiverConfig.cr Provisioning File looks something like this:

Here are the values in the Provisioning File:

  • Address – the Base URL configured in StoreFront Console
  • Internal Beacon – as configured in StoreFront Console. This can be the Base URL, or a manually specified URL.
  • External Beacons – as configured in StoreFront Console
  • Gateways – as configured in StoreFront Console. If there are multiple Gateways, when enabling Remote Access on the Store, then only one Gateway is selected as Default
  • SRID – Store ID. An important value to consider for multi-datacenter configurations. The SRID is set when the Store is created. It can also be changed by editing C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\Roaming\web.config.

Workspace app reads the Provisioning File, and configures itself by inserting the file’s contents into the user’s registry. The values are located under HKCU\Software\Citrix\Dazzle\Sites and HKCU\Software\Citrix\Receiver\SR. If you performed discovery through NetScaler Gateway, notice that the internal Base URL is added to the user’s registry.

Once Workspace app is configured, it then performs the following steps:

  1. Attempt to connect to the Internal Beacon.
  2. If the Internal Beacon is reachable, connect directly to the StoreFront Base URL (Address).
  3. If the Internal Beacon is not reachable:
    1. Attempt to connect to the External Beacons. If the External Beacons are not reachable, then stop attempting to connect.
    2. Connect to the Gateway address configured in the Provisioning File. If there is more than one Gateway, connect to the Gateway that is marked as the Default.

Here are some interesting notes on this connection process:

  • The FQDN you entered during Discovery has absolutely nothing to do with how Workspace app connects to StoreFront or Gateway. The actual connection process is controlled by the contents of the Provisioning File, not the Discovery address.
  • If the Provisioning File has multiple Gateways defined, Workspace app uses whichever Gateway is marked as Default. Workspace app completely ignores whatever Gateway FQDN you entered during Discovery. To use a non-default Gateway, the user must manually select the other Gateway in Workspace app’s Advanced Preferences.

In StoreFront Console, if any configuration changes are performed that affect the Provisioning File, it takes an hour for Workspace apps to reconfigure themselves automatically. Or users can remove Accounts and re-add (or Reset Citrix Workspace) so that the updated Provisioning File is imported.

Here are some additional methods of performing Workspace app Discovery:

  • After exporting the Provisioning File from StoreFront Console, distribute it to users, and ask them to double-click it.


  • After logging in to Receiver for Web (StoreFront), at the top right, click the username, and click Activate. This downloads the receiverconfig.cr file, which is identical to the one you can export from StoreFront Console. The user then must run the downloaded file.

Virtual Monitors

In Workspace app 1812 and newer, when connected to a published desktop on a single monitor, you can split the screen into virtual monitors. This feature is intended for large 4K monitors.

  • In the desktop toolbar at the top of the screen, click Preferences.
  • Switch to the Monitor Layout tab.
  • On the bottom, select Horizontal or Vertical, then click somewhere in the blue box to draw a line. The single monitor will be split along this line. You can set different DPI for each portion of the virtual display.
  • Right-clicking one of the split sections changes that section to the primary display.
  • Click OK when done.
  • In the toolbar, click Window to resize it to a window, and then click Full Screen to cause your virtual monitor configuration to take effect.

Uninstall Old Clients

Workspace app installer can do a force uninstall of old clients before installing the new version:

  • In Workspace app 2309 and newer, run CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe /CleanInstall /Silent
  • In Workspace app 1909 and newer, run CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe /ForceInstall /Silent.
  • In Workspace app 1908 and older (including Receiver), run CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe /RCU /Silent or CitrixReceiver.exe /RCU /Silent.

Citrix CTX325140: How to Remove Client Files Remaining on System after Uninstalling Receiver for Windows.

Installation and Configuration

Administrator privileges – Administrator privileges are required to install any missing prerequisites.

Internet required – Recent versions of Workspace app download and install Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime, .NET Desktop Runtime 6.0.20, .NET Framework 4.8, and Visual C++. Internet access is required for the Workspace app installer to download these install files. Or there’s an Offline Installer for Workspace app 2309 and newer.

.NET Desktop Runtime 6.0.20 – Workspace app 2309 and newer will install x86 .NET Desktop Runtime 6.0.20 if it’s not already installed.

This section contains a summary of all common command line switches, registry keys, and policy settings for Workspace app.

Links:

Workspace app 2203 LTSR CU2 and Workspace app 2212 and newer fix security vulnerabilities.

CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe current release version 2405.10 or LTSR version 2402 CU1 can be installed by simply double-clicking it.

  • LTSR Workspace app does not support Browser Content Redirection.
  • Workspace app 2006 and newer do not support Windows 7.
  • Workspace app 2206 and newer enable DPI Matching by default. DPI Matching can be disabled through client-side group policy, or in the Advanced Preferences in Workspace app 2212 and newer. DPI Matching prevents connections to CVAD 7.15. Multi-session VDAs with version 1912, by default, have DPI Matching disabled, but can be enabled in the VDA’s registry. See CTX460068 for details.
  • Workspace app 2311 and newer have a new interface for installation.

  • Workspace app 2402 and newer ask if you want to install the Microsoft Teams VDI Plugin or not. This is for Teams 2.1 and newer.

Administrator vs non-administrator

  • Non-administrator – If a non-administrator installs Workspace app, then each non-administrator that logs in to the same workstation will have to reinstall Workspace app.
    • Non-administrator installations are installed to %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Citrix\ICA Client for each user.
  • Administrator – If CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe is installed using an administrator account. then the Workspace app only needs to be installed once.
    • Administrator installations are installed to C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\ICA Client.
    • Administrator installations of Workspace app 1912 and newer can be manually upgraded by non-administrators by clicking Check for Updates. Older versions cannot be upgraded by non-administrators.
  • Conflicts – If an administrator install of Workspace app is performed on a machine that has non-administrator installs of Workspace app, then the two installations will conflict. Best option is to uninstall non-admin Workspace app and Receiver before installing admin Workspace app. Otherwise, the user’s profile probably has to be reset before Workspace app is functional again.

Global App Configuration Service

Global App Configuration Service (GACS) is a Citrix Cloud service that can push configurations to Workspace app clients. This Citrix Cloud service is now available to all on-premises customers even if you don’t own any Citrix Cloud entitlements.

  1. Login to https://citrix.cloud.com. If you don’t have a Citrix Cloud account, then login using your Citrix.com account credentials and it will create a Citrix Cloud account.
  2. Use the top left hamburger menu to go to Workspace Configuration.
  3. Switch to the tab named App Configuration.
  4. Click Switch URL.
  5. Near the bottom, click Claim URL.
  6. Click Add URL to add your on-premises StoreFront/Gateway URL. See Citrix Docs for details. GACS uses this URL to determine which Workspace app clients should receive the settings that you configure.
  7. Back in the App Configuration page, you can now configure Workspace app settings as desired. Workspace apps that have stores under the claimed URL will then receive these settings.

Auto-Update

Workspace app supports auto-update.

Some notes:

  • If Workspace app 1912 or newer is installed as administrator, then non-administrators can click Check for Updates to manually update Workspace app. To prevent this, use group policy to disable Citrix Workspace Updates.

    • Older versions of Workspace app cannot be upgraded by non-administrators.
  • If Workspace app is installed on a VDA, auto-update is automatically disabled. This includes Remote PC.
  • Auto-update can be limited to LTSR updates only.
  • Auto-update is configurable through several mechanisms: group policy, StoreFront, Workspace app GUI, installer command line. See Configuring Citrix Workspace Updates at Citrix Docs.
  • Workspace app 2107 and later let users select an Update channel.

  • See George Spiers Citrix Receiver for Windows Auto-Update.

Auto-update is configured using Workspace app group policy under the Citrix Workspace Updates, or Auto-Update node.


Or use Global App Configuration Service.

Workspace app Splash Screen

Workspace app shows a Splash Screen on first launch with the text “Citrix Workspace app extends the capabilities of Citrix Receiver”.

To prevent this splash screen, set the following registry value: (source = Dennis Span on Twitter)

  • Key = HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Citrix\Splashscreen
    • Value (REG_SZ) = SplashscreenShown = 1

Add Account Wizard

After installation, Workspace app will launch and ask you to add an account. If Workspace app, notice the checkbox Do not show this window automatically at logon.

FTU (First Time Use aka Add Account Wizard) will be displayed only if a store is not configured. If a store is already configured via command line, GPO, or Citrix Studio, then FTU screen will not be available after installation. Otherwise, FTU can be suppressed by doing one of the following:

  • Rename CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe to CitrixWorkspaceAppWeb.exe.
  • Install using a command line switch:
    • CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe /ALLOWADDSTORE=N
  • Set the registry value: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Citrix\EnableFTU=dword:00000000 (or EnableX1FTU =dword:0)
  • Disable the EnableFTU policy setting in Receiver.admx.
  • Change Registry values post installation to suppress the Add Account window. Under HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle, set AllowAddStore value to N.
  • Set the registry value: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Citrix\Receiver\NeverShowConfigurationWizard (REG_SZ) = true
  • Also see Suppressing Add Account dialog at Citrix Docs.

Discover Hidden Stores

When Workspace app is first launched, it must perform Discovery, which is the process of downloading the .xml provisioning file from StoreFront. Discovery is performed by entering a StoreFront FQDN or Gateway FQDN. To discover a hidden store (a store that’s not advertised), add ?StoreName to the end of the FQDN. CTX214819 How to configure Receiver to a Store that is not advertised.

CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe Command line switches

CTX227370 Citrix Workspace app Commandline Tool contains a GUI tool to build your installer command line.
image.png

For unattended installation of Workspace app, see CTA Dennis Span Citrix Workspace App unattended installation with PowerShell or Citrix Receiver unattended installation with PowerShell.

Installer Command Line Switches are detailed at Configure and install Receiver for Windows using command-line parameters at Citrix Docs. Common Command line switches include the following:

  • /silent
  • /includeSSON – enables pass-through authentication. GPO configuration is also required as detailed below. 
    CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe /includeSSON
  • /ALLOWADDSTORE=A – by default, only SSL (HTTPS) stores are accepted. To allow non-SSL stores: 
    CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe /ALLOWADDSTORE=A
  • /STORE0 – To add a store from the installation command line: 
    CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe STORE0="AppStore;https://Citrix.corp.com/Citrix/MyStore/discovery;on;App Store"
    • Workspace App can discover the Store through NetScaler Gateway. 
      CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe STORE0="AppStore;https://gateway.corp.com#MyStore;On;App Store"
  • /SELFSERVICEMODE=False – disables the Self-Service interface and enables shortcut-only mode: 
    CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe /SELFSERVICEMODE=False
  • /AutoUpdateCheck=auto /AutoUpdateStream=LTSR – enables Citrix Workspace Update notifications and sets it to LTSR Branch only. AutoUpdateCheck can also be set to manual or disabled. AutoUpdateStream can also be set to Current. See Configuring Citrix Workspace Updates at Citrix Docs. 
    CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe /AutoUpdateCheck=auto /AutoUpdateStream=LTSR
  • /ENABLEPRELAUNCH=True – enables prelaunch: 
    CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe /ENABLEPRELAUNCH=True
  • /ALLOW_CLIENTHOSTEDAPPSURL=1 – enables Local App Access: 
    CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe /ALLOW_CLIENTHOSTEDAPPSURL=1

Registry values

HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle on the Workspace app machine. All are of type REG_SZ (string) unless specified. Note: several of these are configurable using the Reciever.admx group policy template.

