XenApp

So, things are not quite working as you expect them to, it happens.  The Citrix Brief Troubleshooting Guidebook (at 100+ pages it is anything but brief!), can assist you with the process you should follow to adequately troubleshoot and resolve your issues.  You can find a download of the current guid here.

During the November 2010 LA Citrix User Groups we offered a presentation from Citrix Technical Support Specialist Rick Berry.  Rick supports some of our very largest financial services accounts, and his presentation with regard to troubleshooting methodologies and tools was outstanding. 

For those of us that cannot go back in time, there is Citrix TechEdge.  

Citrix TechEdge is a free annual event hosted by top Citrix Technical Support engineers at Citrix Synergy San Francisco for you, our valued support customers. TechEdge is your opportunity to plunge straight into the latest troubleshooting tools, methodologies and fixes for your desktop virtualization, server virtualization and network optimization without hearing all the marketing fluff. Join us at TechEdge where no question is too technical.

What you’ll learn 

• Learn the latest troubleshooting techniques, tools and scripts
• Gain real-world experience from Citrix Support experts, who can answer your technical questions and provide you with knowledge to do your job more effectively
• See troubleshooting in action and learn tips and tricks to solve your company’s IT infrastructure problems
• Meet face to face with the Citrix Technical Support Escalation Team and have in-depth discussions, exchange ideas, and network

You can find more information regarding TechEdge here.

Hey!  The network is down, it’s Sunday night, what do I do? 

This sort of thing happens more often than any of us would like.  You remove servers from the production environment and proceed to increment your change management procedures during the off hours when users will not be impacted.  Just as you deliver that final reboot, an unexpected result occurs, and access to the XenApp delivery environment is impacted.  Who do you call in the middle of the night to get the network working again?  Call Citrix Support!

Citrix now offers 24×7 technical support for XenApp customers through our Software Maintenance Program.  This program includes the items below.

• 24x7x365 Telephone, Web, and Email Support
• Five incidents and one contact for every 50 CCU of licenses in production
• Support for all software within XenApp Platinum, Enterprise, and Advanced editions provided until end of contract or product end of life (whichever comes first)
• Vendor-Direct Technical Support
• Annual Training Event
• Quarterly Webcasts
• Monthly Newsletters

Should you have further questions regarding the Citrix Software Maintenance Program please contact Andrew Mills or Nathaniel Chadbourne for follow up. 

You can visit the Citrix website for further details here.

It was announced this week that sales of “Smart Phones” have for the first time outpaced the sale of traditional PCs.  Interesting to note that 2010 was also the year that laptop sales outpaced traditional PCs for the first time.  Consumerization combined with improving bandwidth access are driving the need for remote application delivery to a range of endpoint devices. 

Interesting to note that Citrix is revolutionizing this market space.  Take a look at a demo of this the CES Best of Show 2011 device, the Motorola Atrix.

So how do you get this done for your business?  The best solution is the implementation of our Netscaler technology to deliver secure Application Delivery Controller services to the users on your network.  All Netscaler products integrate Citrix Access Gateway Enterprise (AGEE) functionality on platform.  AGEE offer secure SSL encrypted application access to all endpoint devices capable of hosting the Citrix Receiver.  Look here to sample a selection of these devices today.  Follow the links at the bottom of the page to configure your own device and launch and application.

The links below will focus on Netscaler VPX, which is a software appliance version of the Citrix Netscaler physical device.  Netscaler VPX runs on all three major hypervisors, XenServer, Hyper-V, and VMWare.  Follow the links below to get started.

1. Getting Started with VPX:  This is a CTX article
2. NS VPX Installation on XenServer:  This is a 10 minute video on Citrix TV
3. NS VPX Installation on ESX 3.5:  This is a 10 minute video on Citrix TV
4. NS VPX Installation on Hyper-V:  This is a 10 minute video on Citrix TV
5. NS VPX How to Obtain a License:  This is a 10 minute video on ….  I think you see where this is going…:-)
6. NS VPX License Activation

Now for the good part!

