Category Archives: Citrix

Citrix, End-User Computing, XenMobile

Citrix Summit 2016 Part 2: XenMobile 10.3 and PVS 7.7

Here’s part 2 in my series of recap posts of the most important updates that came out of the Citrix 2016 partner summit. In this post, I’ve gathered notes from Citrix around XenMobile 10.3 and PVS 7.7. Yesterday, I posted about what’s new with XenApp and XenDesktop in case you missed it. If you’d like to talk about any of these updates in more detail, feel free to reach out.

Citrix XenMobile 10.3

The following features are new in XenMobile 10.3 and rely on an upcoming release of the Worx Mobile Apps and MDX Toolkit to be fully functional:

  • Shared devices in XenMobile enterprise mode. Shared devices is available in MDM mode.
  • Android for Work device owner mode and support for devices earlier than Android L.
  • Retrieval of voice or SMS messages on Android devices.
  • Support for Google Cloud Messaging on Android devices.
  • Fast encryption device policy, VPN policies, and new Restriction policy options for Samsung KNOX.
  • New language support for Korean, German and Portuguese and right-to-left text support in Worx Apps. These languages are available in the XenMobile console with XenMobile 10.3.

New Console Appearance: XenMobile 10.3

XenMobile 10.3 has a new look. The console is updated with new colors, fonts, tabs, and improved functionality.

  • The Dashboard tab in previous versions of the console has been moved under the new Analyze tab, which also includes the new Reporting tab. For details, see Reports.
  • The Manage tab now includes the new Users tab where you manage local users and groups.
  • The Configure tab now includes the new ShareFile tab where you configure settings to connect to the ShareFile account.
  • You access Settings, formerly under the Configure tab, by clicking the gear icon on the upper-right of the console.
  • The Support tab now opens in the same tab as the console instead of in a new tab.

New Platform Support: XenMobile 10.3

XenMobile 10.3 now offers support for the following platforms:

  • Mac OS X
  • Android HTC
  • Android Sony
  • Samsung SEAMS
  • Windows Mobile/CE
  • Windows 10 Phone: Device management in XenMobile MDM and Enterprise modes.
  • Windows 10 Desktop/Tablet: Device management in XenMobile MDM and Enterprise modes.

Citrix PVS 7.7

The following new features are available with Provisioning Services 7.7:

  • Support for Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise and Professional editions.
  • In-place upgrade of target device software. Rather than reverse-imaging, you can install a new version of the target device software without having to manually uninstall the previous version. To do an in-place upgrade from version 7.6 to version 7.7 you must first install version 7.6.1.
  • Support for UEFI pre-boot environments. This enables you to stream at startup time using gigabit network speeds, so users experience faster startups, and to use disks over 2 TB.
  • The licensing grace period for Provisioning Services has changed from 96 hours to 30 days, for consistency with XenApp and XenDesktop.
  • The Provisioning Services API has been enhanced to provide a standard object-oriented PowerShell interface that enables you to integrate your products and tools easily with Provisioning Services.
  • vGPU-enabled XenDesktop machines can be provisioned using the Provisioning Services XenDesktop Setup Wizard, rather than manually or by  using the Provisioning Services Streamed Virtual Machine Setup Wizard. You can provision machines on VMware vSphere 6.0 as well as on XenServer 6.2.
  • System Center Virtual Machine Manager Generation 2 VMs can be provisioned through Provisioning Services. Generation 2 VMs are optimized for modern workloads: the operating system does not carry the overhead of legacy drivers, devices and x86 architectures.
    • Note: This feature has received limited testing, may not be present in future product releases and must not be enabled on production systems. Citrix may not respond to support requests regarding this feature.
  • FIPS support. Provisioning Services uses a new algorithm that is compliant with Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS).
  • XenApp Session Recording is automatically available by default on all machines: you do not need to use a manual workaround.
  • Streaming VHDX formatted disks. This feature adds flexibility and efficiency to image and merging operations by letting you stream VHDX files as well as VHD files. Provisioning Services recognizes and uses the file format .vhdx as the extension for base disks and .avhdx for differencing disks (also known as versions). No configuration of this feature is necessary. You perform all image manipulation functions, such as deleting or merging vDisks, or creating new versions, in the Provisioning Services console the same way for both formats.