  • SelfServiceMode (REG_SZ) = False – Turns off Workspace app’s Self-Service interface.
  • PutShortcutsOnDesktop (REG_SZ) = True – If Self-Service interface is disabled, places all shortcuts on desktop.
  • UseDifferentPathsforStartmenuAndDesktop (REG_SZ) = True
    • UseCategoryAsStartMenuPath (REG_SZ) = True or False
    • UseCategoryAsDesktopPath (REG_SZ) = True or False
  • StartMenuDir (REG_SZ) = name of folder on Start Menu where shortcuts are placed.
  • DesktopDir (REG_SZ) = name of folder on Desktop where shortcuts are placed
  • EnablePreLaunch (REG_SZ) = True – If SSON is enabled then PreLaunch is already enabled by default.
  • AllowAddStore (REG_SZ) = A – Only if using http (instead of https) to connect to StoreFront.
  • AllowSavePwd (REG_SZ) = A – Only if using http (instead of https) to connect to StoreFront.
  • UserDomainName (REG_SZ) = pre-filled domain name
  • InitialRefreshMinMs (REG_SZ) = 1 – minimizes the launch delay before contacting store
  • InitialRefreshMaxMs (REG_SZ) = 1 – minimizes the launch delay before contacting store
  • RefreshMs (REG_SZ) = 3600000 (1 hour) – interval for Receiver icon refreshes. 1 hour is the default value.
  • MaxSimultaneousFetches (REG_DWORD) = 6  – improves the time of loading icons in Start Menu
  • MaxSimultaneousSubscribes (REG_DWORD) = 6 – improves the time of loading icons in Start Menu
  • DontWarnOfRemovedResources (REG_SZ) = True – prevents dialog boxes when resources are removed from the server. (or False)
  • SilentlyUninstallRemovedResources (REG_SZ) = True – prevents dialog boxes when resources are removed from the server
  • PreferTemplateDirectory (REG_SZ) = UNC path or local path containing shortcuts copied by the prefer keyword. Give the shortcuts a short name.
  • PnaSSONEnabled (REG_SZ) = True – Enables Single Sign-on for PNAgent (Web Interface).
  • WSCReconnectMode (REG_SZ) = 3 (default) – If this Workspace app is running inside a VDA published desktop, set it to 0.
  • AlwaysUseStubs (REG_SZ) = True. Workspace app and Receiver 4.3.100 and newer don’t create .exe stubs by default. Set this to create .exe stubs. Also see Citrix CTX211893 Controlling Shortcut behavior in Receiver 4.3.100.
  • DontCreateAddRemoveEntry (REG_SZ) = True – don’t create “Delivered by Citrix” entries in Programs and Features
  • DesktopNameFormatString = format string for shortcut names – For example “{0}_{1}_{2}_{3}”. See the link for details.
  • SelfServiceFlags (REG_DWORD) = 4 – prevents duplicate shortcuts when roaming and Desktop is redirected.
  • ReEvaluateNetwork (REG_SZ) = true – for Beacon detection with Single FQDN

To prevent the Win+G popup on Windows 10 machines:

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\GameDVR
    • AllowGameDVR (REG_DWORD) = 0

To allow adding non-HTTPS stores to Workspace app:

  • HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Citrix\AuthManager
    • ConnectionSecurityMode (REG_SZ) = Any

To increase ICA bandwidth consumption over high latency links, set:

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\ICA Client\Engine\Configuration\Advanced\Modules\TCP/IP

To prevent beacon probing from using proxy, set:

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\WOW6432Node\Citrix\Receiver\inventory
    • BeaconProxyEnabled (REG_DWORD) = 0

To enable foreground progress bar, set:

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\ICA Client
    • ForegroundProgressBar (REG_DWORD) = 1

For client-to-server file type redirection, set:

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\ICA Client\Engine\Configuration\Advanced\Modules\ClientDrive
    • NativeDriveMapping=”TRUE”

To fix USB devices that emulate a keyboard, set:

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\ICA Client\Engine\Lockdown Profiles\All Regions\Lockdown\Virtual Channels\Keyboard
    • KeyboardTimer=”10”

To prevent “USB Hub Power Exceeded” message, set (not needed in 4.2.100 and newer):

  • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Citrix\ICA Client\GenericUSB (same path for 32-bit and 64-bit, create the keys)
    • DisableInternalDeviceCtlDispatchHook (DWORD) = 0x1

To override the devices that are mapped using optimized channels instead of generic USB, see Citrix CTX123015 How to Configure Automatic Redirection of USB Devices

Group Policy Settings

Copy the Workspace app ADMX template (C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\ICA Client\Configuration\receiver.admx) to C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions (or Sysvol). Also copy receiver.adml to C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\en-us (or Sysvol).

Edit a GPO that applies to client machines, go to Computer Configuration | Policies | Administrative Templates | Citrix Components | Citrix Workspace and configure the following:

  • To enable pass-through authentication: go to | User Authentication |.
  • To add a store, go to | StoreFront |
    • StoreFront Accounts List – see the help text
  • To enable Auto-Update, go to |AutoUpdate| or |Citrix Workspace Updates|. (the node was renamed in 4.11 and Workspace app)
    • Enable or Disable AutoUpdate or
    • Citrix Workspace Updates
  • To enable Local App Access, go to | User Experience |
    • Local App Access Settings
  • To prevent the endpoint from sleeping while session is active, go to | User Experience |
    • Power Management (2405 and newer)
  • To configure the Self-Service interface, go to | SelfService |
    • Set Manage SelfServiceMode to Disabled to completely disable the Self-Service window. This causes all icons to be placed on the Start Menu.
    • Enable Manage App Shortcut and configure it as desired.
      • To allow the Self-Service window, but prevent it from automatically opening (reside in systray), tick Prevent Citrix Workspace performing a refresh of the application list when opened. Source
    • Enable Control when Workspace attempts to reconnect to existing sessions. If this is a VDA published desktop, set it to Disabled. Otherwise configure it as desired.
    • Set Enable FTU to Disabled  to prevent the Add Account wizard from displaying.
    • Enable Allow/Prevent users to publish unsafe content if publishing content that’s opens a file or file share.

Enable automatic client drive and client microphone mapping.

  • In a client-side GPO, add the GPO ADM template from http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX133565.
  • Enable the setting Create Client Selective Trust Keys. See Below for details.
  • Configure the FileSecurityPermission setting in one or more of the regions.
  • Configure the MicrophoneAndWebcamSecurityPermission setting in one or more of the regions.

Citrix CTX203658 Start Menu Icons Set to Default (Blank Document) After Update to Receiver 4.3.100 – Windows 8 and newer

  • Computer Configuration | Policies | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | File Explorer
    • Allow the use of remote paths in file shortcut icons = enabled

Deploy Workspace app using Active Directory

To deploy Workspace app using Active Directory, configure a GPO with a computer startup script that runs the Workspace app installer executable. Citrix provides sample scripts that can be downloaded from one of the Workspace app download pages (Workspace app current release version 2405.10, or LTSR version 2402 CU1, by expanding Downloads for Admins (Deployment Tools).

Also see CTA Dennis Span Citrix Receiver unattended installation with PowerShell.

Change Workspace App’s Store Configuration, including Reset Citrix Workspace

You can change Workspace app’s configured Store/Account with a couple command lines:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\ICA Client\SelfServicePlugin\SelfService.exe" -deleteproviderbyname Corporate 
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\ICA Client\SelfServicePlugin\SelfService.exe" -init -createprovider Corporate https://storefront.corp.com/Citrix/Store/discovery

 

It is sometimes necessary to Reset Citrix Workspace by right-clicking the Workspace app systray icon, clicking Advanced Preferences, and clicking the Reset link. You can do this from the command line by running "C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\ICA Client\SelfServicePlugin\CleanUp.exe" -cleanUser -silent. See CTX140149 How to Reset Receiver Using the Command Line.

Workspace app Group Policy ADMX Template

Many of the Workspace app configuration settings must be configured in group policy. These Workspace app settings are only available after installing the GPO templates.

Alternatively, Citrix Cloud customers can use Global App Configuration Service to configure Workspace app. Today it’s a REST API, but Citrix has started adding a GUI at Workspace Configuration > App Configuration.

For GPO configuration:

  1. From a machine that has Workspace app installed, find the .admx and .adml files in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\ICA Client\Configuration.
    • You can also download the ADMX files from one of the Workspace app download pages (Workspace app current release version 2405.10, LTSR version 2402 CU1, by expanding Downloads for Admins (Deployment Tools).
  2. Copy the CitrixBase.admx and receiver.admx files. Also copy the en-US folder. In Workspace app, the files are still named receiver.admx.
  3. Go to your domain’s SYSVOL share and in the Policies folder look for a PolicyDefinitions folder. If one exists, paste the .admx file directly into the PolicyDefinitions folder. If this folder doesn’t exist in SYSVOL, instead copy the .admx file to C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions. Overwrite any existing Receiver ADMX files.
  4. The GPO settings can then be found at one of the following:
    • Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Citrix Components > Citrix Workspace
    • Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Citrix Components > Citrix Receiver
  5. For example, you can disable Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) from here.
  6. See https://www.carlstalhood.com/delivery-controller-cr-and-licensing/#ceip for additional places where CEIP is enabled.
  7. Workspace app 1905 and newer has a setting to Disable sending data to 3rd party (e.g., Google Analytics).
  8. Workspace app 1905 and newer let you disable embedded browser caching.
  9. Workspace app 1905 and newer have NetScaler LAN Proxy under Network routing > Proxy.
  10. Workspace app 1808 and newer have User authentication | Single Sign-on for NetScaler Gateway.
  11. Citrix Workspace Updates, (aka AutoUpdate) can be configured using group policy. See Configuring Citrix Workspace Updates at Citrix Docs.
  12. Workspace app 1912 and newer can be configured to require in-memory ICA files only. The setting called Secure ICA file session launch is under the Client Engine node. See Citrix Docs for details on in-memory ICA files instead of writing ICA files to disk.
  13. The DPI node has a setting called High DPI that lets you disable DPI matching, which is enabled by default in Workspace App 2206 and newer.

    • Workspace app 2210 and newer let you use the GUI to re-enable High DPI.
    • Native resolution means DPI matching, whereas Yes means force high DPI.
  14. Workspace app has settings to hide Advanced Preferences, enable/disable showing the DPI option, and enable/disable H265.
  15. Workspace app 4.8 and newer have SplitDevices GPO setting under Citrix Workspace | Remoting client devices | Generic USB Remoting. See Configuring composite USB device redirection at Citrix Docs.
  16. Workspace app 2212 and newer by default disable App Protection for the authentication screen and icons list. To enable them, configure User authentication | Manage App Protection and SelfService | Manage App Protection.

  17. Workspace app 2303 and newer have Anti-DLL Injection for App Protection. It is disabled by default. Enable it in a GPO at Citrix Components | Citrix Workspace | App Protection | Anti-DLL Injection. See Citrix Docs for details.
    App running

Pass-through Authentication

Citrix blog post – A Comprehensive Guide to Enabling Pass-Through Authentication with XenDesktop 7.5

  1. Run the command
    Set-BrokerSite -TrustRequestsSentToTheXmlServicePort $True from a Windows PowerShell command prompt on a Delivery Controller.

  2. Login to the PC as an administrator.
  3. If installing Workspace app, as an administrator, during installation, on the Enable Single Sign-on page, check the box next to Enable Single Sign-on. Then finish the installation.

  4. To verify that SSON is installed, go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\ICA Client and look for the file ssonsvr.exe.
  5. And if you open regedit and go to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\NetworkProvider\Order, you should see PnSson in the ProviderOrder.
  6. Install the receiver.admx (and .adml) template into PolicyDefinitions if you haven’t already.
  7. Edit a GPO that is applied to the client PCs where the Workspace app is installed.
  8. Go to Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Citrix Components > Citrix Workspace.
  9. Expand Citrix Workspace and click User authentication.
  10. On the right, double-click Local user name and password.
  11. Select Enabled and then check the box next to Allow pass-through authentication for all ICA connections. Click OK.
  12. In Workspace app 1808 and newer, you can enable Single Sign-on for NetScaler Gateway.
  13. Ensure that the internal StoreFront FQDN is in the Local Intranet zone in Internet Explorer. You can use a GPO to configure this on the client side.
  14. Local Intranet zone should have Automatic logon only in Intranet zone enabled.
  15. For Windows 11 and newer, make sure the GPO setting Enable MPR notifications for the System is not enabled at Computer Configuration | Policies | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Windows Logon Options. Make sure HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\EnableMPRNotifications is not set to 0 on the Workspace app machine.
  16. Logoff Windows and log back on. In Task Manager you should now see ssonsvr.exe. This won’t appear unless you logoff and log back on.
  17. If Workspace app won’t connect or is slow to enumerate icons, then you might have to disable Automatically detect settings in IE.
  18. Right-click the Workspace app icon and click Advanced Preferences.
  19. Click Configuration Checker.
  20. Check the box next to SSONChecker and click Run.
  21. The lines with red x will indicate the issue and corrective action.

StoreFront Accounts

You can use a client-side GPO to add a store (Account) to Workspace app Self-Service.

