Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) 7.6.0 / 7.6.300

Last Modified: Jan 4, 2021 @ 4:22 am

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Hardware

  1. If vSphere 6, don’t use hardware version 11 unless you have NVIDIA GRID. VMware 2109650 – Video playback performance issue with hardware version 11 VMs in 2D mode
  2. For virtual desktops, give the virtual machine: 2+ vCPU and 2+ GB of RAM
  3. For Windows 2008 R2 RDSH, give the virtual machine 4 vCPU and 12-24 GB of RAM
  4. For Windows 2012 R2 RDSH, give the virtual machine 8 vCPU, and 24-48 GB of RAM
  5. Remove the floppy drive
  6. Remove any serial or LPT ports
  7. If vSphere:
    1. To reduce disk space, reserve memory. Memory reservations reduce or eliminate the virtual machine .vswp file.
    2. The NIC should be VMXNET3.
  8. If this VDA will boot from Provisioning Services:
    1. Give the VDA extra RAM for caching.
    2. Do not enable Memory Hot Plug
    3. For vSphere, the NIC must be VMXNET3.
    4. For vSphere, configure the CD-ROM to boot from IDE instead of SATA. SATA comes with VM hardware version 10. SATA won’t work with PvS.
  9. Install the latest version of drivers (e.g. VMware Tools)
    1. If Windows 7 on vSphere, don’t install the VMware SVGA driver. For more details, see CTX201804 Intermittent Connection Failures/Black Screen Issues When Connecting from Multi-Monitor Client Machines to Windows 7 VDA with VDA 7.x on vSphere/ESXi.

If vSphere, disable NIC Hotplug

  1. Users could use the systray icon to Eject the Ethernet Controller. Obviously this is bad.
  2. To disable this functionality, power off the virtual machine.
  3. Once powered off, right-click the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
  4. On the VM Options tab, expand Advanced and then click Edit Configuration.
  5. Click Add Row.
  6. On the left, enter devices.hotplug. On the right, enter false.
  7. Then click OK a couple times to close the windows.
  8. The VM can then be powered on.

Windows Preparation

  1. If RDSH, disable IE Enhanced Security Config
  2. Optionally, go to Action Center (Windows 8.1 or 2012 R2) or Security and Maintenance (Windows 10) to disable User Account Control and enable SmartScreen .
  3. Run Windows Update.
  4. If Windows Firewall is enabled:
    1. Enable File Sharing so you can access the VDA remotely using SMB
    2. Enable COM+ Network Access and the three Remote Event Log rules so you can remotely manage the VDA.

  5. Add your Citrix Administrators group to the local Administrators group on the VDA.
  6. The Remote Desktop Services “Prompt for Password” policy prevents Single Sign-on to the Virtual Delivery Agent. Check registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services. If fPromptForPassword = 1 then you need to fix group policy. The following GPO setting will prevent Single Sign-on from working.
    Computer Configuration \ Policies \ Administrative templates \ Windows Components \ Remotes Desktop Services \ Remote desktop Session Host \ Security \ Always prompt for password upon connection
    Or install VDA hotfix 4 and set the registry value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\ PorticaAutoLogon (DWORD) = 0x10.
  7. For Windows 7 VDAs that will use Personal vDisk, install Microsoft hotfix 2614892 – A computer stops responding because of a deadlock situation in the Mountmgr.sys driver. This hotfix solved a Personal vDisk Image update issue detailed at Citrix Discussions.
  8. If this VDA is Windows Server 2008 R2, request and install the Windows hotfixes recommended by Citrix CTX129229. Scroll down to see the list of recommended Microsoft hotfixes for Windows Server 2008 R2. Ignore the XenApp 6.x portions of the article. Also see https://www.carlstalhood.com/windows-server-2008-r2-post-sp1-hotfixes/.
  9. To remove the built-in apps in Windows 10, see Robin Hobo How to remove built-in apps in Windows 10 Enterprise.
  10. For Remote Assistance in Citrix Director, configure the GPO setting Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\System\Remote Assistance\Offer Remote Assistance. See Jason Samuel – How to setup Citrix Director Shadowing with Remote Assistance using Group Policy for more details.

Install Virtual Delivery Agent 7.6.300

VDA 7.6.300 is newer than what’s on the base XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6 ISO. If you install 7.6.300 then you don’t need to install most of the updates listed later.

  1. For virtual desktops, make sure you are logged into the console. The VDA won’t install if you are connected using RDP.
  2. For Windows 10, you’ll need Citrix Profile Management 5.4 or newer.
  3. Make sure 8.3 file name generation is not disabled. If so, see CTX131995 – User Cannot Launch Application in Seamless Mode to fix the AppInit_DLLs registry keys.
  4. Make sure .NET Framework 4.5.1 is installed.
  5. Go to the downloaded Virtual Delivery Agent 7.6.300 (XenDesktop Platinum, XenDesktop Enterprise, XenApp Platinum, or XenApp Enterprise) and run VDAServerSetup_7.6.300.exe or VDAWorkstationSetup_7.6.300, depending on which type of VDA you are building. If UAC is enabled then you must right-click the installer and click Run as administrator.
  6. In the Environment page, select Create a Master Image and click Next.
  7. For virtual desktops, in the HDX 3D Pro page, click Next.
  8. In the Core Components page, if you don’t need Citrix Receiver installed on your VDA then uncheck the box. Click Next.
  9. In the Delivery Controller page, select Do it manually. Enter the FQDN of each Controller. Click Test connection. And then make sure you click Add. Click Next when done.
  10. In the Features page, click Next. If this is a virtual desktop, you can leave Personal vDisk unchecked now and enable it later.
  11. In the Firewall page, click Next.
  12. In the Summary page, click Install.
  13. For RDSH, click Close when you are prompted to restart.
  14. After the machine reboots twice, login and installation will continue.
  15. After installation, click Finish to restart the machine again.
  16. If 8.3 file name generation is disabled, see CTX131995 – User Cannot Launch Application in Seamless Mode to fix the AppInit_DLLs registry keys.

Virtual Delivery Agent 7.6.300 Hotfixes

  1. Download Virtual Delivery Agent 7.6.300 hotfixes. There are DesktopVDACore hotfixes and ServerVDACore hotfixes, depending on which type of VDA you are building.
  2. Install each hotfix by double-clicking the .msp file.
  3. In the Welcome to the Citrix HDX TS/WS Setup Wizard page, click Next.
  4. In the Ready to update page, click Update.
  5. In the Completed the Citrix HDX TS/WS Setup Wizard page, click Finish.
  6. When prompted to restart, if you have multiple hotfixes to install, click Cancel.
  7. Continue installing hotfixes. Restart when done.

Broker Agent 7.6.300 Hotfix 1

  1. Go to the downloaded Broker Agent 7.6.300 Hotfix 1 and run BrokerAgentWX64_7_6_301.msp.
  2. Install the hotfix. Reboot when prompted.
  3. The file C:\Program Files\Citrix\Virtual Desktop Agent\BrokerAgent.exe is updated to version 7.6.301.

Controller Registration Port

Some environments will not accept the default port 80 for Virtual Delivery Agent registration. To change the port, do the following on the Virtual Delivery Agent:

  1. Open Programs and Features.
  2. Find Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent and click Change.
  3. Click Customize Virtual Delivery Agent Settings.
  4. Edit the Delivery Controllers and click Next.
  5. On the Configure Delivery Controller page, change the port number and click Next.
  6. In the Summary page, click Reconfigure.
  7. In the Finish Reconfiguration page, click Finish. The machine automatically restarts.
  8. You must also change the VDA registration port on the Controllers by running BrokerService.exe /VDAPort.

Controller Registration – Verify

  1. If you restart the Virtual Delivery Agent machine or restart the Citrix Desktop Service…
  2. In Windows Logs \ Application, you should see an event 1012 from Citrix Desktop Service saying that it successfully registered with a controller. If you don’t see this then you’ll need to fix the ListOfDDCs registry key.
  3. You can also run Citrix’s Health Assistant on the VDA.

Updates for Base VDA 7.6.0 (not 7.6.300)

If you are installing VDA 7.6.300, then skip to the Citrix Profile Management 5.4.1.

Virtual Delivery Agent Hotfixes

These hotfixes are already included in VDA 7.6.300. Only install these on a base VDA 7.6.0.

Citrix CTX142357 Recommended Hotfixes for XenApp 7.x

  1. For RDSH, download Virtual Delivery Agent hotfixes for Server OS. These hotfixes will have the letters TS in the name.
  2. For virtual desktops, download Virtual Delivery Agent hotfixes for Desktop OS. These hotfixes will have the letters WS in the name.
  3. Install each hotfix by double-clicking the .msp file.
  4. At a minimum, install VDA 7.6 Hotfix 32 for TS, or 26 for WS x86, or 26 for WS x64. This is required for Framehawk and the Receiver for HTML5 File Transfer functionality.
  5. In the Welcome to the Citrix HDX TS/WS Setup Wizard page, click Next.
  6. In the Ready to update page, click Update.
  7. In the Completed the Citrix HDX TS/WS Setup Wizard page, click Finish.
  8. When prompted to restart, if you have multiple hotfixes to install, click Cancel.
  9. Continue installing hotfixes. Restart when done.

Framehawk

VDA 7.6.300 includes these updates. Only install these on a base VDA 7.6.0.

