Citrix policies with powershell: If you want to create multiple policies with lot of settings, that would be a difficult task for administrators while doing it manually. Studio is not that fast while responding to each setting. So, it would take lot of time and effort in doing it. How about automating policies creation task? Lets see how we can do it. Download and install latest citrix scout. I did not provide scout link as it might change time to time.
Exclude users from citrix policy:
Normally when we create a citrix policy, you have option to choose specific citrix/AD entities like shown below:
Assignment Name Assignment Description Access Control Applies a policy based on the access control conditions through which a client is connecting. Citrix CloudBridge Applies a policy based on whether or not a user session is launched through Citrix CloudBridge. Client IP Address Applies a policy based on the IP address (IPv4 or IPv6) of the user device used to connect to the session.
To know about LHC check out my post: https://www.knowcitrix.com/posts/local-host-cache-in-xendesktop/
To enable Local Host Cache, open powershell and enter:
Set-BrokerSite -LocalHostCacheEnabled $true -ConnectionLeasingEnabled $false
This cmdlet also disables the connection leasing feature. Do not enable both Local Host Cache and connection leasing.
To determine whether Local Host Cache is enabled, enter:
Get-BrokerSite
Check that the LocalHostCacheEnabled property is True, and that the ConnectionLeasingEnabled property is False.
To disable Local Host Cache (and enable connection leasing), in powershell console, enter:
Local Host Cache(LHC) was introduced back in citrix from 7.12 with new improvements. LHC is used to provide apps and desktops to users incase of database failure, with an exception of pooled VDIs. Users can connect to all their applications and VDIs(non-pooled VDIs, MCS and PVS) until database is back. Citrix also brought a new feature called connection leasing but LHC has more features than CL.
Local Host Cache is supported for server-hosted applications and desktops, and static (assigned) desktops; it is not supported for pooled VDI desktops (created by MCS or PVS).
Concepts of publishing
Master image A master image is an image used by the provisioning technology to create virtual machines (VMs) for your users. Depending on the provisioning technology used, the master image can also be used to create a machine to host applications and desktops. The master image, created and stored on your hypervisor, contains the operating system and common applications and settings you are providing to your users, such as:
Recreate LHC on the Delivery Controller by the following steps:
1. Download PsExec on the Delivery Controller
PsExec - Windows Sysinternals https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/psexec
2. Stop Citrix High Availability Service
3. Run PsExec on Command Prompt and switch to Network Service account
> psexec -i -u “NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE” cmd
> whoami nt authority\network service
4. Move to the path with SqlLocalDB
> cd “C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\120\Tools\Binn”
5. Stop/delete CitrixHA (LocalDB)
Users cannot log on to a system using Active Directory credentials and the following error message appears: “The trust relationship between this workstation and the primary domain failed.”
Users/Citrix Admins might see this error on VDIs or App servers. Below are the solutions for the same:
This issue is seen when the session logon is attempted through Remote Desktop Protocol, ICA, or directly at the console. Only logons using local accounts are successful.
XenApp 6.5 has reached end of maintenance and with the end of life date only a few months away, migrating your existing 6.5 environment(s) to XenApp & XenDesktop 7 is highly recommended.
This also means moving from the IMA architecture to FMA. In earlier 7.x versions, some 6.5/IMA features were not available, but rest assured, they were added throughout new releases. Because some features have been rebranded or have gone through some design changes and improvements, this blog article may assist you in finding the XenApp 6.
There are different ways to deploy outlook app, like deploying the app via citrix xenapp, or installing outlook in user’s VDI.
Whatever deployment method we choose, we still have some questions related to outlook. Should I enable cache mode or leave in online mode? Should I save my data on user’s VDI locally or redirect to different share etc.. lets discuss these options.
Lets understand the differences between online mode vs cached exchange mode
User opens Netscaler page and enters their credentials over 443. User’s credentials are sent from the netscaler gateway to active directory domain controllers over: LDAP or secure LDAP using TCP ports 389 or 636 Global catalog request / TCP 3268 and 3269 (if necessary) TCP or UDP ports 1645, 1812 and 1813 (if using RADIUS) Once authenticated, user’s request is forwarded to StoreFront over 443 by Netscaler. Once validated, the Netscaler gateway interacts with StoreFront to continue the authentication process.