  1. Install the receiver.admx (and .adml) template into PolicyDefinitions if you haven’t already.
  2. Edit a GPO that applies to endpoint devices that have Citrix Workspace app installed.
  3. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Policies > Citrix Components > Citrix Workspace > StoreFront.
  4. On the right, double-click NetScaler Gateway URL/StoreFront Accounts List.
  5. Select Enabled, and then click Show.
  6. Enter a store path based on the example shown in the Help box. Workspace app lets you enter a Gateway path. Then click OK.
  7. Note: Gateway paths work in GPO, but might not work when specified in the CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe installation command line.

Published Shortcuts and Reconnect

Citrix CTX200924 How to Customize App Shortcuts with Receiver for Windows

Workspace app has a user interface for setting Shortcut Paths. Right-click the Workspace app systray icon, click Advanced Preferences, and then click Shortcuts and Reconnect, or Settings Option.


From Citrix Docs Configuring application delivery: There are several methods of controlling how Workspace app displays shortcuts on the Start Menu and Desktop as detailed below:

  • Workspace app Registry values
  • receiver.admx GPO Template
  • From StoreFront in C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\Roaming\web.config
  • Published App Keywords (e.g. prefer).
  • Workspace app and Receiver 4.2.100 and newer supports published app Delivery configuration for adding the shortcut to the desktop. This only works if the app is a Favorite, or if Favorites are disabled, or Mandatory Store.

Under HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle (or HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle) are several registry values related to shortcuts. Some of the settings only apply if SelfServiceMode is set to False. Here are some common options:

  • SelfServiceMode – set to False so Receiver disables the Self-Service interface and automatically places all published shortcuts on the Start Menu and/or Desktop. More details in Configuring application delivery at Citrix Docs.
  • PutShortcutsOnDesktop – set to True to place every app on the desktop
  • DesktopDir – Workspace app places every shortcut on the desktop so it’s probably best to place them in a folder.
  • StartMenuDir – If there is potentially a conflict between local apps and remote apps, then you should place the Start Menu shortcuts in a folder.
  • PreferTemplateDirectory (with KEYWORDS:prefer=shortcutname) – copies the shortcutname from the template directory to the Start Menu and/or Desktop.

If you import the receiver.admx (and .adml) into the PolicyDefinitions folder, under Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Citrix Components > Citrix Workspace (or Receiver) is a node called SelfService.

Disable the Manage SelfServiceMode setting to hide the Workspace app Window.

Enable the Manage App shortcut setting to control placement of shortcuts.

Workspace app and Receiver 4.2.100 and newer have the ability to configure (or disable) Workspace Control using group policy. Enable the setting Control when Citrix Workspace attempts to reconnect to existing sessions and configure it as desired.

Prelaunch

Staring with Receiver 4.2, prelaunch is automatically enabled if Workspace app is installed with SSON enabled. Otherwise, set registry values to enable prelaunch. Receiver 4.2.100 prevents the prelaunch icon from appearing on the Start Menu.

  • HKLM\Software\[Wow6432Node\]Citrix\Dazzle
    • EnablePreLaunch (REG_SZ) = true or false

Additional customizations can be configured at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\ICA Client\Prelaunch

  • Name: State
    • REG_SZ: 0 = disable, 1 = just-in-time pre-launch, 2 = scheduled pre-launch
  • Name: Schedule
    • REG_SZ: HH:MM|M:T:W:TH:F:S:SU where HH and MM are hours and minutes. M:T:W:TH:F:S:SU are the days of the week. For example, to enable scheduled pre-launch on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1:45 p.m., set Schedule as Schedule=13:45|1:0:1:0:1:0:0 . The session actually launches between 1:15 p.m. and 1:45 p.m.
  • Name: UserOverride
    • REG_SZ: 0  = HKLM overrides HKCU, 1 = HKCU overrides HKLM

Device Access Behavior (Client Selective Trust)

When connecting to a XenApp/XenDesktop session, you might see the following:

To configure the default behavior, see the Citrix Knowledgebase article How to Configure Default Device Access Behavior of Receiver, XenDesktop and XenApp. Note: there is a bug fixed in Receiver 4.2.100 and newer.

  1. Download the ADMX file from http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX133565.
  2. Copy the .admx and .adml files to PolicyDefinitions (Sysvol, or C:\Windows).
  3. The .adml file goes in the en-US folder.
  4. Edit a GPO that applies to the endpoint devices that are running Receiver.
  5. Go to Computer Configuration | Policies | Administrative Templates | Citrix Components | Citrix Workspace (or Receiver) |  Citrix Client Selective Trust (x64).
  6. Enable the setting Create Client Selective Trust Keys.

  7. Then expand the regions, and configure the permission settings as desired.

Desktop Lock

As an alternative to Workspace app Desktop Lock, see Transformer in Citrix Workspace Environment Manager.

External links:

Use Studio to configure Workspace app Accounts in Published Desktop

In published desktops, Workspace app can be used for placement of shortcuts on the user’s Start Menu and Desktop. Use group policy to hide the common program groups and then use Workspace app to place published applications back on the Start Menu and Desktop based on user’s group membership and subscription preference.

  1. In Citrix Studio, on the left, expand the Configuration node, right-click StoreFront and click Add StoreFront.
  2. Enter a descriptive name for the StoreFront server.
  3. Enter the internal https URL of the load balanced StoreFront servers. Add the path to your store (e.g. /Citrix/Store) and then /discovery on the end of the URL. The full URL would be similar to https://citrix.corp.com/Citrix/Store/discovery. Click OK.
  4. Edit a Delivery Group that has a published desktop and Citrix Workspace app installed.
  5. On the StoreFront page, change the selection to Automatically, using the StoreFront servers selected below, and then check the box next to the StoreFront URL. Click OK. Now when users launch the published desktop, Workspace app will be automatically configured with this URL.

Published Desktop – use Workspace app to control Shortcuts

If you install Workspace app inside a published desktop (Workspace app on a VDA), then Workspace app can get icons from StoreFront and put those icons on the user’s published desktop Start Menu and Desktop. This is an alternative to using a User Experience Management product to control shortcut placement.

Note: Workspace app tends to be slow to create Start Menu shortcuts, so make sure you perform a Proof of Concept to determine how this functionality impacts logon times.

Configuration of Workspace app inside a published desktop is simplified if you have the following minimum versions:

  • Workspace app installed inside the VDA
  • VDA 7.17 or newer
  • StoreFront 3.14 or newer

If you meet these minimum version requirements, then Workspace app installed in the VDA automatically tries to launch published applications on the same local VDA rather than trying to launch them from a different VDA (aka double-hop). This feature is called vPrefer.

Do the following for all versions of Workspace app, VDA, and StoreFront, whether using the Prefer keyword or not:

  1. Make sure Workspace app or Receiver version 4.11 or newer is installed on the VDA.
  2. Install the Workspace app ADMX files if you haven’t already. For vPrefer, make sure they are the ADMX files from Workspace app.
  3. Enable the Group Policy setting Remove common program groups from Start Menu and apply it to non-administrators.
    • This removes all Public (aka All Users) Start Menu shortcuts. Workspace app will re-add the shortcuts based on user group membership.
  4. On the VDA, configure the following Workspace app Registry keys (or corresponding settings in the receiver.admx GPO template):
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle\WSCReconnectMode=”0″ so Workspace app doesn’t try to reconnect to the published desktop you’re already running.
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle\SelfServiceMode to False. This turns off the Workspace app Self-Service GUI and acts like all icons are subscribed. Otherwise, only subscribed (favorited) icons would be placed on the Start Menu and Desktop.
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle\UseCategoryAsStartMenuPath = True. This creates a Start Menu folder based on the published app’s configured Category.
  5. Configure each desired published app to Add shortcut to user’s desktop.

    • Or, configure HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle\PutShortcutsOnDesktop = True to place all icons on the desktop.
  6. To control icon placement, configure the following registry values:
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle\StartMenuDir to place published applications in a sub-folder. Note: Windows Server 2012 and Windows 10 and newer only supports a single level of Start Menu folders, so setting this effectively turns off published app categories.
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle\DesktopDir to place published applications in a sub-folder on the desktop.
  7. Pass-through authentication:
    1. In a GPO that applies to the VDA, import the receiver.admx file, and set Local user name and password to Enabled. Check the box next to Allow pass-through authentication for all ICA connections.
    2. If you’re using Gateway internally, and if Workspace app 1808 or newer, then also enable Single Sign-on for NetScaler Gateway.
    3. In a user-level GPO that applies to the VDA, add the StoreFront FQDN to the Local Intranet zone. Make sure it is not in the Trusted Sites zone, or enable Automatic logon with current user name and password for the Trusted Sites zone.
    4. Make sure ssonsvr.exe is running after you login to the VDA. If not, troubleshoot it.
  8. When configuring Citrix Profile Management, make sure !ctx_startmenu! is not excluded from roaming.
  9. In Citrix Studio, configure a Delivery Group with delivery type = Desktop and Applications. Assign users to the delivery group, and the individual published applications (if visibility is limited).
    1. In Citrix Studio, edit each published application, and on the Delivery tab, specify a category. This will become the Start Menu folder name.
    2. If Workspace app Self Service Mode (GUI) is enabled, in Studio, edit each application, and add KEYWORDS:Auto and/or KEYWORDS:Mandatory to the published application description. This forces the applications to be subscribed/favorited. Only subscribed (or Favorite) apps are displayed in the Start Menu and Desktop. Unless you disable Workspace app’s SelfService interface as described earlier.
    3. Another option is to go to the StoreFront Console, click Stores on the left, and on the right, click Configure Store Settings, and click Disable User Subscriptions. This causes all apps to appear on the Start Menu and/or Desktop depending on Workspace app configuration.
  10. Create a group policy that applies to VDAs, and configure the group policy to define the Store URL for Workspace app similar to https://citrix.corp.com/Citrix/Store/discovery. Replace the FQDN with your load balanced StoreFront FQDN. Also replace the path to the store with your store path. Make sure there is /discovery on the end. By default, Workspace app and Receiver only support https.
    1. Your StoreFront store probably delivers both application and desktop icons. If you want to filter out the desktop icons, then create a new StoreFront store, and configure the Workspace app on the VDA to connect to the new Store.
    2. In StoreFront Console, click the store for VDAs, and click Configure Store Settings. On the Advanced Settings page, in the Filter resources by type row, choose Citrix.MPS.Desktop.
  11. For vPrefer in Workspace app, VDA 7.17 (or newer), and StoreFront 3.14 (or newer), edit a GPO that applies to the VDAs.
    1. Go to Computer Configuration | Policies | Administrative Templates | Citrix Components | Citrix Workspace (or Receiver) | SelfService.
    2. Edit the setting vPrefer. This setting is only in Workspace app ADMX templates from Workspace app.
    3. Set it to Allow all apps. Source = 7.17 vPrefer – not working with 32Bit Apps at Citrix Discussions.
  12. On your Delivery Controller, in PowerShell, run set-brokersite -TrustRequestsSentToTheXmlServicePort $true
    • This is required for Pass-through Authentication from Workspace app.
  13. Configure your client devices to connect to the published desktop.
    1. When users connect to the published desktop, Workspace app will auto-launch and hopefully auto-login.
    2. If Workspace app Self-Service Mode is disabled, all published applications should automatically appear in the Start Menu and Desktop.
    3. If Workspace app Self-Service Mode is enabled, then only applications with KEYWORDS:Auto and/or KEYWORDS:Mandatory in the published application description will be displayed. Users can open the systray icon to subscribe to more applications.
    4. Users can copy icons from the Start Menu to the desktop. Make sure the user Copies the icon and doesn’t Move it.
    5. Users can then launch applications directly from the Start Menu, from the Desktop, or from the Workspace app (if the Self-Service interface is enabled).
    6. If Workspace app 4.11 (or newer), VDA 7.17 (or newer), and StoreFront 3.14 (or newer), then vPrefer is enabled by default. When launching an app icon that came from Workspace app, Workspace app checks the local VDA machine to see if the application can be launched on the local VDA instead of by creating a new Citrix double-hop session.
    7. If the application is installed locally on the VDA then the local application shortcut should launch quickly. If the application is on a different delivery group then a second (double-hop) Citrix HDX/ICA connection will be established.
    8. If the user deletes Workspace app shortcuts from the Start Menu, you can get them back by going to the systray icon and refreshing the applications. Or sometimes you have to reset Workspace app.