  1. Download Framehawk Components from XenApp Platinum, XenApp Enterprise, XenDesktop Platinum, or XenDesktop Enterprise, depending on your license.
  2. Framehawk also requires installation of VDA 7.6 Hotfix 32 for TS, or 26 for WS x86, or 26 for WS x64.

HDX WMI Provider

VDA 7.6.300 includes this update. Only install this on a base VDA 7.6.0.

  1. Go to the downloaded HDX WMI Provider 2.2 Hotfix 1 and run HDXWMIPROV220WX64001.msi.

  2. In the Please read the Citrix HDX WMI Provider- x64 2.2.1.0 License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the terms and click Install.
  3. In the Completed the Citrix HDX WMI Provider – x64 2.2.1.0 Setup Wizard page, click Finish.

WMI Proxy

VDA 7.6.300 includes this update. Only install this on a base VDA 7.6.0.

  1. In the Framehawk Components folder (Framehawk7.6FP2), run WMIProxy_x64.msi.
  2. In the Welcome to the Citrix WMI Proxy Plugin Setup Wizard page, click Next.
  3. In the End-User License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the terms and click Next.
  4. In the Destination Folder page, click Next.
  5. In the Ready to install Citrix WMI Proxy Plugin page, click Install.
  6. If you see Files in Use select Close the applications and attempt to restart them and click OK.
  7. Click OK when prompted that a reboot is required.
  8. In the Completed the Citrix WMI Proxy Plugin Setup Wizard page, click Finish.

HDX Flash 15.2 Hotfix 1

VDA 7.6.300 includes this update. Only install this on a base VDA 7.6.0.

  1. If this VDA is RDSH, go to the downloaded HDX Flash 15.2 Hotfix 1 and run CitrixHDXMediaStreamForFlash-ServerInstall-x64.msi.
  2. In the Please read the Citrix HDX MediaStream for Flash – Server License Agreement page, select I accept the terms and click Install.
  3. In the Completed the Citrix HDX MediaStream for Flash – Server Setup Wizard page, click Finish.

Universal Print Client 7.6 Hotfix 1

VDA 7.6.300 includes this update. Only install this on a base VDA 7.6.0.

If you intend to use the Universal Print Server, then update the client on the VDA.

  1. Go to the downloaded Universal Print Client 7.6 Hotfix 1 and run UpsClient760WX64001.msi.
  2. In the Please read the Citrix Universal Print Client License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the terms in the License Agreement and click Install.
  3. If you see the Files in Use page, click OK.
  4. In the Completed the Citrix Universal Print Client Setup Wizard page, click Finish.

Broker Agent 7.6 Hotfix 2

VDA 7.6.300 includes this update. Only install this on a base VDA 7.6.0.

  1. Go to the downloaded Broker Agent 7.6 Hotfix 2 x64 (or x86) and run BrokerAgent760WX64002.msi. Note: this is a Limited Release hotfix and regular Citrix Customers can’t see it. If you want it, contact a Citrix Partner or Citrix Support.
  2. In the Welcome to the Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent Core Services Hotfix BrokerAgent760WX64002 Update Wizard page, click Next.
  3. In the Ready to update Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent – x64 page, click Update.
  4. In the Completed the Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent – x64 Setup Wizard page, click Finish.
  5. Click OK to restart.

Group Policy Client Side Extension 2.4 Hotfix 1

VDA 7.6.300 includes this update. Only install this on a base VDA 7.6.0.

  1. Go to the downloaded Group Policy Client Side Extension 2.4 Hotfix 1 and run GPCSExt240WX64001.msi.
  2. In the Please read the Citrix Group Policy Client-Side Extension 2.4.1.0 License Agrement page, check the box next to I accept the terms in the License Agreement and click Install.
  3. In the Completed the Citrix Group Policy Client-Side Extension 2.4.1.0 Setup Wizard page, click Finish.

Personal vDisk 7.6.1

VDA 7.6.300 includes this update. Only install this on a base VDA 7.6.0.

  1. Go to the downloaded Personal vDisk 7.6.1 and run personalvDisk_x64.msi.
  2. In the Please read the Citrix personal vDisk License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the terms in the License Agreement and click Install.
  3. In the Completed the Citrix personal vDisk Setup Wizard page, click Finish.
  4. Click Yes to restart.

Profile Management 5.4.1  💡

Upgrade this on all VDAs that use Citrix Profile Management.

Warning: If you are upgrading and have existing Windows 2012 R2 profiles based on the !CTX_OSNAME! variable, see http://discussions.citrix.com/topic/374111-psa-upm-54-ctx-osname-server-2012-value-change/ for why your profiles might stop working.

  1. Go to the downloaded Profile Management 5.4.1 and run profilemgt_x64.msi.
  2. In the Welcome to the Citrix Profile Management Setup Wizard page, click Next.
  3. In the End-User License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the terms in the License Agreement and click Next.
  4. In the Destination Folder page, click Next.
  5. In the Ready to install Citrix Profile Management page, click Install.
  6. If you see Files in Use, click OK.
  7. Click OK to continue the installation.
  8. In the Completed the Citrix Profile Management Setup Wizard page, click Finish.
  9. Click Yes when prompted to restart.
  10. UPM 5.4.1 breaks Logon Duration in Citrix Director. To fix it, run the following commands: 
    C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\installutil.exe "C:\Program Files\Citrix\Virtual Desktop Agent\upmWmiMetrics.dll"

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\installutil.exe "C:\Program Files\Citrix\Virtual Desktop Agent\upmWmiAdmin.dll"


  11. See the Profile Management page for configuration instructions.

Upgrade to Receiver 4.4.1000

VDA 7.6.300 does not include this update.

If Receiver is installed on your VDA, upgrade it to version 4.4.5000

  1. Go to the downloaded 4.4.5000, and run CitrixReceiver.exe.
  2. In the Welcome to Citrix Receiver page, click Start.
  3. In the License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the license agreement and click Next.
  4. If you see the Enable Single Sign-on page, check the box next to Enable Single Sign-on and click Next.
  5. In the Help make our products better page, make your selection and click Install.
  6. After installation, click Finish.
  7. See the Receiver page for configuration instructions.

HTML5 App Switcher 2.0.2

VDA 7.6.300 does not include this update.

This tool is no longer needed for Receiver for HTML5 2.0 and newer.

  1. .NET Framework 4.0.3 or newer is required.
  2. Go to the downloaded Receiver for HTML5 App Switcher (Citrix_AppSwitcher_2.0.2) and run AppSwitcher.msi.
  3. Check the box next to I accept the terms and click Install.
  4. In the Completed the App Switcher Setup Wizard page, click Finish.
  5. In Programs and Features, it is shown as version 2.0.2.25.

Citrix PDF Printer 7.8.0

VDA 7.6.300 does not include this update.

This tool is only used by Receiver for HTML5.

  1. Go to the downloaded Receiver for HTML5 Citrix PDF Printer 7.8.0 (Citrix_PDFPrinter_7.8.0) and run CitrixPDFPrinter64.msi.
  2. In the Please read the Citrix PDF printer License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the terms and click Install.
  3. In the Completed the Citrix PDF Universal Driver Setup Wizard page, click Finish.
  4. In Programs and Features, it is shown as version 7.8.0.10.
  5. Configure a Citrix Policy to enable the PDF printer. The setting is called Auto-create PDF Universal Printer.

Framehawk Configuration

To enable Framehawk, see https://www.carlstalhood.com/citrix-policy-settings/#framehawkconfig

Remote Desktop Licensing Configuration

On 2012 R2 RDSH, the only way to configure Remote Desktop Licensing is using group policy (local or domain). This procedure also works for 2008 R2 RDSH. This procedure is not needed on virtual desktops.

  1. For local group policy, run gpedit.msc.
  2. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Licensing.
  3. Double-click Use the specified Remote Desktop license servers. Change it to Enabled and enter the names of the RDS Licensing Servers (typically installed on XenDesktop Controllers). Click OK.
  4. Double-click Set the Remote Desktop licensing mode. Change it to Enabled and select Per User. Click OK.
  5. In Server Manager, open the Tools menu, expand Terminal Services and click RD Licensing Diagnoser.
  6. The Diagnoser should find the license server and indicate the licensing mode. It’s OK if there are no licenses installed on the Remote Desktop License Server.

Several people in Citrix Discussions reported the following issue: If you see a message about RD Licensing Grace Period has expired even though RD Licensing is properly configured, see Eric Verdumen No remote Desktop Licence Server availible on RD Session Host server 2012. The solution was to delete the REG_BINARY in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\RCM\GracePeriod only leaving the default. You must take ownership and give admin users full control to be able to delete this value.

C: Drive Permissions

This section is more important for shared VDAs like Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 2012 R2.

The default permissions allow users to store files on the C: drive in places other than their profile.

  1. Open the Properties dialog box for C:\.
  2. On the Security tab, click Advanced.
  3. Highlight the line containing Users and Create Folders and click Remove.
  4. Highlight the line containing Users and Special and click Remove. Click OK.
  5. Click Yes to confirm the permissions change.
  6. If you see any of these Error Applying Security windows, click Continue.
  7. Click OK to close the C: drive properties.

Pagefile

If this image will be converted to a Provisioning Services vDisk, then you must ensure the pagefile is smaller than the cache disk. For example, if you allocate 20 GB of RAM to your Remote Desktop Session Host, and if the cache disk is only 15 GB, then Windows will have a default pagefile size of 20 GB and Provisioning Services will be unable to move it to the cache disk. This causes Provisioning Services to cache to server instead of caching to your local cache disk (or RAM).

