Category: StoreFront

Navigation

This article applies to StoreFront versions 2407, 2402 LTSR, 2203 LTSR, 1912 LTSR CU8 and all other versions 3.5 and newer.

• Change Log
• Disable CRL Checking to speed up .NET
• StoreFront can control Receiver Shortcut placement
• PNAgent – Authentication and Default Store
• Hide Applications/Desktops from the Store
• Desktop Autolaunch
• Force desktops to launch full screen
• Autolaunch Applications
• Store for Anonymous users
• Workspace Control
• Treat Desktops as Applications
• Enable Special Folder Redirection
• Disable “Remember My Password” in Receiver Self-Service
• Remove “Activate” Option from Receiver for Web
• Log Off RfWebUI seconds after an Icon Launch
• Customize Appearance of Receiver in StoreFront 3.0 and newer
• StoreFront SDKs

💡 = Recently Updated

Change Log

• 2023 Aug 16 – added info from CTX572543 How to auto launch published app while logon Storefront Web URL 
• 2019 Aug 10 – removed HTML5 Tour tweak
• 2018 Jun 25 – Customize Appearance – added info from CTX236110 How to customize the storefront website title
• 2018 May 25 – Customize Appearance – added CTP Sam Jacobs at StoreFront: Add Application Categories to Favorites Tab
• 2018 Jan 28 – in Customize Appearance section, added link to John Billekens Hide or change “domain\user or username@domain.com” text in Storefront
• 2018 Jan 27 – in Customize Appearance section, added link to George Spiers Insert Client IPs into the StoreFront logon page.
• 2017 Jan 3 – in Customize Appearance section, added link to CTP Sam Jacobs and Rich Minichiello Adding an EULA Checkbox to StoreFront logon page
  • Also added link to Citrix Blog Post How To: Add a Server Identifier to the StoreFront Page Footer.
• 2017 Jan 2 – in Customize Appearance section, added link to Trentent Tye Add a help button to your Storefront UI
• 2017 Dec 15 – in Customize Appearance section, added link to Citrix Blog Post Change Details links to stars
• 2017 Dec 2 – updated Docs links for 3.13 (current-release)

CRL Checking – Disable

When the StoreFront server checks certificate revocation for its locally signed files, a delay can occur before the StoreFront logon page is displayed.

1. Run the following PowerShell commands:

   Add-PSSnapin Citrix.DeliveryServices.Framework.Commands
   Set-DSAssemblyVerification $false

2. Another potential tweak to speed up StoreFront is to disable NetBIOS. Right-click the Start Menu and click Network Connections.
   
3. Right-click the NIC and click Properties.
   
4. Highlight Internet Protocol Version 4 and click Properties.
   
5. Click Advanced.
   
6. On the WINS tab, change the selection to Disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP and click OK twice and Close once.
   
7. Repeat on the other StoreFront servers.

Note: According to Microsoft, it is no longer necessary to configure generatePublisherEvidence in C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\aspnet.config.

Receiver Shortcuts

You can use StoreFront to control placement of shortcuts on Receiver machines.

1. Run Notepad elevated (as administrator).
2. Edit the file C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\Roaming\web.config.
   
3. Search for <account id. Find the Store name in the name attribute.
   
4. Scroll down to the first <properties> section located under <annotatedServices>.
5. See Using StoreFront account settings to customize app shortcut locations at Citrix Docs for a list of properties. Add the properties as detailed at Citrix Docs. The properties should be added after the clear tag.
6. Note: if subscriptions are enabled in StoreFront then only Favorites are added to the Start Menu and Desktop. If subscriptions are disabled then all applications are placed on the Start Menu or Desktop.
   
7. Close and save the file.
8. Then Propagate Changes.
   

PNAgent Authentication and Default Store

Default Store

If you point your browser to https://storefront.corp.com/Citrix/PNAgent/config.xml, which is the typical path for PNAgent, you’ll get a 404.

To fix this, in the StoreFront console, right-click the store, and click Configure XenApp Services Support.

In the bottom of the window, select the Default store, and click OK.

Now PNAgent can point to StoreFront without needing to specify a custom path. Note: this only works for /Citrix/PNAgent/config.xml.

Single Sign-on

From Configure authentication for XenApp Services URLs at Citrix Docs: XenApp Services URLs support explicit, domain pass-through, and pass-through with smart card authentication. Explicit authentication is enabled by default. You can change the authentication method, but only one authentication method can be configured for each XenApp Services URL. To enable multiple authentication methods, create separate stores, each with a XenApp Services URL, for each authentication method. To change the authentication method for a XenApp Services URL, you run a Windows PowerShell script.

1. On the primary StoreFront server in your deployment, use an account with local administrator permissions to start Windows PowerShell.
2. At a command prompt, type the following command to configure the user authentication method for users accessing the store through the XenApp Services URL.
   & "C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\Scripts\EnablePnaForStore.ps1" –SiteId 1 -ResourcesVirtualPath /Citrix/Store –LogonMethod sson
3. Propagate changes.

Remember my password

If you leave PNAgent authentication set to Prompt, you can enable the Remember my password box by doing the following:

1. Run Notepad as Administrator and edit the file C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\Store\Views\PnaConfig\Config.aspx.
   
2. Near line 74 is EnableSavePassword. Change it to true.
   
3. When PNAgent connects, there should now be a Remember my password checkbox.
   

Hide Applications

You can hide all icons of a particular type (Applications, Desktops, Documents). Or you can hide icons with a specific keyword.

Go to Stores > MyStore > Configure Store Settings > Advanced Settings, and look for the Filter options.

Filter resources by type lets you hide all Applications or all Desktops. If you are running Receiver inside a published desktop, then you probably don’t want desktop icons to be delivered by Receiver. In that case, create a new Store and filter the Desktop icons. Then only the application icons will be delivered.

Filter resources by excluded keywords lets you filter published icons that match a custom keyword.

Once the ExcludeKeyword has been defined, add the keyword to a published application or published desktop description, and that application/desktop will no longer display in Receiver. This works for both Receiver for Web and Receiver Self-Service (non-browser).

In XenDesktop 7.9 and and newer and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, to assign a description to a Desktop, you edit the Delivery Group, go to the Desktops page, and edit one of the Desktops. Citrix CTX220429 Configure Resource Filtering to Allow Desktops to be filtered on Storefront.

Desktop Autolaunch

By default, if only a single desktop is published to the user, Receiver for Web will auto-launch it. You can change this behavior by going to Stores > MyStore > Manage Receiver for Web Sites > Configure > Client Interface Settings and uncheck the box next to Auto launch desktop.

Full Screen Desktop

Citrix CTX139762 How to Configure StoreFront to Start Published Desktops in Full Screen Mode: This article describes how to configure StoreFront to start published desktops in Full Screen Mode.

1. Open the file C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\Store\App_Data\default.ica on the StoreFront server(s) with notepad (as Administrator)
2. Add the line:

   [Application]
   DesktopViewer-ForceFullScreenStartup=On

3. In older versions of StoreFront, it should be true instead of On.
4. Save the file.
5. Open the command prompt (cmd) and run iisreset.

Autolaunch Application

See CTX572543 How to auto launch published app while logon Storefront Web URL. Add the following code to the end of C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\<StoreName>Web\custom\script.js.

var ctxAppName = "AppName";
CTXS.Extensions.noteApp = function (app) {
  if(app.name == ctxAppName){ 
    CTXS.ExtensionAPI.launch(app);
  }
};

See the script.js code posted by Michael Bednarek at Citrix Discussions.

Store for Anonymous

If you intend to publish applications to anonymous users, then you can create a StoreFront store that does not require authentication. Note: anonymous stores only work internally (no NetScaler Gateway).

1. On the VDAs, create and configure anonymous accounts.
2. In Citrix Studio, configure a Delivery Group to accept unauthenticated (anonymous) users.
3. In the StoreFront Console, right-click Stores, and click Create Store.
   
4. In the Store Name and Access page, enter a new store name.
5. Check the box next to Allow only unauthenticated users to access this store.
6. Then click Next and finish the wizard like normal.
   
7. By default, Anonymous stores are hidden (not advertised). When performing discovery in Receiver you’ll need to enter the full path to the store (e.g. https://storefront.corp.com/Citrix/Anon/discovery).
   

Workspace Control

Workspace Control reconnects user sessions. It can be disabled. Or configure various reconnection options.

Citrix Blog Post Workspace Control: When You DON’T Want to Roam details complete session reconnection configuration instructions for XenApp, Remote Desktop Services, StoreFront, and Receiver.

Receiver for Web

Go to Stores > MyStore > Manage Receiver for Web Sites > Configure > Workspace Control page.

Receiver Self-Service

Citrix Blog Post – How to Disable Workspace Control Reconnect: For Receiver for Windows, Workspace Control can be managed on client devices by modifying the registry. Please see this Knowledgebase Article for how to implement it. This can also be done for domain-joined client devices using Group Policy.

In StoreFront Console, go to Stores > MyStore > Configure Store Settings > Advanced Settings, and there’s a setting for Allow session reconnect.

Treat Desktops as Applications

From Treating All Desktops as Applications at Citrix Blog Post What’s New in StoreFront 3.0: Desktops are treated differently from applications in StoreFront/Receivers. They are placed in a separate Desktop tab and in the case of Receiver for Web, they are not reconnected with workspace control. In some use cases, it is desirable to treat desktops as applications so that they are placed together with applications and get reconnected as part of workspace control. With StoreFront 2.x, you have to add the TreatAsApp keyword to all published desktops to achieve this effect. StoreFront 3.0 enables you to configure treating all desktops as applications at the store level without the need of adding the TreatAsApp keyword to all the published desktops. This is configurable using a PowerShell cmdlet.

& "C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\Scripts\ImportModules.ps1"

Set-EnhancedEnumerationOptions -siteId 1 -storeVirtualPath /Citrix/Store `
-treatDesktopsAsApps $true

Also see Citrix CTX223817 How to Configure “TreatAsApp” in XenDesktop 7.8.

Special Folder Redirection

From Configure special folder redirection at Citrix Docs: With Special Folder Redirection configured, Citrix maps Windows special folders for the server, to those on their local computers. Special folders refer to standard Windows folders, such as \Documents and \Desktop.

In StoreFront Console, go to Stores > Configure Store Settings > Advanced Settings and there’s an option for Allow special folder redirection.

Receiver Self-service – Disable “Remember My Password”

By default, when Receiver Self-Service connects internally to StoreFront, the user is able to check the box next to Remember my password. Note: When connecting through NetScaler Gateway, this checkbox is never available.

This can be disabled by making a change on the StoreFront server. This procedure is documented by John Ashman at Citrix Discussions and Prevent Citrix Receiver for Windows from caching passwords and usernames at Citrix Docs.

1. Note that this procedure seems to prevent Receiver for iOS from adding accounts.
2. On the StoreFront server, run a text editor elevated (as administrator).
   
3. Open the file C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreAuth\App_Data\Templates\UsernamePassword.tfrm.

4. Go to line 20, which should start with @SaveCredential.
5. To comment out the line, wrap it in @* and *@. Save the file when done.
   
   
6. Now the Remember My Password checkbox is gone.
   

“Activate” Option in Web Page – Disable

From Citrix Discussions: to disable the “activate…”; function for Citrix receiver for windows that is visible when a user clicks their username in the upper right hand corner of Receiver for Web, in StoreFront Console, go to Stores > MyStore > Manage Receiver for Web Sites > Configure > Client Interface Settings page. There’s a checkbox for Enable Receiver configuration.