If you are running components older than Receiver 4.11, VDA 7.17, and StoreFront 3.14, then you’ll need to configure the prefer keyword to get Receiver delivered icons to launch on the local VDA instead of in a new double-hop Citrix connection.

  1. Enable the Group Policy setting Remove common program groups from Start Menu and apply it to non-administrators.
    1. For applications that are installed on the same VDA that is publishing the desktop, configure Group Policy Preferences to recreate the application shortcuts based on Active Directory group membership. Applications on other delivery groups are handled by Receiver.
    2. Or use the prefer keyword to copy shortcuts from the PreferTemplateDirectory.
  2. On the VDA, configure the following Receiver Registry keys (or corresponding settings in the receiver.admx GPO template):
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle\PreferTemplateDirectory = a UNC path or local path containing shortcuts to be copied by the prefer keyword. This can point to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu.
  3. In Citrix Studio, configure a Delivery Group with delivery type = Desktop and Applications. Assign users to the Delivery Group and the applications (if visibility is limited).
    1. In Studio, edit each application and change KEYWORDS:Prefer to KEYWORDS:prefer. Notice the lower case p. It doesn’t work with uppercase P.
      • With the prefer keyword, if you publish an application that is also created using Group Policy Preferences, the Group Policy Preferences icon will take precedence. This is good. Otherwise the Receiver published application icon would result in a new Citrix double-hop session.
      • See Ralph Jansen Citrix Receiver 4.1 Prefer keyword examples
    2. If using the prefer keyword with the PreferTemplateDirectory, enter it as KEYWORDS:prefer=shortcutname where shortcutname is the name of the shortcut that is copied from the Template directory.
  4. Configure your client devices to connect to the published desktop.
    1. When users connect to the published desktop, Group Policy Preferences will create shortcuts to local applications.
    2. Receiver will auto-launch and hopefully auto-login.
    3. If Receiver Self-Service Mode is disabled, all published applications should automatically appear in the Start Menu and Desktop.
    4. If Receiver Self-Service Mode is enabled then only applications with KEYWORDS:Auto and/or KEYWORDS:Mandatory in the published application description will be displayed. Users can open the systray icon to subscribe to more applications.
    5. For published applications with KEYWORDS:prefer=shortcutname, Receiver should copy icons from the template directory to the Start Menu and/or Desktop. See below for considerations.
    6. Users can copy icons from the Start Menu to the desktop. Make sure the user Copies the icon and doesn’t Move it.
    7. Users can then launch applications directly from the Start Menu, from the Desktop, or from the Receiver (if Self-Service interface is enabled).
    8. If a local shortcut (e.g. Group Policy Preferences shortcut, or copied from template directory) matches a published application with KEYWORDS:prefer then the local shortcut will override the published application icon.
    9. If the application is installed locally on the VDA then the local application shortcut should launch quickly. If the application is on a different delivery group then a second (double-hop) Citrix HDX/ICA connection will be established.
    10. If the user deletes Receiver shortcuts from the Start Menu, you can get them back by going to the systray icon and refreshing the applications. Or sometimes you have to reset Receiver.

Notes regarding Prefer Template Directory

  • Prefer Template Directory can point to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu, which is the All Users Start Menu.
  • The shortcuts copied from the Prefer Template Directory are renamed to match the published app name.
  • For prefer local apps, any command line parameters specified in the published app are ignored. If you need these command line parameters, add them to the shortcut in the Prefer Template Directory.
  • If you have multiple published apps pointing to the same prefer local shortcut, then only one copy will be made, and it will have the name of only one of the published apps. To workaround this, in the Prefer Template Directory, create separate shortcuts for each published app, and adjust the published app prefer keyword accordingly.
  • Jan Hendrik Meier Automatic Shortcut generation for local installed applications in a Citrix XenDesktop / XenApp 7.x environment has a script that can create shortcuts based on the published apps with prefer keyword. These shortcuts can then be copied to your Prefer Template Directory.

How to Script/Automate Workspace app and Receiver Self-Service

From Citrix Knowledgebase article Driving the Citrix Receiver Self-Service Plug-in Programmatically: by default, Workspace app Self-Service (SSP) activities are driven by user interaction. However, SSP exposes sufficient information for its activities to be scripted.

When SSP builds a shortcut, it builds it to a small stub application in a file %appdata%\Citrix\SelfService\app-name-with-spaces-removed.exe for each resource. These files allow SSP to create a fake ‘install’ record for Add/Remove Software. Running these .exe files causes the application to launch. Note: Workspace app and Receiver 4.3.100 and newer don’t create stubs by default. To enable, set HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle\AlwaysUseStubs (REG_SZ) = true.

If you want to drive SSP directly for launch instead of through an .exe stub, look at the keys under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. There will be keys in there named farm-name@@server-farm-name.app-friendly-name. In these keys you’ll find a LaunchString value that shows the relevant parameters. These parameters are user-independent and can therefore be cloned from a reference user to a general case. You can copy and reuse these parameters without interpretation.

Running the command selfservice.exe –init –ipoll –exit starts SSP, performs a refresh (interactive poll) from the current provider, and forces a clean exit.

Additional command line parameters are detailed at Driving the Citrix Receiver Self-Service Plug-in Programmatically.

 

Citrix Workspace app come with a .dll file that implements the Citrix Common Connection Manager SDK. You can use the CCM SDK to do the following:

  • Launch Sessions
  • Disconnect Sessions
  • Logoff Sessions
  • Get Session Information

Citrix was kind enough to develop a PowerShell module that calls functions from the .dll. Get the CCMPowershellModule from Github. The PowerShell module contains functions like the following:

  • CCMTerminateApplication
  • CCMLaunchApplication
  • CCMGetActiveSessionCount
  • CCMDisconnectAllSessions

Launcher Scripts

Ryan C Butler Storefront ICA file creator at Github. See Create an ICA File from Storefront using PowerShell or JavaScript for more info.

Stan Czerno – Powershell Script to launch one or more Published Applications from Citrix Storefront 2.x through 3.11: the script launches a browser, connects to StoreFront (or NetScaler Gateway), logs in, and launches an icon. This is a very well-written script that uses a .dll file from Citrix Workspace app to display session information.

Citrix Solutions Lab StoreFront Launcher Script at Github. It attempts to closely resemble what an actual user would do by:

  1. Opening Internet Explorer.
  2. Navigating directly to the Receiver for Web site or NetScaler Gateway portal.
  3. Completing the fields.
  4. Logging in.
  5. Clicking on the resource.
  6. Logging off the StoreFront site.

David Ott StoreFront App/Desktop Launch Testing Script uses Internet Explorer to login to StoreFront and launch a resource. Sends email with the result. Uses wficalib.dll to get session information.

Microsoft Teams

Citrix and Microsoft jointly support the delivery of Microsoft Teams from Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops using optimization for Microsoft Teams. The Teams optimization components are built into VDA and Workspace app. There is no need to install anything separately. The feature is based on Browser Content Redirection so don’t exclude that feature when installing the VDA.

Microsoft Teams optimization/offloading requires the following:

  • Newest version of Microsoft Teams machine-wide installation (ALLUSER=1)
  • Newest version of Citrix VDA
  • Newest version of Citrix Workspace app.

Feature matrix and version support at Citrix Docs shows the required versions of Teams, Citrix VDA, and Citrix Workspace app for various Teams features.

See Citrix Docs Optimization for Microsoft Teams.

Skype for Business

Citrix has a HDX RealTime Optimization Pack for Workspace app that enables offloading of Skype for Business media protocols to the client device. Here are the available versions:

The HDX RealTime Optimization Pack comes in two pieces: the Connector (on the VDA), and the Media Engine (on the Workspace app machine). Usually both pieces must be the same version, but versions 2.3 and higher now allow version mixing.

24-page Citrix PDF Delivering Microsoft Skype for Business to XenApp and XenDesktop Users.

For Skype for Business Location Based Routing, you’ll need the following: (Source = Citrix Derek Thorslund at Location based routing at Citrix Discussions)

  • Microsoft added support for Location Based Routing (LBR) with the virtualized Skype for Business 2016 client (and HDX RTOP 2.1 and above) in the Click-to-Run (C2R) download quite a long time ago, but it hasn’t yet been introduced in the MSI package.
  • It requires setting IsLBRInVDIEnabled on the Skype for Business Server to True: 
    $x = New-CsClientPolicyEntry -Name "IsLBRInVDIEnabled" -Value "true"
Set-CsClientPolicy -Identity "<ClientPolicyName>” -PolicyEntry @{Add=$x}

When offloading voice and video to Workspace app machines, don’t forget to configure QoS on the client machines. See Citrix Blog Post Implementing the Citrix HDX RealTime Optimization Pack: Don’t Forget About QoS/DSCP.

Citrix CTX222459 RealTime Optimization Pack Capability Checker: It will list out endpoint hardware/software information which will be used to process audio and video. The tool is independent of RealTime Optimization Pack version and runs any Windows machine.

Citrix CTX214237 LOPper – Lync Optimization Pack Log Parser: parses log files generated by Citrix HDX RealTime Optimization Pack (HROP) when an audio/video call is made using Lync 2013/Skype for Business (SfB) and shows relevant information in a UI.

Troubleshooting – Citrix QuickLaunch

Citrix CTX219718 QuickLaunch Tool (Testing Application and Desktop Launch) lets you launch Citrix sessions directly from a Controller without needing StoreFront.

You enter a Controller address, credentials, and then it shows you the published resources. You can pick a resource, edit properties on the other tabs, and then Connect. This allows you to easily try different connection properties.

If you run into problems launching a session, use Sysinternals DebugView while running CQL in Debug mode (/debug switch).

Troubleshooting – Workspace app Logging

In Workspace app 2309 and newer, if you right-click the Workspace app icon in the system tray, there’s a Troubleshooting menu with a Collect Logs option.

You can also access Log Collection from Advanced Preferences.

There are a couple methods of logging Workspace app for Windows operations. One method is CTX141751 Citrix Receiver Diagnostics Tool – For Windows, which creates a CDF trace that can be parsed by CDFControl.

Another method is CTX132883 How to Enable Logging on Receiver for Windows Using Registry Entries. The logfiles in %USERPROFILE%\Appdata\Local\Citrix\ are human readable. And CTX206102 Enable SSON Logging Using Registry Key.

Instead of creating the registry keys manually, you can use the following .reg file provided by Wolfgang Thürr:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;only for x64 windows os
;import with admin rights
;restart your computer to activate the logging and tracing settings
;create C:\TEMP for the launch ICA log and SSON logn (no environment variables can be used)

;general Workspace app and Receiver logging
;************************
;logpath: %USERPROFILE%\Appdata\Local\Citrix\Receiver
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix]
"ReceiverVerboseTracingEnabled"=dword:00000001

;Authentication Manager logging
;******************************
;logpath: %USERPROFILE%\Appdata\Local\Citrix\AuthManager
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\AuthManager]
"LoggingMode"="verbose"
"TracingEnabled"="True"
"SDKTracingEnabled"="True"

;Self Service logging
;********************
;logpath: %USERPROFILE%\Appdata\Local\Citrix\SelfService
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle]
"Tracing"="True"
"AuxTracing"="True"
"DefaultTracingConfiguration"="global all –detail"

;save launch ICA
;***************
;logpath: C:\TEMP\ica.log (no environemnt variables allowed)
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\ICA Client\Engine\Configuration\Advanced\Modules\Logging]
"LogConfigurationAccess"="true"
"LogConnectionAuthorisation"="true"
"LogEvidence"="true"
"LogICAFile"="true"
"LogFile"="C:\\TEMP\\ica.log"
"LogStartup"="true"

;Receiver Always On Tracing
;**************************
;generates ETL Files for analyzing with CDFControl see CTX111961 for details
;can be configured or overruled by GPOs (icaclient.admx)
;path %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp\CTXReceiverLogs
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Citrix\ICA Client\AoLog]
"EnableTracing"=dword:00000001

;Single Sign-on Logging
;**************************
;https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX206102
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Install\SSON]
"DebugEnabled"="true"
"LogPath"="C:\\Temp"

Troubleshooting – Duplicate Stores

Stores are sometimes duplicated in Workspace app, especially if you are running Workspace app inside a VDA. (h/t Dan High)

StoreFront URLs can be defined in several places:

  1. In Studio, go to Configuration > StoreFront and delete all URLs configured here.
  2. Look in GPOs for Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Policies > Citrix Components > Citrix Workspace > StoreFront > NetScaler Gateway URL/StoreFront Accounts List. Remove any URLs configured here.
  3. In the client-side registry, at HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle\Sites, you might see store addresses that were specified during a command line installation of Workspace app.
  4. When Citrix Workspace app switches between StoreFront servers in multiple datacenters, it’s possible for each datacenter to be treated as a separate Workspace app site. This can be prevented by doing the following. From Juan Zevallos at Citrix Discussions:
    1. Match the Base URL in all datacenters.
    2. Match the SRID in all datacenters – The SRID can be safely edited in the C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\Roaming\web.config. Make sure to propagate changes to other servers in the group.
    3. Match the Delivery Controller names under “Manage Delivery Controllers” – The XML brokers can be different, but the actual name of the Delivery Controller/Farm must be identical.