 

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

 

By Peter Crepeau, Solutions Architect

Citrix, End-User Computing, XenApp, XenDesktop

Citrix Summit 2016: What’s New With XenApp and XenDesktop 7.7

I recently attended the 2016 Citrix Partner Summit event in Las Vegas. I gathered what I felt were some of the most important notes provided by Citrix around what’s new with its core enterprise products. In this first post, I will review what’s new with XenApp and XenDesktop 7.7. In my next post, I’ll share what’s new with XenMobile 10.3. If you have questions around these announcements, please reach out. 

Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.7

  • Zones
    • Deployments that span widely-dispersed locations connected by a WAN can face challenges due to network latency and reliability. Configuring zones can help users in remote regions connect to local resources without forcing connections to traverse large segments of the WAN. Using zones allows effective Site management from a single Citrix Studio console, Citrix Director, and the Site database. This saves the costs of deploying, staffing, licensing, and maintaining additional Sites containing separate databases in remote locations. Zones can be helpful in deployments of all sizes. You can use zones to keep applications and desktops closer to end users, which improves performance. For more information, see the Zones article.
  • Improved database flow and configuration
    • When you configure the databases during Site creation, you can now specify separate locations for the Site, Logging, and Monitoring databases. Later, you can specify different locations for all three databases. In previous releases, all three databases were created at the same address, and you could not specify a different address for the Site database later. You can now add more Delivery Controllers when you create a Site, as well as later. In previous releases, you could add more Controllers only after you created the Site. For more information, see the Databases and Controllers articles.
  • Application limits
    • Configure application limits to help manage application use. For example, you can use application limits to manage the number of users accessing an application simultaneously. Similarly, application limits can be used to manage the number of simultaneous instances of resource-intensive applications, this can help maintain server performance and prevent deterioration in service. For more information, see the Manage applications article.
  • Multiple notifications before machine updates or scheduled restarts
    • You can now choose to repeat a notification message that is sent to affected machines before the following types of actions begin:
      • Updating machines in a Machine Catalog using a new master image
      • Restarting machines in a Delivery Group according to a configured schedule
    •  If you indicate that the first message should be sent to each affected machine 15 minutes before the update or restart begins, you can also specify that the message be repeated every five minutes until the update/restart begins. For more information, see the Manage Machine Catalogs and Manage machines in Delivery Groups articles.
  • API support for managing session roaming
    • By default, sessions roam between client devices with the user. When the user launches a session and then moves to another device, the same session is used and applications are available on both devices. The applications follow, regardless of the device or whether current sessions exist. Similarly, printers and other resources assigned to the application follow. You can now use the PowerShell SDK to tailor session roaming. This was an experimental feature in the previous release. For more information, see the Sessions article.
  • API support for provisioning VMs from hypervisor templates
    • When using the PowerShell SDK to create or update a Machine Catalog, you can now select a template from other hypervisor connections. This is in addition to the currently-available choices of VM images and snapshots.
  • Support for new and additional platforms
    • See the System requirements article for full support information. Information about support for third-party product versions is updated periodically. By default, SQL Server 2012 Express SP2 is installed when you install the Delivery Controller. SP1 is no longer installed. The component installers now automatically deploy newer Microsoft Visual C++ runtime versions: 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Visual C++ 2013, 2010 SP1, and 2008 SP1. Visual C++ 2005 is no longer deployed. You can install Studio or VDAs for Windows Desktop OS on machines running Windows 10. You can create connections to Microsoft Azure virtualization resources.

Citrix Director – The Director version provided with this release contains the following new and enhanced features