Logoff Receiver for Web Seconds after Icon Launch

From Citrix Blog Post Logging Off Receiver for Web after an Application/Desktop Launch: Simply add the following code snippet to script.js in the custom folder for the Receiver for Web site (typically C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreWeb\custom\) you would like to customize:

var delayLogoffInSeconds = 10;

CTXS.Extensions.beforeWebLogoffIca = function(action) {
    return 'none';
};

CTXS.Extensions.postLaunch = function(app, status) {
    if (! CTXS.Device.isNativeClient()) {
        if (status == CTXS.LAUNCH_SUCCESS) {
            function logoff() {
                CTXS.Environment.logOff();
            }
            window.setTimeout(logoff, delayLogoffInSeconds * 1000);
        }
    }
};

Customize Receiver UI in StoreFront 3.x

StoreFront 3.x customizations are visible in both Receiver for Web and in Receiver Self-Service.

Note: these customizations might not work in StoreFront 1811 and newer, which has a different user interface.

If you are load balancing StoreFront and want to put the server name on the webpage (or Receiver), see Citrix Blog Post How To: Add a Server Identifier to the StoreFront Page Footer. This works in StoreFront 1811 and newer.

George Spiers Insert Client IPs into the StoreFront logon page.

John Billekens Hide or change “domain\user or username@domain.com” text in Storefront: In C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\<Store>Web\custom\style.css, add the following to hide the text:

.credentialform span.pseudo-input.show {
 visibility: hidden;
}

For StoreFront older than version 1811, Citrix Blog Post Dynamic Subscription Icons in StoreFront explains how to change the Details link to a star icon based on subscription status. The star icons are not clickable like they are in StoreFront 1811 and newer.

Trentent Tye at Citrix Storefront – Adventures in customization – Add a help button to your Storefront UI uses CTXS.ExtensionAPI.addHelpButton() and CTXS.ExtensionAPI.openUrl() to add a help button which opens a help page URL. This also works in StoreFront 1811 and newer.

CTP Sam Jacobs and Rich Minichiello Adding an EULA Checkbox to StoreFront logon page

From CTP Sam Jacobs at StoreFront: Add Application Categories to Favorites Tab at CUGC. It’s a simple matter to get it to again appear. Back up the file \inetpub\wwwroot\citrix\<store>Web\custom\style.css, and add the following to the bottom of the file:

.largeTiles .myapps-view .storeapp-category {
display: block;
}

Nicolas Ignoto Lab: Part 22 – Ultimate StoreFront 3 customization guide contains many StoreFront customizations including:

• Add disclaimer
• Change logo/background
• Add header
• Add text
• Change colors
• Etc.

Citrix Blog Post Citrix Customization Cookbook contains a collection of customizations including:

• Add Static or dynamic (read from file) text to the header and/or footer of the login page.
• Click-through disclaimer before or after login page
• Footer for every page
• Default to Folder view when visiting the Apps tab
• Change default text
• Change background images for featured categories
• Background image

Citrix Blog Post Storefront 3 Web Customization: Branding Your Deployment describes how to modify the following CSS to customize the appearance of StoreFront 3.x

• Background images
• Logon button
• Colors for page and text
• How to view the mobile version of the page
• CSS for mobile pages

Jason Samuel Upgrading Citrix StoreFront 2.6 to StoreFront 3.0 – Things to Know details how to change the StoreFront logo to a Receiver logo.

Citrix Blog Post StoreFront Message Customization describes how to add a scrolling message to the top of the screen. This is displayed in both Browsers and Receivers. This post contains a new version of the executable that supports StoreFront 3.0 and newer.

Migrate Web Interface features to StoreFront at Citrix Docs details how to configure Web Interface features in StoreFront. This includes:

• Enable return to last folder
• Header logo
• Pre-logon welcome message
• Logon screen customization
• Footer text

The code for pre-login message is already included in C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreWeb\custom\script.js. Just remove the comment. Source = Citrix CTX227805 StoreFront 3.11 >>How to get the login banner on Storefront page

Rody Kossen and his colleague Leon Koppel built a customisation layer that reads the state of the resources presented to the end-user. If a desktop is under maintenance, inform the user so he knows before he tries to access the resource. Get the code from Citrix Blog Post Putting the Experience First, Where it Belongs.  💡

StoreFront 3.0 Receiver Customization APIs are detailed at Citrix Developer. Use the Receiver Customization API to brand or customize your end users’ app and desktop selection experience beyond capabilities provided in the StoreFront admin console. Customizations apply to latest Web, Chrome, Windows, Mac and Linux clients, and will be extended to mobile devices in future releases.

• Trentent Tye at Citrix Storefront – Adventures in customization – Change any ICA parameter has code that allows HTTP Request Headers to change the ICA File Parameters. For example, HTTP Headers can change the Client Name, or pass Parameters to a published application.
  
• Trentent Tye at Citrix Storefront – Adventures in customization – Dynamically configure workspace control based on group membership used the API to dynamically enable/disable Workspace Control based on AD group membership. It uses a PowerShell-based HTTP server to process the group lookup.
  • See Citrix Storefront – Adventures in customization – Dynamically configure features based on group membership to change authentication based on group membership
    
• An example use case for the StoreFront 3.0 APIs is Citrix Blog Post Citrix Recipe Box: StoreFront Approvals. This code enables StoreFront to require workflow approval when a user subscribes to an app.
  

CTX221097 How to rename items on StoreFront? describes the strings that can be changed.

1. Go to C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\<StoreName>Web\custom
2. Open strings.en.js file
3. See below for an example of overriding one of the built-in strings. See the article for the full list of strings.
4. AppStore defines the title of the website. (Source = CTX236110 How to customize the storefront website title)
   

Citrix Blog Post Receiver X1 APIs describes the following:

• Overview of the CSS classes that can be customized.
• Override Citrix’s JavaScript functions to modify behavior – exclude or restyle apps, change a sort order, add a warning message etc.
• How to force X1 UI to display in either phone or larger mode.

Citrix Blog Post X1 Customization: Going deeper with CSS describes the following:

• Use CSS (/custom/style.css) to style the three custom regions (#customTop, #customBottom, #customScrollTop). Shown below in red, blue, and pink.
  
• Marker classes for showing/hiding or highlighting parts of the UI: large display, small display, high DPI, Favorites view, Desktops view, Apps view, appinfo view.

Citrix Blog Post Scripting X1 describes the following:

• JavaScript code to display an Acceptance dialog box before users can login.
  
• Use JQuery to add HTML code to custom regions (e.g. #customScrollTop) including using CSS to hide the HTML code unless a specific tab is selected by the user.

Citrix Blog Post – Rewriting the Session ClientName from StoreFront: I would like to offer the following customisation DLL which can apply client name rewrites based on a template. The customisation template can be any string, but where that string contains a particular token, the token will be replaced by some information from the User Context. If the intent was just to replace the ClientName with the user name, the template is then just “$U”. More details and the .dll file are in the blog post.

• See CTP Jason Samuel How to rewrite the Client Name in Citrix StoreFront 3.9 using StoreFront SDK for detailed info on how to implement this customization in StoreFront 3.8, and how to handle upgrades.
  

StoreFront Store Customization SDK at Citrix Developer: The Store Customization SDK allows you to apply custom logic to the process of displaying resources to users and to adjust launch parameters. For example, you can use the SDK to control which apps and desktops are displayed to users, to change ICA virtual channel parameters, or to modify access conditions through XenApp and XenDesktop policy selection. Key Customization Points:

• Post-Enumeration
• Post-Launch ICA File
• Post-Session Enumeration
• Access Conditions (pre-launch and pre-enumeration)
• Provider List
• Device information

Citrix Blog Post Adding a Language to StoreFront 3.0: A new language pack is comprised of a culture definition file, a string bundle file and a custom string bundle file. See the Blog Post for more details.

To force StoreFront to only use English, add the following to c:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreWeb\custom\script.js as detailed at Set default language to EN at Citrix Discussions:
CTXS.Environment.getPreferredLanguages = function () { return null; }

To change the StoreFront page title, see Sam Jacobs How to Change the Page Title in Citrix Receiver 3.x at mycugc.org.

Customizations detailed at topic Modify Receiver for Web site at Citrix Discussions:

• Add Featured App Groups to Categories View
• Increase the number of Featured applications beyond the default of 3.

StoreFront SDKs

Most of the StoreFront SDK documentation can be found at https://developer-docs.citrix.com/projects/storefront-sdk/en/latest/

StoreFront Store Customization SDK – Use the Store Customization SDK to apply custom logic to the process of displaying resources to users and to adjust launch parameters.  For example, you can use the SDK to control which apps and desktops are displayed to users, to change ICA virtual channel parameters, or to modify access conditions through XenApp and XenDesktop policy selection.

StoreFront Web API – Receiver for Web is a component of Citrix StoreFront that provides access to applications and desktops using a Web browser. It consists of a User Interface tier and a StoreFront Services Web Proxy tier.

StoreFront Authentication SDKs – With StoreFront 3.0, we have introduced a new Unified UI that is delivered from StoreFront to Receiver on all client platforms. Use the Receiver Customization API to brand or customize your end users’ app and desktop selection experience beyond capabilities provided in the StoreFront admin console. Customizations apply to latest Web, Chrome, Windows, Mac and Linux clients, and will be extended to mobile devices in future releases.

StoreFront PowerShell SDK – Citrix StoreFront provides an SDK based on a number of Microsoft Windows PowerShell version 3.0 modules. With this SDK, you can perform the same tasks as you would with the StoreFront MMC console, together with tasks you cannot do with the console alone.

Related Pages

• StoreFront 2203 LTSR through 3.5 – Basic Configuration
• Back to StoreFront 2203 LTSR through 3.5
• Citrix Gateway 12.1 / NetScaler Gateway 12.0
• Citrix Gateway 13.x

Navigation

This article applies to StoreFront versions 2407, 2402 LTSR, 2203 LTSR, 1912 LTSR CU8 and all other versions 3.5 and newer.

• Change Log
• StoreFront Configuration for Citrix Gateway
  • Citrix Gateway Logon Page Theme
• Single FQDN for internal and external
• Design StoreFront and Citrix Gateway for Multiple Data Centers
  • HTTP protocol vs ICA protocol
  • StoreFront and Multiple Sites or Zones
  • StoreFront in Multiple Data Centers
  • Typical Multi-datacenter Design
• StoreFront Configuration for Multiple Data Centers
  • Configure Icon Aggregation and Home Sites
  • Configure HDX Optimal Gateway
• Multiple Gateways Connecting to One StoreFront

Changelog

• 2023 Dec 22 – Enable multiple site management
• 2019 Dec 5 – Internal Beacon – added link to Julian Mooren Citrix ADC – How to create a High Available Beacon Point for Citrix StoreFront
• 2019 Mar 30 – changed NetScaler Gateway to Citrix Gateway for StoreFront 1903
• 2018 Sep 2 – replaced XenApp/XenDesktop with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops
• 2018 Mar 13 – in the Icon Aggregation section, added link to CTA Dennis Span Citrix StoreFront Multi-Site Aggregation with PowerShell at CUGC
• 2017 Dec 2 – updated Docs links for current-release

StoreFront Configuration for Citrix Gateway

See the Citrix Gateway ICA Proxy for instructions to create a Citrix Gateway Virtual Server for ICA Proxy and StoreFront. You then must configure StoreFront to enable the Gateway.