  1. Open System. In 2012 R2, you can right-click the Start button and click System.
  2. Click Advanced system settings.
  3. On the Advanced tab, click the top Settings button.
  4. On the Advanced tab, click Change.
  5. Either turn off the pagefile or set the pagefile to be smaller than the cache disk. Don’t leave it set to System managed size. Click OK several times.

Direct Access Users

When Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent is installed on a machine, non-administrators can no longer RDP to the machine. A new local group called Direct Access Users is created on each Virtual Delivery Agent. Add your non-administrator RDP users to this local group so they can RDP directly to the machine.

Windows Profiles v3/v4/v5

Roaming Profiles are compatible only between the following client and server operating system pairs. The profile version is also listed.

  • v5 = Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016
  • v4 = Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2
  • v3 = Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012
  • v2 = Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
  • v2 = Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008

Windows 8.1 and 2012 R2 don’t properly set the profile version. To fix this, ensure update rollup 2887595 is installed. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2890783. After you apply this update, you must create a registry key before you restart the computer.

  1. Run regedit.
  2. Locate and then tap or click the following registry subkey:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlset\Services\ProfSvc\Parameters
  3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then tap or click DWORD Value.
  4. Type UseProfilePathExtensionVersion.
  5. Press and hold or right-click UseProfilePathExtensionVersion, and then tap or click Modify.
  6. In the Value data box, type 1, and then tap or click OK.
  7. Exit Registry Editor.

Then, Windows 8.1 creates a user profile and appends the suffix “.v4” to the profile folder name to differentiate it from version 2 of the profile in Windows 7 and version 3 of the profile in Windows 8.

Registry

HDX Flash

From Citrix Knowledgebase article CTX139939 – Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 – Citrix Known Issues: The registry key value IEBrowserMaximumMajorVersion is queried by the HDX Flash service to check for maximum Internet Explorer version that HDX Flash supports. For Flash Redirection to work with Internet Explorer 11 set the registry key value IEBrowserMaximumMajorVersion to 11 on the machine where HDX flash service is running. In case of XenDesktop it would be the machine where VDA is installed.

  • Key = HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\HdxMediaStreamForFlash\Server\PseudoServer
    • Value = IEBrowserMaximumMajorVersion (DWORD) = 00000011 (Decimal)

From Citrix Discussions: Add the DWORD ‘FlashPlayerVersionComparisonMask=0’ on the VDA under HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Citrix\HdxMediaStreamForFlash\Server\PseudoServer.  This disables the Flash major version checking between the VDA and Client Device.

Published Explorer

This section applies if you intend to publish apps from this VDA.

From Citrix Knoweldgebase article CTX128009 – Explorer.exe Fails to Launch: When publishing the seamless explorer.exe application, the session initially begins to connect as expected. After the loading, the dialog box disappears and the explorer application fails to appear. On the VDA, use the following registry change to set the length of time a client session waits before disconnecting the session:

  • Key = HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Citrix\wfshell\TWI
    • Value = LogoffCheckerStartupDelayInSeconds (DWORD) = 10 (Hexadecimal)

Mfaphook – 8.3 File Names

  1. Open a command prompt.
  2. Switch to C:\ by running cd \
  3. Run dir /x program*
  4. If you don’t see PROGRA~1 then 8.3 is disabled. This will break Citrix.
  5. If 8.3 is disabled, open regedit and go to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows.
  6. On the right is AppInit_DLLs. Edit it and remove the path in front of MFAPHOOK64.DLL.


Logon Disclaimer Window Size

From Xenapp 7.8 – Session Launch Security/Warning Login Banner at Citrix Discussions: If your logon disclaimer window has scroll bars, set the following registry values:

HKLM\Software\Wow6432node\Citrix\CtxHook\AppInit_DLLS\Multiple Monitor Hook\LogonUIWidth = DWORD:300
HKLM\Software\Wow6432node\Citrix\CtxHook\AppInit_DLLS\Multiple Monitor Hook\LogonUIHeight = DWORD:200

Login Timeout

Citrix CTX203760 VDI Session Launches Then Disappears: XenDesktop, by default, only allows 180 seconds to complete a logon operation. The timeout can be increased by setting the following:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Citrix\PortICA

Add a new DWORD AutoLogonTimeout and set the value to decimal 240 or higher (up to 3600).

Also see Citrix Discussions Machines in “Registered” State, but VM closes after “Welcome” screen.

Receiver for HTML5 Enhanced Clipboard

From About Citrix Receiver for Chrome 1.9 at docs.citrix.com: To enable enhanced clipboard support, set registry value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Citrix\wfshell\Virtual Clipboard\Additional Formats\HTML Format\Name=”HTML Format”. Create any missing registry keys. This applies to both virtual desktops and Remote Desktop Session Hosts.

4K Monitors

Citrix CTX201696 – Citrix XenDesktop and XenApp – Support for Monitors Including 4K Resolution and Multi-monitors: Up to eight 4K monitors are supported with the Std-VDA and RDS VDA irrespective of underlying GPU support, provided the required policies and/or registry keys are correctly configured. Currently the Std-VDA for XenDesktop and RDS-VDA for XenApp does not support resolutions higher than 4094 in any dimension.

Framehawk currently does not support 4K monitors. At the time of writing, the number of monitors supported is 1, the use of more monitors will cause the graphics mode to change from Framehawk to Thinwire to support multi-monitor.  The maximum resolution supported by Framehawk is currently 2048×2048.

From CTX200257 – Screen Issues Connecting to 4K Resolution Monitors: Symptom: A blank or corrupt screen is displayed when connecting to Windows 7 or 8.1 Standard XenDesktop Virtual Delivery Agents on a client which has one or more 4K resolution monitors.

  1. Calculate the video memory that is required for 4K monitor using the following formula:
    Sum of total monitors (Width * height * 4 * X) where width and height are resolution of the monitor.
    X = 2 if VDA is Windows 7 OR X = 3 if VDA is Windows 8\8.1
    Suppose a Windows 7 VDA is connecting to a client that has dual 4K monitors (3840×2160), then video buffer should be: (3840 x 2160 x 4 x 2) + (3840 x 2160 x 4 x 2) = ~132MB
  2. Open the registry (regedit) and navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\vd
  3. Increase the value of “MaxVideoMemoryBytes” REG_DWORD value to the above calculated memory.
  4. Reboot the VDA.

When using Thinwire, Compatibility, Thinwire Plus or Legacy modes, the Display memory Limit policy needs to be configured appropriately for Std-VDA, as per Graphics Policy Settings at docs.citrix.com. The Default value for Display memory Limit is 65536KB and this is sufficient up to 2x4K monitors (2x32400KB). You can find more information on Graphics modes at Citrix Blogs – Site Wide View of HDX Graphics Modes.

Legacy Client Drive Mapping

Citrix Knowledgebase article How to Enable Legacy Client Drive Mapping Format on XenApp: Citrix Client Drive Mapping no longer uses drive letters and instead they appear as local disks. This is similar to RDP drive mapping.

The old drive letter method can be enabled by setting the registry value:

  • Key = HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\UncLinks (create the key)
    • Value = UNCEnabled (DWORD) = 0

When you reconnect, the client drives will be mapped as drive letters (starts with V: and goes backwards).

COM/LPT Port Redirection

To signal Citrix’ intention to deprecate COM and LPT support in a future major release, policy settings for COM Port and LPT Port Redirection have moved from Studio to the registry, and are now located under HKLM\Software\Citrix\GroupPolicy\Defaults\Deprecated on either your Master VDA image or your physical VDA machines. The registry values are detailed in docs.citrix.com.

Print Driver for Non-Windows Clients

This section applies to Windows 2012 R2, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 VDAs.

From Mac Client Printer Mapping Fix for Windows 8/8.1 and Windows Server 2012/2012R2. By default, Non-Windows clients cannot map printers due to a missing print driver on the VDA machine.

  1. Requirements:
    • Internet Access
    • Windows Update service enabled
  2. Click Start and run Devices and Printers.
  3. In the Printers section, highlight a local printer (e.g. Microsoft XPS Document Writer). Then in the toolbar click Print server properties.
  4. Switch to the Drivers tab. Click Change Driver Settings.
  5. Then click Add.
  6. In the Welcome to the Add Printer Driver Wizard page, click Next.
  7. In the Processor Selection page, click Next.
  8. In the Printer Driver Selection page, click Windows Update. The driver we need won’t be in the list until you click this button. Internet access is required.
  9. Once Windows Update is complete, highlight HP on the left and then select HP Color LaserJet 2800 Series PS (Microsoft) on the right. Click Next.
  10. In the Completing the Add Printer Driver Wizard page, click Finish.
  11. Repeat these instructions to install the following additional drivers:
    • HP LaserJet Series II
    • HP Color LaserJet 4500 PCL 5

SSL for VDA

If you intend to use HTML5 Receiver internally, install certificates on the VDAs so the WebSockets (and ICA) connection will be encrypted. Internal HTML5 Receivers will not accept clear text WebSockets. External users don’t have this problem since they are SSL-proxied through NetScaler Gateway. Notes:

  • Each Virtual Delivery Agent needs a machine certificate that matches the machine name. This is feasible for a small number of persistent VDAs. For non-persistent VDAs, you’ll need some automatic means for creating machine certificates every time they reboot.
  • As detailed in the following procedure, use PowerShell on the Controller to enable SSL for the Delivery Group. This forces SSL for every VDA in the Delivery Group, which means every VDA in the Delivery Group must have SSL certificates installed.