If you are running Workspace app on a VDA, once you’ve removed the configured URLs shown above, do the following to clean up the VDAs:

  1. On the VDA, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Citrix – Delete the number folders representing policy entries.
  2. On session host VDAs, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\Citrix – Remove the entries for storefront in the following folders.
    1. Under \receiver\ctxaccount delete all entries.
    2. Under \SR\Store delete the entries.
  3. On the VDA, C:\ProgramData\CitrixCseCache – Delete all files
  4. On the VDA, C:\ProgramData\Citrix\GroupPolicy – Delete all folders and files.
  5. Run gpupdate and logoff.
  6. In the user’s registry, HKEY_CURRENT_USER or the profile registry hive. Possible profile reset.
    1. Under Software\Citrix\Dazzle\Sites – Delete all entries.
    2. Under Software\Citrix\Receiver\ctxaccount – delete all entries.
    3. Under Software\Citrix\SR\Store – delete the entries.
  7. Verify no cached profile folders for user on server.

StoreFront 3.0 and older Config for NetScaler Gateway

Last Modified: Nov 7, 2020 @ 6:35 am

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Contained on this page are the following topics:

StoreFront Config

  1. See the NetScaler 10.5 page or NetScaler 11 page for instructions on configuring NetScaler Gateway for StoreFront.
  2. In the StoreFront Console, click Authentication on the left. On the right, click Add/Remove Methods.
  3. Check the box next to Pass-through from NetScaler Gateway and click OK.
  4. If you can’t resolve the NetScaler Gateway FQDN from the StoreFront server, edit the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts file and add an entry for the NetScaler Gateway FQDN.

    After configuring the HOSTS file, on the StoreFront server, open a browser and navigate to the DNS name. Make sure the Gateway vServer logon page appears.
  5. In the StoreFront Console, right-click NetScaler Gateway and click Add NetScaler Gateway Appliance.
  6. In the Gateway Settings page, enter a display name. This name appears in Citrix Receiver to make it descriptive. If you have multiple sites, include a geographical name.
  7. Enter the NetScaler Gateway Public URL. The NetScaler Gateway FQDN must be different than the FQDN used for load balancing of StoreFront (unless you are configuring single FQDN). This can be a GSLB-enabled DNS name.
  8. A Subnet IP address is not needed for NetScaler Gateway 10 and newer. However, if the NetScaler Gateway URL is GSLB-enabled then you’ll need to enter the VIP of the NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server so StoreFront can differentiate one NetScaler Gateway from another.
  9. Enter the Callback URL.
    1. In StoreFront 2.6 and newer, the Callback URL is optional. However, SmartAccess requires the Callback URL to be configured.
    2. The callback URL must resolve to any NetScaler Gateway VIP on the same appliance that authenticated the user. For multi-datacenter, edit the HOSTS file on the StoreFront server so it resolves to NetScaler appliances in the same datacenter.
    3. The Callback URL must have a trusted and valid (matches the FQDN) certificate.
    4. The Callback URL must not have client certificates set to Mandatory.
  10. If you have two-factor authentication (LDAP and RADIUS), change the Logon type to Domain and security token. Otherwise leave it set to Domain only.
  11. Click Next.
  12. In the Secure Ticket Authority page, click Add.
  13. Add both of your Controllers. Use http:// or https:// depending on the certificates installed on the Controllers. You can also enter a Load Balancing VIP here. However, you cannot use a Load Balancing VIP when configuring Secure Ticket Authorities on your NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server.
  14. Click Create when done.
  15. Then click Finish.
  16. Click Stores on the left. On the right, click Enable Remote Access.
  17. Select No VPN tunnel.
  18. Check the box next to the NetScaler Gateway object you just created and then click OK.
  19. Then in the StoreFront console, right-click Server Group and click Propagate Changes.

Single FQDN

Docs.citrix.com – Create a single Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) to access a store internally and externally

Traditionally Receiver required separate FQDNs for StoreFront Load Balancing (internal) and NetScaler Gateway (external). Recently Citrix made some code changes to accept a single FQDN for both. This assumes that external users resolve the single FQDN to NetScaler Gateway and internal users resolve the same FQDN to StoreFront Load Balancing.

Single FQDN is fairly new and thus has the following requirements:

  • Receiver for Windows 4.2 or newer
  • Receiver for Mac 11.9 or newer
  • StoreFront 2.6 or newer
  • Split DNS – different DNS resolution for internal vs external
  • NetScaler 10.1 or newer

This section assumes NetScaler Gateway is in ICA Proxy mode. Different instructions are needed for when ICA Proxy is off. See docs.citrix.com for more information.

If you don’t care about email-based discovery then the configuration of Single FQDN is fairly simple. Sample DNS names are used below. Make sure the certificates match the DNS names.

  1. Internal DNS name = the Single FQDN (e.g. storefront.corp.com). Resolves to internal Load Balancing VIP for StoreFront. Set the StoreFront Base URL to this address.
  2. External DNS name = the Single FQDN (e.g. storefront.corp.com). Resolves to public IP, which is NAT’d to NetScaler Gateway VIP on DMZ NetScaler. Set the NetScaler Gateway object in StoreFront to this FQDN.
  3. Auth Callback = any internal DNS name (e.g. storefrontcb.corp.com) that resolves to a NetScaler Gateway VIP on the same DMZ NetScaler appliance that authenticated the user.

    • Auth callback is optional if you don’t need SmartAccess features.
    • The callback DNS name must be different than the Single FQDN.
    • Your external NetScaler Gateway certificate could match both the Single FQDN and the Callback FQDN. Or you can create separate NetScaler Gateway Virtual Servers on the same appliance with separate certificates that match these FQDNs.
  4. Internal Beacon = any internal website URL that is not externally accessible. You can’t use the Single FQDN as the Internal Beacon. Ideally, the Internal Beacon should be a new DNS name that resolves to the StoreFront Load Balancing VIP. However, this requires the StoreFront Load Balancing Virtual Server to have a certificate that matches both the Single FQDN and the Internal Beacon. See CTX218708 How to Configure Internal Beacon for Single FQDN on StoreFront.  💡

    • If are using Receiver for iOS internally then be aware that Receiver for iOS handles the Internal Beacon differently than Receiver for Windows. Receiver for iOS will append /Citrix/Store/discovery to the Internal Beacon and thus it only works if the Internal Beacon DNS name resolves to the StoreFront server. Since you can’t use the StoreFront Base URL as the Internal Beacon you’ll need a different DNS name that resolves to the StoreFront servers and matches the StoreFront certificate. Note: if you are not allowing internal iOS devices then this isn’t needed.
  5. Make sure the DMZ NetScaler resolves the Single FQDN to the internal StoreFront Load Balancing VIP. You typically add internal DNS servers to the NetScaler. Or you can create a local address record for the Single FQDN.
  6. In the NetScaler Gateway Session Profile, set the Web Interface Address and the Account Services Address to the Single FQDN.

If you need email-based discovery then here’s an example configuration for ICA Proxy NetScaler Gateway:

  • External DNS:
    • Storefront.corp.com resolves to public IP, which is NAT’d to NetScaler Gateway VIP on DMZ NetScaler.
    • If email-based discovery, SRV record for _citrixreceiver._tcp.email.suffix points to StoreFront.corp.com.
  • External publicly-signed certificate for NetScaler Gateway:
    • One option is wildcard for *.corp.com. Assumes email suffix is also corp.com.
    • Another option is the following Subject Alternative Names:
      • Storefront.corp.com
      • StorefrontCB.corp.com – for callback URL. Only accessed from internal.
        • Or you can create a separate Gateway vServer for callback with a separate certificate.
      • If email-based discovery, discoverReceiver.email.suffix
  • Internal DNS:
    • Storefront.corp.com resolves to Load Balancing VIP for StoreFront
    • StoreFrontCB.corp.com – resolves to NetScaler Gateway VIP on DMZ NetScaler. For authentication callback.
    • For the internal beacon, FQDN of any internal web server. Make sure this name is not resolvable externally.
    • If email-based discovery, SRV record for _citrixreceiver._tcp.email.suffix points to StoreFront.corp.com.
  • Internal certificate for StoreFront Load Balancing: publicly-signed recommended, especially for mobile devices and thin clients. Also can use the external certificate.
    • One option is wildcard for *.corp.com. Assumes email suffix is also corp.com.
    • Another option is the following Subject Alternative Names:
      • Storefront.corp.com
      • If email-based discovery, discoverReceiver.email.suffix

StoreFront Configuration:

  • Base URL = https://storefront.corp.com
  • Internal beacon = FQDN of internal web server. Make sure it’s not resolvable externally.
  • Gateway object:
    • Gateway URL = https://storefront.corp.com
    • Callback URL = https://storefrontcb.corp.com

Receiver for Web session policy (basic mode or ICA Only is checked):

  • Policy expression = REQ.HTTP.HEADER User-Agent NOTCONTAINS CitrixReceiver
  • Client Experience tab:
    • Home page = https://storefront.corp.com/Citrix/StoreWeb
    • Session Timeout = 60 minutes
    • Clientless Access = Off
    • Clientless Access URL Encoding = Clear
    • Clientless Access Persistent Cookie = Deny
    • Plug-in Type = Windows/Mac OS X
    • Single Sign-on to Web Applications = checked
  • Security tab:
    • Default authorization = ALLOW
  • Published Applications tab:
    • ICA Proxy = On
    • Web Interface address = https://storefront.corp.com/Citrix/StoreWeb
    • Web Interface Portal Mode = Normal
    • Single Sign-on Domain = Corp

Receiver Self-Service session policy (basic mode or ICA Only is checked):

      • Policy expression = REQ.HTTP.HEADER User-Agent CONTAINS CitrixReceiver
      • Client Experience tab:
        • Session Timeout = 60 minutes
        • Clientless Access = Off
        • Clientless Access URL Encoding = Clear
        • Clientless Access Persistent Cookie = Deny
        • Plug-in Type = Java
      • Security tab:
        • Default authorization = ALLOW
      • Published Applications tab:
        • ICA Proxy = On
        • Web Interface address = https://storefront.corp.com
        • Web Interface Portal Mode = Normal
        • Single Sign-on Domain = Corp
        • Account Services address = https://storefront.corp.com

Multiple Datacenters / Farms

If you have StoreFront (and NetScaler Gateway) in multiple datacenters, GSLB is typically used for the initial user connection but GSLB doesn’t provide much control over which datacenter a user initially reaches. So the ultimate datacenter routing logic must be performed by StoreFront. Once the user is connected to StoreFront in any datacenter, StoreFront looks up the user’s Active Directory group membership and gives the user icons from multiple farms in multiple datacenters and can aggregate identical icons based on farm priority order. When the user clicks on one of the icons, Optimal Gateway directs the ICA connection through the NetScaler Gateway that is closest to the destination VDA. Optimal Gateway requires datacenter-specific DNS names for NetScaler Gateway.

Docs.citrix.com Set up highly available multi-site store configurations explains configuring XML files on StoreFront to aggregate identical icons from multiple farms/sites. Identical Icons are aggregated in farm priority order or load balanced across multiple farms. To specify a user’s “home” datacenter, configure different farm priority orders for different Active Directory user groups.

Shaun Ritchie Citrix StoreFront High Availability and Aggregation – A dual site Active Active design has a sample multi-site configuration using XML Notepad and explains how to use the Primary and Secondary keywords to override farm priority order.

Citrix Blogs StoreFront Multi-Site Settings: Some Examples has example XML configurations for various multi-datacenter Load Balancing and failover scenarios.