1. In the StoreFront Console, in the middle, right-click your Store, and click Manage Authentication Methods.
   
2. Ensure Pass-through from Citrix Gateway is selected and click OK.
   
3. In the StoreFront Console, right-click the Stores node, and click Manage Citrix Gateways.
   
4. If StoreFront 3.6 or newer, notice the imported from file link on top. This is a new feature of NetScaler 11.1 and newer. An example configuration that uses this feature can be found in the StoreFrontAuth page.
   
   
5. If you’re not using the Gateway config file from NetScaler 11.1 and newer, click Add.
   
   1. In the General Settings page, enter a display name. This name appears in Citrix Receiver or Citrix Workspace app, so make it descriptive.
   2. In the Citrix Gateway URL field, enter the Citrix Gateway Public URL that resolves to the Citrix Gateway VIP.
      • The URL entered here must match what users enter into their browser address bars.
      • This URL can be a GSLB-enabled DNS name.
      • The Gateway URL usually does not need to be reachable from StoreFront unless you need the Callback for SmartAccess or non-password authentication (e.g. Smart Cards or Citrix Federated Authentication Service).
   3. Click Next.
      
   4. In the Secure Ticket Authority page, click Add.
      
   5. Enter the URL to a Delivery Controller. This can be http or https.
      • STA is installed automatically on Delivery Controllers.
      • There is no relationship between STA and CVAD farms. Any CVAD farm can use any STA server.
      • StoreFront chooses the STA server. Citrix Gateway must be configured to use the same STA servers that StoreFront chose.
   6. Click OK.
      
   7. Continue adding Secure Ticket Authorities (Delivery Controllers). Whatever Secure Ticket Authorities you add here must also be added to the Citrix Gateway Virtual Server on the Citrix ADC appliance. Click Next.
      
   8. In the Authentication Settings page, the VServer IP Address field is typically left blank. You only use this field if you have multiple Gateways (on separate appliance pairs) connecting to one StoreFront server. See below for details.
   9. If you need SmartAccess or non-password authentication (e.g. Smart Cards or Citrix Federated Authentication Service), then enter the Callback URL.
      • The Callback URL must resolve to any Citrix Gateway VIP on the same appliance that authenticated the user. Edit the HOSTS file on the StoreFront server so the Callback URL resolves correctly.
      • If you are configuring Single FQDN, then the Callback URL must be different than the Single FQDN.
      • The Gateway Virtual Server that the Callback URL resolves to must have a trusted and valid certificate that matches the FQDN you are entering here.
      • The Gateway Virtual Server that the Callback URL resolves to must not have client certificates set to Mandatory.
      • See CTX399424 Gateway Callback and / or XML Communication fails after upgrade to Storefront 2203 for a workaround.
   10. If you don’t need SmartAccess or non-password authentication, then leave the Callback URL field empty.
       
   11. If you enabled two-factor authentication (LDAP and RADIUS) on your Citrix Gateway, change the Logon type to Domain and security token. Otherwise leave it set to Domain only.
       
   12. Click Create.
       
   13. Then click Finish.
       
6. You can add more Gateways depending on your design. Multiple datacenters typically requires multiple Gateways. Click Close when done.
   
7. To enable the store to use Citrix Gateway, in the middle, right-click your store, and click Configure Remote Access Settings.
   
   1. Check the box next to Enable Remote Access.
   2. Leave it set to No VPN tunnel.
      • Note: if you want Receiver to automatically launch a VPN tunnel, then see CTX200664 How to Configure Receiver for Seamless Experience Through NetScaler Gateway.
   3. Check the box next to the Citrix Gateway object you just created. This binds the Gateway to the Store.
   4. If you have multiple Gateways, select one of them as the Default appliance.
      • Note: when you point Receiver to a Citrix Gateway URL for Discovery, after Discovery is complete, the Default appliance selected here is the Gateway that Receiver uses. In other words, Receiver ignores the Gateway you entered during discovery.
   5. Click OK to close the Configure Remote Access Settings dialog box.
      
8. In the StoreFront Console, right-click the Stores node, and click Manage Beacons.
   
9. In the top half of the window, make sure the Internal beacon is set to a URL that is only reachable internally.
   1. If you are configuring Single FQDN, then the Internal beacon must be different than the Single FQDN.
   2. Service URL = the StoreFront Base URL. If you’re not configuring Single FQDN, then the Base URL is usually not accessible externally and is acceptable as an Internal Beacon.
   3. The Internal beacon must never go down. If it’s down, then internal native Receivers will stop working. One option is to configure a Citrix ADC Responder HTML page as detailed at Julian Mooren Citrix ADC – How to create a High Available Beacon Point for Citrix StoreFront. 💡
   4. Click OK when done.
      
10. Right-click the Server Group node, and click Propagate Changes.
    

Citrix Gateway Logon Page Theme

To make the Citrix Gateway logon page look like Receiver 3.0 and newer, see Citrix Gateway 12 Portal Theme. The Citrix Gateway X1 theme has the fewest issues and the most readily available documentation for customization. The Citrix Gateway RfWebUI theme has less documentation for customizations.

Single FQDN

Overview

Links:

• Citrix CTX200848 How to Configure Single Fully Qualified Domain Name for StoreFront and NetScaler Gateway
• Citrix Docs – Create a single Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) to access a store internally and externally

You can either define separate FQDNs for StoreFront Load Balancing (internal) and Citrix Gateway (external). Or, you can define a Single FQDN for both.

Single FQDN has the following requirements:

• Receivers:
  • Receiver for Windows 4.2 or newer. Or upgrade to Workspace app.
  • Receiver for Mac 11.9 or newer. Or upgrade to Workspace app.
  • Mobile Receivers
• StoreFront 2.6 or newer
• Split DNS – different DNS resolution for internal vs external
  • Internal DNS should resolve the Single FQDN to the StoreFront Load Balancing VIP
  • External DNS should resolve the Single FQDN to the Citrix Gateway VIP (public IP)
• NetScaler 10.1 or newer
• The FQDN for Internal Beacon must be different than the Single FQDN.
  • The Internal Beacon URL must not be externally resolvable or accessible.
  • If Internal Beacon is down, then internal Receiver Self-Service clients will not function correctly.
  • Internal Beacon URL can be http instead of https.
  • If Internal Beacon URL is https, then the machine hosting the IP address for the Internal Beacon must have a certificate that matches the Internal Beacon FQDN.
• The FQDN for Citrix Gateway Callback must be a different FQDN than the Single FQDN. Callback is only needed for SmartAccess and SAML.
  • Callback FQDN can resolve tot he same Gateway VIP used by external users. Or, you can create a new Gateway VIP on the same appliance that authenticated the users.
  • The Gateway Virtual Server for Callback must have a certificate that matches the Callback FQDN.

DNS caching interferes with Single FQDN – Note: if you have laptops that move from internal to external and back again, then DNS caching will interfere with Single FQDN. The DNS response for Single FQDN needs to change whenever the device moves from internal to external and back again. However, Receiver uses the same DNS cache as Internet Explorer, which caches DNS responses for 30 minutes. To clear the DNS cache, you have to close Receiver and re-open it. The DNS response you see when you ping the Single FQDN does not necessarily match the DNS response used by Internet Explorer and Receiver.

Configure Single FQDN without email-based discovery

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). Internally, the DNS name resolves to the 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). Externally, the DNS name resolves to a public IP, which is NAT’d to Citrix Gateway VIP on DMZ Citrix ADC. Set the Citrix Gateway object in StoreFront to this FQDN.
   
   
   
3. If you need SmartAccess, then the Callback URL = any DNS name (e.g. callback.corp.com) that resolves to a Citrix Gateway VIP on the same DMZ Citrix ADC appliance that authenticated the user. The Callback URL cannot be the Single FQDN.
   
   • Callback URL can be omitted if you don’t need SmartAccess features, or SAML authentication.
   • The callback DNS name must be different than the Single FQDN.
   • The callback DNS name must resolve to a Citrix Gateway VIP on the same appliance that authenticated the user. This could be the same DMZ Gateway VIP used by external users. Or you can create a separate internal Gateway VIP on the same appliance.
   • The Citrix Gateway vServer for callback must have a certificate that matches the Callback DNS name.
4. Internal Beacon = any internal website URL that is not externally accessible. You can’t use the Single FQDN as the Internal Beacon. Note: if the internal beacon is down, then internal Receiver Self-service will not work correctly.
   
   • Make sure the Internal Beacon is not resolvable externally.
   • The Internal Beacon URL cannot be the Single FQDN. It must be different.
   • Ideally, the Internal Beacon should be a new DNS name that resolves to a StoreFront Load Balancing VIP.
   • If the internal beacon is https, then the certificate must match the internal beacon DNS name. However, http URLs also work.
   • See CTX218708 How to Configure Internal Beacon for Single FQDN on StoreFront.
5. Make sure the DMZ Citrix ADC resolves the Single FQDN to the internal StoreFront Load Balancing VIP. You typically add internal DNS servers to the Citrix ADC. Or you can create a local Address Record on Citrix ADC for the Single FQDN.
   
   
6. In the Citrix Gateway Session Profiles, on the Published Applications tab, set the Web Interface Address, and the Account Services Address to the Single FQDN.
   
   
   
7. That’s all you need to implement Single FQDN. If you made changes to an existing StoreFront deployment, then you might have to remove accounts from Receiver, and re-add the account.

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

DNS:

• Sample DNS names:
  • Single FQDN = citrix.corp.com
  • Callback FQDN = callback.corp.com
  • Internal Beacon FQDN = internalbeacon.corp.com
• External DNS:
  • citrix.corp.com resolves to a public IP, which is NAT’d to a Citrix Gateway VIP on a DMZ Citrix ADC.
  • If email-based discovery, SRV record for _citrixreceiver._tcp.email.suffix points to citrix.corp.com. Create this SRV record in every email suffix DNS zone.
• Internal DNS:
  • citrix.corp.com resolves to the Load Balancing VIP for StoreFront
  • callback.corp.com resolves to a Citrix Gateway VIP on the same Citrix ADC that authenticated the user. Usually only needed for SmartAccess and/or SAML.
  • 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 citrix.corp.com. Create this SRV record in every email suffix DNS zone.

Certificates:

• External, publicly-signed certificate for Citrix Gateway:
  • One option is wildcard for *.corp.com. Assumes email suffix is also corp.com. If you more than one email suffix, then wildcard will not work.
  • Another option is the following Subject Alternative Names:
    • citrix.corp.com
    • callback.corp.com – for callback URL. Only accessed from internal.
      • Or you can create a separate internally-facing Gateway vServer for callback with a separate certificate.
    • If email-based discovery, discoverReceiver.email.suffix for each email suffix. If you have multiple email suffixes, you’ll need multiple SAN Names.
• Internal certificate for StoreFront Load Balancing:
  • Publicly-signed certificate is recommended, especially for mobile devices and thin clients.
  • Since you have the same DNS name for internal and external, you can use the external certificate for internal StoreFront.
  • One option is wildcard for *.corp.com. Assumes email suffix is also corp.com. If you have more than one email suffix, then wildcard will not work.
  • Another option is the following Subject Alternative Names:
    • citrix.corp.com
    • If email-based discovery, discoverReceiver.email.suffix for every email suffix. If you have multiple email suffixes, then you will have multiple SAN names.