The Citrix blog post How To Secure ICA Connections in XenApp and XenDesktop 7.6 using SSL has a method for automatically provisioning certificates for pooled virtual desktops by enabling certificate auto-enrollment and setting up a task that runs after the certificate has been enrolled. Unfortunately this does not work for Remote Desktop Session Host.

The following instructions can be found at Configure SSL on a VDA using the PowerShell script at docs.citrix.com.

  1. On the VDA machine, run mmc.exe.
  2. Add the Certificates snap-in.
  3. Point it to Local Computer.
  4. Request a certificate from your internal Certificate Authority. You can use either the Computer template or the Web Server template.

    You can also use group policy to enable Certificate Auto-Enrollment for the VDA computers.
  5. Browse to the XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6 ISO. In the \Support\Tools\SslSupport folder, shift+right-click the Enable-VdaSSL.ps1 script and click Copy as path.
  6. Run PowerShell as administrator (elevated).
  7. In the PowerShell prompt, type in an ampersand (&), and a space.
  8. Right-click the PowerShell prompt to paste in the path copied earlier.
  9. At the end of the path, type in -Enable
  10. If there’s only one certificate on this machine, press Enter.
  11. If there are multiple certificates, you’ll need to specify the thumprint of the certificate you want to use. Open the Certificates snap-in, open the properties of the machine certificate you want to use, and copy the Thumbprint from the Details tab.

    In the PowerShell prompt, at the end of the command, enter ?CertificateThumbPrint, add a space, and type quotes (").
    Right-click the PowerShell prompt to paste the thumbprint.
    Type quotes (") at the end of the thumbprint. Then remove all spaces from the thumbprint. The thumbprint needs to be wrapped in quotes.
  12. If this VDA machine has a different service already listening on 443 (e.g. IIS), then the VDA needs to use a different port for SSL connections. At the end of the command in the PowerShell prompt, enter -SSLPort 444 or any other unused port.
  13. Press <Enter> to run the Enable-VdaSSL.ps1 script.
  14. Press <Y> twice to configure the ACLs and Firewall.
  15. You might have to reboot before the settings take effect.
  16. Login to a Controller and run PowerShell as Administrator (elevated).
  17. Run the command asnp Citrix.*
  18. Enter the command: 
    Get-BrokerAccessPolicyRule -DesktopGroupName '<delivery-group-name>' | Set-BrokerAccessPolicyRule ?HdxSslEnabled $true

    where <delivery-group-name> is the name of the Delivery Group containing the VDAs.

  19. You can run Get-BrokerAccessPolicyRule -DesktopGroupName '<delivery-group-name>' to verify that HDX SSL is enabled.
  20. Also run the following command: 
    Set-BrokerSite –DnsResolutionEnabled $true

You should now be able to connect to the VDA using the HTML5 Receiver from internal machines.

Anonymous Accounts

If you intend to publish apps anonymously then follow this section.

  1. Anonymous accounts are created locally on the VDAs. When XenDesktop creates Anon accounts it gives them an idle time as specified at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Citrix\AnonymousUserIdleTime. The default is 10 minutes. Adjust as desired.
  2. You can pre-create the Anon accounts on the VDA by running “C:\Program Files\Citrix\ICAConfigTool\CreateAnonymousUsersApp.exe”. If you don’t run this tool then Virtual Delivery Agent will create them automatically when users log in.
  3. You can see the local Anon accounts by opening Computer Management, expanding System Tools, expand Local Users and Groups and clicking Users.
  4. If you open one of the accounts, on the Sessions tab, notice that idle timeout defaults to 10 minutes. Feel free to change it.

Group Policy for Anonymous Users

Since Anonymous users are local accounts on each Virtual Delivery Agent, domain-based GPOs will not apply. To work around this limitation, you’ll need to edit the local group policy on each Virtual Delivery Agent.

  1. On the Virtual Delivery Agent, run mmc.exe.
  2. Open the File menu and click Add/Remove Snap-in.
  3. Highlight Group Policy Object Editor and click Add to move it to the right.
  4. In the Welcome to the Group Policy Wizard page, click Browse.
  5. On the Users tab, select Non-Administrators.
  6. Click Finish.
  7. Now you can configure group policy to lockdown sessions for anonymous users. Since this is a local group policy, you’ll need to repeat the group policy configuration on every Virtual Delivery Agent image. Also, Group Policy Preferences is not available in local group policy.

Antivirus

Install antivirus using your normal procedure. Instructions vary for each Antivirus product.

Microsoft’s virus scanning recommendations (e.g. exclude group policy files) – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822158.

Citrix’s Recommended Antivirus Exclusions

Citrix CTX127030 Citrix Guidelines for Antivirus Software Configuration: Based on Citrix Consulting’s field experience, organizations might wish to consider configuring antivirus software on session hosts with the settings below.

  • Scan on write events or only when files are modified. It should be noted that this configuration is typically regarded as a high security risk by most antivirus vendors. In high-security environments, organizations should consider scanning on both read and write events to protect against threats that target memory, such as Conficker variants.
  • Scan local drives or disable network scanning. This assumes all remote locations, which might include file servers that host user profiles and redirected folders, are being monitored by antivirus and data integrity solutions.
  • Exclude the pagefile(s) from being scanned.
  • Exclude the Print Spooler directory from being scanned.
  • Remove any unnecessary antivirus related entries from the Run key (HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Run).
  • If using the streamed user profile feature of Citrix Profile management, ensure the antivirus solution is configured to be aware of Hierarchical Storage Manager (HSM) drivers. For more information, refer to Profile Streaming and Enterprise Antivirus Products.

Symantec

Symantec links:

Non-persistent session hosts:

After you have installed the Symantec Endpoint Protection client and disabled Tamper Protection, open the registry editor on the base image.

  1. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\SMC\.
  2. Create a new key named Virtualization.
  3. Under Virtualization, create a key of type DWORD named IsNPVDIClient and set it to a value of 1.

To configure the purge interval for offline non-persistent session host clients:

  1. In the Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager console, on the Admin page, click Domains.
  2. In the Domains tree, click the desired domain.
  3. Under Tasks, click Edit Domain Properties.
  4. On the Edit Domain Properties > General tab, check the Delete non-persistent VDI clients that have not connected for specified time checkbox and change the days value to the desired number. The Delete clients that have not connected for specified time option must be checked to access the option for offline non-persistent VDI clients.
  5. Click OK.

Make the following changes to the Communications Settings policy:

  1. Configure clients to download policies and content in Pull mode
  2. Disable the option to Learn applications that run on the client computers
  3. Set the Heartbeat Interval to no less than one hour
  4. Enable Download Randomization, set the Randomization window for 4 hours

Make the following changes to the Virus and Spyware Protection policy:

  1. Disable all scheduled scans
  2. Disable the option to “Allow startup scans to run when users log on” (This is disabled by default)
  3. Disable the option to “Run an ActiveScan when new definitions Arrive”

Avoid using features like application learning which send information to the SEPM and rely on client state to optimize traffic flow

Linked clones:

To configure Symantec Endpoint Protection to use Virtual Image Exception to bypass the scanning of base image files

  1. On the console, open the appropriate Virus and Spyware Protection policy.
  2. Under Advanced Options, click Miscellaneous.
  3. On the Virtual Images tab, check the options that you want to enable.
  4. Click OK

 

Trend Micro

Citrix CTX136680 – Slow Server Performance After Trend Micro Installation. Citrix session hosts experience slow response and performance more noticeable while users try to log in to the servers. At some point the performance of the servers is affected, resulting in issues with users logging on and requiring the server to be restarted. This issue is more noticeable on mid to large session host infrastructures.

Trend Micro has provided a registry fix for this type of issue. Create the following registry on all the affected servers. Add new DWORD Value as:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TmFilter\Parameters] “DisableCtProcCheck”=dword:00000001

Trend Micro Links:

Optimize Performance

VDA Optimizer

Installation of the VDA might have already done this but there’s no harm in doing it again. This tool is only available if you installed VDA in Master Image mode.

  1. On the master VDA, go to C:\Program Files\Citrix\PvsVm\TargetOSOptimizer and run TargetOSOptimizer.exe.
  2. Then click OK. Notice that it disables Windows Update.

RDSH

Citrix CTX131577 XenApp 6.x (Windows 2008 R2) – Optimization Guide is a document with several registry modifications that are supposed to improve server performance. Ignore the XenApp 6 content and instead focus on the Windows content.

Citrix CTX131995 User Cannot Launch Application in Seamless Mode in a Provisioning Services Server when XenApp Optimization Best Practices are Applied. Do not enable NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation

Norskale has Windows 2008 R2 Remote Desktop and XenApp 6 Tuning Tips Update.

Windows 7

Microsoft has compiled a list of links to various optimization guides.

It’s a common practice to optimize a Windows 7 virtual machine (VM) template (or image) specifically for VDI use. Usually such customizations include the following.

  • Minimize the footprint, e.g. disable some features and services that are not required when the OS is used in “stateless” or “non-persistent” fashion. This is especially true for disk-intensive workloads since disk I/O is a common bottleneck for VDI deployment. (Especially if there are multiple VMs with the same I/O patterns that are timely aligned).
  • Lock down user interface (e.g. optimize for specific task workers).