  • Proactive monitoring and alerting
    • You can now configure proactive alerting and notifications when thresholds are reached. This enables quicker responses even when you are not viewing the monitoring console. For more information, see Alerts and notifications.
  • SCOM integration
    • Deployments that use Microsoft System Center 2012 – Operations Manager to monitor deployments can now view alerts provided by the Operations Manager on the Dashboard and in other high level views in Director. For example, if connections to supported hypervisors fail, the administrator can check Director for Operations Manager alerts. After reviewing alert details in Director, the administrator can then switch to the Operations Manager console for additional troubleshooting, if needed. For more information, see SCOM alerts.
  • Windows Authentication
    • Director now supports Integrated Windows Authentication. For single sign-on, a user’s Windows credentials are automatically used to access Director. This support allows users to log on to their machines using any credential provider and supporting hardware, and use that logged-on identity to access Director. For more information, see Use Director with Integrated Windows Authentication.
  • Desktop and Server OS usage
    • The Trends view now shows the usage of Desktop OS by Site and by Delivery group, and it shows the usage of Server OS by site, by Delivery group, and by Machine. This gives you a real-time view of your OS usage, enabling you to quickly assess your site’s capacity needs. For more information, see Monitor historical trends across a Site.
  • Application limits in Director
    • Application limits configured in Studio are shown in existing views and counts in Director. For example, the User Connection Failures on the Dashboard will indicate when a connection attempt fails because it would exceed an application limit. Citrix has also announced that they are going to release version 7.8 in the first quarter and is intended to enhanced application delivery and management.

Again, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out!

 

By Peter Crepeau, Solutions Architect

 

Citrix, Citrix vs Parallels RAS, Citrix XenApp, Citrix XenApp Architecture, Parallels RAS, Parallels RAS vs. Citrix, Parallels Remote Application Server, RAS, Remote Application Server

Change in Citrix XenApp Architecture Investigation

The Issue The virtualization revolution has brought BYOD networks and virtual offices into reality. Today, businesses have multiple options to create a virtual infrastructure and remotely deliver desktops and applications. One of those options is Citrix XenApp, which recently released XenApp 7.6. Because XenApp 7.6 uses a different Citrix XenApp architecture than previous versions, there […]

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How W.S. Badcock Corp. Delivers Applications to 1,000 Users—Across 8 States

“High-quality cross-platform support is the #1 benefit of the switch from Citrix to Parallels Remote Application Server. Now, with the efforts of W.S. Badcock network engineers like Michael Buckley, we are able to efficiently deliver desktops and applications to Linux, Macintosh, and Windows devices with ease.” ~ Todd Zacharias, Manager, IT Network Systems Badcock chose Parallels Remote […]

The post How W.S. Badcock Corp. Delivers Applications to 1,000 Users—Across 8 States appeared first on Parallels Blog.

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Parallels Client for Linux: The Best Alternative to Citrix Receiver Ubuntu

For people who love security and open-source systems, Ubuntu is a favorite. According to the BuildWith website, there are 3,097,360 live websites using Ubuntu, which equates to 0.9% of the entire Internet. AskUbuntu forums reports that Ubuntu has 1-2% market share in most markets. Another interesting fact about Ubuntu from OMGUBUNTU survey is that Ubuntu […]

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Accelerite, Citrix, hybrid cloud, M&A, News & Analysis

Citrix to sell CloudPlatform and CloudPortal to Accelerite, improve XenApp

CitrixCitrix has announced it will sell its CloudPlatform and CloudPortal Business Manager systems to infrastructure software vendor Accelerite. The acquisition is expected to close in Q1 2016, subject to conditions.

Accelerite, a subsidiary of Persistent Systems, has recently acquired cloud and virtualisation product lines from HP, Intel and Openwave. Citrix will work with Accelerite to build on CloudPlatform integrations with XenServer, NetScaler and Citrix Workspace Cloud.

The Apache-based CloudPlatform is used to create and run public and private cloud infrastructure services. CloudPortal Business Manager automates provisioning, billing, metering and user management. Its strength is that it allows service providers to deliver a range of cloud services while integrating with existing business, operations and IT systems, according to Nara Rajagopalan, CEO of Accelerite,

The new additions give Accelerite a more complete portfolio and it can now fill the gap in end-to-end life cycle management for public and private clouds, it said. Despite the increasing adoption of container technology in the cloud industry many enterprises cannot deploy and manage them. CloudPlatform’s simplicity and large customer base provide a means of addressing this emerging shortfall as the industry evolves into hyper-convergence, Rajagopalan said in a statement.

“Citrix will work closely with Accelerite to build on CloudPlatform integrations with our key offerings that enable the secure delivery of apps and data,” said Steve Wilson, the VP of Core Infrastructure at Citrix.

Citrix will continue to work with both the OpenStack and CloudStack open source communities to optimise its NetScaler, XenServer and Citrix Workspace Cloud.