1. Configure NS VPX AGEE for iPhone/iPad/Android Devices:  Important to note that once you have established this configuration this will support any Smart Phone or Tablet device capable of hosting Citrix Receiver.  One and done in a literal sense.
2. Configure Two Factor Authentication on NS VPX AGEE for iPhone/iPad/Android Devices:  For the more secure conscious among us!

Last but not least!  You can download the Netscaler VPX here.

An item or two to consider as you move forward.  NS VPX exactly mirrors the management and functionality of Netscaler Hardware devices.  You do have the ability to export and import config files between Netscaler VPX and Netscaler hardware devices, which improves your development and test processes.

Second item to consider is that our Citrix Partner community throughout Southern California is your best resource for architecture and support of your delivery center environment.  Citrix Partners are in the field every day implementing solutions to meet customer use cases.  If you are interested in more information or assistance with regard to Citrix Partner contacts in the Greater Los Angeles Area, follow up with Andrew and Nathaniel, they are glad to assist you.

Finally, access to Smart Phone devices via Citrix Netscaler products will be the focus of our upcoming Citrix User Groups in the Los Angeles area February 23rd and 24th.  Check the landing page for RSVP.

Taking a number of questions from customers regarding the upgrade of XA 4.5 to XA 5 and XA 6. 

Upgrade W2K3 XA 4.5 to XA 5.0 

For those of you seeking documentation for the upgrade to XA 5 reference the link below.  This doc will walk you through the process of upgrading your W2K3 XA 4.5 installation to XA 5.0.  For those of you moving froma W2K3 to W2K8 server environment the recommendation is build a completely new farm.  Installing OS updates over the top has never been recommended as a best practice for terminal server.  When upgrading the OS, the complete rebuild of the server is your best bet for success. 

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX116622

Upgrade to XA 6

The upgrade path to XA 6 is a parallel path installation.  XA 6 has been developed exclusively for W2K8 R2.  XA 6 does not run on W2K3 or W2K8 R1.  XA 6 does not offer the opportunity to share a farm context with XA 5 servers.  The documentation for upgrading to XA 6 is referenced in the link below.

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX124241

XA 6 Migration Tool

Citrix has developed a Powershell tool capable of porting XA 5 farm settings into your new XA 6 farm.  To purpose of the XA 6 migration tool is of course to speed the deployment of your new farm.  The video will give you information on installation and configuration of the tool.  The video offers insight into the new XA 6 ability to publish applications to groups of users.  You will see how to configure and leverage the latest release of Web Interface to support user migration to the new XA 6 farm. 

Interestingly you will also notice a seamless workflow in the migration of users from Office 2007 to Office 2010.  This is achieved by leveraging System Environment Variables to publish the office applications, %MSOFFICEDIR%\Excel.exe is referenced as the follow up posts for the video.  System Environment Variables can be a great configuration resource for you on the network.  Remember though that for a System Environment Variable to work you must reboot the server to set the configuration….

Citrix XenApp 6 Migration Tool – Guided Tour

You can download the XenApp 6 Migration Tool from http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX125471

Enjoy your migrating.  Please feel free to pass on your questions. 

RTE

For those that would like to test Citrix application delivery to an iPad, look here for the Citrix Mobile Receiver URL Generator. For some explanation of just what is happening with this tool, look here. Looking to test even more devices check out the Citrix Cloud Demo Environment. These tools offer you an opportunity to test access to Citrix applications via your remote devices.

Tip: Keep these sites handy, I have noticed that our own support teams leverage these sites as troubleshooting tools to assure the Receiver is indeed installed and working correctly.

Next step, read the documentation…..

• http://support.citrix.com/proddocs

Expand the documents tree to see the item below. It is possible to deliver apps via the Receiver for iPad/iPhone via CSG 3.0 as well as AG Standard, Adv (4.5 with Hotfix 4 (AAC450W004)), and AGEE. You will also require Web Interface 5.* from which you will configure a XenApp Services Site (formerly PNAgent site). Read the documentation! Take your time, and be sure you are meeting the minimum requirements. As with anything else, I have some customers who are delivering apps via the CSG and AG products right off the bat without issue, while others need a bit more time to review the details. Take you time, and understand that the technology works! It’s always the little things.