With that said the certain practices are quite debatable and vary between actual real-world deployments. Exact choices whether to disable this or that particular component depend on customer requirements and VDI usage patterns. E.g. in personalized virtual desktop scenario there’s much less things to disable since the machine is not completely “stateless”. Some customers rely heavily on particular UI functions and other can relatively easily trade them off for the sake of performance or standardization (thus enhance supportability and potentially security). This is one of the primary reasons why Microsoft doesn’t publish any “VDI Tuning” guide officially.

Though there are a number of such papers and even tools published either by the community or third parties. This Wiki page is aimed to serve as a consolidated and comprehensive list of such resources.

Daniel Ruiz XenDesktop Windows 7 Optimization and GPO’s Settings –

Microsoft Whitepaper Performance Optimization Guidelines for Windows 7 Desktop Virtualization

Windows 10 / Windows 8.1 / Windows 2012 R2

Optimization Notes:

  • If this machine is provisioned using Provisioning Services, do not disable the Shadow Copy services.
  • Windows 8 detects VDI and automatically disables SuperFetch. No need to disable it yourself.
  • Windows 8 automatically disables RSS and TaskOffload if not supported by the NIC.

Seal and Shut Down

If this session host will be a master image in a Machine Creation Services or Provisioning Services catalog, after the master is fully prepared (including applications), do the following:

  1. Go to the properties of the C: drive and run Disk Cleanup.
  2. On the Tools tab, click Optimize to defrag the drive.
    `
  3. Run slmgr.vbs /dlv and make sure it is licensed with KMS and has at least one rearm remaining. It is no longer necessary to manually rearm licensing. XenDesktop will do it automatically.
  4. Run Delprof2 to clean up local profiles. Get it from http://helgeklein.com/download/.
  5. Machine Creation Services and Provisioning Services require DHCP.

Session hosts commonly have DHCP reservations.

  • Shut down the master image. You can now use Studio or Provisioning Services to create a catalog of linked clones.

Troubleshooting – Graphics

For an explanation of Citrix’s graphics policy settings, see A graphical deep dive into XenDesktop 7 and What’s new with HDX display in XenDesktop & XenApp 7.x?

Citrix Knowledgebase article CTX200370 – How to Determine HDX Display Mode: Use wmic or HDX Monitor as described in the article to determine which of the following display mode options is being used:

  • DCR (Desktop Composition Redirection)
  • H.264 / H.264 Compatibility Mode
  • Legacy Graphics Mode

Citrix Blog Post – Site Wide View of HDX Graphics Modes; PowerShell script to display graphics mode of currently connected sessions.

From Citrix Discussions: If you experience graphics performance problems in XenDesktop 7.6, consider configuring the following settings:

  • ICA \ Desktop UI \ Desktop Composition Redirection = Disabled
  • ICA \ Graphics \ Legacy Graphics Mode = Enabled

Citrix Blog post – Optimising the performance of HDX 3D Pro – Lessons from the field

From Citrix Tips – Black Screen Issues with 7.x VDA: Users would make a successful ICA connection but the screen would stay totally black.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\vbdenum]

  • “Start”=dword:00000001
  • “MaxVideoMemoryBytes”=dword:06000000
  • “Group”= “EMS”

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\vd3d]

  • “MaxVideoMemoryBytes”=dword:00000000

From Citrix Knowledgebase article CTX200257 – Screen Issues Connecting to 4K Resolution Monitors in DCR Mode:

  1. Calculate the video memory that is required for 4K monitor using the following formula:
    Sum of total monitors (Width * height * 4 * X) where width and height are resolution of the monitor.
    X = 2 if VDA is Windows 7 OR X = 3 if VDA is Windows 8\8.1\10
    Example: Suppose a Windows 7 VDA is connecting to a client that has dual 4K monitors (3840×2160), then video buffer should be: (3840×160 x 4 x 2) + (3840 x 2160 x 4 x 2) = ~115MB
  2. Open the registry (regedit) and navigate to:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\vd3v
  3. Increase the value of “MaxVideoMemoryBytes” REG_DWORD value to the above calculated memory.
  4. Reboot the VDA

From Citrix Discussions: To exclude applications from Citrix 3D rendering, create a REG_DWORD registry value “app.exe” with value 0 or a registry value “*” with value 0.

  • XD 7.1 and XD 7.5:
    • x86: reg add hklm\software\citrix\vd3d\compatibility /v * /t REG_DWORD /f /d 0
    • x64: reg add hklm\software\Wow6432Node\citrix\vd3d\compatibility /v * /t REG_DWORD /f /d 0
  • XD 7.6 both x86 and x64:
    • reg add hklm\software\citrix\vd3d\compatibility /v * /t REG_DWORD /f /d 0

Wildcards are not supported. The asterisk * here has a special meaning “all apps” but is not a traditional wildcard. To blacklist multiple apps e.g. both appa.exe and appb.exe must be done by creating a registry value for each app individually.

This is most problematic in Remote PC since most physical PCs have GPUs. I recently had to blacklist Internet Explorer to prevent lockup issues when switching back to physical.

Uninstall VDA

Uninstall the VDA from Programs and Features.

Then see CTX209255 VDA Cleanup Utility.

Related Pages

179 thoughts on “Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) 7.6.0 / 7.6.300”

  1. hi, carl. Great Post! We receive an intermittent screen flash when users access Outlook, WebEx or Windows Snipping Tool. We are running 7.6 FP3 policies on the Delivery Controllers and VDA 7.6.1000 and 7.6.2000 on the Desktop side. Do u have any recommendations for work arounds ?

    Reply

      1. Hi carl, We are using ThinWire – We have the Use Video codec for compression policy set to “do not use video codec”

        Reply

  2. Hi Carl,

    Regarding, PvD for VDA 7.6 Desktop OS Windows 7. I am allocating 20GB as a Personal vDisk space, disabling user profile redirection as I use UPM and changing P: to X: – The problem I’m getting is the AppPercent split, I have changed the decimal value but when I save the inventory change and promote master image, it shows I have 20mb free from 20GB. Please direct me how to set the correct reg values to keep hold of all space in a PvD for apps only

    Reply

    1. Is the setting somehow stored in each PvD?

      If you create a group policy to change the registry value on every machine, does it work?

      Reply

      1. Hi Carl

        This list here http://support.citrix.com/article/ctx129229 at the bottom. If I have installed convenience rollup packs for Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 with VDA 7.6 Base, do I need to install anything from this list?

        I am planning to upgrade all VDA’s to 7.6 LTSR CU3, can I upgrade windows 7 PvD with 7.6.1 on top or should I only upgrade the windows 7 pvd to 7.6 FP3 which includes pvd upgrade.

        Im not planning to move to 7.12 yet so wanted to know how I should go about it.

        Thank you!

        Reply

        1. Since Microsoft is moving to cumulative updates, just make sure Windows Updates are installed.

          I’m not sure if 7.6.3000 will upgrade PvD. I haven’t tried it. But it definitely won’t install it if you’re installing 7.6.3000 from scratch.

          Reply

          1. Thanks

            I went straight to 7.6 pvd base to 7.6 cu2. I guess I could install pvd 7.6.1 then install cu3?

  4. Hi Carl,

    Regarding Windows Updates – should that be done in Private or Standard Mode? I normally do it all in Standard Mode.

    When I run a disc clean up on the Master Image, should that be done in Private or Standard. I noticed Windows Update cleanup takes most of the space.

    Reply

      1. Yeah that’s what I mean, Thanks

        Can I run the Desktop Virtualization Best Practice Analyzer and fixes on a 2008 RDSH machine, to save me doing it all manually?

        Reply

        1. Of course. As long as you understand the changes it’s making. VMware’s OS Optimization Tool also works.

          Reply

          1. OK thanks, does it do anything to services, as I noticed it re-enabled Windows Defender and I thought PVS Stops that in the Optimization Tool?

            I understand the changes as I had to make the manually following the 2k8 Optimization Guide, so I hope they are the same and it automates the process?

          2. There are many different tools. VMware’s tool is probably the most comprehensive. But don’t use them unless you understand what changes they are making.

  5. Hello Carl,

    I have a farm XenDesktop 7.6 and PVS 7.6 of 50 desktops. The desktops (Windows 8.1 Professional) will be licensed using MAK.

    I have problems activating windows on target devices. vdisk placed in private mode and active windows on the first target devices, in the properties of vdisk I select MAK, vdisk placed in standard mode and power on all desktop (50) but only shows the windows activated in the first target devices.

    any suggestions.

    Thanks.

    Reply

      1. Would that be ok after converting PVS disc and having a static vdi with Personal vDisk? Do I have to re-update both components in maintenance mode?

        Reply

  8. Hi Carl,
    We have GRID cards installed on our VMware hosts, but I’ve suspected they have never been setup correctly based on some WMI commands I’ve ran (wmic path win32_displayconfiguration get Caption) don’t show the card being used. I’ve attempted to reinstall the VDA agent (7.6.300) and it doesn’t show the HDX 3D Pro configuration page, any ideas?

    Reply

        1. There’s HDX 3D Pro option for Server OS, unless you’re doing Server VDI.

          RDSH should use the video card automatically.

          Reply

          1. Using VDA XenApp 7.6 as a desktop for users through MCS. Just doesn’t show up as an option to install. It’s a reinstall of the VDA 7.6.300 and I’ve used the clean up tool.