StoreFront Configuration:

• Base URL = https://citrix.corp.com
• Internal beacon = https://internalbeacon.corp.com. Make sure it’s not resolvable externally.
• Gateway object:
  • Gateway URL = https://citrix.corp.com
  • Callback URL = https://callback.corp.com

Receiver for Web session policy:

• Policy expression = REQ.HTTP.HEADER User-Agent NOTCONTAINS CitrixReceiver
• Client Experience tab:
  • Clientless Access = Allow or Off
  • Plug-in Type = Java
  • Single Sign-on to Web Applications = checked
• Security tab:
  • Default authorization = ALLOW
• Published Applications tab:
  • ICA Proxy = On
  • Web Interface address = https://citrix.corp.com/Citrix/StoreWeb
  • Single Sign-on Domain = Corp

Receiver Self-Service session policy:

• Policy expression = REQ.HTTP.HEADER User-Agent CONTAINS CitrixReceiver
• Client Experience tab:
  • Clientless Access = Allow or Off
  • Plug-in Type = Java
  • Single Sign-on to Web Applications = checked
• Security tab:
  • Default authorization = ALLOW
• Published Applications tab:
  • ICA Proxy = On
  • Web Interface address = https://citrix.corp.com
  • Single Sign-on Domain = Corp
  • Account Services address = https://citrix.corp.com

Multiple Datacenters / Farms

Multi-datacenter Citrix Gateway and StoreFront Design

HTTP vs ICA

There are two connections from every Citrix client:

• HTTP (SSL required) – goes to StoreFront
  • HTTP is usually proxied through Citrix ADC load balancing
  • If external, HTTP is proxied through Citrix Gateway, which proxies it through Citrix ADC load balancing.
  • HTTP traffic is initiated by either a web browser, or by Receiver Self-Service
• ICA (SSL optional) – goes to Virtual Delivery Agent
  • ICA can go direct (internal) to a VDA
  • Or ICA can be proxied through Citrix Gateway ICA Proxy
  • ICA traffic is handled by Workspace app’s ICA engine – either locally installed Workspace app, or HTML5 Workspace app

The FQDN for the HTTP connection can be the same or different than the FQDN for the ICA connection.

The HTTP connection is easily handled by GSLB, HTTP/SSL load balancing, etc.

1. DNS name – Users connect to a DNS name that resolves to StoreFront and/or Citrix Gateway.
   1. StoreFront is usually proxied through Citrix ADC Load Balancing.
   2. If Citrix Gateway, the HTTP connection is proxied to StoreFront, usually through Load Balancing.
2. Separate VIP per datacenter – For multiple datacenters, each datacenter has its own StoreFront and/or Citrix Gateway VIP.
3. GSLB resolves the DNS name to one of the datacenter VIPs.
   1. This can be active/active, or active/passive.
4. Proximity and persistence – For active/active, since StoreFront traffic (HTTP) is so minimal, it usually doesn’t matter which datacenter is selected. But you can optionally enable one of the Proximity GSLB load balancing algorithms so the closest datacenter is selected.
   1. Enable one of the GSLB Service cookie-based persistence methods. Connection Proxy is the easiest to configure.

The ICA connection is dictated by StoreFront.

1. .ica file – When a user clicks an icon in StoreFront, StoreFront generates an .ica file containing an address.
   1. If the user is internal, then the .ica file usually contains the private IP address of the Virtual Delivery Agent. Receiver connects directly to the VDA’s private IP.
   2. If the user is connecting through Citrix Gateway, or if HDX Optimal Routing is enabled, then the .ica file usually contains the FQDN of a Citrix Gateway that can proxy the ICA connection.
2. Receiver engine for ICA protocol – The StoreFront provided .ica file is given to a Receiver engine. Receiver engine (locally installed Receiver, or HTML5 Receiver), uses ICA protocol to connect to the address contained inside the .ica file.
3. One public IP – For external users, an advantage of Citrix Gateway is that you only have to expose one public IP address per datacenter no matter how many VDAs you have.
4. FQDN for Gateway – For Citrix Gateway, StoreFront inserts a FQDN into the .ica file. This FQDN can be one of the following:
   1. Active/active GSLB
   2. Datacenter-specific – If you have two datacenters, each datacenter has a unique FQDN that resolves to a specific Citrix Gateway VIP in a specific datacenter. GSLB active/passive handles failover if the datacenter-specific VIP is down.
5. ICA Routing – ICA traffic is heavier and more latency sensitive than StoreFront. Thus you typically want to control which datacenter is used for the ICA connection. There are two common designs:
   1. Proxy ICA traffic through a Citrix Gateway that’s in the same datacenter as the VDA.
   2. Proxy ICA traffic through the Citrix Gateway that’s closest to the user. The idea here is that back haul WAN connections are faster than Internet connection to a remote datacenter.
6. HDX Optimal Routing – For proxying ICA through Citrix Gateway in the same datacenter as the VDA, StoreFront has two methods for identifying the Citrix Gateway that’s closest to the VDA:
   1. Different Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops site/farm in each datacenter. If a VDA is launched from a particular site/farm, then provide the Citrix Gateway FQDN that is associated with that site/farm. This is configured using HDX Optimal Routing.
   2. Different Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops zone per datacenter. If the VDA is launched from a particular zone, then provide the Citrix Gateway FQDN that is associated with that zone. This is configured using HDX Optimal Routing.
7. Proximity and Persistence – For proxying ICA through a Citrix Gateway that is closest to the user, StoreFront returns an FQDN that is GSLB Active/Active load balanced using a Proximity load balancing algorithm.
   1. ICA is usually a long-lived TCP connection to the Citrix Gateway VIP.
   2. You can enable Source IP persistence on the active/active GSLB Virtual Server.
   3. Another method of proximity load balancing ICA is to configure Citrix ADC to insert a header to StoreFront indicating the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops zone the user is connecting from. See the GSLB Powered Zone Preference whitepaper.

Internal Citrix Gateway ICA Proxy? – Internal users typically have direct connectivity to VDA Private IP addresses, so you usually don’t need to use Citrix Gateway ICA Proxy internally. However, an advantage of using Citrix Gateway ICA Proxy internally is that now all ICA traffic is going through a Citrix Gateway, which makes it easy to enable AppFlow (HDX Insight) reporting to Citrix Application Delivery Management (ADM).

• ICA Proxy through Citrix Gateway wraps ICA traffic in SSL, increasing the packet size.
• SSL-Encrypted ICA packets cannot be optimized by normal WAN optimization products.

StoreFront and Multiple Sites/Farms

A Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Site/Farm is a collection of Delivery Controllers that share a single Site SQL Database. Multiple Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Sites/Farms implies multiple Site SQL databases, each configured separately. Note: farm is the old name for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Site.

• If you stretch a single Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Site/Farm across datacenters, then you have to deal with replication and recovery of the single SQL database.
• Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Zones and Local Host Cache make it more feasible to stretch a farm. See XenDesktop Site Failover – how do you do it? at CUGC for an excellent discussion on multi-datacenter zone design.
• VDAs can only register with one Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Site/farm.

Multiple Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Sites/Farms – StoreFront can enumerate icons from multiple Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Sites/Farms. If there are identical icons in multiple farms, then the icons can be aggregated so that only a single icon is displayed to the user. When the user clicks the icon, StoreFront then needs to select a site/farm.

• CVAD 2311 and newer have multiple site management in Web Studio in the Settings node.
  
  
  • Use the Site selector at the top right of the page.
    
• In StoreFront, Sites/Farms can be prioritized (active/passive) for different Active Directory groups. This allows you to specify a “home” site for specific users. Typically, you set the preferred site/farm to be in the same datacenter that contains the user’s home directory and roaming profile.
• Or sites/farms can be active/active load balanced. This works best for applications that have synchronized active/active back-end data.

Icon aggregation – There are two methods of configuring icon aggregation in StoreFront:

• StoreFront Console GUI – The most common multi-site/farm configurations can be done in the StoreFront Console GUI, including configuration of “Home Sites” (different AD groups prioritizing different sites/farms).
• XML files – for more complex multi-site configurations. See Citrix Docs – Set up highly available multi-site store configurations

Note: if you have existing subscriptions/favorites, then enabling icon aggregation will cause the existing subscriptions to be ignored. You can migrate the existing subscriptions by exporting, modifying, and importing. See Subscriptions Missing after Enabling Aggregation at Citrix Discussions.

StoreFront in Multiple Datacenters

Stretching – Citrix does not support stretching a single StoreFront Server Group across multiple datacenters. Each datacenter is expected be a different StoreFront Server Group.

• Citrix provides scaling guidance for up to 6 servers in a single StoreFront Server Group.

Management – Each StoreFront Server Group is managed separately.

• Subscriptions/Favorites can be replicated between the two StoreFront Sever Groups.

Receiver Roaming – When Citrix Receiver switches between different StoreFront Server Groups in multiple datacenters, it’s possible for each datacenter to be treated as a separate Store, causing multiple Store entries in Receiver. This can be prevented by ensuring the following configurations are identical in both datacenters. Source = Juan Zevallos at Citrix Discussions:

• Match the SRID – in StoreFront, if you use the same Base URL in the 2 separate installations, then the SRID should end up being identical. If the Base URL 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 Base URL
• Match the Delivery Controller names under “Manage Delivery Controllers” – The XML brokers can be different, but the actual name of the Delivery Controller/Farms must be identical.
  

Typical Multi-Datacenter Configuration

Here’s a typical active/active Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops configuration using separate sites/farms in each datacenter. Another option is zones.

• Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Sites/Farms: Separate Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops sites/farms in each datacenter.
  • The Delivery Controllers for each site/farm point to a SQL database in the local datacenter. There usually is no need to enable SQL failover across datacenters.
  • Each datacenter is managed separately. But Citrix Policies in a GPO can apply to both sites/farms.
  • An advantage of separate sites/farms is that you can upgrade one datacenter before upgrading the other.
• StoreFront Server Groups: Separate StoreFront Server Groups in each datacenter.
  • Citrix doesn’t support stretching a single StoreFront Server Group across a WAN link.
  • Each Server Group is configured identically. You can export the config from one Server Group, and import it to the other. Or configure each of them separately, but identically. Identical means: same Base URL, same farms (Manage Delivery Controllers), same SRID, same Gateways, and same Beacons.
  • If subscriptions/favorites are enabled, use PowerShell commands to configure subscription replication between the two Server Groups.
• StoreFront Load Balancing: Separate StoreFront load balancing VIP in each datacenter
  • Each Load Balancing VIP can be active/passive. Active = the StoreFront servers in the local datacenter. Passive = the StoreFront servers in the remote datacenter.
    • Create two Load Balancing vServers: one for local StoreFront, one for remote StoreFront. In the Active (local) Load Balancing vServer, add the Protection section, and configure the Backup (remote) vServer.
    • When the active StoreFront is down, Citrix Gateway will use StoreFront in the remote datacenter. However, the remote datacenter has its own Citrix Gateway, thus there will be two different Citrix Gateways connecting to one StoreFront Server Group. If you use SmartAccess or SAML and need the Callback URL, then you’ll need a special StoreFront configuration to handle the Callback URL from multiple Gateway appliances.
• Icon aggregation: Configure StoreFront to aggregate icons from the two farms.
  • Use AD groups to specify a user’s home datacenter, which contains the user’s roaming profile and home directory.
  • Configure farm priority based on AD groups. For an aggregated icon, the AD group and farm priority determines which farm the icon is launched from.
• External Citrix Gateways: Externally-accessible Citrix Gateway ICA Proxy VIPs in both datacenters.
  • The main Citrix Gateway DNS name is active/active GSLB. For example: citrix.company.com)
  • Each datacenter has a datacenter-specific GSLB active/passive DNS name for Citrix Gateway. For example: citrix-a.company.com, and citrix-b.company.com
  • The Gateway SSL certificate needs to match all three DNS names: the main active/active DNS name, and the two datacenter-specific active/passive DNS names.
• Internal Citrix Gateways: Internally-accessible Citrix Gateway ICA Proxy VIPs in both datacenters for AppFlow reporting.
  • For AppFlow/Insight reporting, Citrix Gateway ICA Proxy is typically used internally too. If you don’t need AppFlow, then you don’t need internal Citrix Gateway.
  • To handle Single Sign-on from Receiver, internal Receivers will connect HTTP directly to StoreFront Load Balancing instead of proxied through Citrix Gateway.
    • This implies that you have separate DNS names for StoreFront and Citrix Gateway.
  • HDX Optimal Routing will force the ICA connection to go through Citrix Gateway instead of directly to the VDA.
  • HDX Optimal Routing is a global setting that applies to both internal and external users. The DNS name used by HDX Optimal Routing must be valid for both internal and external. If this is not the case, then you can deploy separate StoreFront servers for internal and external.
  • DNS:
    • The main Citrix Gateway DNS name is active/active GSLB. For example: citrix.company.com.
    • Each datacenter has a datacenter-specific GSLB active/passive DNS name for Citrix Gateway. For example: citrix-a.company.com, and citrix-b.company.com
    • The Gateway SSL certificate needs to match all three DNS names – the main active/active DNS name, and the two datacenter-specific active/passive DNS names.
• Main StoreFront and Gateway FQDNs: separate FQDNs for StoreFront and Citrix Gateway.
  • Externally,  citrix.company.com resolves to a Citrix Gateway VIP.
  • Internally,  storefront.company.com resolves to a StoreFront Load balancing VIP.
  • Single FQDN usually causes more problems than it’s worth. If you don’t do Single FQDN, then you can hide the StoreFront DNS name by pushing the store configuration to Receiver using Group Policy. Browser users would only need to know the Citrix Gateway DNS name.
• DNS Delegation for GSLB: multiple DNS names are delegated from internal DNS and public DNS to Citrix ADNS (internal and external) for GSLB.
  • Internal GSLB and public GSLB need to resolve citrix.company.com differently. Public GSLB should resolve it to public IPs. Internal GSLB should resolve it to internal IPs.
  • Combining internal and public GSLB on the same Citrix ADC is not recommended. Public GSLB should be handled by DMZ Citrix ADC appliances. Internal GSLB should be handled by Internal Citrix ADC appliances.
  • If you only have one Citrix ADC appliance for both internal and public, then see One appliance resolving a single DNS name differently for internal and public at GSLB Planning.
  • citrix.company.com is configured as Active/Active GSLB with Proximity Load Balancing, and Site Persistence equal or greater than StoreFront RfWeb timeout.
  • citrix-a.company.com is configured as Active/Passive GSLB with Datacenter A as the Active service.
  • citrix-b.company.com is configured as Active/Passive GSLB with Datacenter B as the Active service.
  • storefront.company.com is configured as Active/Active GSLB with Proximity Load Balancing, and Site Persistence equal or greater than StoreFront RfWeb timeout.
• HDX Optimal Routing: Use HDX Optimal Routing to route ICA traffic through the Citrix Gateway that is closest to the destination farm. This requires datacenter-specific DNS names (e.g. citrix-a.company.com, citrix-b.company.com)
  • You can use one of these DNS names to connect to StoreFront in a specific datacenter, which is helpful for testing.
• STAs: each StoreFront Server Group uses STAs in the local datacenter. Since ICA Traffic could end up on either Citrix ADC, all STAs must be added to all Citrix Gateways.
• Beacons: the internal beacon is critical. If the internal beacon is down then Receiver Self-service won’t be able to determine if the client device is internal or not. GSLB can be used for the internal beacon DNS name.
• Roaming Profiles: If you are running Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops in multiple datacenters, you must design roaming profiles and home directories correctly.

Icon Aggregation and Home Sites

To configure icon aggregation using PowerShell, see CTA Dennis Span at Citrix StoreFront Multi-Site Aggregation with PowerShell at CUGC. The PowerShell cmdlets include the following:

• New-STFEquivalentFarmset
• Add-STFUserFarmMapping

To configure icon aggregation using the StoreFront Console:

1. In StoreFront Console, go to Stores.
2. In the middle, right-click your Store, and click Manage Delivery Controllers.
   
3. Add multiple sites/farms. Typically, each datacenter is a separate farm.
   
4. After adding multiple farms, the Configure button becomes available. Click it.
   
5. If you are publishing identical resources from multiple farms, click the link to Aggregate resources.
   
6. In the Aggregate Resources dialog box, do the following:
   1. Select the farms with identical resources that you want to aggregate.
   2. Notice the checkboxes on the bottom. If your goal is to configure home sites, then make sure you uncheck Load balance resources across controllers.
   3. Click the Aggregate button to move them up to the Aggregated section.
      
   4. Note: if you have existing subscriptions/favorites, then enabling icon aggregation will cause the existing subscriptions to be ignored. You can migrate the existing subscriptions/favorites by exporting, modifying, and importing. See Subscriptions Missing after Enabling Aggregation at Citrix Discussions.
   5. Click OK when done.
      
7. Back in the Configure User Mapping and Multi-Site Aggregation window, click Map users to controllers.
   
8. In the Create User Mapping wizard, do the following:
   1. If you want the same farm failover order (active/passive) or farm load balancing settings for everyone, then leave the User Groups page set to Everyone. Or if you intend to have different home sites for different users, add a user group that contains the users that will be homed to a particular datacenter. You can run this wizard multiple times to specify different home sites for different user groups. Click Next.
      
   2. In the Controllers page, click Add.
      
   3. Select the farms that these users will have access to, and click OK.
      
   4. If you configured farm aggregation without load balancing, then use the up and down arrow buttons to put the active site/farm for this group of users on top. The lower priority sites will only be accessed if the primary site is down. You can run this wizard multiple times to specify different active sites for different users.
   5. If farm aggregation is configured for load balancing, then there are no arrows to prioritize the farms.
      
   6. Click Create.
      
9. You can click Add to add more user mappings. If you add multiple user groups, you can assign different primary sites/farms to each Active Directory group. This is how you configure “home sites”. Click OK twice when done.
   

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.

HDX Optimal Routing

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

• Multi-site Load Balancing. If the icon selected by the user is published from Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops in Datacenter A, then you probably want the ICA connection to go through a Citrix Gateway Virtual Server in Datacenter A.
  • If the main DNS name for accessing Citrix Gateway is GSLB load balanced across datacenters, then you need additional datacenter-specific DNS names so you can control which datacenter the ICA connection goes through.
  • Note: Optimal Gateway is configured at the farm/site level, or zone level.
• Citrix Gateway for internal connections (AppFlow). If you want to force internal ICA connections to go through Citrix Gateway so AppFlow data can be sent to Citrix Application Delivery Management (ADM), then you can do that using HDX Optimal Gateway, even if the user originally connected directly to the StoreFront server. See CTX200129 How to Force Connections through NetScaler Gateway Using Optimal Gateways Feature of StoreFront for more information.
• The Citrix Gateway Virtual Server requires user certificates. If ICA traffic goes through a Citrix Gateway Virtual Server that requires user certificates (e.g. Smart Card), then each session launch will result in a PIN prompt. To prevent these extra prompts, build a separate Citrix Gateway Virtual Server that doesn’t have user certificates as Mandatory. Use Optimal Gateway to force ICA connections through the other Citrix Gateway Virtual Server. Note: SmartAccess Callback URL also cannot use a Citrix Gateway Virtual Server where client certificates are set to Mandatory, so the extra Citrix Gateway Virtual Server would be useful for that scenario too.

HDX Optimal Gateway can be configured in the StoreFront Console:

1. Right-click the Stores node, and click Manage Citrix Gateways.
   
2. Add more Citrix Gateways: one for each datacenter.
   
3. When adding a Gateway, you can designate a Usage or role.
   1. The Gateway accessed through the active/active GSLB DNS name must be set to Authentication and HDX routing.
   2. The Gateways for Optimal Routing could be set to HDX routing only. Or if test users will use these datacenter-specific DNS names to connect to Gateways in specific datacenters, leave them set to Authentication and HDX routing. There’s no harm in leaving all of the Gateways set to Authentication and HDX routing.
      
4. Go to Stores, right-click your store in the middle pane, and click Configure Store Settings.
   
5. Go to the Optimal HDX Routing page.
6. Highlight one of the datacenter-specific Gateways, and click Manage Delivery Controllers.
   
7. Select the farms that should use this gateway, and click OK.
   
8. Repeat for the other datacenter-specific Gateways.
9. The Gateway for the active/active GSLB-enabled DNS name doesn’t need any farms associated with it.
   
10. If you want to use Citrix Gateway internally for AppFlow reporting, then uncheck the External only checkbox.
    
    1. Another option for Optimal Gateway selection is zones. In XenApp/XenDesktop 7.7 and newer and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, you can stretch a farm across datacenters (zones), and use a different Gateway for each zone. Highlight a Gateway. Click Manage Zones, and add the zone name. This assumes the zone name has also been specified in the Manage Delivery Controllers dialog box > Advanced Settings.
       
11. Click OK when done.
12. In summary, users will connect to the active/active GSLB-enabled Gateway and login. After clicking an icon, HDX will be routed through one of the datacenter-specific Gateways based on the farm the icon was launched from.

Multiple Gateways (GSLB) to One StoreFront Server Group

This section applies to SmartAccess, or SAML, and the Callback URL. If you don’t need the Callback URL for SmartAccess or SAML, then skip this section.

The Callback URL must go to the same Citrix ADC appliance that authenticated the user. If you have multiple Citrix ADC appliance pairs communicating with a single StoreFront server, then StoreFront needs to identify which Citrix ADC appliance pair the request came from, so it can perform a callback to that particular appliance pair.

If each of the Citrix Gateways uses the same DNS name (e.g. GSLB), then you can’t use the DNS name to distinguish one appliance from the other. Instead, StoreFront can use the Gateway VIP to distinguish appliances so the callback goes to the correct appliance.

1. Create datacenter-specific callback DNS names. For example: callback-a.corp.com and callback-b.corp.com.
2. The datacenter-specific callback DNS name must match the certificate on the Citrix Gateway Virtual Server that is handling the callback. Here are some options to handle the certificate requirement:
   • On the main Citrix Gateway Virtual Server, assign a wildcard certificate that matches both the GSLB name, and the datacenter-specific callback name.
   • On the main Citrix Gateway Virtual Server, assign an SSL certificate with Subject Alternative Names for both the GSLB name, and the datacenter-specific callback name.
   • Create an additional Citrix Gateway Virtual Server on the appliance. Bind a certificate that matches the datacenter-specific callback name.
3. In the StoreFront console, create multiple Citrix Gateway appliances, one for each datacenter.
   
4. Give each of the gateway objects unique Display names. You can’t have two Gateway objects with the same display name.
5. Enter the same Citrix Gateway URL in all of the gateway appliances.
   
   
6. In the Authentication Settings page, in the VServer IP address field, enter the Gateway VIP for this particular appliance pair. StoreFront will use this VIP to distinguish one Citrix ADC appliance from another.
   • When users use HTTP to connect to a Citrix Gateway for authentication and icon enumeration, when Citrix Gateway communicates with StoreFront, Citrix Gateway inserts its VIP into a HTTP Header field named X-Citrix-Via-VIP. StoreFront reads this VIP header, and compares it to the Gateway objects bound to the Store. If there’s a match, StoreFront uses the Callback URL configured for that Gateway object.
7. The callback URL must be unique for each Citrix ADC appliance pair (e.g. callback-a.corp.com). The callback URL must resolve to a Citrix Gateway VIP on the same appliance pair that authenticated the user.
   
