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