When Citrix Receiver switches between StoreFront servers in multiple datacenters, it’s possible for each datacenter to be treated as a separate Receiver site. This can be prevented by doing the following. From Juan Zevallos at Citrix Discussions: To have multiple StoreFront deployments across a GSLB deployment, here are the StoreFront requirements:

  • Match the SRID – in StoreFront, if you use the same BaseURL in the 2 separate installations, then the SRID should end up being identical. If the BaseURL is changed after the initial setup, the SRID doesn’t change. The SRID can be safely edited in the \inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\Roaming\web.config file. It will be replicated into the discovery servicerecord entry in the Store web.config which can be edited as well or refreshed from the admin console by going into Remote Access setup for the store and hitting OK. Make sure to propagate changes to other servers in the group.
  • Match the BaseURL
  • Match the Delivery Controller names under “Manage Delivery Controllers” – The XML brokers can be different, but the actual name of the Delivery Controller/Farm must be identical. Here’s the exact setting I’m referring to: https://citrix.sharefile.com/d/sa562ba140be4462b

If you are running XenApp / XenDesktop in multiple datacenters, you must design roaming profiles and home directories correctly.

Optimal Gateway

The Optimal Gateway feature lets you override the NetScaler Gateway used for ICA connections. Here are some scenarios where this would be useful:

  • The NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server requires user certificates. If ICA traffic goes through this Virtual Server then each application launch will result in a certificate prompt. Use Optimal Gateway to force ICA connections through a different NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server that doesn’t have certificate authentication enabled. Note: Callback URL also cannot use a NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server where client certificates are set to Mandatory.
  • Multi-site Load Balancing. If the icon selected by the user is published from XenApp/XenDesktop in Datacenter A, then you probably want the ICA connection to go through a NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server in Datacenter A. This requires separate NetScaler Gateway DNS names for each datacenter. Also, Optimal Gateway is applied at the farm/site level so if you are stretching a farm across datacenters then Optimal Gateway won’t help you.
  • NetScaler Gateway for internal connections (AppFlow). If you want to force internal users to go through NetScaler Gateway so AppFlow data can be sent to Citrix Insight Center then you can do that using Optimal Gateway even if the user originally connected directly to the StoreFront server. See How to Force Connections through NetScaler Gateway Using Optimal Gateways Feature of StoreFront for more information.

Optimal Gateway is configured by editing the StoreFront Store’s web.config file. See Docs.citrix.com: To configure optimal NetScaler Gateway routing for a store. For an example configuration see Docs.citrix.com: Examples of highly available multi-site store configurations.

Optimal Gateway works great if you have separate XenDesktop sites/farms in each datacenter. However, for those of you with a central XenDesktop site running globally dispersed VDAs and a NetScaler Gateway in each location, or a single globally distributed XenApp farm (which I know an awful lot of you still have), see the Citrix blog post – How to direct remote XenApp/XenDesktop users based on active directory group membership:

    1. On a Load Balancing NetScaler, create multiple StoreFront load balancers. Each has a unique Net Profile with a unique SNIP.
    2. On StoreFront, create multiple Gateway objects, each with a SNIP that matches the Net Profiles created on the load balancer. Each Gateway object has a datacenter-specific Gateway FQDN.
    3. On each NetScaler Gateway:
      1. Configuration LDAP group extraction.
      2. Create a session policy for each datacenter pointing to the one of the StoreFront Load Balancers.
      3. Create AAA groups and bind the session policies.

Gateway in Closest Datacenter

Citrix Blog post ‘Accurately’ Direct XenApp/XenDesktop Users to a Correct Location Based Datacenter:

  • An unsupported extension to StoreFront
  • Read’s the client’s IP and looks it up in a location database (GeoLite2) to determine the user’s closest datacenter
  • Adjusts the Gateway FQDN in the rendered .ica file to direct users to the closest datacenter.
  • Requires datacenter-specific or region-specific Gateway DNS names.
  • Every NetScaler Gateway should know about every potential Secure Ticket Authority server.

Multiple Gateways to One StoreFront

If you have multiple NetScaler Gateways connecting to one StoreFront Server Group, and if each of the NetScaler Gateways uses the same DNS name (GSLB), then you will need some other method of distinguishing one appliance from the other so the callback goes to the correct appliance.

  • In the StoreFront console, create multiple NetScaler Gateway appliances, one for each datacenter. Give each of them unique names.
  • Enter the same NetScaler Gateway URL in all of the gateway appliances. Since all of the appliances use the same DNS name, you cannot use the DNS name to distinguish them.
  • Each appliance has a different NetScaler Gateway VIP. This VIP can be entered in the Subnet IP field. StoreFront will use this VIP to distinguish one appliance from another. The field label is SNIP but we actually need to enter a VIP.
  • The callback URL must be unique for each Gateway appliance. The callback URL must resolve to a NetScaler Gateway VIP on the same appliance that authenticated the user. Create new datacenter-specific DNS names. For example: gateway-prod.corp.com and gateway-dr.corp.com.
  • The datacenter-specific DNS name must match the certificate on the NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server. Here are some options to handle the certificate requirement:
    • On the main NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server, assign a wildcard certificate that matches both the GSLB name and the datacenter-specific name.
    • On the main NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server, assign an SSL certificate with Subject Alternative Names for both the GSLB name and the datacenter-specific name.
    • Create an additional NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server on the appliance. Bind a certificate that matches the datacenter-specific name.
  • Configure name resolution for the datacenter-specific NetScaler Gateway DNS names. Either edit the HOSTS file on the StoreFront servers or add DNS records to your DNS servers.
  • When enabling Remote Access on the store, select both Gateway appliances. Select one as the default appliance.

Related Pages

Additional StoreFront Configuration

NetScaler 10.5

NetScaler Gateway 10.5 Virtual Server

Last Modified: Nov 7, 2020 @ 6:21 am

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NetScaler Gateway Universal Licenses

For basic ICA Proxy connectivity to XenApp/XenDesktop, you don’t need to install any NetScaler Gateway Universal licenses on the NetScaler appliance. However, if you need SmartAccess features (e.g. EPA scans), or VPN, then you must install NetScaler Gateway Universal licenses. These licenses are included with the Platinum editions of XenApp/XenDesktop, Advanced or Enterprise Edition of XenMobile, and the Platinum version of NetScaler.

When you create a NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server, the ICA Only setting determines if you need NetScaler Gateway Universal licenses or not. If the Virtual Server is set to ICA Only then you don’t need licenses. But if ICA Only is set to false then you need a NetScaler Gateway Universal license for every user that connects to this NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server. Enabling ICA Only disables all non-ICA Proxy features, including: SmartAccess, SmartControl, and VPN.

If you don’t need any non-ICA Proxy features, then you don’t need any Gateway Universal licenses, and you can skip to the next section.

The Gateway Universal licenses are allocated to the case sensitive hostname of each appliance. If you have an HA pair, and if each node has a different hostname, allocate the Gateway Universal licenses to the first hostname, and then reallocate the same licenses to the other hostname.

To see the hostname, click the version info on the top right.

To change the hostname, click the gear icon on the top right.

To upload the allocated Gateway Universal licenses to the appliance, go to System > Licenses. A reboot is required.

After NetScaler Gateway Universal licenses are installed on the appliance, they won’t necessarily be available for usage until you make a configuration change as detailed below:

  1. On the left, expand System, and click Licenses.
  2. On the right, in the Maximum NetScaler Gateway Users Allowed field is the number of licensed users for NetScaler Gateway Virtual Servers that are not set to ICA Only.
  3. On the left, under NetScaler Gateway, click Global Settings.
  4. In the right column of the right pane, click Change authentication AAA settings.
  5. Change the Maximum Number of Users to your licensed limit. This field has a default value of 5, and administrators frequently forget to change it thus only allowing 5 users to connect.
  6. If desired, check the box for Enable Enhanced Authentication Feedback. Click OK.

    set aaa parameter -enableEnhancedAuthFeedback YES -maxAAAUsers 200
  7. Then edit the NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server. On the top-right is the Max Users. Change it to the number of licensed NetScaler Gateway users.
  8. In the Basic Settings section, click the pencil icon near the top right.
  9. Click More.
  10. In the Max Users field, either enter 0 (for unlimited/maximum) or enter a number that is equal or less than the number of licensed users. Click OK.

Create Gateway Virtual Server

  1. Create a certificate for the NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server. The certificate must match the name users will use to access the Gateway. For email discovery in Citrix Receiver, the certificate must have subject alternative names (SAN) for discoverReceiver.email.suffix (use your email suffix domain name). If you have multiple email domains then you’ll need a SAN for each one.

  2. On the left, right-click NetScaler Gateway and click Enable Feature.
  3. On the left, expand NetScaler Gateway and click Virtual Servers.
  4. On the right, click Add.
  5. Name it gateway.corp.com or similar.
  6. Enter a new VIP that will be exposed to the Internet.
  7. Click More.
  8. In the Max Users field enter 0.
  9. In the Max Login Attempts field, enter your desired number. Then enter a timeout in the Failed Login Timeout field.
  10. Check the box next to ICA Only, and click Continue. This option disables SmartAccess and VPN features but does not require any additional licenses.
  11. In the Certificates section, click where it says No Server Certificate.
  12. Click the arrow next to Click to select.
  13. Select a previously created certificate that matches the NetScaler Gateway DNS name, and click OK.
  14. Click Bind.
  15. Click OK.
  16. In the Authentication section, click the plus icon in the top right.
  17. Select LDAP, select Primary and click Continue.
  18. Click the arrow next to Click to select.
  19. Select a previously created LDAP policy and click OK.
  20. Click Bind.
  21. Or for two-factor authentication, you will need to bind two policies to Primary and two polices to Secondary:
    • Primary = LDAP for Browsers (User-Agent does not contain CitrixReceiver)
    • Primary = RADIUS for Receiver Self-Service (User-Agent contains CitrixReceiver)
    • Secondary = RADIUS for Browsers (User-Agent does not contain CitrixReceiver)
    • Secondary = LDAP for Receiver Self-Service (User-Agent contains CitrixReceiver)
  22. Click Continue.
  23. In the Policies section, click the plus icon near the top right.
  24. Select Session, select Request and click Continue.
  25. Click the arrow next to Click to select.
  26. Select one of the Receiver session policies and click OK.
  27. There’s no need to change the priority number. Click Bind.
  28. Repeat these steps to bind the second policy. In the Policies section, click the plus icon near the top right.
  29. Select Session, select Request and click Continue.
  30. Click Add Binding.
  31. Click the arrow next to Click to select.
  32. Select the other Receiver session policy and click OK.
  33. There’s no need to change the priority number. Click Bind.
  34. The two policies are mutually exclusive so there’s no need to adjust priority. Click Close.
  35. On the right, in the Advanced section, click Profiles.
  36. In the TCP Profile drop-down, select nstcp_default_XA_XD_profile. This improves NetScaler Gateway performance. Click OK.
  37. On the right, in the Advanced section, click Published Applications.
  38. Click where it says No STA Server.
  39. Add a Controller in the https://<Controller_FQDN> or http://<Controller_FQDN> format, depending on if SSL is enabled on the XenApp Controller or not. This must be FQDN or IP address; short names don’t work.
  40. For the Address Type, select IPV4. Click Bind.
  41. To bind another Secure Ticket Authority server, on the left, in the Published Applications section, click where it says 1 STA Server.
  42. Click Add Binding. Enter the URL for the second controller.
  43. The State is probably down. Click Close.
  44. In the Published Applications section, click STA Server.
  45. Now they should be up and there should be an Auth ID. Click OK.

    add vpn vserver gateway.corp.com SSL 10.2.2.200 443 -icaOnly ON -tcpProfileName nstcp_default_XA_XD_profile

bind vpn vserver gateway.corp.com -policy "Receiver Self-Service" -priority 100

bind vpn vserver gateway.corp.com -policy "Receiver for Web" -priority 110

bind vpn vserver gateway.corp.com -policy Corp-Gateway -priority 100

bind vpn vserver gateway.corp.com -staServer "http://xdc01.corp.local"
bind vpn vserver gateway.corp.com -staServer "http://xdc02.corp.local"
  46. Perform other normal SSL configuration including: disable SSLv3, bind a Modern Cipher Group, and enable Strict Transport Security. 
    bind ssl vserver MyvServer -certkeyName MyCert

set ssl vserver MyvServer -ssl3 DISABLED -tls11 ENABLED -tls12 ENABLED

unbind ssl vserver MyvServer -cipherName ALL

bind ssl vserver MyvServer -cipherName Modern

bind ssl vserver MyvServer -eccCurveName ALL

bind vpn vserver MyvServer -policy insert_STS_header -priority 100 -gotoPriorityExpression END -type RESPONSE
  47. Scroll down and click Done.