   
8. When enabling Remote Access on the store, select both Gateway appliances. Select one as the default appliance. It shouldn’t matter which one is default.
   
   

Related Pages

• Back to StoreFront 2203 LTSR through 3.5
• Citrix Gateway 12.1 / NetScaler Gateway 12.0
• Citrix Gateway 13.x

Navigation

This article applies to StoreFront versions 2407, 2402 LTSR CU1, 2203 LTSR CU5, 1912 LTSR CU9, and all other versions 3.5 and newer.

• Change Log
• StoreFront Versions
• StoreFront  Installation / Upgrade
  • Initial Configuration
  • Second StoreFront Server
  • Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP)
  • Citrix Analytics
• Store Name – Rename
• SSL Certificate
  • Delivery Controllers – SSL
• Base URL – Change
• Default Web Page
• Authentication Configuration
• Receiver for Web (browser interface)
  • Next Generation Experience
  • Customize Receiver for Web Appearance
  • Receiver for Web Pass-through Authentication
  • Workspace app for HTML5
  • Deploy Citrix Workspace app for Windows and Mac from StoreFront
  • Receiver for Web Timeout
• Favorites, Categories, and Default View – Default to Categories view instead of All
• Beacons
• Propagate Changes
• Export/Import StoreFront Configuration
• Logon Simulator

💡 = Recently Updated

Change Log

• 2024 Aug 28 – HTML5 Workspace app – updated with Workspace app for HTML5 version 2408
• 2024 Aug 20 – Updated Versions section for StoreFront 2402 LTSR CU1
• 2024 Aug 8 – Deploy Workspace app – updated for Workspace app 2405.10 for Windows
• 2024 July 31 – Updated Versions and Install sections for StoreFront 2407
• 2024 June 4 – Updated Versions section for StoreFront 2203 LTSR CU5
• 2024 July 9 – Deploy Workspace app – updated for Workspace app 2405 for Mac
• 2024 Jan 24 – Versions – StoreFront security vulnerability
• 2023 Dec 20 – Next Generation Experience in StoreFront 2311
• 2023 Dec 20 – Citrix Workspace web extensions at Citrix Docs
• 2024 April 30 – Updated Versions and Install sections for StoreFront 1912 LTSR CU9
• 2023 June 5 – added link to CTX559036 Storefront 2302 CU2 – All Apps are now showing on initial landing page instead of categories view.
• 2022 July 9 – updated Versions section with 3.12.9000 (from 7.15 LTSR Cumulative Update 9)
• 2022 Apr 21 – Updated Versions and Install sections for StoreFront 2203 Hotfix 1
• 2022 Mar 30 – CTX399424 Gateway Callback and / or XML Communication fails after upgrade to Storefront 2203 for a workaround.
• 2022 Mar 27 – Updated Versions and Install sections for StoreFront 2203 LTSR
  • Apps tab – uncategorized applications in CU5

StoreFront Versions

The most recent StoreFront release is version 2407.

• Starting with version 1811, the version numbering changed to a YYMM (year/month) format.
• Versions 2402, 2203, and 1912 are Long Term Service Releases (LTSR).

The default user interface in StoreFront 1811 and newer is now the “purple” interface, which is different from versions 3.16 and older. Be aware of this change before you upgrade StoreFront. Customizations might not work in the new interface. There doesn’t appear to be any way to revert to the older user interface. The Next-gen experience in 2311 and newer is not enabled by default but can be enabled manually.

Download one of the following versions of StoreFront. For LTSR versions of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (CVAD), deploy the StoreFront that comes with your version of LSTR CVAD.

• For Current Release, download StoreFront 2407
  
• For CVAD 2402, download StoreFront 2402 LTSR CU1.
  
• For CVAD 2203, download StoreFront 2203 LTSR CU5. StoreFront 2203 LTSR CU4 Update 1 and later fix a security vulnerability.
  
• For CVAD 1912 LTSR, download StoreFront 1912 LTSR CU9 (Cumulative Update 9).
  

StoreFront Installation / Upgrade

For small environments, it might be OK to install StoreFront on the Delivery Controller machines. But usually StoreFront and Delivery Controllers are separate machines.

• If StoreFront will pull icons from multiple Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops sites/farms, then StoreFront should be installed on its own machines.

To automate the installation of StoreFront, see Dennis Span Citrix StoreFront unattended installation with PowerShell.

The default user interface in StoreFront 1811 and newer is now the “purple” interface, which is different from versions 3.16 and older. Be aware of this change before you upgrade StoreFront. There doesn’t appear to be any way to revert to the older user interface.

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

1. If upgrading, do the following before beginning the upgrade:
   1. Other Users – Use Task Manager > Users tab to logoff any other user currently logged into the machine.
      
   2. Export the StoreFront configuration so you can restore it if something goes wrong.
   3. Stop the World Wide Web Publishing Service.
   4. Stop all StoreFront services.
   5. Close all PowerShell and StoreFront consoles.
   6. Citrix CTX226419 StoreFront upgrade fails to keep the setting in default ICA file. Take a backup of default.ica and usernamepassword.tfrm from C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreName\App_Data. After upgrading StoreFront, replace the new default.ica and usernamepassword.tfrm with the old default.ica and usernamepassword.tfrm files to ensure you retain the old settings.
   7. If Microsoft SCOM Agent is installed, then stop the Microsoft Monitoring Agent service.
      
   8. See Patrick van den Born Avoid 1603 errors when upgrading Citrix StoreFront 2.x to Citrix StoreFront 3.5
2. Operating system support:
   • StoreFront 2407 and newer are not supported on Windows Server 2016.
   • StoreFront 2203 and newer are supported on Windows Server 2022.
   • StoreFront 2203 is not supported on Windows Server 2012 R2.
   • StoreFront 1912 and newer are supported on Windows Server 2019.
3. Run CitrixStoreFront-x64.exe from the CVAD ISO at /x64/StoreFront. Or download it separately.
   
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. Click Yes if prompted to reboot.
   
9. FAS – If you upgraded a StoreFront server that was connected to Citrix Federated Authentication Service (FAS), then also upgrade Citrix Federated Authentication Service.
   

If this is a new install, skip to the Initial Configuration.

If you are upgrading from StoreFront 3.8 or older, then do the following to add SAML Authentication as an option. This feature lets you perform SAML against StoreFront without needing Citrix Gateway. If you did a fresh deployment of 3.9 or newer, then SAML is already added.

1. Right-click your Store, and click Manage Authentication Methods.
   
2. On the bottom, click the Advanced button, and click Install or uninstall authentication methods.
   
3. Check the box next to SAML Authentication, and click OK.
   
4. If you don’t want to configure SAML at this time, then uncheck the authentication method. See the Federated Authentication Service article for SAML details.
   

Initial Configuration

In StoreFront 3.8 and newer, you can create multiple stores in different IIS websites. This functionality is not exposed in the GUI and instead the entire StoreFront configuration must be performed using PowerShell. See Citrix Blog Post StoreFront 3.8 is Available NOW! for sample PowerShell commands to create the stores.

You can also use PowerShell to create a store and configure it as detailed at CTX206009 How to configure a Store via Powershell.

If this is a new deployment of StoreFront, do the following to perform the initial configuration:

1. In PowerShell, run Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned.
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. For now, you can leave it set to the server’s name and then change it later once you set up SSL and load balancing. Click Next.
   
5. In the Getting Started page, click Next.
   
6. In the Store Name page, enter a name for the store. The name entered here is part of the URL path (e.g. /Citrix/CorpStoreWeb)
7. Check the box next to Set this Receiver for Web site as IIS default and click Next.
   
8. In the Delivery Controllers page, click Add.
   
9. Enter a descriptive name for the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (CVAD). This name does not need to match the actual farm name.
10. Add the two Delivery Controllers. Change the Transport Type to HTTP. Click OK. You can set it to HTTPS is you have valid certificates (trusted by StoreFront) installed on your Delivery Controllers.
    
11. If you have multiple Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops sites/farms, feel free to add them now. You can also add older XenApp 6.5 farms. Click Next when done.
    
12. In the Remote Access page, don’t check the box. Just click Next. You can set this up later.
    
13. In the Authentication Methods page, check the boxes next to Domain pass-through and Pass-through from Citrix Gateway. Click Next.
    Note: if you want Domain pass-through authentication for browser users, you also need to enable it for Receiver for Web as detailed later in this article.

    

14. In the XenApp Services URL page, click Create.
    
15. In the Summary page, click Finish.
    

Second StoreFront Server

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

1. Install StoreFront on the second server.
2. Create/Import an 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.
   Note: the Please wait message means it is waiting on you to add the 2^nd server. You don’t actually have to wait.

   

5. Login to the second StoreFront server and launch the management 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. Notice this message. It is good advice.
   
10. All changes made on one StoreFront server must be manually propagated to the other StoreFront server. You do that by right-clicking Server Group, and clicking Propagate Changes.
    
11. When you propagate changes, the default web page might not be replicated to the other nodes. Copy C:\inetpub\wwwroot\web.config manually to each node.
    

Customer Experience Improvement Program

StoreFront 3.9 and newer enable Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) by default. To disable it, create the registry value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\Telemetry\CEIP\Enabled (DWORD) and set it to 0 (zero). Also see CEIP at Install, set up, upgrade, and uninstall at Citrix Docs.

See https://www.carlstalhood.com/delivery-controller-2203-ltsr-and-licensing/#ceip for additional places where CEIP is enabled.

Citrix Analytics

StoreFront 1906 and newer supports uploading data to Citrix Analytics.

The client devices must be running Workspace app 1903 and newer.

See Enable Analytics on Virtual Apps and Desktops on-premises at Citrix Docs.

Store Name – Rename

If you installed StoreFront on your Delivery Controller, it will have a default store named Store. If you don’t like the default Store Name (/Citrix/Store) then you will need to remove the store and re-add it.

Note: Some at Citrix Discussions (A protocol error occurred while communicating with the Authentication Service) have reported authentication issues after following this procedure. It’s probably cleaner to uninstall StoreFront and reinstall it.

1. In the StoreFront console, on the left, click Stores.
2. Right-click your store, and click Remove Store.
   
3. Click Yes.
   
4. On the left, right-click Stores, and click Create Store.
   
5. In the Getting Started page, click Next.
   
6. In the Store Name page, enter a name for the store. The name entered here is part of the URL path (e.g. /Citrix/CorpStoreWeb).
7. Check the box next to Set this Receiver for Web site as IIS default and click Next.
   
8. In the Delivery Controllers page, click Add.
   
9. Enter a descriptive name for the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops farm. This name does not need to match the actual farm name. (If StoreFront 3.5, don’t put spaces or periods in the farm name)
10. Change the Type to XenDesktop or Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops.
11. Add the two Delivery Controllers.
12. Change the Transport Type to HTTP. Click OK. You can leave it set to HTTPS (recommended) if you have valid certificates (trusted by StoreFront) on your Delivery Controllers.
    
13. If you have multiple Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops farms, feel free to add them now. You can also add older XenApp farms. Or later, you can add farms in Store > Manage Delivery Controllers. Click Next when done.
    
14. In the Remote Access page, don’t check the box and click Next. You can set this up later.
    
15. In the Authentication Methods page, check the boxes next to Domain pass-through and Pass-through from Citrix Gateway. Click Next.
    
16. In the XenApp Services URL page, click Create.
    
17. In the Created Successfully page, click Finish.
    

SSL Certificate

StoreFront requires SSL. You will save yourself much heartache if you install valid, trusted certificates on the StoreFront servers or your load balancer. There are two options for StoreFront SSL.