Meanwhile, at the Citrix Summit 2016 in Las Vegas Citrix announced that new releases of XenApp and XenDesktop are available for download. The new 7.7 XenDesktop release is a product of collaboration between Citrix and Microsoft and it promises new cloud provisioning and collaboration options. The new versions will improve the flexibility of the FlexCast Management Architecture (FMA) across multiple geographical locations, Citrix claims.

Among the promised improvements are a fully native Skype for Business user experience within a virtual app or desktop, as well as high-quality voice and video. The new versions will make it easier to set up virtual desktops in Microsoft Azure by using the Machine Creation Services (MCS) feature of XenApp and XenDesktop. Citrix Provisioning Services will also now supports the on-premises provisioning of Windows 10 virtual desktops, it claims.

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Thinking About ICA Citrix? Here’s What to Expect

Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) is a proprietary presentation services protocol designed by Citrix. This protocol enables you to convert any device into a thin client such that you can easily and cost-effectively access remote resources. It contains server component software, client software, and the network protocol component. The ICA protocol separates the application’s processing from […]

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The Beginning of the End for Citrix XenApp. What Now?

Guest blog by Eugenio Ferrante, Head of Marketing Operations, APAC Choosing between “upgrade” and “the better option.” They may have been warned about the impending end-of-life (EOL) of Citrix XenApp—versions 4.5 and 5 will only be supported till end of 2015; version 6, in the next three years—but for many IT administrators, four months may […]

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Everything You Need to Know Before Deciding to Install Citrix

A History of Citrix Products One of the issues businesses have with Citrix is choosing the right tool from Citrix’s multiple products and versions. The company has already released two dozen products with 200 names in a span of 20 years. Its first virtualization product, Citrix Multi-user, was released in 1991 and was succeeded by […]

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Citrix, Enterprise IT, Goto, News & Analysis, redundancies, shareholder

Citrix to axe 1000 staff and spin off GoTo amid shareholder pressure

CitrixCitrix is to decimate its workforce and spin off its GoTo product into a separate listed company as it seeks $200m savings and a return to its most profitable basics.

The loss of 1000 jobs, thought to be sanctioned under pressure from the activist hedge fund manager Elliott Management, represents 10% of the company’s workforce.

In July BCN reported that Citrix was considering its options for the future of its GoTo range of networking systems, which includes videoconferencing and the popular desktop sharing service GoToMeeting. At the time, Elliott Management, a 7% stakeholder in Citrix, made no secret of its wish to see the company spin off any non-core assets, slim down the product portfolio and cut costs dramatically to yield higher rates of growth.

In an operational review released on November 17th, the company said it would stop investing in certain programmes and products and shut down non-core products. The company said it expects about $200 million in annualized pre-tax cost savings, 75% of which is likely to be in 2016. The job cuts do not include the impact of the spinoff, according to Citrix. The job cuts will cost between $65 million and $85 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and fiscal 2016 with most of the restructuring would be done in November and in January, Citrix disclosed.

The Go To business, which is valued at $3.5 billion to $4 billion (according to FBR Capital Markets analysis) could be sold as a separate business unit.

In a statement, Citrix said it plans to ‘increase emphasis and resources’ to its core enterprise products, including XenApp, XenDesktop, XenMobile, ShareFile and NetScaler. It has previously been reported that Elliott suggested that Citrix to explore the sale of NetScaler, a system that speeds up cloud based applications.

“We are simplifying our product, marketing, sales, operations and development,” said interim Citrix CEO Bob Calderoni, “Focusing on core strengths and simplifying how we work will improve execution, drive higher profit and begin growth in areas in which we provide the greatest value.”

Analyst Clive Longbottom at Quocirca said Citrix has become becalmed and can’t propel itself to the next level it needs to reach.

“It has a decent position as the main virtual desktop vendor, but with a new CEO and pressure from investors, Citrix has to do something,” said Longbottom.

However GoTo in combination with other technology such as ShareFile could have created the means for a massively scalable information platform, said Longbottom.

“There is one possibility around all this – a possible acquisition by another organisation. If Microsoft acquired a company that it has supported for so long, it would gain a platform for full desktop computing in Azure,” said Longbottom.