Verify SSL Settings

After you’ve created the Gateway Virtual Server, run the following tests:

  1. Citrix CTX200890 – Error: “1110” When Launching Desktop and “SSL Error” While Launching an Application Through NetScaler Gateway: You can use OpenSSL to verify the certificate. Run the command: openssl s_client -connect gateway.corp.com:443. Replace the FQDN with your FQDN. OpenSSL is installed on the NetScaler or you can download and install it on any machine.
  2. Go to https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/ and check the security settings of the website. Citrix Blogs – Scoring an A+ at SSLlabs.com with Citrix NetScaler – 2016 update

Gateway UI Theme

  1. Ensure NetScaler is able to resolve the FQDN of the StoreFront server. You can add an Address record to the NetScaler or ensure that NetScaler can resolve DNS. http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX135023

  2. On the left, under NetScaler Gateway, click Global Settings.
  3. In the right pane, in the left column, click Change Global Settings.
  4. Change the selection for UI Theme to Green Bubble, and click OK.

    set vpn parameter -UITHEME GREENBUBBLE
  5. If you want the NetScaler Gateway Logon Page to look like StoreFront 3.0 then see StoreFront Tweaks > Theme for NetScaler 10.5.

SSL Redirect

Use one of the following procedures to configure a redirect from http to https. Responder method is preferred.

Public DNS SRV Records

For email-based discovery, add a SRV record to each public email suffix DNS zone. Here are sample instructions for a Windows DNS server:

  1. On the Server Manager, click Tools > DNS Manager
  2. In the left pane of DNS Manager, select your DNS domain in the forward or reverse lookup zones. Right-click the domain and select Other New Records.
  3. In the Resource Record Type dialog box, select Service Location (SRV) and then click Create Record.
  4. In the New Resource Record dialog box, click in the Service box and enter the host value _citrixreceiver.
  5. Click in the Protocol box and enter the value _tcp.
  6. In the Port number box, enter 443.
  7. In the Host offering this service box, specify the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for your NetScaler Gateway vServer in the form servername.domain (e.g. gateway.company.com)

Block Citrix VPN for iOS

Citrix CTX201129 Configuration for Controlled Access to Different VPN Plugin Through NetScaler Gateway for XenMobile Deployments: do one or both of the following:

  • Create an AppExpert > Responder > Policy with Action = DROP and Expression = HTTP.REQ.HEADER("User-Agent").CONTAINS("CitrixReceiver/NSGiOSplugin"). Either bind the Responder Policy Globally or bind it to the Gateway vServers.
  • In your Gateway Session Policies, on the Client Experience tab, do not set the Plugin type to Windows/Mac OS X. If any of them are set to Windows/MAC OS X, then VPN for iOS is allowed.

View ICA Sessions

To view active ICA sessions, click the NetScaler Gateway node on the left, and then click ICA Connections on the right.

show vpn icaconnection

Customize Logon Page

The logon page presented by NetScaler Gateway can be easily customized by modifying the .html, .css, .js, and .jpg files located under /netscaler/ns_gui/vpn.

After customizing the logon page, if you are licensed for Integrated Caching, then you’ll probably need to invalidate the loginstaticobjects Integrated Caching Content Group.

When you reboot the appliance, all customizations will be lost unless you automatically reapply the customizations after a reboot. There are two methods of doing this:

  • Place the modified files under /var and add cp commands to /nsconfig/rc.netscaler so the files are copied after a reboot.
  • Create a customtheme.tar.gz file and set the Gateway theme to Custom.

rc.netscaler Method

Let’s say you customized the en.xml and login.js files. To reapply those customizations after a reboot, copy the two modified files to /var. Then edit the file /nsconfig/rc.netscaler and add the following two commands:

cp /var/en.xml /netscaler/ns_gui/vpn/resources/en.xml
cp /var/login.js /netscaler/ns_gui/vpn/login.js

Custom Theme Method

From http://forums.citrix.com/thread.jspa?threadID=332888:

  1. Change setting to Green Bubble (if you want to use it), make customizations.
  2. SSH to the device, type shell.
  3. Create ns_gui_custom folder by typing: mkdir /var/ns_gui_custom
  4. Change directory to /netscaler by typing: cd /netscaler
  5. Archive the ns_gui folder: tar -cvzf /var/ns_gui_custom/customtheme.tar.gz ns_gui/*
  6. Change theme to ‘custom’. You can do this from NetScaler Gateway > Global Settings > Change Global Settings or from a Session Policy/profile. It’s located on the bottom of the Client Experience tab.
  7. Save the config.
  8. Reboot appliance to make sure the customizations are reapplied.
  9. Repeat this on the second appliance.

Note: if you enabled the Custom theme, since the customtheme.tar.gz file contains the admin GUI, you will have difficulty logging into the admin GUI whenever you upgrade the appliance firmware. You cannot use your customtheme.tar.gz file with newer firmware versions. When upgrading firmware, do the following:

  1. Change the theme to Default or Green Bubble and save the config.
  2. Upgrade the firmware.
  3. If the admin GUI is not working, change the theme to Default or Green Bubble again.
  4. Manually reapply your customizations.
  5. Re-create the customtheme.tar.gz file. Don’t use the file that was created on the previous firmware version.

Logon Page Labels

When two factor authentication is configured on NetScaler Gateway, the user is prompted for User name, Password 1, and Password 2.

The Password 1 and Password 2 field labels can be changed to something more descriptive, such as Active Directory or RSA:

To change the labels, edit a couple files:

  • Edit the file /netscaler/ns_gui/vpn/resources/en.xml. Search for “Password”. The Password2 field has a colon but the Password field does not.
  • Also edit the file /netscaler/ns_gui/vpn/login.js. Scroll down to the ns_showpwd_default() and ns_showpwd_greenbubble() functions. Find the line if ( pwc == 2 ) { document.write('&nbsp;1'); } and comment it out by adding two // to the beginning of the line. You will find this line in both functions. This prevents NetScaler Gateway from adding a “1” to “Password 1”.
  • Use one of the above procedures to reapply the customization after a reboot.

Domain Drop-down

Citrix CTX118657 How to Add Drop-down Menu with Domain Names on Logon Page for Access Gateway Enterprise Edition has instructions for creating a drop-down list with domain names. The Create the drop-down menu section has instructions for the Default Caxton theme, but not Green Bubbles. Here is a one way of making it work in the Green Bubbles theme:

<div class="field buttons"><div class="left"><label for="domain" class ="label plain"><span id="domain">Domain:<span></div>
<div class="right"><select name="domainvalue" size="1" style="width: 100px;"> <option value="DOMAIN1">DOMAIN1</option> <option value="DOMAIN2">DOMAIN2</option> </select></div></div>

Everything else in the article still pertains to the Green Bubbles theme.

Logon Security Message (Disclaimer)

/netscaler/ns_gui/vpn/resources/en.xml can be edited to display a logon message. Look for Please log on and replace it with your desired text. After changing the file, make sure you follow one of the above procedures to reapply the customization after a reboot.

http://euc.consulting/blog/customizing-citrix-access-gateway/ has additional instructions for creating a disclaimer. These instructions are for the default Caxton theme. Here is one method of adjusting them for the Green Bubble theme:

  1. Edit the file /netscaler/ns_gui/vpn/index.html.
  2. Find line 94 which has <input type="submit" id="Log_On"
  3. Inside the <input> element, add the attributes name="LogonButton" disabled="true"
  4. Immediately below that line, add the following lines. They go before the </form> tag. 
    <!– Disclaimer customization –>
<div class="field CredentialTypeusername">
<div class="left"><input type="checkbox" name="chk1_button" onClick="enableLogonButton(this);"/>
<span class="label plain">Check this box to accept the use policy </span></div>
<!– End of Disclaimer customization–>
  5. Save and close the index.html file.
  6. Edit the file /netscaler/ns_gui/vpn/login.js
  7. At the bottom of the file, add in the following function: 
    function enableLogonButton(obj)
{
    var loginForm = document.vpnForm;
    if(obj.checked){
        loginForm.elements["LogonButton"].disabled=false;
    }
    else{
        loginForm.elements["LogonButton"].disabled=true;
    }
}
  8. Save and close the login.js file.
  9. Use one of the above procedures to reapply these customizations after a reboot.
  10. When you connect to the logon page, you should see a checkbox. The Log On button will only be enabled if the checkbox is checked.

Other Customizations

If you want the NetScaler Gateway Logon Page to look like StoreFront 3.0 then see StoreFront Tweaks > Theme for NetScaler 10.5.

Jason Samuel – How to force users to use the Citrix Receiver app on mobile devices using NetScaler: You can tell your users to install Citrix Receiver on their mobile devices, yet they still continue to open Receiver for Web in a mobile browser to launch their apps and desktops because that’s what they do on their PCs at work. It’s tough to get them to understand there are 2 ways to access their apps while on a PC, using the Citrix Receiver OR Receiver for Web in their browser. But on a mobile device, they should use Citrix Receiver only for the best possible touch friendly experience.

First, we need to detect if a user is using a mobile device or not. Then we need to detect if they are hitting the NetScaler Gateway page using a mobile browser or the Citrix Receiver app. If they are using the app, let the traffic go through normal. But if using a mobile browser, redirect them to a notification page letting them know they need to use the Citrix Receiver app and make it easy for them to install and use it. Implementation instructions at the blog post.

Multiple Gateway Virtual Servers

Citrix Knowledgebase article – How to Create a Specific Customized Logon Page for Each VPN vServer Hosted on the Access Gateway Enterprise Edition and Redirect Users Based on Each Fully Qualified Domain Name

From Citrix Discussions: The KB article referenced above uses the NetScaler’s Responder feature.
If you are not licensed for the Responder (or just don’t want to bother with it), here is another option…

After creating a separate, customized login page for each vServer, I simply add a bit of JavaScript in index.html to call the correct login page, based on the URL of each vServer:

var currentURL = location.host.toLowerCase();
if (currentURL == “url1.domain.com”) top.location = “url1.html”;
else if (currentURL == “url2.domain.com”) top.location = “url2.html”;
…. etc…

Citrix Blog Post – Two factor authentication with specific customized NetScaler Gateway logon pages:

  • Cookie for second password field is not set properly for custom logon pages. Use rewrite policy to fix it.
  • Cache policy won’t allow two-factor cookie to work. Edit cache policy to not cache the custom logon pages.

Next step

Configure StoreFront to use NetScaler Gateway

Session Policies for StoreFront – NetScaler Gateway 10.5

Last Modified: Nov 6, 2020 @ 7:06 am

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This page details creation of session profiles and policies for NetScaler Gateway 10.5 where ICA Only (formerly known as Basic Mode) is checked.