• SSL Offload: Use Citrix ADC to do SSL Offload and load balancing. In this scenario, install the SSL certificate on the load balancer. You can leave the StoreFront servers listening on HTTP and no IIS server certificate. The SSL certificate on the Citrix ADC must match the DNS name that resolves to the load balancing VIP.
• SSL End-to-end: Install an SSL certificate on each StoreFront server and bind it to IIS. This allows you to use SSL protocol between the load balancer and the StoreFront servers.

If your load balancer cannot terminate SSL, then the StoreFront IIS certificate must match the DNS name that resolves to the load balancing VIP.

For load balancers that can terminate SSL (e.g., Citrix ADC), the StoreFront IIS server certificate should match the StoreFront server name. If StoreFront is installed on the Delivery Controllers, with server-specific certificates you can later enable HTTPS in the StoreFront Store Delivery Controller configuration.

Another option is to create an SSL certificate with Subject Alternative Names for the load balanced DNS name and each of the StoreFront server FQDNs. Then import this one certificate on all StoreFront servers. Or a wildcard certificate could match all of these names.

In either case, be aware that Email-based 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 for every email domain. Usually, the only option to match multiple email domains is with Subject Alternative Names. If you have multiple email suffixes, then you will need multiple Subject Alternative Names, each beginning with discoverReceiver. If you don’t plan on implementing email-based discovery, then you don’t have to worry about these discoverReceiver Subject Alternative Names.

If the certificate does not match discoverReceiver.email.suffix, then users will see this message when attempting to use email discovery in Citrix Workspace app.

When adding Subject Alternative Names to a certificate, the first Subject Alternative Name should be the same as the Load Balancing FQDN. The remaining Subject Alternative Names should be discoverReceiver.email.suffix for every email domain.

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.

There are several methods of creating a certificate for StoreFront.

• If you are implementing Single FQDN for internal and external users, then the certificate for external Citrix Gateway can also be used for internal StoreFront.
  • Single FQDN has additional Subject Alternative Name certificate requirements, including Internal Beacon FQDN and Callback FQDN.
• If you will support non-domain-joined machines (e.g., iPads, thin clients) connecting to your internal StoreFront, then the StoreFront certificate should be signed by a public Certificate Authority. You can use IIS to request the certificate. You can then export the certificate from IIS and import it to Citrix ADC (for Load Balancing and Citrix Gateway). Public Certificate Authorities (e.g., GoDaddy, Digicert, etc.) let you enter additional Subject Alternative Names when you purchase the certificate.
  
  
• If all internal machines are domain-joined, then you can use an internal Certificate Authority to create the StoreFront certificate. 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.
  
  

Once the certificate is created or imported, bind it to IIS:

1. In IIS Manager, right-click the Default Web Site, and click Edit Bindings.
   
2. Click Add.
   
3. Change the Type to https and select the SSL certificate. Do NOT put anything in the Host name field. Click OK, and then click Close.
   

Delivery Controllers – SSL

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

• If IIS is installed on the Delivery Controller, simply install/create a certificate, and bind it to the Default Web Site.
• If IIS is not installed on the Delivery Controller, then you need to run a command line program as described at SSL for Delivery Controller.

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

1. In the StoreFront Console, on the left click Stores.
2. In the middle, right-click your store, and click Manage Delivery Controllers.
   
3. Highlight the deployment and click Edit.
   
4. The Servers list must contain FQDNs that match the certificates installed on those Delivery Controller servers.
5. Change the Transport type to HTTPS.
6. Click OK twice.
   
7. See CTX399424 Gateway Callback and / or XML Communication fails after upgrade to Storefront 2203 for a workaround. The fix is included in StoreFront 2203.1.

Base URL – Change

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 StoreFront Load Balancing FQDN as the new Base URL in https://storefront.corp.com format.
   1. Receiver requires that the Base URL is https. It won’t accept http.
   2. If you want the StoreFront Base URL to be the same as your Gateway FQDN, then see the Single FQDN instructions.
      
4. Click OK.

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 do the following:

1. On the left, click the Stores node.
2. In the middle, right-click your store, and click Manage Receiver for Web Sites.
   
3. Click Configure.
   
4. On the Advanced Settings page, change Enable loopback communication to OnUsingHttp. Click OK, and then click Close.
   

Default Web Page

After changing the Base URL, you’ll need to update the IIS Default Website.

1. On the left, right-click Stores, and click Set Default Website.
   
2. Check the box next to Set a Receiver for Web site as the default page in IIS and click OK.
   
3. Click Yes to overwrite.
   
4. If you go to C:\inetpub\wwwroot and edit the file web.config, you’ll see the redirect.
   
   

Authentication Configuration

1. In the Citrix StoreFront console, on the left, click the Stores node.
2. In the middle, right-click your store, and click Manage Authentication Methods.
   
3. Check the boxes next to Domain pass-through and Pass-through from Citrix Gateway.
   
4. If you intend to enable pass-through authentication from Receiver Self-Service (native Workspace app) or from Receiver for Web (web browser), then in Web Studio (CVAD 2212 and newer), go to Settings and Enable XML trust.
   
   
   • Or go to a Delivery Controller and run the command
     Set-BrokerSite -TrustRequestsSentToTheXmlServicePort $True from a Windows PowerShell command prompt. You might have to run asnp citrix.* first.
     
5. If StoreFront is not in the same domain (or trusted domain) as the users, then you can configure StoreFront to delegate authentication to the Delivery Controllers. See XML service-based authentication at Citrix Docs.
   • StoreFront 3.6 and newer can be workgroup members without joining a domain.
6. Click the top gear icon, and then click Configure Trusted Domains.
   
7. Select Trusted domains only, click Add, and enter the domain names in DNS format. The DNS suffix is needed if doing userPrincipalName authentication from Citrix Gateway.
8. Select one of the domains as the default.
9. If desired, check the box next to Show domains list in logon page. Click OK.
   
10. Click the top gear icon, and then click Manage Password Options.
    
11. Make your selection, and click OK.
    
12. 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.
    
13. If you have Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops and installed Self-Service Password Reset, you can integrate SSPR with StoreFront 3.7 or newer by clicking the top gear icon and clicking Configure Account Self-Service. This option is only available if your Base URL is https (encrypted). See the following for detailed implementation guides.
    • Citrix CTX217143 Self-Service Password Reset Central Store Creation Tool
    • Citrix CTX224244 How Do I Deploy Self-Service Password Reset For the First Time
    • George Spiers Citrix Self-Service Password Reset
      
14. Change the selection to Citrix SSPR, and click Configure.
    
15. Check both boxes and enter the URL of the SSPR server using the displayed example (with /MPMService on the end). Click OK three times.
    
16. With SSPR enabled, a new Tasks tab lets users enroll with SSPR.
    
17. The logon page also has an Account Self-Service link.
    
    

Next Generation Experience

In StoreFront 2311 and newer, you can do the following to enable the Next-gen experience theme, which looks the same as Workspace in Citrix Cloud, including the Activity Manager.

1. In the StoreFront Console, on the left, click the Stores node.
2. In the middle, right-click your store, and click Manage Receiver for Web Sites.
   
3. Click Configure.
   
4. On the UI Experience page, select Next generation experience and click OK.
   

Customize Receiver Appearance

You can go to Stores > Manage Receiver for Web Sites > Configure > Customize Appearance to change logos and colors. Additional customization can be performed using the SDK.

You can also Manage Featured App Groups.

In StoreFront 1811 and newer, Featured App Groups are shown in the user interface as Collections.

• The HOME page shows the Feature App Groups in a ribbon with arrows to let the user see more Featured App Groups. The ribbon view is limited to three icons per Featured App Group. When the user clicks a Featured App Group, every icon in the Featured App Groups is shown.
  
• The APPS page has a Collections tab showing all collections and the number of icons in each Collection.
  
• When the user clicks a collection, all icons in the collection are shown. The user can click Add All on the top right to mark all of the icons as Favorites.
  

To create Featured App Groups:

1. Go to Stores > myStore > Manage Receiver for Web Sites > Configure.
2. In the Edit Receiver for Web site window, on the Featured App Groups page, click Create.
   
3. Give the Collection a name and a description.
4. At the bottom, there are three methods of adding icons to the Feature App Group.
   
5. If you select the Keyword option, then enter a keyword that will be added to the published apps that are in this collection.
6. In Citrix Studio, go to the Properties of a published application. In the Description field, at the end, enter KEYWORDS:myCollectionKeyword.
   

In StoreFront older than version 1811:

• 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.
  
• If you want to display more than 3 apps per group, see Michael Bednarek at Modify Receiver for Web site at Citrix Discussions.
  

Receiver for Web (browser) Pass-through Authentication

1. On the left, click the Stores node.
2. In the middle, right-click your store, and click Manage Receiver for Web Sites.
   
3. Click Configure.
   
4. On the Authentication Methods page, if desired, check the box next to Domain pass-through. Click OK.
   
5. 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.
   
6. If you want to default to Pass-through without any user prompt, then see Citrix Blog Post Configuring domain pass-through as your default authentication method.

Workspace app for HTML5 2408

1. On the left, click the Stores node.
2. In the middle, right-click your store, and click Manage Receiver for Web Sites.
   
3. Click Configure.
   
4. On the Deploy Citrix Receiver / Workspace app page, change the drop-down to Use Receiver for HTML5 if local Citrix Receiver/Workspace is unavailable.
5. By default, the HTML5 session opens in a new tab. You can optionally enable Launch applications in the same tab as Receiver for Web. See Configure Citrix Receiver for HTML5 use of browser tabs at Citrix Docs for more information.
6. Click OK, and then click Close.
   
7. Download the Workspace app 2408 for HTML5.
   Note: new versions of Workspace app for HTML5 are released frequently. For example, 2306 and newer support the new launch experience.

   

8. Install the HTML5 Workspace app (CitrixHTML5Client-x64.exe) on one of the StoreFront servers. It installs without prompting. Repeat this step on all StoreFront servers in the Server Group since Propagate Changes doesn’t seem to propagate the new Workspace App.
   
   
9. To see the installed version of HTML5 Workspace app, in StoreFront console, click the Stores node on the left.
10. In the middle pane, in the bottom half, switch to the Receiver for Web Sites tab. You might have to click Refresh to see the new version.
    

HTML5 Workspace app configuration

1. Copy/paste of text using Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V – HTML5 Workspace app version 1907 app adds support for copy/paste of text using Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V and the feature is enabled by default. More info at Enhanced clipboard experience at Citrix Docs.
   
2. Multi-monitor – HTML5 Workspace app has a multi-monitor feature, which is enabled by default.
   
3. To configure HTML5 Workspace app, edit the file “C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\HTML5Client\configuration.js”.
   
   1. Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) is enabled by default. To disable CEIP in HTML5 Workspace App 1906 and newer, find the first analytics section and change enabled to false.
      
   2. To disable CEIP in HTML5 Workspace App 1905 and older, search for the ceip section, and change it to false.
      
4. In the StoreFront console, on the left, right-click Server Group, and click Propagate Changes.
   
5. For VDA 7.15 and older, optionally, install Citrix PDF Printer on the VDAs. The PDF printer is in the Additional Components section of the HTML5 Workspace app download page.
   Note: in VDA 7.16 and newer, the PDF Printer is included with the VDA installation and no longer needs to be installed separately.

   

Other HTML5 Receiver configurations you can change by either editing C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\HTML5Client\configuration.js, or use the Citrix Workspace app (earlier known as Citrix Receiver) for Chrome and HTML5 – Configuration Utility downloadable from CTX229141.