          4. RDSH can utilize the GPU, but it’s shared for all users of RDSH.

            You can also install the VDA in /servervdi mode, which means one user per Server OS, which should allow HDX 3D Pro.

  9. picadm.sys (7.6.0.189) use filter manager redirection model i.e registered with MUP but picadm.sys(7.6.300.7010) use old legacy file system filter redirection model.
    So why you rollout latest model with old one again?

    Reply

  10. Carl,

    Great Site. I would like to point one error in Registry modification.

    Under 4K Monitors:

    Option 2 = You mentioned to modify this key…
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\vbdenum

    But, the referenced Citrix article CTX200257 points to the following key…
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\vd3v

    We followed Citrix article with success.

    Thank you !!!

    Reply

  11. Hi Carl,

    Do Citrix Provide a Citrix Update Checker for Hotfixes like Windows Update checking for latest updates and you can install it, or do you have to always pick and download it on the VDA. This would be really helpful if they did have a Update checker.

    Regarding VDA upgrade, we are using VDA 7.6, does it require all other components to be updated together (Studio, StoreFront, Xenserver, PVS, Director etc) to all be updated together or could I simply update the VDA on the Windows 2008 R2 box and do the other components separately?

    Reply

    1. Today there is nothing official from Citrix that can do this.

      You can upgrade the VDA without upgrading the Controllers. You can mix and match versions. If you’re going to upgrade, I would do 7.6.1000 instead of 7.6.300.

      Reply

          1. Thanks does this mean i have to update vda and pvs target device on the rdsh master image?

  12. Hi Carl,

    For enabling the SSL for VDA, does the script Enable-VdaSSL.ps1 supports only Computer Certificate or will it support the workstation certificate as well.

    Also i have a pooled random VDI’s. Can you please let me know how can i get them work.

    Regards,
    Anuroop

    Reply

    1. You can try the script with both types of certs to see if they work.

      The best solution for pooled random is to tell the HTML5 users to connect through NetScaler Gateway. Then no SSL certs needed on the machines.

      Reply

      1. Hi Carl,

        It didnot work with the Workstation Certificate. I was getting error related to private keys. That is why i need confirmation on the same.

        Also with regards to the Pooled Random, the customer don’t have the netscalar in their environment. Can it be possible with F5 load balancer?

        Reply

  13. Hi Carl

    Desparate help please – we have 2008 TS we use as xendesktop and we are having license problems. I believe the rdsh is 2012 server and points to two 2008 servers but everyday we get terminal server license error and we have provides more licenses for 2008,2012. Citrix licensing seems fine but I think 2008 servers do not work on 2012 rdsh? I tried the regfix on the 2012 server but still is having an issue.

    Are there instructions how to configure new 2008 rdsh terminal service environment and rdp servers as I think 2008 ts xendesktop boxes need to get licenses from 2008 license servers and rdsh.. Im pretty junior to licensing so please help..

    Does there need to be one management server and two other servers (one for each site) as we have two?

    Reply

  14. Hello Carl!

    We have 6 times less network print traffic with XenApp 4.5 then XenApp 7.6 printing the same Word 2010 text document. In both cases all print jobs are routed to clients local printers using UPD auto created printers only with EMF by default. Tried all possible compression settings in policies.

    Reply

      1. After extensive testing we figured out there was a problem with webcam on client PC. Now the traffic is roughly the same though print job is slightly larger with Windows 2012 R2.
        XPS showed no gain in network performance on full text Word document.
        Thanks for your time and feel free to delete my thoughts with misleading information.

        Reply

  15. Hi Carl,

    Is there a way to redirect VDA 7.6 to use “Remote Desktop Users” local group to allow RDP access for users? I have some challenges in adding users groups under “Direct access Users” local group.

    Thanks,
    Dinesh

    Reply

  16. very help full thanks a lot.

    one question, and maybe it is already asked somewhere but I can’t find it, if I have an Xendesktop 7.6 environment without any feature packs is it still possible for me to install the VDA 7.6.300 or do I need to install all the updates manually?

    Thanks in advanced.

    BRGDS Eric

    Reply

    1. You can definitely upgrade the VDA without upgrading the Controller first. The VDA installs are cumulative.

      Reply

      1. even if I have an “Citrix Xendesktop VDI” license, not an platinum or enterprise? with that license I am not able to upgrade to FP3

        Reply

  17. Hi Carl,

    Published Shared Drive with explorer.exe on XenApp 7.6 in that we could not able to Copy and paste of files between local workstation and sessions or between two unique sessions is not supported.
    Drag and drop of either text or files between local workstation and sessions or between two unique sessions is not supported

    please help what should i do?

    Reply

  19. Hi Carl Stalhood,

    user sessions or application load are not equally distributed between Vda servers in Xenapp 7.6 how to fix this probelm

    This count varies

    ACH COUNT(*)
    ——————- ———
    HOFARINS\DICWL03 50
    HOFARINS\DICWL02 39
    HOFARINS\DICWL00 161
    HOFARINS\DICWL01 84

    Reply

    1. What are your load evaluator rules? The default is the number of users only so it should have the same number of users on each VDA.

      What hotfixes do you have installed on the Controller and VDAs?

      Reply

        1. Create a Citrix Policy and there are Load Management rules.

          If you are running base 7.6.0, I would upgrade the Controllers to Hotfixes Update 3 and the VDAs to 7.6.300 (or install hotfixes). My instruction have links to the updates.

          Reply

  20. Hi Carl,

    Thanks for sharing your wealth of information. I want to be aspiring VDI person and your posts really help to me learn in it on a short time.Otherwise i have to spend hours in reading about this.

    Thanks,

    Jude

    Reply

  21. Good Morning!

    Carl, first I would like to thank you for all your help and answering questions here.

    My test environment is running smoothly. I have a Windows Server 2012 R2 virtual machine where this is installed VDA.

    I have the receiver citrix installed on a Windows 7 virtual machine.

    In this example, I cite the notepad, all new files are being saved necessarily in the “Users” My VDA in Windows Server 2012 R2. What settings should I make, so that only the “Users” folder of Windows Server 2012 R2 is visible when you save a document for the first time by notepad or the User folder of my domain, logged on the local disk of Windows 7 , is available for the user?

    Is there a way that only the domain user folder where you are saving the edited file at the time, visible and available for this? Map this folder via GPO?

    Another question I have, is that the files edited and saved by XenApp, when I want to edit again, only’ll get through I open the XenApp and find the document you want to edit in Windows, or is there some way to get XenApp as default application for opening that file type?

    Thank you Carl.

    Reply

    1. Are you asking how to hide the local C: drive? This is a Microsoft GPO functionality. My lockdown page might get you started. https://www.carlstalhood.com/group-policy-objects-vda-user-settings/#lockdown

      Citrix doesn’t offer any functionality to change how Windows behaves for the user. You’ll need to either use group policy or look for a User Environment Management Tool (e.g. AppSense).

      Are you asking how to double-click a file on the client machine and have it open in XenApp? When creating your published apps, there’s a File Type Association page where you can associate FTAs with the app. On the client side, add the account to Receiver. Then it should work automatically.

      Reply

      1. Carl,

        The File Type Association worked perfectly, thank you.

        As for my other questions, I will illustrate the scenario:

        With XenApp open Notepad, I want to save my txt document. It will automatically search for the folder in my user within the VDA is that if my Windows Server 2012 R2. I want to save this file in any folder, for example in my desktop. Later I want to open this document for editing again. It is possible and what would be the necessary actions so that on my Windows 7, I can see all the folders on my server in Windows Server 2012 R2, and open the txt file for editing my desktop?

        Or, there would be another way to do so?

        I’m putting together a just a abiente tests, and principle, be left to finalize the part of saving, editing and handling of files created by XenApp.

        I’m waiting your help. Thank you so much.

        Reply

        1. In that case you need folder redirection or “special” folder redirection. “special” means the Desktop folder on your client machine is mapped into the session. Regular folder redirection means you configure both XenApp and your client machine to redirect Desktop to the same network share. I have both instructions on my website.

          Reply

          3. Carl,

            The special Redirection worked perfectly 🙂 Thank you friend.

            As for the GPO Lockdown, got set up for it leaves out the C: Local Virtual Machine Windows 7, though, if I click “My Computer,” that when I save the file edited by XenApp I created, C: the VDA It is displayed, and I’m managing to save files there. How can I do to also omit the C: and leave only the common user folders to it then save the file created XenApp?

          4. You created a GPO to hide the C: drive? Are you saying it’s not working? Did you apply the GPO to the XenApp server?

  22. Hi Carl,

    After we updated our master image with FP3 VDA, flash redirection has stopped functioning. We did not update the Controllers with FP3 yet.
    Any thoughts?

    Reply

  23. Hello, Carl!
    I’m using VDA 7.6.0 with hotfix CTX142357. Director 7.6.200 fails to collect some WMI data without new HDX WMI Provider. Should I also update WMI Proxy, Profile Management etc. for my environment to work correctly? Is it necessary to update Director to 7.6.300 to work correctly with HDX WMI Provider Patch?

    Reply

    1. I normally update everything. Most of the updated VDA components are included in VDA 7.6.300 so that one upgrade should handle most of it.

      Reply

  24. Hello Carl,

    I am using VDA 7.6 and XD7.5, Win Server 2008 R2 SP1 and esxi 5.5
    I am facing slow logon issue (approx 80-100 sec).
    I came to a weird solution. Reinstalling Remote desktop session host reduce the logon time to approx 30 sec.
    But now I am not getting average logon duration on Director dashboard.