Partly based on Citrix Knowledgebase Article – How to Configure NetScaler Gateway with StoreFront

Session Profiles/Policies CLI Commands

The CLI commands are shown below:

add vpn sessionAction "Receiver Self-Service" -transparentInterception OFF -defaultAuthorizationAction ALLOW -SSO ON -icaProxy ON -wihome "https://storefront.corp.com" -ntDomain Corp -clientlessVpnMode OFF -storefronturl "https://storefront.corp.com"

add vpn sessionAction "Receiver for Web" -transparentInterception OFF -defaultAuthorizationAction ALLOW -SSO ON -icaProxy ON -wihome "https://storefront.corp.com/Citrix/StoreWeb" -ntDomain Corp -clientlessVpnMode OFF

add vpn sessionPolicy "Receiver Self-Service" "REQ.HTTP.HEADER User-Agent CONTAINS CitrixReceiver" "Receiver Self-Service"

add vpn sessionPolicy "Receiver for Web" "REQ.HTTP.HEADER User-Agent NOTCONTAINS CitrixReceiver" "Receiver for Web"

Session Profiles

Or use the GUI to create the policies/profiles:

  1. On the left, expand NetScaler Gateway, expand Policies, and click Session.
  2. On the right, switch to the Session Profiles tab, and click Add.
  3. Name the first one ReceiverSelfService or similar. This is for Receiver Self-Service (not in a web browser).
  4. Switch to the Client Experience tab.
  5. Check the Override Global box next to Clientless Access, and set it to Allow. Scroll down.
  6. Check the Override Global box next to Plug-in Type and set it to Java.
  7. Check the Override Global box next to Single Sign-on to Web Applications and enable it. Scroll up.
  8. If you need two-factor authentication, the session policy for Receiver Self-Service needs to be adjusted to indicate which authentication field contains the Active Directory password. On the Client Experience tab is Credential Index. This needs to be changed to SECONDARY. Leave the session policy for Web Browsers set to PRIMARY.
  9. On the Security tab, check the Override Global box next to Default Authorization Action and set it to Allow.
  10. On the Published Applications tab, check the Override Global box next to ICA Proxy and set it to ON.
  11. Check the Override Global box next to Web Interface Address, and enter the load balanced URL to the StoreFront servers. You can use an IP address. Don’t add any path to the end of the URL.
  12. If you only have one domain, then check the Override Global box next to Single Sign-on Domain and enter the name of your Active Directory domain. StoreFront needs to accept this domain name (Configure Trusted Domains).
  13. If you have multiple domains, then leave Single Sign-on Domain field blank, and ensure the LDAP authentication servers have userPrincipalName in the SSO Name Attribute field.
  14. For Account Services Address, enter the Base URL for StoreFront. NetScaler needs to be able to resolve this DNS name.
  15. Click Create.
  16. Highlight the existing session profile, and click Add. This copies the settings from the existing profile into the new one.
  17. Change the name of the second Session Profile to ReceiverForWeb or similar.
  18. On the Client Experience tab, Clientless Access should be set to Allow. Scroll down.
  19. Plug-in Type should still be set to Java.
  20. Single Sign-on to Web Applications should be enabled.
  21. If you need two-factor authentication, the session policy for Receiver for Web needs Credential Index set to PRIMARY. Only the Receiver Self-Service policy needs SECONDARY as detailed earlier.
  22. On the Security tab, the Default Authorization Action should still be Allow.
  23. On the Published Applications page, for the Web Interface Address field, add the path to your Receiver for Web site (e.g. /Citrix/StoreWeb).
  24. Everything else should be the same. If you only have one domain, then check the Override Global box next to Single Sign-on Domain and enter the NetBIOS name of your Active Directory domain. If you have multiple domains, then leave this field blank and ensure the LDAP authentication servers have userPrincipalName in the SSO Attribute field.
  25. Account Services Address is not needed in this profile but there’s no harm in leaving it.
  26. Click Create.

Session Policies

  1. On the right, switch to the Session Policies tab, and click Add.
  2. Name the Policy ReceiverSelfService or similar.
  3. Change the Request Profile to ReceiverSelfService.
  4. In the Expression box, either type the following, or use the Expression Editor link to build the following expression: 
    REQ.HTTP.HEADER User-Agent CONTAINS CitrixReceiver

  5. Then click Create.
  6. Add another policy, and name it ReceiverForWeb or similar.
  7. Change the Action to ReceiverForWeb.
  8. In the Expression box, either type in the following, or use the Expression Editor. It’s the same as the previous expression, except it’s NOTCONTAINS instead of CONTAINS. 
    REQ.HTTP.HEADER User-Agent NOTCONTAINS CitrixReceiver
  9. Click Create.

Next Step

Create NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server

LDAP Authentication – NetScaler Gateway 10.5

Last Modified: Nov 6, 2020 @ 6:51 am

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LDAP Load Balancing

Before you create an LDAP authentication policy, load balance the Domain Controllers. If you don’t load balance your Domain Controllers, then when users enter an incorrect password, the user account will be prematurely locked out.

If you have multiple domains, create different Load Balancing Virtual Servers for each domain. These multiple Load Balancing Virtual Servers can share the same VIP if their port numbers are different. Or you can use a different VIP for each domain.

Verify LDAPS

Use the tool ldp.exe to verify that the Domain Controllers have valid certificates installed, and the service account is able to bind to the LDAP tree.

  1. ldp.exe is included with the Remote Server Administration Tools (AD DS Snap-Ins and Command-Line Tools)
  2. Run ldp.exe

  3. Open the Connection menu, and click Connect.
  4. Check the box next to SSL. Change the port to 636. Then enter the FQDN of a Domain Controller, and click OK.
  5. If it connected successfully, you can then attempt a bind. If the connection was unsuccessful, then there’s probably an issue with the certificate installed on the Domain Controller.
  6. Open the Connection menu and click Bind.
  7. Change the Bind type to Simple bind. Then enter the service account credentials. You can use DOMAIN\Username, or you can use Username@Domain.com. Click OK.
  8. Look on the right pane to verify a successful bind. If not, fix the credentials and try again.
  9. Once you have successfully binded, you can view the directory tree by opening the View menu, and click Tree.
  10. Click the drop-down to view the directory partitions.
  11. Repeat these steps to verify each Domain Controller and any load balanced LDAPS.

LDAP Server

To create the LDAP Authentication Server, and LDAP Authentication Policy, do the following:

  1. On the left, expand NetScaler Gateway > Policies > Authentication, and click LDAP.
  2. On the right, switch to the Servers tab, and click Add near the top.
  3. Enter LDAP-Corp as the name. If you have multiple domains, you’ll need a separate LDAP Server per domain, so make sure you include the domain name.
  4. Change the selection to Server IP. Enter the VIP of the NetScaler load balancing vServer for LDAP.
  5. Change the Security Type to SSL.
  6. Enter 636 as the Port. Scroll down.
  7. Note: there is a checkbox for Validate LDAP Server Certificate. If you want to do this, see Citrix Discussions for instructions for loading the root certificate to /nsconfig/truststore.
  8. In the Connection Settings section, in the Base DN field, enter your Active Directory DNS domain name in LDAP format.
  9. In the Administrator Bind DN field, enter the credentials of the LDAP bind account in userPrincipalName format. Domain\username also works.
  10. Check the box next to BindDN Password and enter the password. Scroll down.
  11. In the Other Settings section, use the drop-down next to Server Logon Name Attribute, Group Attribute, and Sub Attribute Name to select the default fields for Active Directory.
  12. On the right, check the box next to Allow Password Change.
  13. If you want to restrict access to only members of a specific group, in the Search Filter field, enter memberOf=<GroupDN>. See the example below:
    memberOf=CN=CitrixRemote,OU=Citrix,DC=corp,DC=local
    You can add :1.2.840.113556.1.4.1941: to the query so it searches through nested groups. Without this users will need to be direct members of the filtered group.
    memberOf:1.2.840.113556.1.4.1941:=CN=CitrixRemote,OU=Citrix,DC=corp,DC=local
    Citrix CTX132802 How to Use the ldapsearch Utility on the NetScaler Gateway Enterprise Edition Appliance to Validate a Search Filter
    1. An easy way to get the full distinguished name of the group is through Active Directory Administrative Center. Double-click the group object, and switch to the Extensions page. On the right, switch to the Attribute Editor tab.
    2. Scroll down to distinguishedName, double-click it, and then copy it to the clipboard.

    3. Back on the NetScaler, in the Search Filter field, type in memberOf=, and then paste the Distinguished Name right after the equals sign. Don’t worry about spaces.
  14. Scroll down and click Nested Group Extraction to expand it. If desired, change the selection to Enabled.
  15. Set the Group Name Identifier to samAccountName.
  16. Set the Group Search Attribute to memberOf.
  17. Set the Group Search Sub-Attribute to CN.
  18. For the Group Search Filter field, see CTX123795 Example of LDAP Nested Group Search Filter Syntax.
  19. Click Create.

LDAP Policy Expression

  1. On the left, expand NetScaler Gateway > Policies > Authentication, and click LDAP.
  2. On the right, switch to the Policies tab, and click Add.
  3. Name the policy LDAP-Corp. If you have multiple domains, then you’ll need a separate LDAP Policy for each domain, so make sure you include the domain name.
  4. Select the previously created LDAP-Corp server.
  5. On the bottom, click the Saved Policy Expressions drop-down, and select the ns_true expression.
  6. Click Create.

     add authentication ldapPolicy LDAP-Corp ns_true LDAP-Corp

Gateway Authentication Feedback and Licenses

  1. On the left, under NetScaler Gateway, click Global Settings.
  2. On the right, in the right column, click Change authentication AAA settings.
  3. If you are using Gateway features that require Gateway Universal licenses, then change the Maximum Number of Users to the number of Gateway Universal licenses you have installed on this appliance. This field has a default value of 5, and administrators frequently forget to change it, thus only allowing 5 users to connect.
  4. If desired, check the box for Enable Enhanced Authentication Feedback. This feature provides a message to users if authentication fails. The message users receive include password errors, account disabled or locked, or the user is not found, to name a few. Click OK.

    set aaa parameter -enableEnhancedAuthFeedback YES -maxAAAUsers 200

Next Step

For two-factor, configure RADIUS Authentication

Otherwise, Configure NetScaler Gateway Session Policies

Multiple Domains

To support multiple Active Directory domains on a NetScaler Gateway, you create multiple LDAP authentication policies, one for each Active Directory domain, and bind all of the LDAP policies to the NetScaler Gateway Virtual Server. When the user logs into NetScaler Gateway, only the username and password are entered. The NetScaler will then loop through each of the LDAP policies in priority order until it finds one that contains the entered username/password.

What if the same username is present in multiple domains? As NetScaler loops through the LDAP policies, as soon as it finds one with the specified username, it will try to authenticate with that particular LDAP policy. If the password doesn’t match the user account for the attempted domain then a failed logon attempt will be logged in that domain and NetScaler will try the next domain.

Unfortunately, the only way to enter a realm/domain name during user authentication is to require users to login using userPrincipalNames. To use userPrincipalName, set the LDAP Policy/Server with the Server Logon Name Attribute set to userPrincipalName.

You can even do a combination of policies: some with samAccountName and some with userPrincipalName. The samAccountName policies would be searched in priority order, and the userPrincipalName policies can be used to override the search order. Bind the userPrincipalName policies higher (lower priority number) than the samAccountName policies.

After authentication is complete, a Session Policy will be applied that has the StoreFront URL. The NetScaler Gateway will attempt to log into StoreFront using SSO so the user doesn’t have to login again. When logging into NetScaler Gateway, only two fields are required: username and password. However, when logging in to StoreFront, a third field is required: domain name. So how does NetScaler specify the domain name while logging in to StoreFront?

There are two methods of specifying the domain:

  • AAA Group – Configure multiple session policies with unique Single Sign-on Domains.  Inside the Session Policy is a field called Single Sign-on Domain for specifying the NetBIOS domain name. If there is only one Active Directory domain, then you can use the same Session Policy for all users. However, if there are multiple domains, then you would need multiple Session Policies, one for each Active Directory domain. But as the NetScaler loops through the LDAP policies during authentication, once a successful LDAP policy is found, you need a method of linking an LDAP policy with a Session Policy that has the corresponding SSO Domain. This is typically done using AAA groups. This method is not detailed here but the general steps are: In the LDAP policy/server, specify a Default Authentication Group. Create a AAA Group that matches it. Then bind the corresponding Session Policy to that AAA group.
  • userPrincipalName – Alternatively, configure the LDAP policy/server to extract the user’s UPN and then authenticate to StoreFront using UPN. This is the easiest method but some domains don’t have userPrincipalNames configured correctly.

The userPrincipalName method is detailed below:

  1. In each of your NetScaler LDAP policies/servers, in the Other Settings section, in the SSO Name Attribute field, enter userPrincipalName. Make sure there are no spaces after this attribute name. NetScaler will use this pull this attribute from AD, and use it to Single Sign-on the user to StoreFront.
  2. In StoreFront Console, right-click  the Store, and click Manage Authentication Methods.
  3. On the right, click the gear icon, and then click Configure Trusted Domains.
  4. In the Trusted domains box, select Any domain.
  5. Or add your domains in DNS format. The advantage of entering domain names is that you can select a default domain if internal users forget to enter a domain name during login. The DNS format is required for UPN logins (e.g. SSO from NetScaler Gateway).
  6. On the NetScaler Virtual Server, bind LDAP authentication polices in priority order. It will search them in order until it finds a match.
  7. In your Session Policies/Profiles, in the Published Applications tab, make sure Single Sign-on Domain is not configured. Since NetScaler is using the userPrincipalName, there’s no need to specify a domain. If Single Sign-on Domain is configured, then Single Sign-on authentication will fail.