eGroup Roundtable: XenApp 6.5 and Beyond

XenApp 6.5 has been available for just over a year – so what’s the verdict? Are you happy with your application virtualization rollout? Are your users happy? Is your boss happy? Or, perhaps, you haven’t even deployed applications on demand and are simply looking for some third-party advice.

Well then, this eGroup Roundtable, “XenApp 6.5 and Beyond”, hosted by Jason Webster and eGroup’s “XenMaster” Steve Rattacasa, is definitely for you.

Please join Jason and Steve for an interactive discussion on application virtualization and a review of XenApp 6.5. Read more >>

For all the system admins out there deploying Citrix XenDesktop for the first time, I suggest you read below!

Recently, I tried to create a XenDesktop group that is using ESX 5.x as the hosting infrastructure, only to receive the following error message:

“Unable to contact the hypervisor”

vSphere vCenter Server only allows connection through SSL (HTTPS) on port 443 by default. The vCenter uses a self-signed certificate that the Citrix XenDesktop application will not accept. The automatic installation process for certificates does not import into the correct location required for XenDesktop.

Below are the steps required to import the self-signed certificate onto the XenDesktop server to make the connection. Hope this helps. If you encounter any other issues or have any specific feedback, leave it in the comments below.

To use the VMware installed, self-signed certificate on vSphere

1. Add the fully qualified domain name for the vSphere server to c:\windows\drivers\etc\hosts if not present in DNS.

2. Using Internet Explorer – enter https://<FQDN of vSphere server>.

3. Accept the security warnings.

4. Click on the Certificate Error part of the address bar and select View Certificates.

5. Click Install Certificate.

6. Click Next.

7. Click Place all certificates in the following store.

8. Click Browse.

9. Click Show physical stores.

10. Expand Trusted People.

11. Select Local Computer.

12. Click OK.

13. Click Next.

14. Click Finish.

Here’s an easy step by Step by Step install of self-signed certificate (word document).

This is regarding the issue with Citrix Receiver, when launching the Citrix application through a URL, we were getting an error “Citrix online plug-in Configuration Manager: No value could be found for (Allowhotkey) that satisfies all lockdown requirements. The lockdown requirements in force may be conflicting.” After reinstalling and installing Citrix Receiver many times there was still no fix for the issue. It wasn’t until I dug deeper into the registry of my desktop. Follow these steps and you will be back to work in no time!

The following Steps will resolve this issue.

1. Deleting the following entries under the registry location
   1. HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\ICA Client\Engine\Lockdown Profiles\All Regions\Lockdown\Virtual Channels\Control
2. Search for (AllowHotKey)
   1. Delete “AllowHotKey”
3. Log back into Citrix
   1. Another error should pop up mentioning “URLRedirection”
   2. Search within the registry for “URLRedirection”
   3. Delete “URLRedirection”
4. Log into Citrix again
   1. Another similar error should populate mentioning “ClientHostedApps”
   2. Search within the registry for “ClientHostedApps”
   3. Delete “ClientHostedApps”
5. Log into Citrix once more, and you should be good to go.

We know Citrix so if you have any other issues or questions, let us know in the comments below!

Now that we’ve covered what it is, how you install/configure it, and how it REALLY works (“caring” more about the assignment to the desktop than to the user), I’ll explain why I think the technology is great, how it will help, but also why it’s not the “end game” most of the end user computing world is looking for.

First, there are several reasons why I think this technology is a great step forward. It allows the virtual desktop to be much more “user-friendly” in that the user can customize it, install their own applications, and make it the way THEY want it– versus being “constrained” by the way the IT department wants their desktop to be. This increases user buy-in and morale, and can help push a proof of concept over the last hurdle.

It minimizes the amount of management required for “dedicated” desktops, as you still have a single image to patch, install standard apps on to, etc. It’s also a technology from a 3rd party that used to charge per user, but is now included at no additional cost into the XD offering.

It took almost no time at all to configure and set up, and has worked flawlessly since– it doesn’t require re-learning an entire solution. These are all great and important things.

Read more >>

Sometimes it becomes necessary to reset the Citrix License Console admin password. It is actually a very straightforward operation once you know how to do it.

• Open the server.xml file located in C:\Program Files\Citrix\Licensing\LS\conf\
• There should be an entry that begins with <user firstName=”System” id=”admin”…
• Replace the contents between the quotes of password=”" and replace it with a simple plain-text password. This is only a temporary password. The contents will be encrypted
• Change passwordExpired=”false” to passwordExpired=”true”
• Save and close the xml file
• Restart the Citrix Licensing Server Service
• Log into the Licensing Console using the username admin and the password you set in Step 3
• You should be prompted to reset the password upon logging in
• Re-open the server.xml file and verify that the password=”password you set” is now an encrypted string representing the new password you just entered

Good luck!