    Can you please help.

    Reply

    1. Citrix Profile Management issue? Check the UPM logs.

      Did you reinstall VDA 7.6.300?

      There are many potential causes for slow logins. I usually run a procmon trace to see which process is taking too long.

      Reply

  25. Thanks Carl for your guides they have come in quite handy.

    Hey i was wondering if anyone had seen an issue with 7.3.600 VDA where one application will launch but the second application will not. It begins to launch then the first app will kind of crash and re-open and the second app never launches. This issue began only a few weeks ago, i have rebuilt the gold images from scratch with all latest software, no upgrades.

    Reply

    1. Does it apply to all apps? Maybe a Windows Patch problem? Are you able to capture a dump of the crashing process?

      Reply

      1. Hey Carl, yes it occurs with any app that you try to launch on a VDA that you already have an app open on. So i can open multiple apps as long as they are on a different VDA.

        I’ll see if i can get some more info.

        Reply

        1. Hi hugh,

          I’m having the same problem with 7.6 version. In my case its using the storefront web interface. And yes.. it seems like it doesn’t work the second application started in a delivery group. Did you find any solution?

          Reply

  26. One thing i found out, if you install the FP3 VDA on a new W7sp1 without any additional software except vmware tools, the installation is not even starting. The XenDesktop splash-screen appears and then disappears, thats it!

    I needed to manually install DotNET Framework 4.5.1 in order to get the installation going.

    Reply

  27. HI Carl

    I have a customer with the black screen issue on a new 7.6 install with XD and W7x64 VDA.

    The machine is completely unresponsive after trying to connect through ica.I have to forcefully reboot the machine in order to trying again.

    I tried also the 8.3 registry key and

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\vbdenum]

    “Start”=dword:00000001
    “MaxVideoMemoryBytes”=dword:06000000
    “Group”= “EMS”

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\vd3d]

    “MaxVideoMemoryBytes”=dword:00000000

    No luck so far.

    Do i have to reinstall the VDA after changeing this Settings?

    Cheers David

    Reply

      1. Hi Carl,

        Hypervisor is esx 5.5, standard VDA.

        I tried an ISO- Install from 7.6 and then made inplace upgrade to FP3 on the VDA.
        > no luck with both Versions.

        I also tried to install on a physical machine (RemotePC), but same issue the maschine freezes.when connecting from ica.

        Storefront is still 2.6 could this be the Problem?

        thanks a lot.

        cheers David

        Reply

        1. There could be a login script hanging. Or maybe one of the client device mappings (e.g. printers) is slowing down the login. Are you able to get a procmon trace of the login process? You could analyze that to see what’s hung. Or there’s Microsoft XPerf.

          Are you using Citrix Profile Management? Do the logs show a completed login?

          Reply

          1. Hi Carl

            I disabled most of the redirection Settings, no logon scripts are enabled.

            On the VDA there is an eventlog entry: 1050 Validation in domain for user failed. reason “Deny”
            Also i see open sessions in studio even though there are none on the test VM.

            i v’e spent 3 days on Troubleshooting this…. no luck so far!

            i appreciate any help!

            cheers David

          2. Hi Carl

            The Black Screen issue could be resolved, well sort of.
            I had to reinstall Windows from scratch (ISO).

            Some member of local IT must have made some sirious changes on the base Image, which breaks the vda functionality.

            cheer David (#yorconsultch)

    2. Black screen issue on ESX host typically is caused by the SVGA driver being installed with VMware Tools. The fix for that is to uninstall the SVGA driver and just use the standard driver for the VM. That driver does not participate in and ica session so it doesn’t affect performance.

      Reply

  28. First of all, great site! The information here in invaluable.

    I was wondering if you could share your opinion on video memory configuration at the virtual machine level. I find very mixed results when searching the topic. Some people say that virtual machine level video configuration doesn’t matter and you can stick with the 4MB default of vSphere, for example. Others seem to say that it absolutely matters and you to change it to at least 64MB. I know you cover the VDA level video memory topic, but I’m curious for your thoughts on VM level.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  29. Hello Carl,

    Thank you for your informative posts, I have recently update a master image with FP3 VDA and noticed that one of our printers (a USB to Parallel configure printer) has gone offline, also the receiver is at 4.3.100.

    Prior to FP3 VDA the printer works fine without any issues.

    Have you faced/seen such a behavior, or do you recommend opening a case with support?

    Thank you.

    Reply

  30. Hi Carl,

    I followed your procedure for enabling HDX SSL for VDA. It works great for the HTML 5 internal clients hitting Storefront directly. However, enabling this seems to break HTML 5 access to the delivery group when connecting remotely through a NetScaler Gateway. Setting HdxSslEnabled back to $false fixes access through the NSG, but then it doesn’t work internally. Is this expected behavior or is there additional steps to get it working remotely?

    Thanks

    Reply

      1. Yes and yes. Since you brought up name resolution, can you elaborate why the Set-BrokerSite –DnsResolutionEnabled $true command needs to be set? We didn’t enable this since it would apply to all delivery groups in our production site (not just the test ones we are using). I’m wondering if that’s what’s causing the issue.

        Reply

          1. Thanks for the info, it does make sense that the client would need to resolve the FQDN to match the cert, curious that it was working internally for us without this. We still get connection failures from the NSG for delivery groups using SSL even after enabling this, so it’s probably time for a support case. I’ll reply here when we find a fix.

          2. Support confirmed the SF / NS configs were correct, but during their review of our traces, our design requirements changed, we decided to only do the HTML 5 receiver externally. I turned off SSL to VDA on all delivery groups and edited the session profiles on the NetScaler gateway to redirect to an unadvertised store with the HTML 5 receiver as the default when users connect via web browser and to default to our production store when using the Receiver client. Internally everyone connects to the production store, which is set to launch the Receiver client (launch.ica), since everyone internally should be running Receiver anyway. Doesn’t explain why we were having the issue, but it works.

  31. I don’t know if anyone else is experiencing this problem with SmartCard.
    I have “Remote Desktop Connection” published on VDA installed Server. The users are required to authenticate on their respective Physical Machine with SmartCard. For this to work, the SmartCard software is also installed on the source Host for the published “Remote Desktop Connection.

    This configuration has been working fine with 7.6 and prior versions, however since updated the VDA to 7.6.300, SmartCard login is no longer possible. The users get the error message “An authentication error has occurred. No credentials are available in the security package”

    Once the Image is reversed back to 7.6, it works again.

    What could be causing the problem in 7.6.300? All required components “Director, Storefront and Controller are all updated.

    Reply

  32. Hi Carl,
    can ‘t really find it so maybe you know …

    Is it supported (by Citrix) to use a higher VDA version as the farm is on ?
    Due to the amount of hotfixes I am thinking about using 7.6.3 VDA within 7.6 farm.

    Reply

    1. You can definitely mix and match versions. There isn’t a 7.6.300 for the Controllers so that wouldn’t apply in this case. When 7.7 is released, you can run 7.7 VDAs with 7.6 Controllers and vice versa.

      Reply

      1. Okay, thanks. Much appreciated !
        Could not find not find an CTX article or blog post confirming this.

        In regard to “Mfaphook – 8.3 File Names” I guess this is also applicable to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows as per CTX131995 but you do not mention it. Can you clarify ?

        Reply

        1. Several Citrix employees have posted to Citrix Discussions indicating support for mixed versions.

          I’ve never needed to change Wow6432Node but I suspect there’s no harm.

          Reply

      2. Hi Carl , i have an annoying bug on both xenapp 7.6 and xendesktop 7.6 with version vda 7.6.300, 2012r2 rds and win8.1 64bit vm so my question is can i use 7.7 vda with 7.6 controllers in order to fix this or is there a hotfix for the 7.6.300 vda which fixes the ending of a process not a of an application because that one wont close the process sometimes especially on excel from within the latest 7.6 director and its failing with the following error:
        ” data source source unresponsive or reported an error. view server event logs for further information”
        on the director
        and the error message i get on the controller is this one
        Failed to connect to data source ‘The broker service reported an error. See the event log for more information.’ (‘http://xxxx.xxxx.local/Citrix/BrokerAdminService/v2’).

        Verify that the data source is available.

        User: ‘XINDAO\xxxx’
        Console operation: ‘Ending user session process…’

        Additional diagnostics information (error message):
        ‘Failed to execute broker synchronous command=EndProcess’

        Reply

        1. You can upgrade the VDA without upgrading the Controller. VDA 7.7 and 7.6.300 and pretty much the same. VDA 7.8 has a bunch of bug fixes.

          Reply

  33. hi Carl,

    Is it advisable to uninstall the old version of VDA and then install VDA 7.6.300 or can we just do an in-place upgrade on top of the existing VDA version?

    Thanks!

    Reply

  35. Hello Carl,

    The registry key :
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Citrix\Portica
    Name: AutoLogon
    Type: DWORD
    Data: 0x00000001

    Don’t work with the VDA 7.6.3.

    The fPromptForPassword = 1 is not possible on our environement.

    How can I perform Autologon with the new VDA ?

    Reply

    1. Are you saying that RDP’s Prompt for Password policy is enabled and VDA is requiring extra auth before it lets users connect?

      Or are you saying that you enabled StoreFront for SSON (pass-through auth) but forgot to configure Receiver to use SSON when connecting to VDAs?

      Reply

      1. Hello Carl,

        Receiver (3.4) is currently configured for SSON.