• HTML5 Workspace app has improved PDF printing in Chrome and Firefox. Enable it by setting supportedBrowsers to true.
  
• When printing from HTML5 Workspace app to the Citrix PDF Printer, the user must click Continue to show the PDF. You can get rid of this prompt. In the configuration.js file, scroll down to the line containing printDialog and set it to true.
  
  
  
• The new HTML5 Workspace app toolbar can be disabled or customized by editing the file C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\HTML5Client\configuration.js.
  

If HTML5 Workspace app is enabled, users have the option of selecting either native or HTML5 by clicking Change Citrix Receiver or Change Citrix Workspace app.

1. In StoreFront 1912 and newer, click the gear icon on the top right and then click Account Settings.
   
2. Click either Change Citrix Workspace app or Change Citrix Receiver..
   
   
3. If you want to use the locally installed Workspace app, then click the blue Detect Citrix Workspace app or blue Detect Receiver button. If you want to use the HTML5 Client, click Use light version.
   
   

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

Deploy Citrix Workspace app

1. Citrix recommends that all users install the Citrix Workspace Web Extension in their endpoint browsers. This extension eliminates the need for StoreFront to detect the locally installed Workspace app and enables .ica files to be downloaded to memory instead of to disk. StoreFront support for the extension is enabled by default in StoreFront 2311 and newer. See Citrix Workspace web extensions at Citrix Docs.
   
2. StoreFront can deploy Workspace app to users that don’t have Workspace app installed. In StoreFront console, on the left, click the Stores node.
3. In the middle, right-click your store, and click Manage Receiver for Web Sites.
   
4. Click Configure.
   
5. On the Deploy Citrix Receiver/ Workspace app page, check the box next to Allow users to download HDX engine (plug in).
   
6. Change both source drop-downs to Local files on the StoreFront server.
   
   1. For Windows, download one of the following:
      • Workspace app for Windows 2405.10. Version 2405.10 is a Current Release.
        
      • For LTSR, download Citrix Workspace app for Windows LTSR 2402 CU1.
        
   2. For Mac, download Workspace app 2405 for Mac.
      
   3. Click each of the Browse buttons and browse to the downloaded Workspace app.
      
   4. You can optionally enable Upgrade plug-in at logon.
   5. Click OK when done, and Close when done.
      
7. If you prefer for users to download Workspace app from the Citrix website, then note that StoreFront might default to downloading Receiver instead of Workspace app. To change it to Workspace app, do the following:
   1. In StoreFront Console, in the Deploy Citrix Receiver/ Workspace app page, change Windows source and Mac source to Files on remote server (through URL).
      
   2. Enter the following paths. The default paths might be http instead of https and you should change them to https.

      Windows Receiver = https://downloadplugins.citrix.com/Windows/CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe
      Mac Receiver = https://downloadplugins.citrix.com/Mac/CitrixWorkspaceApp.dmg

8. When users connect to Receiver for Web, they will be prompted to install or upgrade. In StoreFront 2203 and newer, the screens say Workspace app.
   
9. In older versions of StoreFront, the screens might say Citrix Receiver instead of Citrix Workspace app.
   
   
   
10. You can change it to Citrix Workspace app by following the instructions at CTX221097 How to rename items on StoreFront?.
    
    • Search the list of strings in the KB article for any string containing the word Receiver, copy the string to C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreWeb\custom\strings.en.js, and change it to Workspace app. A few of the strings are shown below. Make sure there are commas between each item except the last item.
      
11. If you don’t want StoreFront to detect the locally installed Workspace app, then edit the Receiver for Web site, switch to the Advanced Settings page and uncheck the box next to Enable protocol handler. This disables the button that asks users to Detect Workspace app.
    

Receiver for Web Timeout

1. On the left, click the Stores node.
2. In the middle, right-click your store, and click Manage Receiver for Web Sites.
   
3. Click Configure.
   
4. On the Session Settings page, set the Session timeout as desired, and click OK.
   
5. If you are using a Citrix ADC, you will need to change the Global Session Timeout located at Citrix Gateway => Global Settings => Change Global Settings (right pane) => Client Experience (tab) => Session Time-out (mins).
   
   
   
   • This Citrix Gateway Session Time-out only applies to StoreFront and AAA. If you want it to also apply to ICA sessions, then on the Network Configuration tab, set ICA Session Timeout to ON. Source = CTX218008 How to configure ICA Proxy Connection Termination upon AAA Session Time Out.
     
6. From Change the session time-out of Citrix Receiver for Web at Citrix Docs: If you increase the session timeout for RfWeb to be more than 1 hour, you must also increase the maxLifetime appropriately in c:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\Authentication\Web.config.
7. If your desired timeout value is greater than 8 hours, you should also edit tokenLifeTime in c:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreWeb\web.config.

Favorites, Categories, and Default Tab

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

In StoreFront 1811 and newer:

• Favorites are shown on the HOME tab.
  
• Favorites are also shown on the APPS view on the Favorites tab.
  
• The user can click the star icon next to a published icon to mark that published icon as a Favorite and add it to the HOME view and Favorites tab.
  
• On the APPS view, the user can expand the Categories drop-down and select a Category to view all icons in that Category.
  
  • To default to the Categories view, see the custom code at CTX559036 Storefront 2302 CU2 – All Apps are now showing on initial landing page instead of categories view.
  • StoreFront 1912 CU2 and newer has an option to collapse the categories after one is selected. Notice the Uncategorized folder.
    
  • After clicking a category, the user must click Categories again to switch to a different category.
    
  • StoreFront 1912 CU5 and StoreFront 2203 have an option to show Uncategorized icons directly below the Categories list if no Category is selected by the user.
    
  • This feature is configured in StoreFront console > click your store > Manage Receiver for Web sites > Configure > Category Settings. 1912 CU5 and 2203 adds the checkbox option to Move uncategorized apps into an Uncategorized folder. It’s checked by default, but you can uncheck it.
    
• Categories are configured in the Properties of the published application on the Delivery page.
  
• Collections are configured as Featured App Groups.

In StoreFront older than 1811:

• There’s a FAVORITES view.
  
• On the APPS or DESKTOPS views, the user can click the Details link next to a published icon.
  
• Then the user can click Add to Favorites to add the icon to the FAVORITES view.
  

Favorites can be controlled by the administrator:

• You can completely remove the FAVORITES or HOME views by going to Stores > myStore > Configure Store Settings > User Subscriptions, and choose Disable User Subscriptions (Mandatory Store).
  
  
• 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.
• Citrix Blog Post How to implement dynamic landing pages in StoreFront has code for the following: If favorites exist, go to favorites tab. If favorites do not exist, go to the store tab. 💡

  //If favorites exist, go to favorites tab. If favorites do not exist, go to the store tab.
  var favoritesExist = false;
  
  CTXS.Extensions.sortMyAppList = function (app_array,defaultSortFn) {
  //This version checks if the amount of user favorites are greater than or equal
  //to "favoriteThreshold".
    var favoriteThreshold = 1;
    var favoriteCount = 0;
    for (var i = 0; i < app_array.length; i++){ if (app_array[i].canBeRemoved()){ favoriteCount++; } } if (favoriteCount >= favoriteThreshold){
      favoritesExist = true;
    }
  
    //This should always be called at the end
    defaultSortFn();
  };
  
  CTXS.Extensions.afterDisplayHomeScreen = function (callback) {
    if (favoritesExist == false){
      CTXS.ExtensionAPI.changeView("store");
    }
  };
  

• Trentent Tye has a simple customization for C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreWeb\custom\script.js to default to the APPS view if the user doesn’t have any favorites. See Citrix Storefront – Adventures in customization – Default to “Store” view if you have no favourited app’s.

  CTXS.Extensions.afterDisplayHomeScreen = function (callback) {
   /* If the user has no favorited apps, set the view to the apps view */
   if (CTXS.Store.getMyApps().length == 0) {
   CTXS.ExtensionAPI.changeView("store")
   }
  };

• You can change the default view and view visibility by going to the Stores > myStore > Manage Receiver for Web Sites > Configure > Client Interface Settings page.
  
• In StoreFront 1811 and newer, if you want to default to the APPS tab with Categories view expanded, then see CTP Sam Jacobs at Storefront 1811 – Default to Categories view at Citrix Discussions. Or see Citrix Blog Post How to land on the categories view in StoreFront 1811+.
  
  • Add the following to C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreWeb\custom\script.js.
    Note: if you already have afterDisplayHomeScreen in your script.js file, then you’ll need to merge them.

    function categoriesDelay() {
    $('#categoriesTabBtn').click();
    }
    
    CTXS.Extensions.afterDisplayHomeScreen = function (callback) {
    CTXS.ExtensionAPI.changeView('store');
    window.setTimeout(categoriesDelay,250);
    callback();
    };

• In StoreFront older than version 1811, if you change the default view to APPS, then you might also want to default to the Categories view instead of the All view.
  
  • When publishing applications in Citrix Studio, on the Delivery page, specify an Application category so that the applications are organized into folders.
    
  • To default the Apps view to the Categories view instead of the All view, add the following code to the end of the file C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreWeb\custom\script.js. More details at Storefront 3.0 – change default view at Citrix Discussions.

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

    

  • Then when you login to StoreFront, you’ll see Apps > Categories as the default view. This works in Workspace app too.
    

Beacons

1. On the left, right-click Stores, and click Manage Beacons.
   
2. Configure an Internal Beacon. Receiver Self-Service (Workspace app native interface) tries to connect to the Internal Beacon to determine if Workspace app is currently internal or not. If the Internal Beacon is reachable then Receiver Self-Service assumes it is internal, and thus connects to the StoreFront Base URL. If the Internal Beacon is not reachable, then Receiver Self-Service assumes it is external and thus connects to Citrix Gateway. For this to work properly, the Internal Beacon must not be resolvable externally.
   If you are not doing Single FQDN, then the Internal Beacon can be the StoreFront FQDN since the StoreFront FQDN is usually only available internally.
   If you are doing Single FQDN, then you can’t use the StoreFront FQDN. Instead, you must use a different internal website for the beacon. If you need to support internal iPads, due to differences in how iPads determine location, the Internal Beacon should be a new FQDN that resolves to the StoreFront Load Balancing VIP, thus requiring the StoreFront certificate to match both the Internal Beacon and the Base URL. If internal iPads are not needed, then the Internal Beacon can be any internal website.
   If you want to force internal Receiver Self-Service users to connect through Citrix Gateway (for AppFlow reporting), you can set the Internal Beacon to a fake URL. Since the Internal Beacon is never resolvable, Receiver Self-Service always uses Citrix Gateway. Or you can use Optimal Gateway to achieve the same goal.
3. The External beacons are used by Workspace app to determine if Workspace app has Internet access or not. You can use any reliable Internet DNS name. http://ping.citrix.com is no longer valid and should be changed to some other address. Click OK when done.
   

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 Yes when asked to propagate changes.
   
4. Click OK when done.
   
5. When you propagate changes, the default web page is not replicated to the other nodes. Copy C:\inetpub\wwwroot\web.config manually to each node.
   

Export/Import StoreFront Configuration

Use the following PowerShell cmdlets to export StoreFront Configuration into a .zip file (encryption optional) and import to a different StoreFront server group:

• Export-STFConfiguration
• Import-STFConfiguration

See Export and import the StoreFront configuration at Citrix Docs for details.

Logon Simulator

ControlUp has ScoutBees logon simulator for StoreFront and Citrix Gateway.

eG Innovations has a free Logon Simulator for Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop.

Related Pages

• StoreFront 2311 through 3.5 Tweaks
• Back to StoreFront 2311 through 3.5