        On our platform with VDA 7.6.0, SSON work perfectly (for Webinterface 5.4 and storefront) if we add the registry key “AutoLogon” (Hotfix ICAWS760WX64032 and older)

        However, I tested the VDA 7.6.3 and I cannot perform SSON on our VMs.
        I try adding the registry key “AutoLogon” without success.

        I cannot change the “fPromptForPassword” value (setting forced by GPO).

        The currents hotfix for VDA 7.6.0 should be included in the VDA 7.6.3.

        Reply

      2. We also have a similar issue. XD 7.6.300 VDA / current storefront. Get XD logon screen. Have disabled the password policy already. Funny thing is if I come through Netscaler Gateway, it works just fine.

        Reply

  36. I noticed installing VDA 7.6.300 on Win10 did not install profile manager. retried a couple times with the same result. Ended up installing UPM 5.2.1 MSI before running VDA 7.6.300 update, but even after that the upm stays at version 5.2.1. Is there a standalone installer for UPM 5.3 available somewhere?

    Reply

    1. UPM is not yet available for Windows 10. There is no standalone 5.3. There will be once Windows 10 support is added.

      Reply

  37. I am having an experience on Xenserver and wondering if this is same on ESXi, and if it is normal.

    I observed that once VDA is installed on the machine to be used as master, the “Standard VGA Graphics Adapter” seems no longer recognized.. It is stamped with yellow question mark on the “Device Manager”

    Reply

  38. Hi Carl,
    I’ve followed through your guide and have some Windows Server 2012 R2 based VDA’s running, however whenever a user connects (to either an App or Desktop), they are almost immediately disconnected.
    I know there are various support articles at Citrix which relate to opening Apps when already connected to a published desktop, however this issue is occurring even when connecting from a standard PC/Laptop.

    I’ve tried both VDA 7.6.300 and base 7.6 with latest patches.

    Any ideas or thoughts?
    Cheers!

    Reply

    1. Internal? If so, any security software on the VDA?

      External? If so, is the firewall open between NetScaler and the VDAs?

      Reply

      1. Both, Yes, Trend Micro Officesan (have followed details from Trend for VDA imaging and have added various exceptions). Have also tried unloading Officescan, same result.

        Interestingly, users can connect using Receiver for HTML externally and using Receiver for Android (at least externally – haven’t tried internally as yet). Seems to only be when using Windows Receiver (tried with 4.1 and 4.3)

        Reply

          1. With VDA 7.6.3, Event Logs simply log that the session was disconnected. Nothing else.
            VDA 7.6 base logs that the VDA is reconnecting to a DDC…

            We have other VDA servers, with different apps that were built ~3-4 months ago and are running base 7.6. They are working fine with Session Reliability configured normally.

            Are you referring to disabling Session Reliability on the storefront site? Or in the clients Receiver?

          2. Just as a test.

            Try building a new VM with just the Citrix software and nothing else and see if it works. If it doesn’t then check GPOs or other environmental settings. If it does work then add software until it breaks.

  39. Carl,
    I’ve been hunting to see if xenapp 7.6 shared desktops is able to use the enhanced desktop experience and if it will look like windows 7. Any info is greatly appreciated.

    Thanks
    Sunshineknox

    Reply

      1. Thanks Carl. Do you know if 2012 R2 will look a windows 7 desktop with xenapp 7.6 using enhanced desktop experience? I’m unable to find any good documentation on how to configure it. It looks like there is still some work to do even though it’s on by default, like running scripts to be able to get the policies to configure. Do you know where a good walk through is?

        Thanks again for the info

        Reply

        1. 2012 R2 = Windows 8.1. It looks like Windows 8.1, especially the Start Menu. Citrix installs its own wallpaper (blue with Citrix logo). Are you asking how to customize the Start Menu? Probably the best option is to install Classic Shell or something like that. Or wait until Windows 2016 where it looks more like Windows 10.

          Reply

          1. Thanks for the info. Yes, I was seeing information about the theme to use during my searching about enhanced desktop experience. I will take a look at the classic shell. Thanks for the help.

  40. Hi Carl

    Instead of installing the components singely, all I did was to run “Virtual Delivery Agent 7.6.300” on my Images. I believe this should upgrade all required components.

    However I am have problem performing the process on an Image with “Microsoft Office” already installed. I get the message “You must restart the machine before continuing. Click OK to restart now” over and over.

    Is this a know issue? How can I go about it?

    Reply

  41. Install Virtual Delivery Agent 7.6.300
    Upgrade to Receiver 4.3.100
    VDA 7.6.300 includes this update.

    when i install the vda update i don`t want to update my receiver on my server os. can i block this with a command when installing the vda update ?

    if i read your remark i presume it is automatically updated ?

    Reply

    1. When doing a fresh install, you can uncheck Receiver. When doing an upgrade, I’m not sure if can be unchecked or not.

      Reply

      1. There is no possibilty during upgrade for selection. However, you could later uninstall the upgraded Receiver and reinstall the Version needed.

        Reply

  42. Carl,
    You advise to set controller registration manually for VDA. Is automatic discovery preferable if I’m using MCS? With auto registration I noticed VDA registers only on first controller.

    Reply

    1. I personally always do manual because it’s just a registry key that can be easily changed. When the VDA registers, it should download the full list of Controllers.

      Reply

      1. Checked in lab. Auto registration provides full list of controllers but VDA registers only on 1st one even if both DC are available. If one of DCs is not available VDA simply takes the second DC from the list etc. As far as I know with manual registration VDA takes random controller from the list.

        Reply

    1. It’s a limited release hotfix. Citrix recently made a change so that only people with download rights can see the article. If you want the fix then you’d have to contact Citrix Support or a Citrix Partner.

      Reply

  44. Hi Carl,

    I have installed Framehawk with necessary hotfixes on Windows 2012 server OS, Creted a citrix policy for the same, Still framehawk doesn;t show up on Citrix director?

    Am i missing anything here or citrix director needs edgesight?

    TIA

    Reply

      1. I am using Director 7.6.300 and i have gone through lot of discussion forums on framehawk and none of them answered whether Diector needs edgesight feature to have framehawk enabled on director?

        Reply

  45. Carl great article however i did find a typo in the HDX Flash section. in the section

    “From Citrix Discussions: Add the DWORD ‘FlashPlayerVersionComparisonMask=0′ on the VDA under HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Citrix\HdxMediaStreamForFlash\Server\PseduoServer. This disables the Flash major version checking between the VDA and Client Device.”

    You miss-spelled PseduoServer in the registry key it should be PseudoServer.

    Reply

  46. Hi Carl,

    At First, great post and also a great site you have!

    I am trying to create an pvs 7.6 image of a 2012r2 vm running on esx 6. don’t no why but every time it hangs on the blue windows logo. I created an image by your advised steps and also an image of an clean windows 2012 install. also removed the ghost devices and set the dvd to ide. if i try fixed instead of dynamic it first creates the disk and then is hangs on the boot screen. strange part is that the server isn’t active in provisioning yet so something is blocking it form contacting the pvs server. we have several pvs servers but i assigned the disk to 1 pvs server which is also in the bootstrap file. production xa servers als already running on that pvs server.

    before the upgrade to esx 6 i was able to create an 2012r2 pvs image

    please help what should i do?

    regards and TIA

    Reply

    1. Most of the hotfixes in that article are for Windows 2012. I’m not too concerned about them since most of them are delivered through Windows Update. I can’t say the same for Windows 2008 R2. The older XenApp 6.x article contains a list of hotfixes for Windows 2008 R2 that should be requested and installed. I’ll clarify the text. Thanks for commenting.

      Reply

  49. Hi Carl,

    Recently I came across with below one, Can you please me with this ?

    Issue – From CITRIX portal I am able to launch the desktop but not application. When I click on application, launching window opens and shows connecting and all of a sudden it gets disappears. On server end I have seen the below events based on this I have googled and gone through multiple troubleshooting steps which made me exhaust all my patience but nothing has worked.

    Log Name: Application
    Source: Citrix Desktop Service
    Date: 3/6/2015 6:53:32 PM
    Event ID: 1030
    Task Category: None
    Level: Information
    Keywords: Classic
    User: N/A
    Computer:
    Description:
    The Citrix Desktop Service detected that a user session has ended. Session dae4c03c-f1d6-4edb-a2c6-f21875831843 for user ” has ended; reason code ConnectionFailure.
    Event Xml:

    1030
    4
    0
    0x80000000000000

    7734
    Application

    dae4c03c-f1d6-4edb-a2c6-f21875831843

    ConnectionFailure

    Reply

    1. There are many potential reasons. Is the app path correctly defined in the published app? Is 8.3 file naming disabled? Are you trying to launch Explorer but haven’t set the LogoffCheckerStartupDelayInSeconds registry value? I suggest posting to http://discussions.citrix.com so others in the community can provide suggestions.

      Reply

  50. Carl,
    I see that you have added the two controllers as the RDS license servers and I don’t understand why. in my environment (2012 XA 7.6 host) I dont see Terminal server showing RD licensing diagnoser, also adding Controllers didnt get rid of the nagging RDS license message. I had to add the actual RDS license server for 2012 and 2008 before the message went away.

    Reply

    1. I typically install RDS Licensing on my Controllers. If RDS Licensing is installed on different machines then you’ll need to specify them instead. I’ll fix the text. Thanks for the feedback.

      Reply

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